Photos: Countdown to Xbox 360

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

Greg Sandoval

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

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

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

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

Daniel Terdiman

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

Daniel Terdiman

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

Daniel Terdiman

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

Daniel Terdiman

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

Daniel Terdiman

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

Daniel Terdiman

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

Daniel Terdiman