Toys 'R' Us: More PS3s, Wiis before Christmas

by Blake Snow { Dec 18th 2006 at 8:55PM }

Maybe we spoke too soon on the the near-impossible chances of scoring a PS3 and/or Wii at retail before Christmas. In a statement made today, Toys "R" Us claims it has "thousands" of Nintendo Wiis and 6,000 PS3s for the taking this week as 2006 prepares to croak. In an effort to drive would-be console owners to their stores -- which the news will surely do -- the toy retailer opted not to reveal how many "thousands" of Wiis they will receive. How convenient.

But that sounds consistent with previous fast ones Toys "R" Us pulled on consumers when the company baited-and-switched Black Friday shoppers forcing them to purchase a $450 bundle if they indeed wanted the $250 console. Prospective buyers beware.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Blanko4 @ Dec 18th 2006 8:59PM

I'm skeptical, especially since Toysrus canceled my Wii order last week.

Patrick @ Dec 18th 2006 9:00PM

Just remember ... ToysRUs has 580 stores in the US. Thousands / 580 could = 2 per store

NinjaMoose @ Dec 18th 2006 9:04PM

What about Wii remotes? Target claimed that the strap recall has reduced the chances of multi-player Wii by Christmas to zero if you don't already have it.

Catma @ Dec 18th 2006 9:27PM

Interesting, wonder if they are just trying to create hype and get their name out there more or if they actually have some, but this bundle crap when a system is first released is BS. The system will sell itsself, it doesn't need a bundle to be successful

Patrick @ Dec 18th 2006 9:33PM

@4 They don't make bundles to sell the systems .. they make bundles so that you have to pay for crap you don't want. Nobody has a 'Wii + Zelda + Wii-mote' bundle because that would benefit the consumer. You'll probably see a "Wii + 3rd party accessory garbage + crappy game nobody wants + extended warranty" bundle.

Joe Bob Dick @ Dec 18th 2006 9:43PM

It's true, in Killeen, TX they have a glass display where they keep electronics. Among them were several PS3's. I asked the girl if I could buy a 60G and was told "NO, these are not for sale yet. That's why they are not on the shelf, if they were for sale you would see them next to the other consoles." It pissed me off, so I informed the b*tch that glass was f'in see through, and they should find a better place to hord the systems.

KDawg2600 @ Dec 18th 2006 9:46PM

@3 Try ebgames. make sure you ask the workers there if they have any in the back. i went to 3 stores sunday because i figured the "last day to get wii/ps3 stuff" would be the best chance to get controllers and they had none. today a coworker came in saying he picked up 2 wiimotes over lunch. i went over and was able to score some nunchucks and wiimotes. but they weren't on display, i had to ask the guy to check the back.

in short, ebgames may still be getting weird midweek shipments.

Kris Karkoski @ Dec 18th 2006 10:20PM

I thought PS3s were hard to come by this holiday season. There were several chilling at my local wal-mart in the display case. Maybe it was just a fluke or maybe I should buy them and sell them? Just thought it was an interesting find worth of posting.

minboost @ Dec 18th 2006 10:13PM

I was able to score controllers at two local gamestop/eb games with little effort this past weekend. One has 2 nunchucks and a few controllers and the other only had 3 controllers.

If you're going to get a wii anyway, might as well get the controllers now (it's much more fun with multiple controllers).

Radon @ Dec 18th 2006 10:20PM

The strap problem shouldn't affect anything. We got a letter from Nintendo at work stating that as of Dec. 18th (today) all Wii's shipped would have the better strap and that the better strap would ship to early adopters as of the 21st.

Capt. Castellanos @ Dec 18th 2006 10:56PM

hmmm, my local best buy (covina, california)
just got boxes of wii remotes and nunchucks.

haven't seen any VC controllers though
i bought another remote/nunchuck.

there seemed to be tons of those there.
try asking around at your local best buys.

moominsean @ Dec 18th 2006 11:47PM

of course, thousands divided amongst all the stores probably equals 21 per store.

Covenant @ Dec 19th 2006 3:30AM

My St. Louis Best Buy store received 9 PS3s today, out of the blue...sold out in a matter of less than an hour. Interestingly enough, at least three of the buyers stated that they were putting them on ebay for a *snicker* "tidy profit." Guess the joke's on them. Wiis are on order, and we did get Wiimotes in stock tonight, so there's hope before Christmas.

radio_guy @ Dec 19th 2006 3:20AM

@1....that scares me. I ordered my Wii from GS late last week, it is supposed to ship tomorrow. If they cancel my order....well I would rather not speculate.

And yes I got suckered into a massive bundle full of crap I dont want but that's why god invented ebay.

Grey @ Dec 19th 2006 3:54AM

please give information on the UK. there are Joystiq readers in the UK ya know! :(

Jam4Brains @ Dec 19th 2006 4:11AM

You're lucky.
I pre-ordered mine in the UK at the start of October, and I've been told today I won't get it until mid-january.

cypherspace @ Dec 19th 2006 5:17AM

I'm in the UK, and ordered mine from HMV in October - I've been told I should receive it tomorrow.

Yaume @ Dec 19th 2006 6:19AM

Thousands of Nintendo Wiis... but... where are you talking about? US or worldwide? In the article i can't find that, and i'm from Spain and live near a Toy'r'Us so it could be important for non-US readers to know.

Verve @ Dec 19th 2006 7:59AM

I am guessing us by the fact that they are including Ps3's XD

Verve @ Dec 19th 2006 9:05PM

*edit 'us'=United States

upirons @ Dec 19th 2006 8:18AM

I scored a wii-remote yesterday at a gamestop. It was their last one. No nunchuks however. Then I went to this site www.brandnamestoresonline.com/search.html and did a search for the classic controller and it found one for me at Circuit City. Sure enough, Circuit City had one for in-store pickup so I gots me one. Still no nunchuk for me though (other than the one that came with the Wii - can't box in Wii sports against a friend just yet - waaaaahhhh).

Galley @ Dec 19th 2006 9:58AM

I've seen PS3s for sale in both Target and Best Buy in the last week. I guess that's what they call a "trickle launch".

Jam4Brains @ Dec 19th 2006 10:15AM

Well this is the comedy part. I have no console, and won't have til the new year, but they sent me my extra controller and nunchuck.
Nice.

Mr Blonde @ Dec 19th 2006 10:41AM

I figured it would be easier to get a Wii System then it would to get all the accessories. So I went into my Walmart and while all the pre-order people were waiting in line to get their system I asked another employee if I could just buy stuff as I was not waiting for a system. So I bought 3 of the 4 remotes and nunchucks they had and 1 of the 2 Classic controllers. The pre-order line of people were not to happy. Later that day I walked into EB and bought my Wii. I haven't seen any remotes or nunchucks on the shelves since around here.

Apeman @ Dec 19th 2006 6:25PM

Just stopped by a Costco in Medford, Oregon. They had roughly 40 or so 60GB PS3 units in a combo with a game for 699. People were grabbing them up like crazy.

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