March 22, 2005 - The word coming out of Microsoft at the moment is that consumer demand for the Xbox is so darn high that they just can't fabricate the big black doorstops fast enough:

Consumer demand is exceeding supply right now... we are working with partners to rectify the situation - we're working really hard to satiate consumers' needs.

However, conspiracy theorists and certain UK retailers recently speculated that Microsoft is deliberately limiting their production runs in the hope of clearing out all warehoused stock before E3, where the Xbox Next will be so whizz bang fabbo that no-one will want last year's tat, leaving Microsoft in a far stronger position for the next-gen launch. Truth or paranoia? You decide.