As I wrote before in the thread, they let you buy $299 stuff for $199. You save 33% (NOT 50%!), if you planned to buy all that stuff or more anyway, but you still must spend at least $199. I hope that besides me, you and kowenicki, there are others that realized it. 

That's the reason why I buy only articles of wide consumption (and with shelf life long enough) with offers like this one.

I only got one 360 this morning. I was handed a card that had 43 on it so I took my place in line and I was 3rd from the last. So my store had 46 units this morning to get rid of. I doubt every store has that many units to go around, but there is only one walmart in my city so they useually keep more on hand than some.

I was actually very surprised when I went through the door to see so many people standing there waiting. The lady who gave me the card said some people had been waiting since 12 midnight. Thats insane.

Ah, well I see your point, but what everybody is saying, is that you are technically only paying $99.00 for a console that usually sells for $199.00 It's all in perspective. Both you and the OP are right.

I would have to revise down my projected sales. It seems to be safe I would have to assume each Wal Mart only had 15 360's (store minimum was supposed to be ten, some people reported stores with less than that though, I suspect employees grabbing them for themselves?) and of course some reported more (30-50).

Overall if we use a very conservative 15 per store, then it would be about 50,000 sold, plus I would add another 10,000 for Wal Mart.com and Amazon.com sales of this promotion. Meaning my guess, and it's a total guess, maybe 60,000.

But here is the real question: Did you use the gift card from your first Arcade to buy the second Arcade - Essentially getting a $99 Arcade?

Wow, I asked an employee about the deal today, and she said customers were waiting outside since 2:00 AM.

Actually, no, I didn't.  I am giving them the giftcards as well to use on Xbox Live cards or games.  I'm getting them hard drives for cheap from elsewhere

Right, also because usually, if you buy your first console, you need games for it. The only ones really wrong are people believing it's a 50% discount and those mistaking it for an unconditional discount to $99. As kowenicki and maybe others noticed, it's a common marketing technique, it's just that in this particular form, people with very low math skills may mistake it for a 50% unconditional discount. And the fact that this times it involves XB 360 is purely incidental, I think we all saw this kind of offers before on the most different items.

The thing people are forgetting and i only saw it mentioned once and briefly but i skimmed the thread is that:

The market, especially electronics isnt stagnant so if the 360 sold 75k in the US last week, and lets say 10 per walmart, 35k available not every single person buying one at walmart will be someone who was not going to buy one elsewhere in the states.

So lets say youve got 75k across BB, Target, Gamestop....this deal may move 10 or 20k of the people already going to buy a 360 who would have conributed to the numbers regardless only to a new locale. Not all the 360's sold will be to people sitting on their couch with no intention of buying a 360 this week or in future weeks.

Its not like the number of walmart is going to be strictly an increase as if walmart never sold 360's before and all of a sudden their sales will be counted on top of past sales.

Seriously, a single store sale only shifts locale, it may bump due to people buying a 360 this week instead of next or 2 weeks or 3 weeks later.

But i cant believe how many people dont seem to understand that a single store sale created migrated sales not straight boosted sales.