I decided to drive around a bit tonight and see if there were any lines around. I talked about the one in Richfield, MN earlier that I had seen on a local news station. Well, now the campers fill up the front right and looks like the whole right side of the building. This Best Buy is obviously one that should get more than the 20 promised. I think they had over 100 360s last year (I just checked, it was 178...134 Premiums, 44 Cores), so that's a good bet.
I also went to few Targets, Wal-Marts and other Best Buys as well. Each one either had people waiting in line outside or, in the case of Wal-Mart and one Target, they had people inside waiting (the Wal-Mart is a 24-hour one, so I can only guess they will release at midnight on Friday). Compare this to last year and the store I stood in front of at 8pm the night before the 360 release (I was 1st in line) has about 12 people in line almost 48 hours before the PS3 release. The weather is slightly warmer (I think I sat in 22 degree weather last year, it's 34 here now) as it should hit about 29 tonight and about 24 for those that have to wait until 8am on Friday (26 for the midnighters).
I have to say that people must have obviously learned from last year and decided to line up early this time around. I know there were several fights at other locations over the 360, but there wasn't much incident where I was other than people being pissed they didn't get Premium systems. They have also obviously learned that eBay is a precious asset from last year and see lots of money in their futures. I don't think I could push myself much past the 12 hours I waited last year in the cold. Many of these people have tents though and probably have some heaters as well. I could easily do 48 hours with those amenities, but the toes get really cold really fast.
Anyway, that's just a report from the frozen north of Minnesota. We are just lucky there hasn't been any accumulation of snow (it has snowed here though). Last year I don't think it had snowed yet when the 360 came out (November 22nd). All I hope is that some people don't go crazy and violence ensues on Friday. Tempers become very thin when you're the unlucky person that didn't get the last ticket and everyone after them.