Wiis at Wal-Mart tomorrow

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jan 27th 2007 at 12:32PM }

What would the beginning of the weekend be like without letting our loyal readers know who's advertising Wiis this weekend? Sadly, we've only got Wal-Mart to talk about at this point. So, for those still looking for a Wii, the latest Wal-Mart flyer states that tomorrow they'll have a minimum of five per store. Yes, you read that right, although there should be trucks full of Wiis flooding the market, it looks like the theme for Nintendo in Q1 is -- drought.

[Thanks to those that sent this in and Andreas for the photo from a Swedish electronics festival]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Liquidize @ Jan 27th 2007 12:38PM

And the sony fanboys should start flaming about the picture right about....

Protoster @ Jan 27th 2007 12:42PM

This picture is... amusing.

hegemonyhog @ Jan 27th 2007 1:27PM

Does anyone else think the issue in Wii production is the controllers? From what I can tell, the system production isn't the problem - it's the controllers (as an ancillary product, given the demand, those should be coming out in a far greater quantity, even lacking systems to sell them with).

I could, of course, be entirely off-base.

Car2oon @ Jan 27th 2007 12:54PM

I think Nintendo should take note from Sony and start flying these damn Wiis in. 5 per store!? Are you kidding me?

t @ Jan 27th 2007 1:06PM

to #3: Fly them in from where exactly? They can't be found anywhere.

brian @ Jan 27th 2007 1:16PM

Wal-mart is open 24 hours, so when do you think these "minimum of five per store" will be put on the sales floor? midnight?

Arglor @ Jan 27th 2007 1:20PM

I'm not a sony fanboy as #1 anticpates, but I am curious what the picture has to do with the story as a whole.

I think the picture is ironic and noteworthy, as was another pic regarding microsoft salespeople and an ipod booth a long time ago. I am just not sure this is a relevant article to link the picture to.

Nathan M @ Jan 27th 2007 1:35PM

"I think the picture is ironic and noteworthy, as was another pic regarding microsoft salespeople and an ipod booth a long time ago. I am just not sure this is a relevant article to link the picture to."

Adam @ Jan 27th 2007 1:39PM

As a Wal-Mart Electronics associate, I can tell you two things:
1) At the 24-hour stores, yes, they'll be released at midnight. At least, our store will.
2) It says "Minimum of 5 per store" in order to cover their butts. Our store received 24. So if you live in NE Texas, the Mt. Pleasant Wal-Mart will have 24 Wiis at Midnight.

Nathan M @ Jan 27th 2007 1:36PM

ARg, I hit the post button by accident. What I was going to say was:

"I think the picture is ironic and noteworthy, as was another pic regarding microsoft salespeople and an ipod booth a long time ago. I am just not sure this is a relevant article to link the picture to."

Since when does it have to be? I'm pretty sure it was there to amuse. :P

kelekod @ Jan 27th 2007 1:39PM

@ hegemonyhog

It sounds reasonable, but then again, they need to produce 4 controllers per Wii. Also with Wii Play making an appearance, they need controllers for that. Finally I'll have 4 controllers once I get Wii Play.. now just need 2 nunchucks, 2 classics (for mariokart 64) (already have 2)

MSU_CokeBoi @ Jan 27th 2007 1:47PM

My Walmart had everything from Wii's to Wii-Motes in stock yesterday afternoon....so if there is anybody around the Mississippi State University area, come on down!

Shibathedog @ Jan 27th 2007 2:20PM

heh they look like sony body guards sent to rough up the competition.

digital kanji @ Jan 27th 2007 2:24PM

5 Wiis per store, yeah...that should handle the demand and the usual 20+ people lines that form. Also, that picture is priceless.

Pirateinmymind @ Jan 27th 2007 2:24PM

Why Do they always make them available on Sundays. There are Six other days of the weeks. The people that can't make it out to stores on Saturday Night/ Sunday Morning are screwed.

Number One @ Jan 27th 2007 3:24PM

TRUTH/Intangible Dick and Fred T(art) are crying themselves into the night at the sight of this pic. Ha.

Ken Edwards @ Jan 27th 2007 4:48PM

Meijer has Wiis tomorrow too. Bright and early.

Jimbo @ Jan 27th 2007 4:53PM

Will this be in Canada too? (please let it be in canada, we're wii-starving up here :-D)

Xeronis @ Jan 27th 2007 5:02PM

Sure am glad we at my local target (store 1060 in Madison) got 25 wiis in yesterday. Have to show up at 6am tomorrow anyway and it always depresses me to go in with a line formed in the bitter cold.

That being said, wow I wish we would get memos that at least give us a day of the week that we will get wiis in. If it isn't in the ad, we don't know about them until about 20 min before they go onto the floor. Kinda sucky, but it is nice because it allows the systems to go to peoples kids instead of the 100 hardcores waiting in the snow.

idioteraser @ Jan 27th 2007 5:12PM

Actually the wiis will be sold at 8 AM in Walmarts. That is what they have done whenever they got a shipment in.

It's first come first served.

Linkdead @ Jan 27th 2007 5:27PM

Target seems to be getting 12 wii per store this weekend. They are putting them right on the shelf and not holding onto them.

RedCrake @ Jan 27th 2007 7:09PM

There are currently 2,195 Wal-Marts in the United States (Wal-Mart Corporate Profile). 2,195 x5= 10,975. That means 1 retailer is going to be (hopefully) selling almost 11,000 Wii's in one day. This is also if each store only has the minimum number of units. This is in contrast to 800 Best Buy stores. So 10,975/800=13.7. If these units were destined for Best Buy locations there would be roughly 14 per store minimum. I am not a fan of Wal-Mart but lets at least realize that 5 per store is an awful lot of Wii's total one day.

Wiggle @ Jan 28th 2007 9:27AM

Um. drought? Think back to the GC game drought after it was released. Aha...you remember. So quit your bitch!ng. As for the systems. MINIMUM you DUMB F*CK$! The most remote locations will get 5. The rest will get more. Get over it. Over 4 million sold worldwide in a little over 2 months is not a drought of systems. You just need something to complain about.

dish @ Jan 27th 2007 8:00PM

yes i should have a wii in about 5 hours.

my walmart has 14 and will be releasing them at midnight.

Grunge @ Jan 27th 2007 8:26PM

Mine is releasing them at midnight too (Duluth, MN).

laputaquelepario @ Jan 27th 2007 9:54PM

The Mii that the Sony employees are playing with in that photo is Kutaragi-san, who is beating the shit outta Iwata-san.

Well, if you can't beat them in real life, you can at least take the virtual route...

Mr.Nitemare @ Jan 27th 2007 10:07PM

I don't understand why they call this a drought, as someone already stated this is a number of at least 11,000 units for one day, not to mention that they just had some a few days ago as well which was said to be a minimum of 5 per store then too so thats already 22,000 (or more) units for one retailer in a week, not to mention the various other retailers around, so it looks like they are supplying a good amount as i know that best buy/circuit city/target have all been getting around the same amount so thats 88,000 or more a week which is 352,000 a month or 4.22 million units just for those outlets alone, not to mention gamestop/ebgames and toysrus and all the other large retailers, so to say its a drought is down right ludacris

Mr.Nitemare @ Jan 27th 2007 10:09PM

i forgot to say, thats 4.22 million units A YEAR for just 4 retailer

Martez @ Jan 27th 2007 10:27PM

Grunge- Midnight, eh? Didn't know there were other Duluthians on the 'Stiq. Maybe I'll finally be able to grab a Wii (I still can't help but chuckle a little at that).

Rob Accomando @ Jan 27th 2007 11:56PM

lol@ the picture.

reminds me of this:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y270/robaccomando/wiiaddny.jpg

laputaquelepario @ Jan 28th 2007 12:25AM

Rob Accomando,

What is that in the circle?

Number Six @ Jan 28th 2007 12:52AM

As yet another Wal*Mart associate, let me just say that even 24-hr. stores are breaking a home office directive by selling at midnight. On the WIRE it clearly states that units are to be sold ONLY at 6am Sunday (or store opening for non-24-hr. stores). If your store is selling at midnight...great!!! Jump on it! But here in Sierra Vista, AZ, Wii systems will not be available until 6:00am. Oh, and we've got 12 available.

whistlepig @ Jan 28th 2007 1:57AM

our walmarts here in york pa each had 24 and 26 ad they both sold at midnight ..only 6 people in line at the store i was at ..

ZenGaijin @ Jan 28th 2007 7:22AM

So glad to have gotten a Wii on launch day so I could avoid this madness. The funniest thing is once people get the Wii they will be stuck waiting for games like the rest of us.

CitizenGeek @ Jan 28th 2007 11:04AM

For all you know, those Sony guys are probably hating playing the Wii and just want to get to some real gaming on the PS3

Thomas Trautman @ Jan 28th 2007 12:03PM

We hit two Walmart's last night and scored five units total. I think we are still calling this a drought because the Wii's continue to sell out. Both stores we visited sold out as fast as the registers would allow. Even with the recent shippments, the demand is still very high.

http://www.vequalsir.com

AndreasH @ Jan 28th 2007 12:54PM

Ok, to start things off, I am the guy who took this picture. At the risk of opening the flood gates and infuriating lots of Sony fanboys, this picture is actually as bad as it seems. Me and my friend was visiting a technical fair / show called Dustin Digital Expo 2007 and this was one of the first public displays of Playstation 3 in Sweden. The funny thing is that I expected to queue in line for about 30 minutes to play it considering all the hype surrounding Sony’s new console, but after about five minutes I was playing MotorStorm. Then later when I was looking around the expo I stumbled across the Nintendo booth where interestingly the Sony booth personal was occupying one of the machines. A single word flew through my head as I was reaching for my digital camera; “priceless” ;) ( Extra priceless considering they _could_ be playing PS3 )

Info about the event (In Swedish):
http://www.dustinhome.se/DacsaPortal/?PageID=672

ZenGaijin @ Jan 28th 2007 1:00PM

Sweet my brother scored himself a Wii! Now we just have to get one more and the set will be complete.

plumenoir @ Jan 28th 2007 1:21PM

Thanks for the heads-up! I told my wife about this last night and she immediately wanted to go. We got to Walmart about 10pm (for the 12am sale) and were sixth in line for what employees said were only five Wiis. But two people behind me was an off-the-clock walmart employee, so I knew if she was waiting, I was good.

Jacob Embody @ Jan 28th 2007 3:37PM

There's still demand? Wow! I had no idea...I walked into a Wal-Mart this morning around 10 AM and they had 10 Wiis in stock, hardly anyone buying them. Then again, it WAS a blistering sort of cold outside. Not like it's stopped anyone before, but...hey, why should I complain, I got a Wii easy as pie today!

Nick S @ Jan 28th 2007 6:37PM

I FINALLY got a Wii today! I live in Marion Iowa (a suburb of Cedar Rapids). There is a 24 hour Wal-Mart in Marion and two in Cedar Rapids. All three of those stores were sold out within 15 minutes after midnight. Luckily, there's a smaller Wal-Mart in a small town about 20 miles from here. I called them at 1pm and they still had some. When I got there, they still had 7 of them. I'd recommend trying the non 24 hour stores in smaller towns if you still need to get a wii.

JasonD76 @ Jan 28th 2007 9:30PM

Ok, it may sound silly, but thanks Joystiq. I FINALLY got a Wii, and yes, I have been calling like crazy for months. I really didn't expect there to be this much of a drought, but thanks to you guys, I'm in the clear. Kudos!

Darcrequiem @ Jan 29th 2007 8:20AM

"30. Rob Accomando,

What is that in the circle?

Posted at 12:25AM on Jan 28th 2007 by laputaquelepario"

Its a Sony logo. They are advertising the Wii on a giant Sony screen.

McHoffa @ Jan 30th 2007 6:29AM

I was going to wait in line for a Wii at my local walmart sunday morning, but instead i got lucky friday and called circuit city at 10:15 am... they had 6... so i ran over there and they had planned to put them out saturday morning, but they could not say no if someone asked if they had them... so they got 2 of the 6 they had out of the back for me... one for me and one for my mother... i took it back to the office and set it up... a coworker then went to the same circuit city and got another at 2 pm... so we ended up getting half of the Wiis that they had... moral is, call around when the stores open... some of the places like kmart, circuit city, and toys are us are just getting them in and putting them out whenever they feel like it, totally random... harder than the big box retailers that are making a big deal every time they get them in...