There was a shortage but now it's turning into PR spin. The issue was completely resolved a few weeks ago. It was a real mess in January and early February though.

No shortages just lies.

I'd agree with that rocketpig.  I didn't see very many 360's in January, but I have for the last month+.

It is a PR spin at this point...but I do believe they had problems at the beginning of the year.  (Persnonally, I think they are stockpiling some for GTAIV too...but their current supply is still ample).

As far as the PR spin though, who gives a shit...Nintendo and Sony both do the same.  It's called trying to look better than you competition no matter what you have to say. 

i think the "shortages" problem is over (if there even was a problem to begin with). I went to my local Best Buy and Toys R US and both had around 15

DSL - ever bother tracking X360 stock info before spouting idiotic remarks?

Microsoft DID have supply issues, rather big ones, in January and through most of February.

It's a FACT that itrackr, and other tracking services, as well as consumer antecdotal information from these forums specifically stated that Microsoft's claims were indeed true.

During the periods that it was evident, Pro stock was below 40% across the board in most major cities, compared to 80%+ versus the PS3.

You fail to see the point of this thread, microsoft continue to state that they are having problems with 360 stock, which mainly go to the ELITE and PRO systems, which is what the consumer demand the most. I made this thread specifically for the current situation. Right now there is no shortage atleast in my city, though microsoft continues to say there is,hence the reason why PS3 managed to barely outsell them this month in the United states according to Microsoft.

yea there's a serious shortage of good explanations for PS3 beating 360 in USA :P j/k - I expect 360 and PS3 to have an about equal amount of sales in march, maybe even with the 360 having a small lead.

I always thought the most reasonable excuse was that the Halo 3 XBox 360 was overproduced at the expense of the XBox 360 priemium/elite production ... This (probably) didn't prevent the purchase of too many consoles, but it did have a large enough impact to show up in the sales charts.

Even though Microsoft's use of this as an excuse probably exaggerated the situation, this doesn't mean that the shortage wasn't real.

What was true two months ago need not be true today. Didn't a MS rep just make a statement to the effect that the problem appears to have been solved, assuming they correctly estimated the GTA4 demand?

There was no shortage, and everyone knows it. Go to any Wal-Mart, Target, Gamestop, EB Games, etc, and you'd find one. This is all just PR spin from M$ because the PS3 has been outselling them. Did they ever stop and think that maybe because of Blu ray's victory, there'd be a sales hike, or are they just trying to keep NA with the negative image of the PS3 its' had for so long? It's not going to work.

btw, is ioi going to fix the NA numbers to match the NPD? Because VGC has been showing the 360 beating out the PS3 since about early-middle February, yet NPD disagrees