Wii woes: some win, some lose, some sing blues

Ew, you live in Texas?

I just out looking for a Wii Remote and none of the stores in Madison, WI had any. I don't have a Wii, but my brother-in-law does, and he's bringing it over for New Year's Eve. We figured we'd play some 4 person tennis, but I went to every store in town and they were clean out. Not to mention Comp USA isn't even selling anything Wii yet.

Oh the movie never ends it goes on and on and on and on

WIIMOTES

PEOPLE

WHOAH OH OOOOOOOH

I managed to snag one the day before christmas @ the nintendo world store in NY. They got at least 100 everyday, but the catch is you had to start lining up around 2am to get one. The whole Xmas weekend, I think my parents, aunts, and uncles played it more than I got to. They couldn't put it down!

I got my Wii on Black Friday, but every store in the area is out of nunchucks and wiimotes, and I've been checking and checking. :( There seems to be no shortage of those wiimote covers and stands.

I asked CompUSA about the Wii, and the answer I got was that they won't carry the Wii until they fix any controller issues. (ie: christmas trees, sunlight, etc)

I work at a GS in Vermont. On many occasions we've had PS3's on sale for the general public up to 3 days(!!!) before we've sold out. Wiis are all gone within 20 or so minutes.

I was able to score one at a Gamestop on Black Friday. Surprisingly, it wasn't hard at all. Just had to wait from about 3 AM to 4:20, when the employees noticed me and a couple others out there. They let us in early, as they only had three, and I got out with one "for my little brother".

>.>

I still have not been able to find a Wii. I refuse to buy bundles of games I don't want so I am limited to my crappy local Wal-mart. All they ever have is PS3's :(

I went in to a local EB Games in Toronto and the manager was telling me that calls he recieves are 100 to on about the Wii overe PS3. I find that surprising but maybe negative press and the price are actually driving all but the hardcore away. I would have thought that any trail-off for the PS3 wouldn't have started until after supplies had rectified themselves. The manager also told me that when they get them in, the people that buy them are trying to flip them on Ebay, but almost always end up returning them when they don't sell or don't command a high enough price.

Went to a BestBuy in Chicago on Friday at about 4pm and the employees were greeting people with janky hand written signs saying "PS3s for Sale". The manager standing there said to me, "We even have the 60 GB ones!". You had to go to customer service to buy one and I saw lots of people pause, but nobody bought one and when I left, they were still selling them.

Even though I have an xbox360, I really did think about it and I consider myself relatively console agnostic, but I didn't because it was still $600, plus accessories and games (which will mostly all be on 360). Lots of other reasons too, since my money is already invested and there's no difference now and won't be much in the next couple years... what's the point.

Anyhow... just my report. I'm sure they all sold out, but was just interesting that I walked into Best Buy to buy a vaccuum filter and found a bunch of PS3s.

I'm glad we camped for ours before launch. A couple of people I know actually did get Wii's for Christmas. However, during my Christmas shopping I never came across any.

At one point, while trying to dig up the correct launch date for Elebits at EB Games, I asked if they had any Wii remotes. They did so I snatched up one for a Christmas gift. Only reason they had it I found was because they had received a few Wii's this morning. They sold out of the nunchuck, but still had a few Wii remotes left. (I still find that odd.. arg, hunt for Nunchuck continues..)

"I asked CompUSA about the Wii, and the answer I got was that they won't carry the Wii until they fix any controller issues. (ie: christmas trees, sunlight, etc)"


....for real? LOL.

I have:
2 Wii Consoles
5 Remotes
4 Nunchuks
4 Remote Gloves
2 Wii Sports discs
LoZ:TP
Madden 07 Wii

The secret? Get to be friends with the managers and find out when they expect a shipment in. On that day, go to the store as early as you possibly can. I camped out for launch day (8 hours) and was second in line at Toys R Us. My mom camped out for 3 hours at Gamestop last week and picked up a second system (I'm taking mine back to college with me, so the second is for my teenage brother and sister).

I searched all day yesterday, called about 15 phone numbers for random places and came up short at all of them. My wife on the other hand went to five places and was able to get a hot tip about a delivery and ended up getting a Wii for us after only about an hour of work. I guess sometimes it does pay to have breast and talk to boy about video games. Hell she got me!

9: That sounds like a lot of work. I'm going to wait 'till next spring. Maybe they'll have more stock by then.

Yeah, the gift givers struck out three seperate times with the Wii, so I ended up with a fat gift card and a good luck.

I don't even want a Wii. It's a toy, not a console.

I bought 5 Wii's, 3 on black friday thanks to 2 friends camping with me... One at T'R'Us 2 weekends ago, after a night of camping, then last week, my FYE pre-ordered Wii arrived.

My local T'r'U has lots of remotes and 3 nunchuks, I bought 5 and 3 and sold 2 nunchuks on ebay, 3 wii's, and 1 remote. A Wii, extra nunchuk, extra remote and Excite Truck went to a significant other.

Oh, on black friday, I had bought myself 2 pairs of extra remotes and nunchuck (1 pair sold with a system on ebay) along with Zelda, Madden, GT Pro Series, Red Steel, Excite Truck for myself.

I picked up my Wii on launch. I got some gift cards for Christmas and wanted to snag two more Wiimotes and Nunchucks, found the Wiimotes yesterday but no one seems to have any nunchucks.

i had a Wii. camped out for it at a Target at 6am, was #22 out of 30 available systems.

and then some unscrupulous bastards stole my system and all my games the weekend before Christmas.

we only knew each other for a little bit, but we loved a *lifetime*. :(


(i'm so buying a new Wii when stores get it in stock again)

I bought my Wii on Craigslist for $350 the week it came out. It was totally worth the extra money. There is a EB Games in Rosemont that has all three Wii controllers in stock every time I go in there. I've only bothered to pick up one of each though, since there really aren't many games you can play with four players that are worth the $40 (or $60 with Nunchuck) for each extra controller. I might have to pick up an extra classic controller though now that Street Fighter 2 is out.

That didn't sound right. What I mean is that to me it's the equivalent of childrens toy. I just can't take it seriously as a console. No doubt people are already flamming me without having read this.

Our Walmart had a few PS3's, but no Wii's. The game stores all had most accessories, but no consoles. A friend of mine who does have the Wii was able to locate a component cable set for it.

I was pretty lucky. Got to Toys 'R Us at 6:45 AM on 12/17 and was given a voucher for a Wii at 7:30 AM. I was #17 in line and they had 18 Wii's total. I even got an extra Wii-mote and Nunchuk!

Though, to be fair, I'd been looking for a Wii for 2 weeks before that, and had even waited in line for an hour outside a Circuit City (and almost got hit when the wind blew off the "Y" on the Circuit City sign!), so it's not like I didn't pay ANY dues...

Nintendo World never has any :(

I was able to finally score a wii yesterday. Walked into gamestop about 10:30 and they had just arrived 5 minutes before I got there. Still no luck finding a extra nunchuck though. Did get the classic controller and another wiimote

I went to a bunch of Circuit City's yesterday because they all had some in stock as well as Game Stops, but obviously they were sold out by the time I got there.

BTW, Game Stop, that place licks balls, at least the Richfield, MN location. The reason why there are no Wii-motes around is because the employees there need to take the wii-motes and nunchuks out of their asses, but for them thats half the fun...

Sorry about my bitching...

Anyways, I was lucky enough to walk into Toys R Us yesterday to find a Wii and a buttload of Wii-motes and Nunchuks. Me= super stoked! Also, Zelda is only $39 @ Target until Saturday...way stellar deal.

@12 --

CHA-CHING! CHA-CHING! Cash those Sony checks quick before they start a-bouncin'!

I've been searching for a Wii for ages, I have yet to set eyes on one that is privately owned or on the shelves, the EB Games near me always has a few controllers in stock I'm just waiting for them to get a shipment. It seems like GameStop and EB Games, even though affiliated, get shipments at different times, so I have to call every morning at 10.

@Stephen,

Depends on how you look at it. I spent 8 hours in line, but I got a Wii on Day 1. I think it's a better idea than wasting hours driving around to different stores and being turned down constantly. It's certainly less frustrating.

My girlfriend camped out to get me a Wii. she waited in line for 8 hours! Holy crap. I think I might marry her over that. well over other stuff too, but damn- thats dedication.

One funny thing that I noticed when I went to target yesterday to pick up extra controllers, is that there were like 12 PS3 units on the shelves. The guy in electronics sayed people weren't interested in them. I wish I had one, but my hang up is the price tag. And the games.

i just went to the nintendo store in nyc on launch day and bought one. no waiting in line, either.

I camped out in front of target on sunday, Dec 3rd from 6 to 8 am. I got voucher #13. I think there were 30 or so. I would have been #2 if I hadn't gone to starbucks first. But I got one. I got the last wiimote at Toys R Us the same day. The second nunchuck I got at target the week before christmas.

I found out about the target ad from an online forum a couple days before. The clerk told me the night before, tersely, "I can't say, but if they are in, be here early".

Can't you give me any clue as to when you'll get some Wiis?

just got a Wii but nunchucks are impossible to find around here. I've got 4 wiimotes and only 1 nunchuck. :(

Oh, the PAIN I had. I was meaning to pre-order, but the run-up clashed with an anime con I was attending in Scotland. I had plenty of bankroll for it, but wasn't sure what I'd be spending (normally a LOT at those things). Turns out my plastic barely broke a sweat, but I returned with major leg pain after helping to shift a custom-built DDR coin-op. Weighed an absolute sodding TON - and with no ramps to get it out of the hotel we had to DEAD-LIFT it out. I couldn't walk properly for days.

Day after release, I got round to GameStation Sunderland and post-preordered one - still not guaranteed for Christmas, but they said if I manage to find one elsewhere, they'd give me my £20 back.

Theen, however - the light shone. There was an ad in the paper shortly afterwards saying that Toys'R'Us were getting shipments in to all stores. That was IT. Half-past-5 that Saturday morning, I was a blur: 20-minute hike up to the A19, the X10 bus as far as Stockton-on-Tees, and a cab as far as T'R'U on Teesside Park. Landed there about 6:45am...

...whereupon there was a hefty queue there already - and some guy in a luminous jacket saying they'd all gone already. They were using a ticket scheme for all those in the queue, who had been there since 8pm the previous evening - WHILE I WAS STILL AT WORK!!! - and all they were getting in was 65 consoles anyway. SIXTY-FIVE. Who the HELL in that store thought that was going to be enough?! The queue for that would have maxed out by 8:30pm!! Add to that the fact it was still freaking early, so there was no public transport around - and it was FECKING FREEZING out an'all! My legs were killing me because of the daft amount of walking I had to do to get there, combined with the existing leg pain - I nearly cleaned the smug bastard clock of some 14-year-old charva arsehole who was taking the piss out of everyone who was too late.

As it transpires, I got the Phone Call I was praying for from Sunderland, and landed my Wii on the 22nd.

And OH. How Much Does It Rule...

I've overheard two conversations today at work about the "new Nintendo" and how hard it is to find. One person was obviously attempting to secure one as a gift, and another apparently had fun at her sister-in-law's house playing it over Christmas.

Meanwhile, a hardcore gamer friend of mine has the week off and is dedicated to aquiring a Wii before New Year's. He scoffed at my purchase of the system until he had a chance to sit down with Wii Sports this past weekend.

Yes, I realize this is just more "anecdotal evidence" of Wii demand... but dang if it isn't exciting see to experience such a buzz around a new console (not toy) amongst gamers and non-gamers alike.

I got a Wii yesterday as well. I called every GameStop around me be they all said they were out. One of my co-workers went to the one by his house for lunch and asked if they had any and they just got three in. My buddy and I drive over there and picked two of them up. I got an extra Wiimote as well but I had to drive a ways to get it, sadly they were out of the nunchucks.

Aybabtu

I had the bright idea that I could get up shortly before seven in the morning on launch day and head on over to my local Target store, say hello the the seven or so people waiting in line and waltz in and pick one up. I believed I was brilliant because I knew that this particular store had about 50 in stock, and after waiting in the rain in a tent outside of another Target for the PS3, the thought of camping in the cold *again* didn't appeal to me. Imagine my suprise when I found a line of about 80 people smirking at me as I made a quick drive-by of the store. A quick hop over to another Target, and a visit to Circuit City and Best Buy revealed the same thing. Then, I went to my ace in the hole: Sam's. Sam's is awesome, because it's membership only AND people who have business memberships get to go in an hour before the unwashed masses who have standard memberships. I can't believe I was dumb enough to forget about Sam's. There was only one person waiting in line, and I got voucher number 2 of 6. Unfortunatley, I ended up caving and giving that Wii to someone's child, figuring I could get one for myself at some time in the near future. That future hasn't come to pass yet, but I haven't given up yet. Talk to me again in '08.

I scored 2 PS3's when I wanted a Wii. Waited in line 3 times before I finally was usccessful 1 week before Xmas getting there @ 3AM. My wife and her friend were out every day looking for the Wii. The kids love it. Just wished that the did not believe in Santa so much so that could hear what a pain in the *SS it was to get one.

I knew I should've bought more Wii-Motes and Nunchakus the day I bought my Wii. It was 7:15 AM. I was the only one in the store. TENS of Wii-motes and Nunchakus in the back. And I only asked for one extra of each. The FOOL that I was. Damn >.<

At least it's easier to buy Wii-points and SD cards. Though that's not much consolation.

I scored a Wii a in early December but had to wait until xmas eve to actually open it as it was a gift (even though I had to find one myself). I was also able to get my hands on one extra wii-remote which was the last one left at a local Gamestop. As for the Nunchuk, I haven't seen any in local stores or online but I did order one from the Nintendo store direct yesterday and it already shipped! Oh, and the local Circuit City had a classic controller too so I am doing pretty good. Funny thing is that I am having a hard time finding Rayman Raving Rabbids - I have Zelda, Madden, Super Monkey Ball and Excite Truck though so plenty to keep me busy.

Hey, I just checked and it looks like Wal-Mart has Wii remotes in stock online!

http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=CnFozRgW1lE&offerid=100143.10001356&subid=0&type=4

Oddly enough the gamestore (one of only 2 in my area) the PS3 sales have actually topped the Wii sales, albeit not by much but whatever they get in of either system they sell out.

Their holiday sales granted aren't that high cuz we're in the boonies but the PS3 is leading the Wii by 3 sales 24 to 21 (Granted they've gotten more shipments regularly of PS3's than Wii's) with 3 PS3's just received today oddly.
the 360 sales for the month are only 15 whereas the PS2 sales are topping near 40 and of course the DS is sitting somewhere in the MID 30's. So I dont think Sony is THAT worried about bad press... as they still have the number 1 selling console and Nintendo, they have the good press of the WII and the insanely good sales of the DS.
I do feel though that ocne Wii's and PS3's are in more supply, MS will have quite the fight on its hands to retain customers.

I did have a hard time finding the wii. I wasn't able to get my hands on one sadly enough to play zelda. This was the first console I lined up for. On Dec 17th at my Best Buy 99% of the ppl that were lined up before me where over the age of 40. All there for their damn kids. I was 46th person in line and there were only 21 consoles. I mean I didn't think they would have many consoles don't get me wrong. The thing I was astounded about is that I live in WEST FACKING TEXAS, WTF?! How did they know that Best Buy was going to sell consoles today? I found out online (through kotaku and of course joystiq), but apparently Best Buy in Midland had a flyer up saying that on that day they would sell wiis. Fuck you Best Buy...your overpriced bastards anyways.

#9 same here. I'm on really good terms with all the guys at the local game crazy. I'm always in there talking about the latest game news, so they know me on a first name basis. That said, the store, being little, decided to tell their most loyal customers about the wii launch and put them a list. They told us how many they were getting and when we could come to get our wii. Due to a little miss communication they forgot to fricken call me and i had to wait until round 2 shipments, but I still got it painlessly, without an over night line wait. As for an extra wii mote, I never see them at the big name stores, but I ran into one at gamecrazy and picked it up for the hell of it.

I live in Belgium, here we have the same problems. It's even worse than with you guys in the States since we won't get the PS3 before March 2007 (so Sony says).

Luckily I pre-orderd my Wii and could pick one up one week after the launch. It's the best buy of 2006! I guess the Wii shortage is a world phenomenon. ;-)

Oddly enough, I am one of those few people who got Wiis for christmas. All I know is my dad was checking every retailer from where I live to an hour and a half away. He must have found one, somehow. I was really enthused when I opened it and even happier when I played it. For the money, it totally whoops PS3's butt.

By the way, I'm amazed some of you guys have found PS3s at your local Wal-marts. They have tons of nunchucks and Wiimotes, but no consoles or PS3s.

Location, location, Bunny. Come to my central-Illinois town of 20,000 and you'll find over a dozen 60giger PS3s. It seems the stores didn't do a good job of matching supply to locality.

I was shopping for the Wii

I went to the ToysRUs, circuit city, gamestop, etc in my area on 12/17 8AM and it was sold out everywhere.

On 12/18, went to Chinatown and they said they would get more on 19th, went on 19th and they sold them for $595!! I was shocked! PS3 went for the regular retail price but the Wii was the same price!! and not even a bundle, just the console itself. They gave me some bullshit about how they had to pay more to get it in.