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The thing is places like Walmart.com are still only offering the $650 bundled setup. I would imagine these bundles don't sell as quickly so there is some stock just sitting for now.

You would imagine wrong.

The bundles probably do sit around for a couple minutes longer than the stand alone consoles do, but everything is selling out bundle or not. Usually within an hour of showing up; often within minutes.

Here's the walmart page for that big $650 bundle: Out of Stock

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_ id=5303671

And here's a page tracking a dozen e-tailers, and their various options.

http://www.xpbargains.com/wii_locator.php

As you can plainly see, there is simply nothing anywhere.

cheers

When you can walk into any walmart and return the games you don't want you can get the price down to $249, I believe. It's true that the bundles keep selling out quickly...but they keep relisting it frequently.

Just go to http://xpbargains.com/wii_locator.php and sign up for the RSS feed.

Keep checking http://www.xpbargains.com/wii_locator.php

Eventually I managed to order one during a 6 minute period when it was in stock at Toys"R"Us. It was a bundle, but bundled with 2 games I was planning to get anyway.

Other than the console, Wii hardware seems to be available now. I picked up a spare remote and nunchuck at Target the other day.

Oh, and while you're waiting, skim Craiglist every day and flag the fucking scalpers.

If you could just update this site (or any of the others that come up when you Google for Wii Tracker, with the names and locations of all these stores with piles of unsold Wiis, that'd be great. You'd be helping the rest of us out tremendously.

I don't mind you doing the anonymous trolling for Sony, but it would be tremendously useful to us all if you backed up your claims with facts. I don't mean from a taking-you-seriously point of view, I just mean I, for one, would like to buy a ($250) Wii, and I'd love to know where to get one. And I think a lot of people on Slashdot would too.

You can buy the unbundled unit on-line too now.

Check: http://www.xpbargains.com/ps3_locator.php

I was lucky enough to be on-line at BestBuy Dec.31st. Waited on line for ~1 hour before the store opened and got a PS3. No fuss, no muss (they advertised in the weekly circular). I was amazed at how orderly and organized both the line and the BestBuy staff were. They handed out tickets when they opened the doors to the store. Then they let people in from the line 5 at a time (the store itself opened and anyone could go in). I was about 25 back and when I got in they directed you to a separate line they set up that snaked past a table with PS3 games and accessories on it. If you wanted an item and they had it in stock, you could buy it, otherwise you just had to continue to the counter and turn in the ticket to buy a PS3.

They definitely did not have enough units (people kept coming up after the store opened and the line got let in asking if they had any units left.

Personally I figure its more a case of "a little too early".

Most people are pretty satisfied with the PS2, and don't have a need to move into the PS3 yet.

Over the next 6 months, as more "must have titles" come out, and as the current wave of HDTV adoption hits, you'll probably see an uptick in PS3 demand.

This combined with people remembering the ridiculous hype surrounding the XBox360 price ... and the jumped on-line prices, have kept peoples expectations in check. I've heard lots of really good things about "Resistance the Fall of Man" for the PS3, but it doesn't have the same built in Hype that "Halo 2" had. I'm also willing to bet that lots of people bought it with no intention of using it just for the resale value (and then maybe buy it once it dropped in price). Well surprise on them, people are willing to wait, rather than overpay. I certainly don't think its just the cost since I've been following the PS3 and Wii trackers on XPbargains http://www.xpbargains.com/ps3_locator.php and the 800-1000$ bundles from the major companies (w/4-6 games and an additional controller) keep selling out as fast as they post them.

By the time you can walk into stores and buy a PS3 (or buy one on-line from a company instead of eBay, preferably not as a bundle with 6 other things you don't want), there will also be more games, accessories and demand.

The most interesting thing this season brought is probably the Wii, and I've certainly thought about buying one, but I'm probably only going to buy one system (not all three like most Slashdot posters seem to assume everyone does). Its also probably going to be a PS3 because I've enjoyed my PS2 and I've liked more of the games that have come out for the PS2 than the GameCube. I admit that doesn't mean the same thing will happen for the PS3 and Wii, which is one of the reasons I am holding off (not being able to just walk in and buy it is another reason).

The catch though is that the novelty in the Wii is not necessarily the games or the system, but rather the controllers.

Since the controllers use Bluetooth to communicate we've already seen articles recently on using one with Windows, OS X, and Linux.

To me, the killer combination would be a PS3+WiiMote (a PS3ii?). Use the power of the PS3 for Hi-Def, combined with the innovation of the WiiMote to provide it all in one package. The real question is if a driver for the WiiMote can be loaded by a gamedisk on the PS3, or via a Linux installation (although I bet against it). If not a "real" WiiMote, I see no reason why Sony or a third party couldn't come out with a similar controller, similar to the add-on gamepads, Air-Guitars and Microphones we've all come to know and love on our PS2s. Remember ... on a PS3, they can always upgrade the OS, and if they could do something similar on the PS2, where the OS was much less flexible, then doing it on a PS3 is a no brainer.

Alternatively, I suppose Nintendo could also come out with a new system in a few years, the "Wii-HD" or something. That might segment their market, and will probably hold back new technology in favor of backward compatibility, but this "get the user on an incremental upgrade cycle" worked really well for them in the hand-held market.

How many different versions of the GameBoy, GameBoy Advanced, and DS have come out so far, and how many people kept rebuying their systems for incremental functionality that should have been in the earlier version?

If you got a different price today then they may have changed their pricing or deals. It was $1501 yesterday (and the day before, and last week).

The $450 coupon is from one of the deals they are currently running. You can click on "Save up to $750 on Inspirons" in the Dell Home section, or just go read up on it here: http://www.xpbargains.com/dell_coupons/

It is similar to fatwallet and I have found some good deals there, like a $5 motherboard with processor from tigerdirect posted. Unfortunately, most good bargains make you deal with rebates. This site will give you coupon codes for sites like Dell and Amazon, and let you search by catagory or store.

So sure, you can like the other folks have already mentioned, use pricewatch, pricegrabber, even mysimon to find good prices on QUALITY components. But don't buy cheapie stuff--the best part of building your own system is that you can use quality parts and get it done for the same price as a system manufacturer might with cheap stuff!

But then you go to a store with a good reputation, such as Dell, NewEgg, Buy.com, etc. to buy all the stuff at a higher price. The best part is when you whip out the Amex Gold card to pay for it. Then you call American Express up and tell them that you found all these items for cheaper at other websites (referencing your searches above). They kindly cut you a check for the difference.

This way, you get the best price and the best service. Ahh how wonderful.

Details on doing Amex pricematching are here which is a link on www.xpbargains.com. XPBargains is a very cool site by the way.

So sure, you can like the other folks have already mentioned, use pricewatch, pricegrabber, even mysimon to find good prices on QUALITY components. But don't buy cheapie stuff--the best part of building your own system is that you can use quality parts and get it done for the same price as a system manufacturer might with cheap stuff!

But then you go to a store with a good reputation, such as Dell, NewEgg, Buy.com, etc. to buy all the stuff at a higher price. The best part is when you whip out the Amex Gold card to pay for it. Then you call American Express up and tell them that you found all these items for cheaper at other websites (referencing your searches above). They kindly cut you a check for the difference.

This way, you get the best price and the best service. Ahh how wonderful.

Details on doing Amex pricematching are here which is a link on www.xpbargains.com. XPBargains is a very cool site by the way.