2AM: The Wii/PS3 lines form and spots are for sale

84 Comments by Alexander Sliwinski Dec 17th 2006 2:15AM
Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Business

In front of stores all across the country the lines are forming for today's down-to-the-wire purchases of Wii and PS3 for the holiday. Rumor had it that many stores were holding on to their shipments from last week to begin selling tomorrow morning to coincide with the Sunday flyer advertisements -- an archaic concept for sure, but that was the rumor.

We stopped by the Dedham, MA Best Buy this evening to see what was going on. Although there was no confirmation of any PS3s on premises, they did have a printout with a confirmed count of 24 Wiis. At 1AM there were only 14 people waiting outside, however three of them were willing to sell their spots. Alicia, Morgan and Norman are ready to give up their spot for $75. Alicia says, "As college students you're going to be doing stupid stuff anyway, at least this way we'll be making money off of it."

On the other hand we met Joe who was waiting outside in the 31 degree (-1 C) weather because of the Wii's good buzz, he says, "I'm gonna be completely honest, I didn't want the Wii, but my friend got one at launch and he can't stop talking about it. So, I figure, for $250 -- why not?" Joe already purchased Zelda, now he just needs the system to play it on.

You reading Joystiq out there in the cold on your mobile device? Planning to go out? Let us know! Good luck campers!

Tags: camping, christmas, holiday, ps3, wii

(Page 1) Reader Comments

Ryan: Dec 17th 2006; 2:28AM

Just wanted to wish everyone trying to get a Wii tomorrow good luck, cuz they'll need it. I already have a Wii, and I love downloading classic games I missed out on with the Virtual Console. And of course, there's Zelda, which, after playing it, makes it hard to go back playing anything else because anything else seems to pale in comparison and feels less fun. Just my opinion, though.

Again, good luck everyone!

mietha CAG: Dec 17th 2006; 2:40AM

I got my PS3 on Friday, thank god. I don't have to worry about this crap anymore. Good luck to all campers though, as long as it's actually to play it. All ebay jackasses can kindly get frostbite.

kelekod: Dec 17th 2006; 2:40AM

I'll be joining the campers at open though.. not for Wii or PS3, but for a frickin nunchuck.. I hear those rare things will be present tomorrow as well.

The guy at target said the nunchuck is harder to find the Wii itself.

startled: Dec 17th 2006; 2:44AM

60GB PS3s have already dropped to $720 on ebay, so it's not even worth waiting in line.

OTOH, Wiis are still almost $500 on ebay.

Morgan: Dec 17th 2006; 2:54AM

Norman's HAAWT.

TopaZ: Dec 17th 2006; 2:59AM

Anyone have reports from L.A. area? I was hoping to hit up Walmart, Circuit City, and Gamestop at 6/8/10am respectively, but one hour is my camping limit :)

Negativecool: Dec 17th 2006; 3:00AM

Did that guy just say "I didn't want the Wii...for $250--why not?"...

I sure hope this idjit didn't complain about a 500-600 dollar PS3. Makes ya wonder if price is really that big of an issue...when there is a guy out there that'll part with 250 for the hell of it.

Ritz: Dec 17th 2006; 3:25AM

Negativecool, I think he is getting the Wii as an impulse buy, due to how cheap the console is compared to, specificly, the PS3.

Silent Xenocide: Dec 17th 2006; 3:36AM

God damnit! I can't find a Wii anywhere. Does anyone know how I can get one? When I ask the places when they are getting their next shipment they say "Sorry we can't give out that information" or they say they don't know.

Andy: Dec 17th 2006; 3:45AM

I'm going out now. It's 3:45AM, so hopefully there won't be too many lines out there. I have about 5 stores to choose from, so hopefully at least one will be available...

tony: Dec 17th 2006; 3:52AM

i got my wii two weeks ago. waited 4 hours. good luck to all the wii campers. and have a merry Christmas.

disguised: Dec 17th 2006; 3:54AM

I'm surprised that some people still can't get the nunchuk. I ordered 2 of mine directly from Nintendo a couple weeks after the launch and they arrived in less than a week.

SquirrelPhister: Dec 17th 2006; 3:58AM

6. TopaZ:
"Anyone have reports from L.A. area? I was hoping to hit up Walmart, Circuit City, and Gamestop at 6/8/10am respectively, but one hour is my camping limit :)"

I drove past the Best Buy at Santa Monica + La Brea around 11pm, and there was a line with about 5 people in it. I didn't see anyone in front of the EB games. i'm guessing you'll be fine if you get there when the stores open, but who knows with these things anymore

TopaZ: Dec 17th 2006; 4:10AM

Thanks, Squirrel for the update. I'm in the ghetto too, so in general there's always shorter lines here. In fact our local Target had 60G ps3's on the floor all day long today.

Hinkmania: Dec 17th 2006; 4:33AM

I saw a couple of people camped out at one of the best buys here in san diego, it's not freezing but it's certainly not hot here.

Imagebboy: Dec 17th 2006; 5:29AM

I work for Gamestop in the Portland Oregon/ Vancouver Washington area, and I can say that our store has 5 Wii available. My friend just showed up to get his spot in line, hes the only one there. If you are in the area and want one the Hillsboro Gamestop on TV HWY is waiting!

w()()ter: Dec 17th 2006; 6:46AM

Just got my Wii ticket from best buy 30 minutes ago, been waiting since 7pm saturday, i was #3 out of 18 systems and we had 27 people in line when the tickets were handed out.

Adam: Dec 17th 2006; 7:08AM

I just got back from Wii hunting and I am not totally empty handed. My adventure started at target which when I got there at 4AM I was 16th and a guy that worked there said they only had 15 systems. I left there and tried EB which had the same story I was 16 again with only 15 systems. Another target had a line of 50 already. Finally I was ready to give up when I thought of Kmart (Nobody thinks of Kmart), so I showed up there and there was only one lady in line. The place opened at 6 and by that time there was only 7 in line with me at the #2 spot. Unfortunately the manager came out and said they didn't get their shipment. Lucky for me and the lady in front of me she took down the first two people's names and numbers and told us they would call us when the shipment came in and hold our systems for 24 hours. WOO HOO!! That's a lot better than most of the people will be getting today. Good luck to the rest of ya.

Cam: Dec 17th 2006; 7:17AM

in Detroit...two Best Buy's, one target and circuit city...all sold out :D...I still got one though

Gumper: Dec 17th 2006; 7:31AM

Yeah no luck here in Louisville, KY. 6 at Gamestop, 5 at EB, 30 at Target. Of course all had more people than consoles. I am going to try my luck with the Amazon Lottery. I am certainly not giving anyone the luxury of paying double to some idiot on Ebay looking to exploit the shortage just to make a buck. If I wanted to spend that much green I woulda' bought a PS3.

Seraphim: Dec 17th 2006; 7:34AM

Hey, I got my Wii at launch, but I had to camp too. Good luck to all those brave souls out there, I hope you all get what you are waiting in line for!

Merwii Christmas to all!

(I bet all the parents all over the world are wishing Santa was real right about now)

TopaZ: Dec 17th 2006; 7:38AM

Santa's not real?!? You f***er!!

BludChyld: Dec 17th 2006; 7:51AM

Anyone hear any word on Circuit City's not having the number of systems they advertised in their Sunday ads? Got in line at 4:30AM here in Trenton, sign on door said only 8 available, even though ads say "at least 20 per store." I was #11, so stuck around, just in case the sign was wrong. Manager came out around 6:30 to apologize, and said Nintendo shorted their orders. My brother was #18 in line at a CC in Delaware, and got told they only have 16.

elflaco: Dec 17th 2006; 8:09AM

Just got home from a target. They only had 15 systems. The best buy in the area had 24. The Toys R Us seemed to have a lot, like 75 supposedly. The Circuit City only had like 3. The two Gamestops in the area had like 3 or 4 each. This was at the Green Acres mall. I did not end up with one. Guess I'll wait until next year, unless someone has any ideas of a place in or near jamaica, new york that got a large shipment.

heretrix: Dec 17th 2006; 8:42AM

I guess I did the right thing then...

I bought the Wii, like the guy in the article, as an impulse buy.. I wanted one, but not that bad..The day before Thanksgiving I decided to walk by the Nintendo store on the way to work..

The line wasn't that long, I waited about 30 minutes and walked away with a Wii and Zelda with no problem....And they had plenty of accessories...Except a friggin component cable, which still baffles me..I mean, come on, not even a Svideo cable was available..

I realize not everyone has a HDTV like I do, but damn, TV's with Svideo inputs have been available for years even for the crappiest of TVs...

Michael: Dec 17th 2006; 8:49AM

I camped out at the Target in State College, PA. I was the first in line at 8pm the night before, and by 9pm all 15 spots were taken.

CGL: Dec 17th 2006; 8:56AM

I was one of the people waiting for this batch. I waited outside Target from 11 to 8. I was number 9 out of 12 and I am so glad I got my Wii. I didn't think I would get one until the end of January. I also saw some PS3's that there was not a line for. To bad I can't play until Christmas. P.S.: pardon any bad spelling, I'm in a bit of a haze right now.

TheDrizzle: Dec 17th 2006; 8:59AM

Just got back from Target in South Jersey. They had 15 Wii's. I got in line at 7:45pm last night and I was #7.
We kept telling people that there were only 15 units but people kept lining up. We had over 70 people in line when they handed out the 15 tickets... Two people sold spots in line for $150 each. We also had one arrest, which was cool because I had just watched “Ho Ho Ho Cops” on Fox and it was nice to see it in Ultra high definition, true to life resolution.
The girl was so drunk (she was #5) when #11 asked her "What are you on?" and she flipped out. #11 called the cops. Cops came settled both parties down and left. 20 minutes later #5 calls the cops and says people are underage drinking. Long story short #5 got arrested for disorderly conduct and #16 was happy as a pig in sh*t that he didn't leave when we told him they only had 15. Oh and there was a Poo Tree......not good at all. But I got my Wii so screw #5 and the poo tree

heretrix: Dec 17th 2006; 9:01AM

"Guess I'll wait until next year, unless someone has any ideas of a place in or near jamaica, new york that got a large shipment."

Go into manhattan and try the Nintendo store...Although I must admit, this time of year you might not be as lucky as I was..Go early in the morning, they open at 8am and they usually get a lot. They are the homebase afterall..And If you've never been, it's a pretty cool store..It's a lot of fun..

OldElvis: Dec 17th 2006; 9:12AM

Finally got one, this was the third time I was out in line. I got at 2:30AM, and by 5 AM all 42 of the wiis @ Toys R Us were gone. This is for the kids. Next door neighbor was in line with me and is listing it on Ebay as we speak. The guys at best buy ( 20 on the door) were lined as soon at 2PM Yestreday. # 21 was there 10:30 last night.

kelekod: Dec 17th 2006; 9:17AM

When I went to Gamecrazy, they said the nunchucks are still filling preorders. I saw a few down at school, but I didn't have the money to buy them (now I do as I sold my books back). Here at home, I called like 6 targets, 3 best buys, 2 Toys R Us, 6 EB games/Gamestops and went to the local Game Crazy, and Circuit city. Every where was out of nunchucks, a few places had the regular Wii Mote. Any heads up for nunchucks in Chicago-suburbs area?

MC Hampster: Dec 17th 2006; 9:52AM

For those of you looking for Wii nunchuks, I would recommend ordering them from Nintendo directly:

http://store.nintendo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&langId=-1¤cy=USD&ignoreCrumbs=N&crumb1=&crumb1Ignore=&crumb2=%253CA%2BHREF%253D%2522javascript%253APassOn%2528%2527X%2527%252C%2B%2527ChooseView%2527%252C%2527%2527%252C%2B%2527%2527%2529%253B%2522%253EWii%253C%252FA%253E&crumb2Ignore=&crumb3=&crumb3Ignore=&translateFrom=%C8%C9%C7&translateTo=EEC&usrSearchText=&searchText=&selSrchType=&page=&view=&productId=117707&categoryId=62705&lastAction=ProductDisplay&orderTotal=null

I ordered them a week and a half ago (and back then they were still saying they would be shipping them on the 18th of December). I received them last Thursday on the 14th. Be warned though that the nunchuks you get from them don't come in the detail packaging and instead of in simple bags with a cardboard seal that says "Official Nintendo Accessory" or something like that. I ordered 3 of them.

Chaz: Dec 17th 2006; 9:54AM

So my sister went out there on my behalf since I'm at school. 4 AM apparently isn't early enough for these things anymore. Our Best Buy had 24, but the line was already there. Toys R' Us had about 15, same story. Target a few, same story. EBGames had 10, but of course, same story. I hope there's one last shipment this week at the EBGames or GameStop in my mall or I get lucky on the Amazon lottery.

Andy: Dec 17th 2006; 9:59AM

I got to Toys R Us around 4:15AM, and I was 18th in line. By the time 8 rolled around, there was 50+ people in line. There was about 20 consoles though, so I got one :).

TopaZ: Dec 17th 2006; 10:16AM

No lines at my local ghetto Wal-Mart and Kmart (6am and 7am respectively)... But No Wii's either. LoL. Oh well, I got 3 PS3s :)

porkepik: Dec 17th 2006; 10:23AM

Still anybody believing nintendo will ship 4 million by years end. I don't think there will even be 1 million total in north anmerica, a bit like Sony saying 2 million shipped by year end lol. Come on their technology should be easy to produce but I suppose they don't have the building lines sony has. So nintnedo easy to produce but no lines,Sony hard to produce and too much lines waiting for blue diodes :)

Double Diz: Dec 17th 2006; 10:41AM

Got to my local Circuit City in Orlando (the one near Millenia Mall, there are tons of CC around here) around 2:30. I was #6 for a Wii, getting one for my little sister. They had 17 of each the Wii and the 60g PS3. All the spots for the Wii were taken before anyone lined up for the PS3, which was around 6:30. Almost all the PS3 spots were filled before store opening, but there were a few spots open. The store management generally did a good job at keeping it organized, and they had loads of accessories, classic controllers included.

Grog: Dec 17th 2006; 10:47AM

"36. Still anybody believing nintendo will ship 4 million by years end. I don't think there will even be 1 million total in north anmerica, a bit like Sony saying 2 million shipped by year end lol. Come on their technology should be easy to produce but I suppose they don't have the building lines sony has. So nintnedo easy to produce but no lines,Sony hard to produce and too much lines waiting for blue diodes :)"

I don't think that Nintendo will have 4 million Wiis in stores by January 1st. They might have that many made by then (who knows), but definitely not shipped and ready for sale. At the same time, vgcharts.org is reporting that 2.08 million Wiis have been sold worldwide so far (.99 million in the US), so I think you're wrong about how low the numbers actually are. For that matter, Sony has been saying for weeks that their production problems are fixed, and yet they've only sold .79M worldwide. Either way, I expect the numbers to jump dramatically after this weekend since stores have been hoarding consoles for the past couple of weeks to sell today. The numbers I've seen have been launch-like in many cases.

My guess is we'll have 3.2-3.5 Wiis sold by January 1st and 1.5-1.8 PS3s.

Pete: Dec 17th 2006; 10:57AM

Man, sleeping in with an Xbox 360 has never felt so good. I'm kinda glad I don't have the money for a Wii, I know would've been out there.

Adam Blinkinsop: Dec 17th 2006; 11:07AM

@Imagebboy -- Do you have any left? Everywhere else in Hillsboro's sold out.

Th4tGuy: Dec 17th 2006; 11:25AM

Yeah, I wanted to camp out, but I didn't...kept my hope up while playing my 360, and my Wii came on the 13th, good luck to you guys camping. I've still gotta find 2 more wii-motes and 3 nunchuks.

Darkness: Dec 17th 2006; 11:33AM

Glad I camped for a Wii on launch day. Would be a pain to get one now. Now if I could only find a classic controller... :(

Mike: Dec 17th 2006; 11:51AM

Went out to Circuit City (in Maine) at 5 a.m. I was number 8 in line for 9 systems. It was actually pretty fun. Our line was in a really good mood and I walked away with a Wii!

Jeff: Dec 17th 2006; 11:59AM

I got one on launch day at a Gamestop...with no camping. I just waited in line for a preorder 2 weeks before...it only took me an hour. Then I got my Wii at midnight on launch day. I love life.

Turo: Dec 17th 2006; 12:00PM

omg i waited 11 hours in line for a wii (i already have one) and i sold my spot for an easy $100. im going to go die now and maybe wake up tomorrow

Eric Bostrom: Dec 17th 2006; 12:04PM

I was at target @ 5:30 am, they only had 15 units. bbuy 3 doors down only had 24... that line stretched around the building. I decided to wait @ target just in case they had more units than they thought. There really was only 15 units. They had 12 pair of wiimote/nunchucks, so I stuck around when the voucher people left, and was first in the store. I got one set of nunchuk/wiimote, elebits and zelda for when I do get a wii. I'm glad too, those contorllers have been every bit as scarce.

I think I may have been one of very few people in the 60+ line that was getting a unit just to play with it. Everyone else seemed to be a parent waiting for their kid.

porkepik: Dec 17th 2006; 12:17PM

That's really nice if the wii has already sold 1 million in the us , it deserves it , I also agree the number will increase greatly after this w-e but don't think they will (sony either) reach their estimate by the end of the year. Well The only thing i'm glad is in about a month i will easily (or nearly easily) enter a store and buy a wii or PS3 without having to wait in line for 10hours. I don't care for christmas gift and don't want to wait, a day of overtime pays me a wii easily (in fact nearly a ps3) SO i much prefer work and wait another month before buying.

Robert Jung: Dec 17th 2006; 12:41PM

My personal guess is that Nintendo will almost reach their 4-million-by-end-of-the-year goal -- probably about 3.5m or so. The folks who try to compare the Wii's availability to the PS3's are ignoring the Wii's appeal beyond hardcore gamers; not everyone will cough up $500-$600 for a PS3, but with non-gamers actually playing the Wii and getting hooked, there's a sh*tload more people contending for the Wii that even 4 million won't be enough.

And I got mine two weeks ago (got up at 5am and was third in line), so now I'm glad I avoided the longer lines this weekend... ;-)

--R.J.

Yucen: Dec 17th 2006; 12:49PM

Yeah I went out this mornign at 4 oclock to my local best buy only to find the line full, then I drove out to another nearby Best Buy in Ednia,MN and found that there were only 10 people ahead of me. I ended up getting a Wii, an extra controller and nunchuck, zelda and excitetruck. It was pretty cold, but totally worth it

MachRc: Dec 17th 2006; 12:54PM

DUde I was # 31 in the *official* line "out side of todai (displayed on both the eb stores)at my local mall. But since mall doors were not opened til 8 and other lines couldn't see the sign(their excuse) first 12 in line for the 3 lines that formed around the mall got tickets to line out at the stores..

I am teh Sad.

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