Xbox One goes on sale; first console sold in New Zealand

Microsoft’s entrant into the eighth generation of gaming consoles—Xbox One—has started hitting stores. The console went on sale in New Zealand last night (owing to the differences in time zones), and gamer Dan Livingstone won a competition which made him be the first person on the planet to get an Xbox One on launch day.

“It’s mind blowing,” the Auckland-based 24-year-old said. “Being the first in the world, that’s like a record that no one will ever break. For me, it’s like going down in history on some level, it’s just incredible.” The console Livingstone got was kept in a shark tank last week as a marketing stunt by Microsoft.

Finally out!

“It’s a great time to be a gamer,” said Jeremy Hinton, interactive entertainment business lead for Microsoft Australia. “More than 370 retail stores opened around the country to bring in this new era of gaming and entertainment. Thousands of people across the country headed out to collect their consoles at the stroke of midnight that’s a passion and dedication that we are continuously humbled by.”

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The console will be hitting the rest of its first markets, namely Europe and North America, over the next few hours. It is priced at 499 USD in the US and 599 AUD in Europe. The Europeans seem to be getting the worse deal of the lot, with a price tag of £429 in the UK and 499 Euros in the rest of Europe.

A number of day-one titles are available for the console, but not all of them are winners. Check out our list of games you should actually bother saving up for.