We hear you, no more Wii at the inn
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Nov 19th 2006 at 3:30PM }
Just one of the many launch day stories we have of the Wii being sold out:Buying a Wii on launch day (trying to) OR :"Why you can't get freaking anything without camping out until midnight anymore."
As I walked into the Best Buy in Farmington, New Mexico, fifteen minutes after it had opened, I was greeted by two employees, who were repeatedly shouting, "WHEEEEEEEEEE!" over and over again. They were standing behind a table that had boxes on it, so I figured this was the right place, and walked over.
"You sir, you look as though you could use a Wii hat," said the first one.
"Why do you need a Wii hat you ask?" The second one butted in. They obviously had a routine going.
"Good question! It keeps your head warm!"
"It boosts your confidence!"
"You can store games in it, all this and more."
"You should pick up a Wii hat right now!" One of them said, lifting up one of the boxes he had at his table, which I could now see did not contain Wiis, but instead had Wii hats inside them.
"Especially since we have no more Wiis in stock," the other mumbled very quickly.
They went back to shouting "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" as I shuffled back to my car.
[Thanks Srol]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Joseph Villalobos @ Nov 19th 2006 3:41PM
Got Wii?! I do! Do you? That's right! I was able to score not only one, but the LAST one at my local Target since I got the last ticket. How awesome is that!?!
Zweibel @ Nov 19th 2006 3:40PM
Over at our Best Buy we only had 24 Wiis with 70 people in line. Needless to say, quite a few people ended up leaving empty handed including myself. This made me quite the sad panda. =[
Cabcru @ Nov 19th 2006 3:49PM
Were either of them suffering loss of blood from knife wounds? They should have been.
Hats?!
jmatt @ Nov 19th 2006 3:50PM
So wait: it's news that the Wii is sold out on launch day? NO WAY! [/sarcasm]
AirIntake @ Nov 19th 2006 3:53PM
My Future Shop had no Wii anything! They had posters advertising the launch, but there were no systems, games, or accessories of any kind anywhere. I find it hard to believe they sold out of everything. It's more likely the shipment didn't come! Burn!
Pipper @ Nov 19th 2006 3:58PM
Nintendo sold their entire 2 million shipment on launch day? Is that some sort of mega record or what? I was expecting to be able to just walk in anywhere and pick one up since, you know, 2 million units to NA. But damn. Hopefully they can make these things faster, this thing might break 10m by end of march, holy crap.
otakucode @ Nov 19th 2006 3:58PM
I asked one of the guys that worked at Toys R Us if someone came in later today, say like 3PM or so, and asked for a Wii, if they'd get in trouble if they just pointed and laughed at the person... he said he thought they would.
Radon @ Nov 19th 2006 3:58PM
I tried everywhere, my local Futureshop had 35 units but there was about 40 people their when I showed up at 5:30...
Cry Havoc @ Nov 19th 2006 4:07PM
Snagged a Wii. I got to my local Wal-mart around 11:30 AM yesterday, waited over 12 hours in line. I was 13th in line, and the store had 20 systems. The exprience was compounded by the fact that I have an upper respiratory infection, but hey, no pain, no Wii.
Picked up a Remote, Chuck, and Zelda along with what comes with a Wii.
About 35-40 showed up, though most left when they were told that there were already the max number of people in line.
Definitely worth it. Had a blast with the people in line. Watched some LotR on my laptop, played some Advance Wars: Dual Strike via wifi, etc.
Back I go to play some Twilight Princess. And maybe shower.
/mmm, shower
kelekod @ Nov 19th 2006 4:08PM
I was at my GameCrazy yesterday and found out I was 14th on the list, they had only 11 units. He said to expect a call this week when the shipment of 3-5 comes in.
Zixaphir @ Nov 19th 2006 4:11PM
My friend camped out. I IMed him on his Cell Phone before I hit the sack. He was fifth person in line at... Target, I think. I'm pretty sure he got a Wii, cause he hasn't been online today.
michael @ Nov 19th 2006 4:12PM
i went to a couple of walmarts last night after work (i had to work so i couldn't stand in any lines) and they were all sold out but hey, atleast i'll have my copy of zelda TP :/
Max @ Nov 19th 2006 4:14PM
I got a Wii, and I'm letting your mom play with it.
lolololololololoLOLOL
geekjutsu @ Nov 19th 2006 4:23PM
We showed up at the nearby Target 2 hours before open and were told all 81 slots were taken.
A lot of people there seemed much older than the launch crowd we were expecting.
I am thinking eBay-ers.
My friend only got one cause she camped at Wal-Mart back home since Midnight last night.
I can always wait though.
I still have games like Guitar Hero 2 and Elite Beat Agents to tie my over until next shipment.
LordBug @ Nov 19th 2006 4:29PM
Got to my local Meijer at noon on Saturday to get one of the last slots they had (17 total). Walked out at 12:30 with a Wii, Wiimote, Nunchuk, Zelda, and Monkey Ball. They had 15 controllers and 15 nunchuks come in.
syco @ Nov 19th 2006 4:30PM
I live in the central district of Seattle, and I woke up at around opening time and drove up to the closest Best Buy in Northgate. I got there about an hour after opening, and they and the adjacent Target were closed. I then drove to the nearest 4 or so Fred Meyer's (which for non-west-cost people, is like a Walmart that doesn't suck) None of them had it. At this point I decided to drive back home and call places. I got home about 30 minutes ago and called every Best Buy and Fred Meyer between Tacoma and Mt. Vernon. NOTHING!
Now, a friend of mine had been in line at a gamestop (with no preorder, mind you) last night at midnight and was turned away, but they had a Nintendo Representive there (since Nintendo HQ is right across the lake), and he suggested going to Fred Meyer and such in the morning. This led me to believe that it wouldn't be that hard, so I didn't wait in line (it was rainy and cold this morning). Now I wish I had.
I wanted to play Zelda today, I asked for the day off of work specifically for that purpose. BLARG!
Geographical Idea of Area of Wiilessness:
http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=2214+South+48th+St,+Tacoma,+WA+98409+(Best+Buy+Tacoma)+%4047.213571,-122.465117&daddr=1851+Market+St,+Burlington,+WA+98233+(Best+Buy)+%4048.450896,-122.338403&f=l&hl=en&dq=Best+Buy+loc:+Tacoma&cid=47213571,-122465117,9684136668122392307&ie=UTF8&z=9&om=1
Negativecool @ Nov 19th 2006 4:34PM
So, this is were Nintendo's 200 million dollar marketing budget is going...selling Wii hats in the Wii's sold out absence? Seems like a pretty old school marketing campaign...but who am I to judge.
syco @ Nov 19th 2006 4:31PM
... they weren't closed, they were sold out. Sorry, I'm a bit tired.
Justin @ Nov 19th 2006 4:39PM
I hope they looked like mario hats
Wassy @ Nov 19th 2006 4:45PM
I had my Wii pre-ordered from Toys R Us, so didn't camp this morning. But in gathering my varied pre-orders, I had to hit EB, Toys R Us, and Best Buy. ALL were saying they were sold out of the Wii right after opening. I can't tell you how many times I heard "You didn't have to camp to preorder, you'll get one at launch no problem!" from various people/sources. Now I'm feeling pretty smug >=)
eM @ Nov 19th 2006 4:48PM
But did Srol get a hat? That's what we need to know.
el-indiano @ Nov 19th 2006 4:52PM
i am shocked they all sold out!!! with a poor selling gamecube i didnt think that the wii would have been soo popular...
went to a dozen stores this morning and they were all gone, the funniest think is all the people waiting in line at toys r us (about 100 or more people). what idiot would wait in line for hours not checking before hand to see how many units that particular store has. i wanted to tell all everyone waiting that they will not have enough units for them, surprised the employees didnt either.
well going to try again in a couple of days to see if i can snag one when the new shipments arrive.
Jon @ Nov 19th 2006 4:56PM
Well I got a wii! I got it home, hooked it up! and.....IT DOSENT WORK!!! the motion sensing part of the wiimote doesnt work!!! My brother got one also and we hooked his up and it worked fine. The worst part is, when I call nintendo, it says there experiencing a high volume of calls. Is anyone else having this problem?!
Grant @ Nov 19th 2006 4:57PM
walked into my local Wal-Mart at five after midnight and snagged #17 of 20. I didn't have to wait at all.
James @ Nov 19th 2006 5:00PM
I showed up about 5 minutes after the last guy got in line at Wal Mart. Needless to say I was disappointed, but this will give me a bit more quality time with Gears.
Damn you Butte. You and your rule that I have to drive 35 minutes to get to you.
I really should've left much earlier, but I got delayed by some friends, gah.
busydoingnothing @ Nov 19th 2006 5:01PM
I snagged my Wii at Best Buy this morning. I called last night around 10PM, they said they had 87 ready to go and at that point, about 10 people were already in line. I rolled the dice and showed up at around 2:30AM. I was #57 in line. Technically I could have showed up later, as the people who showed up around 5AM and maybe even 6AM made the cut. It was a great, but freezing experience; it was nice to hang out amongst fellow nerds. We all agreed that these companies need to start releasing consoles in the summer :)
Earlier in the evening I had stopped at a few Wal-Marts and a few Meijers, all of which had the lines filled. I called the Toys R Us that was opening at midnight. They said they had 100 units and 150 people in line. Yowzahs.
I have to laugh at all the people who thought, "Yeah, I'm gonna waltz into Sunday afternoon and pick one up." Don't underestimate the power of Nintendo. I think it's pretty damn amazing that they sold out of their entire initial shipment. Did they really ship 1 million units?
Knoxximus @ Nov 19th 2006 5:02PM
I waited at the Target that was rumored to have over a hundred Wii's...and the rumors were true! I got there at 1230 am and the doors opened at 8. I got ticket #52. Last night was a HOOT though! These guys had rented a gas powered generator and were running 2 19" screens....one with SSBM all night long, and the other with a PS2 running fighting games (CVS2, GGXX, SF3, etc). I mean these, dudes had homemade arcade sticks and all, THEN had laid down shopping carts to sit on and propped their sticks up on fold-up TV dinner tables. You had to see it to believe it. I'm in Vegas, so the weather was relatively mild.
To top it off, one of the generator boys had brought a hot plate, and was grilling hamburgers for everyone all night long. We started calling him the "Burger Prince", as we all know who the King is LOL! He would literally just pop up with a burger in his hand like, "You want a burger?" hahaha!
I'ma try to get some pics of all this awesomeness soon. Overall, spirits where high, and of the 100+ people in line, not ONE admitted to buying for profit. Totally different vibe from PS3 lines with those asshats.
I already have a Wii reserved at Game Crazy, so I really just stood in line to hang out with my buddies, make some new ones, and maybe get a nunchuck. Sure enough though, when I got in the store, I still bought the damn system LOL!! Oh well, I'll give it to my girlfriend for Christmas, since she got McDonalds for me, my 2 friends, and 8 other people she didn't know at about 5:30 this morning. I'm gonna show her just how awesome I think she is!
Kuan @ Nov 19th 2006 5:04PM
My Target got 69 Wiis. Over 100 people waited through the night. I waited over 15 hours. In the morning about another 50 to 60 people showed up before the doors opened. There were police there (2) and they directed all those extras to leave. There was no riot or anything crazy and it was actually really fun.
LK @ Nov 19th 2006 5:06PM
So if the Wii sold out while having more supplied than the PS3, Wii sold higher than the PS3.
msdarnell @ Nov 19th 2006 5:15PM
Holy crap. I live in Farmington, NM. I got my Wii from the EB though.
Feanor @ Nov 19th 2006 5:18PM
You must be top of the class in the third grade, well done.
socrates @ Nov 19th 2006 5:17PM
"29. So if the Wii sold out while having more supplied than the PS3, Wii sold higher than the PS3."
And isn't that what really matters? Not games or enjoying them, but petty, petty disputes.
And syco - I totally miss Fred Meyers. Oregon/Washington resident transplanted to Boston...I miss having a megastore so warm and cuddly. In fact, I was even a Courtesy Clerk (aka, cart pusher) there in high school.
Feanor @ Nov 19th 2006 5:19PM
#29.
matt @ Nov 19th 2006 5:25PM
At gamecrazy, I was told i was number 7 for the preorder a few weeks ago. I get there last night and they say sorry, we forgot to mention that we gave away preorders in august. Damnit! Well at least I can look my my shiny new twighlight princess wii disk.
Mack Daddy @ Nov 19th 2006 5:37PM
Yeah, I rolled out of bed at 7:30 am this morning... walk over to my computer, went to costco.com and bought a Wii..in less than 5 minutes.. I then walked back and rolled into bed. It was really tough... :)
hegemonyhoT I @ Nov 19th 2006 5:45PM
I just look back on all those people who thought that launching two days after the PS3 was the worst idea ever...and I enjoy my wireless controller as Link knocks down beehives for his villager friends.
The interesting thing this Christmas will be 360 sellthrough - with PS3 being a virtual nonfactor in terms of real sales, does the 360 step into the powerhouse system slot, or do people flock to the Wii? (Or, do they buy up silver PS2s and copies of Guitar Hero?)
Oruri-san @ Nov 19th 2006 5:52PM
This might sound interesting, but there's 20k items of Nintendo Wii in the Ebay atm. Don't know how many of them is fake though. But even then, surprisingly low number after taking into consideration how many Wiis went on sale.
Ben @ Nov 19th 2006 5:54PM
I went to my local Wal-Mart at around 2:30 in the afternoon on Saturday. Yea 20 Wii's, 20 pp already in line. So I went home, called up the Target thats 30 minutes down the road, and they have 24 of them, with no line yet. Except I had to wait till 8 in the morning, no midnight release. So I grab my stuff and hurry over there a lo a behold-theres nobody in line. So I hung out in the parking lot and watched Lord of the Rings on my ipod. Then around 11, most of the employees had left, and 2 cars pulled up, so I went up a sat down in a chair in front of the door. Thats right-number one. So I froze until 7 the next morning when they gave us our tickets, and then at 8 I went in. I grabbed Madden 07, Twilight Princess, Red Steel, extra wiimote and nunchuck, and a classic controller. I also got a 20 gift card, so Im gonna try and get a $20 Wii Virtual Console Point thing. I think with 2000 points. I was gonna get Trauma Center but they didnt have it, but I think im gonna go back to Wal-Mart soon. The most unfortunate thing is that I dont get to play it till Christmas. My parents let me pick out all the stuff, then promptly took it away. So yea. That sucks.
Best quote of the day-"Dude, go to the bathroom now, I dont want you wee all over my Wii."
Shannon @ Nov 19th 2006 5:51PM
> Well I got a wii! I got it home, hooked it up! and.....IT DOSENT WORK!!! the motion sensing part of the wiimote doesnt work!!!
Jon, I had this same problem. You need to sync the Wiimote and Wii console together (despite the directions saying they are suppose to be synced already). I synced them up manually and now it works perfectly fine.
Mike @ Nov 19th 2006 6:03PM
you cant get shit now without standing on a line from wednesday to monday feel bad for some of the little kids not being able to get there Wii's imagine a 6 year old kid get socks instead of a Wii and some dude thats 35 and lives with his mom gets a Wii
ThatTomGuy @ Nov 19th 2006 6:05PM
I went to my local Target and got there shortly before 6. I waited until 7am, and I recieved the ticket 156 out of 210.
I waited even longer in the store, about an hour, and finally got my Wii. They were very professional, let us all in the store at 8, and formed a line which snaked around the store, but allowed for shoppers to get through. I don't know about you guys, but I actually had a good experience. I talked to people around me the entire time, and kept the experience pleasant.
Sorry to all those who didn't get one.
sergio @ Nov 19th 2006 6:08PM
I got mine at the Nintendo World store in New York City. They had a huge amount of consoles and the line this morning was hours long. They said that their problem wan't that they didn't have enough Wiis. The problem was that they closed at 6pm and didn't think they could service everyone on line, and this was at 11am. I guess it was good being in NYC during this with two stores (toysrus and nintendo world) having almost 10,000 consoles combined.
Freddy @ Nov 19th 2006 6:08PM
Hopefully they will have more by the Thanksgiving 2-day sale.
Mitchell @ Nov 19th 2006 6:12PM
I just think it is unfair that many gamers who wanted a Wii to play did not get one, rather than the non-gamers who got one and selling it on e-bay.
orson claymore @ Nov 19th 2006 6:19PM
no preorder
no problem
last in line at TARGET
got MADDEN & MONKEYBALL also
and 3 more remotes
no nunchuks left
which is dissapointing
but the sun has just set
and I already got my Dad playing Tennis
and my Mum watching a Photo Slide Show of our last vacation
my 6-year old neice can't stop making Mii's of everyone in the fam
this IS great [more nunchuks would better]
just got a wireless router and am about to see if OPERA is up
*leaves the net for, like, ever to play Wii non-stop again*
Capt. Castellanos @ Nov 19th 2006 6:20PM
my best buy had almost 100 of them
everyone in line got one.
i think theres still some left over.
but i could be wrong.
i got the 19th one!
18 hours in line...
Tom @ Nov 19th 2006 10:10PM
Woke up late at about 7 am, I hopped over to wal-mart which opens at 8am. At that time about 15 or so people were in front of me and my brother. People started popping up until the line had grown to about 50 people a t 7:30. The wal-mart employee informs us that there are 25 units and all the tickets were already given out an hour or two ago. Many stayed hoping those that had the ticket would not come to redeem their Wii by 8:30, I left - there was no point. So immediately I went to the next nearest department store that sold games as well as several best buy. All had lines excess of 50 people except for one with 8 people which turned out that the store was only having 8 units due to them taking preorders beforehand. I came home peeved about having to wait for the next shipment. I get a call at around 10 am from my parents, they scored 2 Wiis from a EB games tucked away in the back of some mall. Sweet.
Unanticipated demand indeed.
LK @ Nov 19th 2006 6:27PM
#32 Yes, I was at the top of my classes in the third grade along with my sernior years in high school. I also was on top of your mom. Yeah.
#31 Yes, it is a petty thing, but I can accurately say Nintendo is beating Sony in this next generation scheme of things. So suck it.
Ryan @ Nov 19th 2006 10:40PM
The Target Greatland store in Apple Valley, MN got 210 (!) units in this morning when they opened at 8 a.m. I showed up at 7:53 and still got one! Although it certainly helps that the temperature almost dropped below zero here in Minnesota last night (discouraged A LOT of campers I think).
coffeesheep @ Nov 19th 2006 7:35PM
I had a preorder(!) from the Nintendo World store in NYC and still couldn't get the thing today...only two registers open and no separate lines make very unhappy people. The fact that they HAD to close at 6 as well seems very shortsighted.