The network allows them to do worldwide testing without running into hacker attacks.

It comes down to platform 'excellence'. What I mean is when Spider-Man (the game) launches on all three consoles on the same day, that it looks better or plays better on one of them than it does on the others.

We surveyed 125 retailers late last week, and 21 percent had at least one Xbox 360 Core ($299 version) console in stock. Most also reported receiving shipments last week and are now seeing a relatively steady flow after stock-outs abounded for most of December and January.

We heard commentary from several retailers that is consistent with what we have heard from industry contacts over the past six weeks: Inventory is expected to flow better in late February, and by late March inventory levels should be consistently filled.

We believe that many reasonable investors will look at yesterday's news and wonder if all the bad news is out.