Status: Aborted.

I drove around to several Fred Meyers, a Best Buy, a GameCrazy, a Target, and a Costco just before midnight to see how things stood (and possibly to get my hands on an Xbox 360). Each of the Fred Meyers had twenty or thirty people lined up out front, waiting for morning, not midnight. Best Buy was a circus. I actually went into GameCrazy, where there were about twenty people waiting to pick up preordered bundles, but I left when it started looking like a large irate fellow was going to beat the shit out of the manager. Target was deserted, but a sign on the door said not to bother camping out because they were already sold out. The only thing happening at Costco was some guy pressure-washing the sidewalks. I'll check back with them tomorrow morning; they may be my only hope.

I didn't think Fred Meyer would have such a turnout, but it looks like I was wrong. I'm not holding out much hope for Costco tomorrow, but I'll give it a shot and see if I get lucky. In any case, it looks like I won't be getting myself an Xbox 360 for Christmas. Humbug.

Update: Stopped in at a Fred Meyer on the way to work. When I asked an employee if they had any Xbox 360s left, she gave me an insulting look — the kind of look you'd give Osama bin Laden if he asked you where they park the 747s — and said, "Heh, no."

Since Costco is also on the way to work, I drove by them as well. At 9:00 (one hour before they open to small business customers and two hours before they open to normal customers), there was a mob of 30+ people standing around in the freezing cold.

Looks like I'll be waiting until next year.