And that isn't necessarily mad in a good way, especially if you're a Volvo driving parent desperate to get little Alastair his number one most important present: an from Microsoft. The console launched on December 2nd across the continent, and initial stocks were completely wiped out on day one, the majority by pre-orders. This flying start echoed the debut, where it is even now almost impossible to bag one of the next-gen systems, unless you want to pay a fortune on eBay.

"Xbox 360 have been tremendous this weekend" enthused GAME boss Lisa Morgan, as quoted by games site GameSpot.com. "We have sold out almost all of our initial allocation over the weekend, and have seen great sales on games and accessories too."

Amid the green and pleasant lands of Blighty (not to mention those dark satanic mills, Blake fans), Chart-Track are reporting that the 360 is the UK's fastest ever selling console, beating the by a sizeable margin. That said, we've also learnt of clamours that the did better still, but this could be supply-related. The premium version of the system also beat the cheaper package, outselling it by 2:1. More over, ten of the fifteen launch titles made it into the All-formats top forty, with Perfect Dark Zero coming in at number twelve, which is rather impressive considering the acute stock shortages.

Microsoft are telling us that loads of faceplates, WiFi adapters and wireless controllers have been snapped-up so far... with Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham Racing 3, and Kameo: Elements of Power so far the top-selling games on the new format. More stock is said to be shipping into on a weekly basis, and we've even heard reports of a few stores in the receiving stock this week. Now could be a good time to get chummy with your local retailer... more soon.

By Luke Guttridge