Europe prepares for first next-generation launch

The next-generation games consoles become a reality in Europe tonight with the arrival of Microsoft's Xbox 360, which will be rolling out across the continent at midnight accompanied by fifteen game titles.

Many stores around the UK and continental Europe will be opening at midnight to allow customers to pick up their consoles as early as possible - although exactly how many consumers will be able to buy the systems tonight remains unclear.

Microsoft has remained largely silent on shipment volumes for Europe, with the closest thing we have to an official indication of the day one shipment numbers being a comment from Microsoft executive Chris Lewis that an estimate of 300,000 units was "not far removed from reality."

However, Xbox global marketing and publishing boss Peter Moore has admitted that many of those hoping to bring home an Xbox 360 in time for Christmas may be disappointed, commenting that "the demand is overwhelming".

Many retailers, particularly specialist retailers, have been running pre-order schemes for the console and will have no units available for customers who walk in tonight or tomorrow morning. Pre-orders at some retailers shut weeks or even months ago, and even some customers who pre-ordered consoles may not get their hardware for a few weeks.

However, others - including several mass-market retailers such as supermarkets - are going to operate a first-come first-served system for their supplies of consoles, with midnight openings being the order of the day for those outlets.

Long queues are likely to be futile, however. Even the largest mainstream retailers have complained of small allocations of stock, with one major supermarket chain in the UK reported to have been allocated less than a thousand units of hardware in total - less than 12 for each of its stores.

In terms of what gamers will actually be able to buy tonight, there are two basic packs of hardware - the "premium" GBP 279.99 standard Xbox 360 pack, and a GBP 209.99 "Core System" pack, which has no hard drive and uses wired controllers rather than wireless ones.

However, many retailers refuse to sell the system outside of a software bundle - with Toys R Us, for example, demanding GBP 399 for its cheapest premium system bundle, which includes both videogames and DVDs.

15 individual games will launch with the system, priced at GBP 49.99 and including a strong selection of both first- and third-party games. Microsoft itself is leading out with three UK-developed games - Rare's Kameo: Elements of Power and Perfect Dark Zero titles, and Bizarre Creations' Project Gotham Racing 3.

In terms of third-party games, platform exclusives Amped 3 (2K Sports), Condemned: Criminal Origins (SEGA) and FIFA 06: Road to the World Cup (EA Sports) are joined by a number of high profile titles also available on other platforms such as Call of Duty 2 and Quake 4 (both Activision), King Kong (Ubisoft), GUN (Activision) and Need for Speed: Most Wanted (Electronic Arts).