public virtual MemoryStream

After seeing it in stock through their inventory locator, I drove by Circuit City yesterday to try and get myself an xbox 360. Since the store is about 20 minutes from my home, there was a pretty big chance they'd be gone by the time I got there, and they were indeed nowhere to be found in the showroom by that time. Then I noticed an employee carrying two to a counter, so I followed him, asked if they had more in stock (the ones he carried were spoken for), and was finally able to get me one.

When I asked the guy why they hadn't put them on the floor, he responded "we can't - there would be fights", suggesting this had actually occurred before. Then again, in an attempt to sell me their $70 extended warranty, he also told me half of them were returned to the store because of defects, so he wasn't exactly that trustworthy I guess.

First impressions:

• While it looks pretty good on a standard TV, it's clearly designed for HDTV. Some of the in-game text can be hard to read at times on a regular TV, and the Need for Speed most wanted demo looked better on my PC with 20" monitor than it does on my 52" projection TV. Since I won't be buying a HDTV any time soon, I might just end up getting the VGA cable and connect it to my monitor instead.
  
• Having finished Need for Speed Underground 1 & 2 on my PC, I thought I was pretty good at racing games. PGR proved me wrong - I've got a lot to learn (like: you should actually let go off the gas and brake before turns).
  
• The built in PC connectivity is very cool, allowing me to access my entire music collection from the living room. There's also supposed to be iPod connectivity, but I don't think I'll even need to try that since the PC connectivity works so well.
  

For people still looking for one: Best Buy also has an inventory locator (though it's a bit buggy), or you could subscribe to xbox360tracker's RSS feed to be notified of availability at dozens of online stores.

Gamertag: aMillionMonkeys