14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has confirmed that it wants to ensure that Xbox One fans who haven't pre-ordered ahead of the console's November 22 release will be able to just pick one up from store shelves on launch day.
The Xbox One is set to make its debut on November 22 and manufacturing of the final versions of the device is already well underway, as highlighted by photos sent by Microsoft earlier this week.
What's more, seeing as how new stocks of the Xbox One Day One Edition are available for pre-order, it seems that the company has more than enough units to go around when it releases it in 13 countries on November 22.
According to Microsoft's Phil Spencer, the plan is to make sure that there are enough Xbox One consoles on store shelves so that those without pre-orders can get them easily, without having to wait days or weeks.
"You want people to be able to walk in the store and buy one on day one, so you're trying to manage the inventory that isn't pre-sold. It's not a yield problem, it's us trying to manage the hardware side," he told Game Informer.
"I want parents who don't think about pre-ordering electronics to be able to walk in and have a chance to find a box. There might be a line, but I don't want it to be that if you didn't pre-order in September, you can't get one. That doesn't feel like a great consumer experience."
Microsoft doesn't want to repeat the shortages experienced with the Xbox 360 many years ago and will make sure that extra peripherals and games will be present on launch day.
"Availability should feel a lot better than it did for 360," he added. "If people want to pick up more controllers and games, they'll be there. We feel really good about our pre-order number, and we're managing it through allocation rather than demand. [Pre-order] isn't the business. It's way more important to me what happens when people walk in the store. The business is selling consoles."
The Xbox One will be released later than the PlayStation 4 in North America, as Sony's console makes its debut on November 15.