Photos: Countdown to Xbox 360

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  • EB Games, S.F.

    EB Games, S.F.

    Game fans lined up outside an EB Games store in downtown San Francisco as they waited for Microsoft's latest version of Xbox to go on sale on Nov. 22, 2005.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Chris Staudt

    Chris Staudt

    Chris Staudt, 37, was among the first in San Francisco to purchase an Xbox 360 videogame console.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Shawn Beck

    Shawn Beck

    Shawn Beck pops the cork on a bottle of wine as he and other video game devotees wait in line for a chance to buy Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console at Best Buy in San Francisco.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • waiting in line in Cambridge

    waiting in line in Cambridge

    Some stores waited until morning to sell their supply of Xbox 360s. At about 7 a.m. on Nov. 22, a crowd stood in the pouring rain for an 8 a.m. store opening outside the Cambridgeside Galleria Mall in Cambridge, Mass.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • line to the hangar

    line to the hangar

    In Palmdale, Calif., beginning Nov. 20, Microsoft staged an invitation-only event, called Zero Hour, for devoted gamers. On Nov. 21, the line of Zero Hour gamers waiting to receive Xboxes stretched all the way across a 200,000-square-foot hangar and back. Many sat on small white bean bags handed out to gamers earlier.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • trucks arrive

    trucks arrive

    At precisely 9 p.m. on Nov. 21, three trucks arrived at Zero Hour loaded with Xbox 360s.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • opening the truck

    opening the truck

    A Best Buy employee cheers as the first truck full of Xbox 360s is opened at the Zero Hour event.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • waiting in a line of 1,000

    waiting in a line of 1,000

    Zero Hour gamers waited hours in a line of at least 1,000 people to get their Xbox 360s.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • registers

    registers

    To handle the rush of Xbox buyers, Best Buy installed almost 30 cash registers in the Zero Hour hangar in Palmdale, Calif.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • conveyor belt

    conveyor belt

    As Xboxes came off the trucks, Best Buy employees put them on a conveyor belt to get them to the gamers.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Edwards with 1st Xbox

    Edwards with 1st Xbox

    Norm Edwards, center, with the very first Xbox 360 given out at the Zero Hour launch event in Palmdale, Calif.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • gamers and their beanbags

    gamers and their beanbags

    Many attendees left Zero Hour not only with their Xboxes, but several beanbags.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

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waiting in line in Cambridge

Some stores waited until morning to sell their supply of Xbox 360s. At about 7 a.m. on Nov. 22, a crowd stood in the pouring rain for an 8 a.m. store opening outside the Cambridgeside Galleria Mall in Cambridge, Mass.

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

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