Wii pre-orders at Gamestop Friday?

by Kyle Orland { Oct 11th 2006 at 12:00PM }

Wii news site The Wiire is reporting that an unnamed contact at Gamestop/EBGames says the retailer will start taking pre-orders for the Wii in North America on Friday, Oct. 13 (spooky!) for a $25 to $50 down payment.

A representative at Gamestop's corporate office refused to comment on pre-order plans, but a local Gamestop employee told Joystiq he was "being told to tell you to call back every morning" and that pre-orders would be available "some time this week." This echoes previous rumblings from around the internet that Gamestop would begin taking pre-orders this week.

The official word on Gamestop's PS3 pre-orders came less than 24 hours before the doors opened on Tuesday morning, so be sure to keep checking Joystiq for confirmation as soon as we get it.

Tags: EB, EBGames, gamestop, preorder, Wii

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Christopher C. Webb @ Oct 11th 2006 12:07PM

First! No one cares! PS3 RAWKS! w00t!

Christopher C. Webb @ Oct 11th 2006 12:07PM

Actually, there are plenty of units available...this won't be the let down was yesterday was for so many PS3 fans.

darryl @ Oct 11th 2006 12:10PM

Why would anyone need to pre-order a Wii? Is Nintendo lying about the numbers of units they'll have ready for launch? I doubt it.

Anyone who wants a Wii can walk into any store, anytime, and simply buy one (if Nintendo's launch numbers are as high as they announced).

Paul @ Oct 11th 2006 12:17PM

Ya I see no reason to pre-order. I have my planed place of purchase for launch day that nearly guarantees me a Wii by showing up an hour early. Not to mention big supply and a steady supply there after.

Also don't forget the obscure (places you would not think of) stores like blockbuster as a last ditch effort like I did 3 days after the first DS came out.

Andrew @ Oct 11th 2006 12:20PM

anyone notice that will be on friday the 13th?

pandlcg @ Oct 11th 2006 12:30PM

Andrew,

Way to go buddy...how did you manage to figure that one out? Oh that's right it's right there in the first sentence of the post.

Harry @ Oct 11th 2006 12:31PM

I may not NEED to preorder a Wii, but you bet your ass I'll be putting one in. I've been looking forward to this for a few years now, and I'll be damned if I somehow don't get one on launch day. I was one of the many many Sony fans let down by the PS2 launch years back.

Natiahs @ Oct 11th 2006 12:41PM

Manager said Friday morning, $50 deposit, 50 systems available. Trade-ins not necessary but appreciated.

JET

Andrew @ Oct 11th 2006 12:56PM

to 7:

You're right, I didn't see that. Sorry.

saboola @ Oct 11th 2006 12:59PM

Got my money ready and waiting. Hopefully I have better luck at this than I did the PS3 yesterday.

Rootbeer @ Oct 11th 2006 1:08PM

DocWho, do you have a cite for your claims?

The GameCube's North American launch was on Sunday, 18 Nov 2001. I can find no evidence that anyone at Nintendo announced the next day that they had already sold out.

Nintendo VP George Harrison calls it a "virtual sell out". VP of Sales and Marketing Peter Main said the early sales numbers suggested that the console might be sold out by the end of the week.

In fact, if Nintendo HAD used the same metric as Sony and Microsoft for sales figures--units shipped rather than units sold to consumers--they could have claimed that they really did sell 700,000 'Cubes on that first day.

PachuyiChomp @ Oct 11th 2006 1:08PM

Well I guess Nintendo has sealed my purchase. My girlfriend went to pre-order my PS3 yesterday and 30 mins after the store opened she walked in and they were sold out. She called every store in phoenix one had 3 left she rushed over by the time they got there it was sold out too. .... Not that I wanted to keep it anyways I was hoping for a quick couple thousand on an Ebay sale. But I will be keepin the Wii... Eventually I'll get a PS3 maybe after Christmas. When I get my tax return or something.

Sushi316 @ Oct 11th 2006 1:08PM

I guess I just dont understand the whole point of people saying they dont need to preorder. Yeah, you dont need to get the console either. I guess I would just prefer to put a small down payment, and be guaranteed to have one, and not have to run around hunting one down, or have to wake up early and go wait in line to get one.
Plus, I know that most stores if you have a preorder, they will most likely do a midnight sale, and if you get a preorder will be able to pick it up at midnight.

And, it is possible that the Wii will be a semi hard to find item. Not nearly like the PS3, but there were 400k systems, and some stores only had less than 10. Even if there are two million systems available at launch, that would put it at like 40 per store, which while quite a few, is not the same as a WiiTree... or WiiTrii as the case may be.

Jeffler @ Oct 11th 2006 1:20PM

Whats with the fanboyism?

I'm liking this preorder thing. I'll be off school Friday morning for sure. $50? I'll grab it!

But whats with the Sony and Microsoft fanboys going "OMG WII SUX" or "WII FTL"? And on top of that, whats with the Nintendo fanboys returning the favour?

Just calm down. Its the game industry. Nobody cares about you. Buy the system that has the games you want and shut the fuck up!

crono141 @ Oct 11th 2006 1:24PM

The rabid fanboyism is getting way out of hand on here as of late. Perhaps its all the hype leading up to the launches of two of the most anticipated pieces of hardware in video game history, but its getting old.

If I have to hear DocWho or darryl say ANYTHING "FTL" again, I swear I'm gonna scream, get fired, and then scream again.

Seriously, fanboys, unless you have logic to back up anything you're saying (or its really witty), don't say anything.

nick @ Oct 11th 2006 1:30PM

hopefully we get the details tonight!

crono141 @ Oct 11th 2006 1:34PM

"The lied"

Sounds like a bad horror movie...

Or just bad grammer from a sony fanbot who can't think for himself, and lets sony do all the thinking.

Not a good idea in recent years, since they can't really think either.

dsub @ Oct 11th 2006 1:41PM

I have heard anything from thursday to monday. Basically it will work just like the PS3 did. The store manager will get a call from the big wigs telling them pre-orders will start tommorrow and how many they can take. Then the story will hit the net and lines will form.

They said they would have started both at once, but they only wanted to deal with "one headache at a time" and didn't want to much chaos going on at once.

The night of the 17th will be a madhouse at EB's across the country. Burning Crusade and PS3 launch the same day...they already have 85 pre-orders for Burning Crusade at my EB. The only other game we've ever sold that hit those numbers was Halo 2. Which created a line of 240 people who had it pre-ordered outside the store at midnight.

moonshine775 @ Oct 11th 2006 1:53PM

hey jet wat gamestop or eb game store was it that the manager said $50 down and 50 systems available? City and state

moonshine775 @ Oct 11th 2006 1:55PM

hey jet my email is moonshine775@aol.com. hit me back thanks.

nodnetni @ Oct 11th 2006 2:06PM

May not need the pre order, but I am still going to get one, I will be out of town for the launch. I will try to get one where i will be but that is not a for sure i will get one. So I will get the pre-order as a back up. shoot if i get too I am sure I will be able to unload one of them, and unlike the PS3 people I will not be doing to make mad profit.

darryl @ Oct 11th 2006 2:13PM

"Not that I wanted to keep it anyways I was hoping for a quick couple thousand on an Ebay sale."

It's called karma, you will not get a PS3 before launch because you're dirty.

Lou D @ Oct 11th 2006 2:16PM

I pre-ordered 3 Wii at F.Y.E. almost a month ago for $50 each.

samred @ Oct 11th 2006 2:22PM

Question: If I pre-order on Friday, does this lock me into a fixed bundle? Or merely the console by itself at $250? Anyone with high-up info, please clarify so that I know whether or not I need to lay down any other pre-orders. Thanks!

Proud to be a Wiitard @ Oct 11th 2006 2:30PM

I will be preordering as soon as possible.

TxdoHawk @ Oct 11th 2006 2:31PM

I think pre-ordering is the smart move if you absolutely need a system day 1. It's hard to judge how the masses are going to react to the Wii though. Hype seems big on the message boards, but the average person's voice isn't going to be heard on there, and the unwashed masses are going to determine the bulk of sales.

So, my ultimate opinion is that the necessity of a pre-order is anyone's guess.

michael @ Oct 11th 2006 2:38PM

My local EBGames told me that they were giving priority pre-order status on the Wii system to people who pre-ordered games. So I went in yesterday and put 20 bucks down on Zelda. We'll see what happens.

crono141 @ Oct 11th 2006 2:48PM

Can it be true?

Did DocWho get banned?

I've been calling my local EB everyday since sept 14th asking if I can pre-order a wii.

Needless to say, I'll be pre-ordering a wii. My buddy pre-order Zelda: TP for me when it was supposed to come out last christmas on GC, but we've moved that Pre-order to the wii version.

Long story short, I'll get 2 games for wii for free, and Red Steel I'll gladly shell out money for.

Hoffer @ Oct 11th 2006 2:49PM

I'm going to go to Gamestop during lunch on Friday. I will be placing a preorder on a Wii.

Proud to be a Wiitard @ Oct 11th 2006 3:08PM

crono141, I love you. "The lied" made me laugh quite a bit

Sync @ Oct 11th 2006 5:36PM

I will be at Gamestop on Friday then, from the looks of the launch titles, (and the titles sometime after). Nintendo has sold me on my console of choice this winter.

This isn't an easy decision since in the past Sony has treated me well with demos and freebies from there Playstation GAP members club. The Playstation brand has withered since the launch of the Xbox and the crushing success of the Nintendo DS. From a truly gamer stand point the games for either of these consoles are as follows:

Nintendo Wii:

- Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- Red Steel
- Madden 07 (the one that EA had to be “creative” for a change)
- Excite Truck
- Call of Duty 3 ( I would rather try this on the Wii )
- Wii Play (with Duck Hunt!)
- Wii Sports (duh it comes with the $250 price tag)
- Virtual Console (20+ plus games at launch)

PLAYSTATION 3: (note the caps Sony)

- Sonic the Hedgehog… (wait it got pushed back)
- Ridge Racer 7

Xbox 360 (this fall for the heck of it):

- Guitar Hero II
- Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova
- Phantasy Star Universe
- Star Trek: Legacy
- Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Also a Wii game but a traditional controller would be better!)
- Gears of War…. Maybe… (I don’t trust that CliffyB guy.) 

Remember, the console is only as the games that are available for it…

Rob Feng @ Oct 11th 2006 7:03PM

I actually already got a preorder this morning for Wii at an EbGames. There isn't a SKU yet even for the system so they put the preorder cost on a game and I was told to go to the store some time next week to switch it over to the actual system SKU. There were as many Wii units as PS3 units (16 at the specific store i am talking about) the day before.

Anyways, my hunch is Friday is official official but today was the unadvertised.

mgs0lid @ Oct 11th 2006 7:24PM

Ill see you there at 6am :) cough cough "sells ps3"

abm @ Oct 11th 2006 7:50PM

If you are in Canada, Zellers (and possible parent company HBC) has had their pre-order for the Wii for about a week now - ordered mine on the 5th. Unfortunately, because they don't normally do pre-orders they required the entire amount of the console paid up front - plus a 2 game bundle. Now I am sure there will be no shortages, but I've been wrong before, and the nearest EB a$$holes are an hour's drive away.

Seriously garbage bundle tho - Excite Truck and Rayman and no discount - $399 cdn total, plus out 14% kick to the balls sales tax.

chudgoo @ Oct 11th 2006 8:29PM

Joystiq Poll idea...
"What will you do with your PS3?"

"Keep it. MGS4 comes out 'late' 2007!"
"Sell it. Wii60 here I come!"
"What's a PS3?"

Mouths of Babez @ Oct 11th 2006 10:58PM

#32- They've been saying that for the past six months at an eb games in Chicago. But somehow I doubt my 5$ on Trauma Center would get me a preorder a week from now if they've already met their quota before then. Just be careful not to fall victim to misinformation.

Which brings me to my question. Has anyone preordered at ebgames or gamestop before? I never have, and was wondering if the preorders are first come first serve. Meaning If I am the 35th person to preorder out of 50, and by chance that store gets 35 consoles, would I still be guaranteed to get one? Or do I have to wait in another line on midnight of the 19th?

Sushi316 @ Oct 12th 2006 2:14AM

It is going to be this Friday morning. Trust Me.

Gamestop and EBGames are most emphatically not in for the forced Bundles (except online) and any store that tries to tell you that you need to reserve games, or that reserving games will get you higher up on the priority list needs to be reported. Just ask for their Customer Service line. Same being said, if anyone tells you that you can reserve a system by putting money down on a game and they will switch it over for you is committing fraud.

36, As for the Preorders, When it comes to the games, the store are definitely sent an amount to cover pre-orders and additional copies. Hence, why they want people to preorder. It guarantees that there are more copies in the stores for more people. No preorder mean less total copies available.
As for the systems, they decided to wait later in the game to start the preorders, so that another incident like the XBox360 doesnt happen, and many preorders were taken and then unable to be filled due to lack of supply. With the PS3 and Wii, stores are being given exact numbers and being told not to reserve more than their allocations. and it is being tracked very carefully, so stores do not exceed their allocations. Stores that do that will not get next shipment allocations. So, if you go into a store and get a reservation, unless Production is halted, the truck falls into a bottomless pit, or you wait until after 48 hours of launch to go pick it up, you will have a system there for you at launch.

And with that, though I know this isnt the place, I really would like to get a list of stores that have been offering these "special" game for Wii reserves.