Phil Spencer, Microsoft studios vice president, revealed in an interview with Gameinformer that pre-orders for the Xbox One are going along much better than they did for the 360. “We feel great about our hardware yield,” Spencer says. “We feel great about the number of units we’re going to have at launch. Our pre-orders are going really well; better than they did for the 360.”

But Phil Spencer revealed that Microsoft is trying to keep a delicate balance between pre-order units and units that will only available through retail stores. Spencer detailed that he believes having boxes available through stores without having the need to pre-order is a smart business move and will benefit parents.

“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,” Spencer says. “It’s not a yield problem, it’s us trying to manage the hardware side. 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.”

Spencer wouldn’t reveal specific pre-order numbers but he did stress that things are going very well for their new system. Another thing he specified is that Xbox One peripherals will be more available in stores than they were for the 360.

“Availability should feel a lot better than it did for 360,” he says. “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 is set to launch on November 22 worldwide.