Man, that's complete and total hearsay for now, but if it were somehow correct... :o
Fry's does things like this all the time. They're a large volume retailer and it's not Microsoft's decision at all. If I want a game on the day it comes out I usually go there because they seem have them discounted for the first day or two. (Which, I would assume, isn't so much because they have trouble getting rid of the games they just recieved....)
If this article wasn't written to imply that she speaks for all girl gamers, I might be OK with it. As it is, I certainly don't want to be lumped into this kind of strange category where playing horror and FPS games is forbidden...
Sure I share some dislikes, but it's hard not to when the dislikes in question seem to be "everything but RPGs." Anyway, I think she's missing out by being so restrictive in her tastes, but to each their own.
At the CNET Japan site the trend seems to be moving towards the Xbox as well. The poll says:
With the arrival of the Wii and PS3 at the end of the year, and the Xbox 360 which has had a chance to gather titles, they all may seem interesting. But which one will you really buy?
Xbox 360 - 44.7%
Wii - 30.3%
PS2 - 21.7%
All of them! - 3.3%
The poll's been there since the 18th. I don't know how the feeling is at other sites, but I thought...
I know this has nothing to do with anything, but...
Eeeew, a fridge?!