Customer trying an Xbox 360 demo version
© AFP/Getty Images/File Justin SullivanLONDON (AFP) - Some fans waited for up to nine hours for the midnight (0000 GMT) opening at Game's store in Oxford Street to be among the first to get their hands on what is being billed as this Christmas' must-have present.
Stocks of the console -- which goes on the market ahead of arch rival Sony's new PlayStation3 and Nintendo's Revolution -- are expected to sell out quickly, with a surge of pre-orders reported.
From its US launch last week to the end of February, Microsoft hopes to shift three million units of the console and 5.5 million by the end of July next year.
"We have been waiting in this queue for hours and hours and now I can't wait to get home and play this game," said Kevin Sage, a 33-year-old pub and club DJ from Sydenham, south London.
"I've made so many new friends through this. It's a surreal experience and I will remember this for the rest of my life. I want to thank Bill Gates," he added, explaining that he had arrived at the store at 2.45 pm.
The Xbox 360 comes equipped with a DVD player capable of handling CDs and digital photographs through a built-in Windows Media Center -- the same bundle of applications found in Microsoft's Windows XP operating system for PCs.
It has an Ethernet port allowing high-speed Internet connections for the popular "Xbox Live" subscription service, and other ports to hook up digital cameras or MP3 players.
And with support for startling image quality on high-definition televisions, Microsoft is confident that its new-look console has what it takes to challenge Sony, the runaway industry leader.
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