good thing we got ours....

Microsoft is seeing shortages of its Xbox 360 video game console in the United States, as the company failed to anticipate strong post-holiday demand, an executive said on Wednesday.

"We are really running short of product here in the United States," Jeff Bell, head of global marketing for Microsoft's games business, said in an interview. "You could say we misjudged demand."

The comments come a day before market research firm NPD is expected to release video game sales data for January. Bell said Microsoft was hoping to "manage expectations."

"We're literally out of stock in many stores. We think this will have an impact on our sales," Bell said. "It may cause the overall industry number to be down a little bit.

"Retailers have been really upset, they are on allocation. It is a lag I think we're seeing in January and that may continue into February, then as spring ramps up, we'll be able to meet that demand."

Microsoft sold nearly 1.3 million Xbox 360 consoles in the United States in December, when the entire video games industry gets a boost from holiday shopping.

this lil symbol is ruining my life!

Hello my name is phavor, and I'm addicted to achievements. *hi phavor* Not the real life kind, mind you just getting up in the morning feels like an achievement. I'm talking about that unmistakable sound and icon that appear when playing 360 games. Achieving has taken over my gaming style. At first, I didn't pay much attention to them (thanks jamdb3 for the condemned achvs), although I did get a slight feeling of accomplishment every time I was informed I received one. Lately, however, I'm finding that I cant stop trying to get them. It's gotten to the point that i'll stay up late into the night just to get an extra 10 points added to my gamerscore. I... I think I need help.

For those of you that don't know what i'm talking about, support for achievements is one of the many things that Microsoft requires developers to put in every single Xbox 360 game, arcade games included. Each game can dole out up to 1000 points (1250 with added DLC), split into whatever manner the developer sees fit. You might see 5 achievements of 200 points, (those were the days), or 100 consisting of 10 points increments. Some games don't even offer up to the full 1000 points, only allow a fraction of that number.

Getting these achievements seem to have taken over my house hold as well as myself. I've got other family members also obsessed with getting these jewels. I have to admit, I've created little achievement hording monster. Getting on live and being able to check out the score of friends and other counterparts adds a whole new dimension to gaming. Tracking the number of achievement points they've received in comparison to yours never seems to grow old. I find myself renting games i otherwise would have never looked twice at, hotwheels, avatar, yaris, and disney's cars just to name a few. Funny thing is I don't see this sickness/trend going anywhere any time soon.