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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.
Greg Sandoval
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Chris Staudt, 37, was among the first in San Francisco to purchase an Xbox 360 videogame console.
Greg Sandoval
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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.
Greg Sandoval
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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.
Andy Smith
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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.
Daniel Terdiman
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At precisely 9 p.m. on Nov. 21, three trucks arrived at Zero Hour loaded with Xbox 360s.
Daniel Terdiman
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A Best Buy employee cheers as the first truck full of Xbox 360s is opened at the Zero Hour event.
Daniel Terdiman
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Zero Hour gamers waited hours in a line of at least 1,000 people to get their Xbox 360s.
Daniel Terdiman
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To handle the rush of Xbox buyers, Best Buy installed almost 30 cash registers in the Zero Hour hangar in Palmdale, Calif.
Daniel Terdiman
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As Xboxes came off the trucks, Best Buy employees put them on a conveyor belt to get them to the gamers.
Daniel Terdiman
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Norm Edwards, center, with the very first Xbox 360 given out at the Zero Hour launch event in Palmdale, Calif.
Daniel Terdiman
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Many attendees left Zero Hour not only with their Xboxes, but several beanbags.
Daniel Terdiman
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.
Greg Sandoval
By Bill Detwiler
Bill Detwiler is Editor in Chief of TechRepublic and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop support specialist in the ...