It s been an exciting console launch, to say the least.

Word of possible sell-outs led to at least one mini-riot and another armed robbery.

In Elkton, Maryland a crowd of about 300 shoppers waiting outside a Wal-Mart went a little crazy after being told that the store would not be using a number system, but just a who ever gets to the electronic s department first system.

That s when all hell broke loose, one costumer told AP.

Some customers were knocked down and trampled, but no one was seriously injured.

It took ten cops to restore order and the store decided to cancel the sale.

Then in the Cleaveland-area a man was followed home from his local Gamestop by two men. When he got home the men pulled guns and demanded the 360 he just purchased. The man gave up the console and the duo fled.

The best part of this story is that the TV channel didn t show his face and gave him a fake name: Mario.
Delicious and likely unintentional irony.

Aside from the occasional violence, the other thing the 360 launch sparked was a bit of crashitis.

We ve received emails from a half-dozen readers saying their console crashed on various games and even my retail unit has locked up on me three times. (Once during Gun and twice during marathon sessions of Perfect Dark Zero.) I m not sure if this is an online issue, hardware issue, game issue or heat issue.

But it s a big enough problem for the Associated Press, the Washington Post and ABC World News to all do stories on it.

The AP story quotes a Microsoft spokeswoman saying that they have received a few isolated reports but that it was a very, very small fraction of units sold.

Anyone with problems should call 800-4MY-Xbox.

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