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Wii Pre-Orders at EB Games and Gamestop
Punkster812 writes "Tomorrow, Friday October 13th, EB Games and Gamestop will begin taking pre-orders. They say they have very limited numbers and will do a first come first serve. A $50 deposit is the minimum down payment for a console and they suggest for you to call your local store for availability. Their online pre-order information will be released at a future date. For full information, visit EB Games or Gamestop for full details."
Well, Friday is today, not tomorrow.
I'm actually about to leave in a minute to go wait in front of Gamestop just to make sure I get one. Hopefully an hour early is enough. I'm sure it will be, but you never know.
nil
Wow, good thing I have tomorrow off. I guess I'll get up early and go sit in front of Gamestop.
This guy's the limit!
is Saturday 14th...
Editors, Editors, Editors.
liqbase
Or 2) They are saving all of their shipments for overpriced bundle packs on their website, since they flat out said before summer they will only offer the Wii as a bundle pack.
Either way it just goes to prove real gamers dont use the EB/Gamestop monopoly on game shops anyway. Ill just show up at Target or Best Buy when the Wii comes out thank you very much
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
"Tomorrow, Friday October 13th"
How simple would it have been to replace that "Tomorrow" with a [Today]? I was panicing. I thought, for a moment, it was still Thursday. That's a shock you don't want on a Friday before coffee.
Nintendo has been churning these things out for, what, two or three months now? And they've said that production has been ahead of estimates?
I expect to be able to walk into Fry's at 9AM Sunday morning and buy one with no problem, just like I did with the Gamecube. I only do pre-orders if there's some kind of cool pre-order swag, and so far I've only done that for Windwaker, when I would have happily paid the $5 deposit for the Ocarina disc anyhow, even if there wasn't a pre-order attached to it.
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
I was just at my local EB Games last Saturday. I asked about when Wii would go on pre-order, and I was told by everyone working there, 'Never!'
I had no idea never actually meant 6 days.
The email I received from eb/gamestop had the same wording as the PS3 preorder one. Obviously they are just using the same language to get more to go out and preorder Wiis from them, but supply will not be a major issue with the Wii.
A friend just called me a few minutes ago from an EB in Westchester, NY. They're only taking 8 pre-orders. Eight. At 9am there were 10 people in line (they open at 11am). If such a small store can get a line waiting outside in the cold for hours just for pre-orders then it looks like the Wii will be a big hit. The Nintendo fan-boys are really excited, and that's going to mean great viral marketing for the Wii.
Developers: We can use your help.
Every time new console, computer (especially Mac) or some fabulous game comes we have the same thing. It's not interesting anymore. It's the way companies make big hype about their product. If they really wanted to sell consoles to all customers that want them they would move release date few weeks or months. Then they would have time to manufacture all needed equipment. But the idea is different: they sell few consoles - that creates huge queues of mostly hardcore fans. If you make some interviews with them outcome is quite predictable. Shouts like "xxx is the best, and yyy sucks" are not uncommon. That's called MARKETING. Guys, I think that release of new console can be covered on Slashdot, as it is something new, something that pushes boundaries of technology. But publishing some news about taking pre-orders is pretty silly. It happens all the time, just the product is different.
"an experienced, industrious, ambitious, and often, quite often, picturesque liar" - Mark Twain
Usually a Wii story has 50,000 replies before I get to see it, it's such a popular subject. Now I only see 15 after 20 minutes; I wonder where everyone's gone?
Oh, wait.
Drops laptop, runs to store.
Or (3) Worldwide demand is estimated to be greater than worldwide production of units, hence retailers are allocated a limited number.
But no matter how hard I have tried to hold on to the E3 hype, the Wii just isn't doing it for me as a gamer.
s
I think seeing the dreadfully boring Red Steel gameplay footage a few days ago knocked the last bit of E3 Wii hype out of my system. If any other company had tried to sell such a system as the Wii it would be laughed right out of the market as a silly gimmick.
The Wii is nothing more than a vastly overpriced GameCube turbo with a pointer bolted on.
There, I said it.
Nintendo and the Wii are looking more and more like the old Emperor's New Clothes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emporer's_new_clothe
In Canada they go on pre-order Monday. I'm planning spending Sunday night in the car with a few friends to make sure we are first in line when they open at 10am.
...so shame on them. The collective "them" that is.
I'm an animation fan (watching and creating and discussing), so way back when Fantasia was going to be released the first time (this was pre-DVD, I think), they were taking pre-orders because the demand seemed really pent up. So I preordered. Went to the store when the call came, and there were about 9000 copies of Fantasia piles up to the ceiling. (rolls eyes) No skin off my nose, but what was the point?
However a complex gaming console is not analogous to a more easily mass produced video tape, so I'm not really sure what my point is here. :-\
I know it's been said repeatedly in different sites, but if you live in NYC you can just walk on over to the Nintendo World store near Rockefeller Center and place a preorder. They've been taking preorders for a few weeks already, to which I've done mine during lunch. Plus I have a hunch that they are less likely to overcommit and fail to deliver on launch date, something EB and Gamestop have been notorious for.
I wonder if the wii will suffer from the same malady as some 1st generation electronics do. There will be something wrong with the console, probably won't affect everyone, but enough that they'll have to release a 2nd, 3rd generation console to fix the problems.
I learned my lesson with Creative's first mp3 player (the name escapes me, it's been a few years), I try not buy things of this nature right away...I always wait til they fix the problems, then get one.
May I remind the editors that your audience isn't 100% american, if you are talking about america you need to say so.
In other news, the UK equivalent to EB (didn't they buy EB?): GAME, has been taking wii pre-orders since late september. We beat you for once! (Note, I haven't looked up the dates, but I bet it's still released in the US first).
The local mall here in Michigan is sold out already. When I called and asked how many they started with, the guy said 32 pre-orders were available.
Religion is the opium of the people. Evolution is the opium of scientists.
....And I just walked over there. They had given out 18 vouchers to the first 18 people to "guarantee" them a Wii. A quick count showed I was number 25 or so, and we have like 4 gamestops in town. So to those on the west coast....get there early if you want a voucher that guarantees you of getting a promise to get a gamesystem that will probably come out in late November.
adventure-today.com
While I just waltz into Wal-Mart on launch day and pick a few up.
If you live outside USA, consider pre-ordering Nintendo Wii via lik-sang.com
http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3883
I know EB Games and Gamestop don't have huge allotments. 18 IS the maximum as far as I know... ummm 4 are usually reserved for employees... but you didn't hear that from me..
My local EB is one of the top 10 in the nation, they got 16 PS3s. But they only got 12 Wiis. Doesn't make any sense, but I was #4 so it's all good. =)
Your ad here.
With the DS Lite launch:
Circuit City gave out a DS Lite sleeve.
Best Buy gave out free Brain Age.
Do we know which stores have the best giveaways this time around because that's who I'm buying from. Wii, the first system to come with it's own built-in game in years, and I'll still buy from whomever can give me the best free add-ons.
Are doing it to make a nice profit. After the ridiculous markups that occurred with the xbox360 ( in some cases selling for $1000 over retail) people were prepared this time, and they are treating pre-orders like launch day.
Just got back from the trenches, pre-ordering my Wii. Here's what it looked like at a North Baltimore Game Stop...
:)
7:30am - Arrive to meet friend. One person is already in front of us.
8:00am - Four more people are behind us. Manager is already there to make sure things are okay. Tells us there are 12 units for pre-order (and 2 which the store is allowed to let employees pre-order.) Also informs us they are openning up at midnight on the day of the Wii launch.
8:15am - Some guys join the line, they came from a line of 20 people at the Game Stop in the "Hunt Valley" mall area.
8:30am - Line is full. Manager tells people in line that anyone else who shows won't be able to pre-order.
9:00am - Some hard core games show up and tell us it's crazy they don't have more pre-orders because "5 million units are being produced"... walk away very pissed.
10:00am - Manager opens to the doors and we rush in; not so much to pre-order... but also because we were all freezing. (Temp started at 37 and only rose to 50 by 10am.)
$50 pre-order. $30 for a 1yr warranty.
Everyone in line was getting one for themselves, except for one mother... determined to get a unit for her sons as a Christmas gift.
this morning i drove by a GameStop and saw a ton of kids in line, so i yelled "PS3 FOR THE WIN!!!!"
they were probably like "stupid sony fanboy", little do they know i was just pissed they beat me there..
-- lol pwned
A weekday and right in the middle of the day... so that means I can either go to work or be unpaid for half the day or more.
I got the call yesterday, they were recomending I be there at 6:30am. As much as I would like to get a Wii... I can wait a few weeks after release.
Toys R Us, at least in Canada, briefly had an incredible pre-order offer on their website:
:(
$279, includes the Wii, 2 games (I assume one is the pack-in), and an extra controller.
For a system that will likely sell for $299 in Canada, this was an amazing deal. They pulled it after about a day, though
Either way, as others have pointed out, pre-ordering this system is stupid. There will be millions on store shelves come December 1st. Might be a run on them at xmas time if the hype machine works itself into a frenzy, but if you're buying it for yourself there should be plenty on hand.
Would 6 million units selling out in a matter of weeks make this the most successful console launch ever?
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
Got to Gamestop around 9:20 for a 10:00 opening, figuring I'd pre order one just in case. I have one pre ordered at FYE, but they don't know how many systems they'll be getting for the release day, so I figured if I got one from Gamestop I'd cancel the other.
Around 9:40 a guy from the store came out and counted people and cut off the line and sent about 10 people (including me) away. There were probably about 40-50 people there when I got there.
Now, I'm not too disappointed though, becuase like others have said, I'm really not too worried about getting one this holiday season. If Nintendo's numbers are right, you will be able to walk into a store and get one... only time will tell though.
I just know that judging from this morning, the Wii is a hot commodity. Hopefully Nintendo has enough to fill the demand.
I wonder if the wii will suffer from the same malady as some 1st generation electronics do.
I think you mean 1st rev of this generation, not 1st generation. This is Nintendo's 5th gen console. Not to mention that the previous 4 generations of consoles all have good reputations for being well-built, even the 1st revs.
Guy working at Gamestop said that EB Games and Gamestop together would get 90% of the Wii's that are released the first day. Not sure how accurate that is, but thats what they're being told from their higher-ups. We went by the store at 7:30 and it was already too late. So, I went into the mall and got spot number 7 in line. Then they opened early, I did my preorder, and when I left I drove past the Gamestop and was laughing at the people still in line. Since Gamestop opens at 10:00 they're probably still in line, and I already had breakfast and am at work. Fun times.
of the $50 deposit I also heard GameStop is taking back the receipts they gave out for the PS3 preorder event earlier in the week.
I think I'll be getting a Wii on 24 Dec 06, just like many other people who don't shop until the very last moment. It adds to the excitement of the holiday.
Today the console has been taken off the site, presumably indicating that all orders have been sold out. VideoGamesPlus has a very good reputation, and stated that they wouldn't take pre-orders until they knew how many Wii they'd been allocated, so I'm fairly optimistic of getting mine. Of course if you're based in the US you're not sure of getting your console on release day if you order online, but these should arrive a couple of days before UK release. :)
Stroller.
I'm in Columbia SC. Got to the EB around 8:45, a couple other cars in the parking lot. Downloaded demos from the DS station while I waited in the car. I started the line about 9:15, 8 or 9 other people queued up behind me.
According to the guys behind the desk, they are getting in 12 systems. I'm a semi-regular at the store and they said they would hold my pre-ordered system if I wasn't waiting for the gate to open on launch day.
Shouldn't be too difficult for people to get a system without a pre-order, I would think.
I am not. I probably will wait a year if I want one or I won't get one. I haven't owned a gaming console since Atari 2600. I did borrow a Turbo Graphx 16 for a week though.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
I work for a south-eastern video game retailer (Rhino Video Games) at their HQ and we aren't doing any system prebooks because there's no way to know how many you will receive until pretty late in the game(no pun intended). It's first come first serve and most of the customers don't mind this. It also sucks for us being the little guys (72 stores) because we don't get as much of a pull to reserve systems from the vendors and that also hinders our prebooking abilities. Then again, EB and Gamestop do have a habit of prebooking items way in advance and then not being able to deliver. Maybe I'm bias ;)
I will forever be a student.
What do you guys think? With the Wii meeting its production goals, is this necessary, or should there be a veritable bounty of available Wiis, pre-order or not? I do want one, come late Nov., but I'm curious if this is all needed.
My alarm failed to go off this morning in the usual fashion; it went off at 7 am, I hit the switch and rolled over. Next thing I know it's 9:20. Figuring I was either destined to be successful or not I went through the motions of getting out the door and to the store. I had 3 stores in mind, I had planned on cruising by and seeing what the lines were like at each store. When I got to the first one there was no line at 9:55 with the store opening at 10:00 so I stopped. Parking right outside the strip mall store I could see it was just the two employees inside, strolled over and waited for them to open the door. I couldn't believe it. I was first in line? I had to confirm the store opening time... yup, right there in the window it said the store hours 10-9. In the next minute five more people showed up. The store manager came out and told us he'd check the computer because he wasn't sure he had any preorders left. I said what the hell are you talking about, the store isn't open yett, how could you be out of pre-orders!! He continued ignoring us and locked the door. I was furious. He comes out 10 minutes later to let us in and advises they have 3 pre-orders left. He then tries telling us that they had let the line of people waiting outside in when they showed up for work at 9. Sorry, I don't buy it. One guy was demanding to know the managers name, district managers contact info, and was told they don't give out that info, the cashier gave him the customer service number and said good luck. This type of treatment to customers is why people avoid Best Buy, but I'm hoping there are specials out there or at least a ready supply of product at another store so I can cancel my pre-order with EBGames / Gamestop.
I find it comical that everyone waited in line overnight to get a preorder for a PS3 to sell on ebay for $3k. If there are that many people willing to pay $3k just to be the first to play a new system, then it's true that there really is a sucker born every minute.
After my 8-9 class dismissed this morning, I promptly headed home, hopped in my car, and took off to one of the nearby Gamestops.
I got in line, only to be told that I was number 13 of 12 (number of people in line, number of units to pre-order). The sadness! But a mall across the street had not only another Gamestop, but an EBGames as well, so I had twice as many chances to stand in line outside of the store without being in the bitter cold.
I was able to get in line at the Gamestop (number five in the line), and proceeded to wait for about 40 minutes for the store to open. During that time, I realized why people camp out like that. Sure, we all want to grab the system early, but I was able to partake in 40 minutes of near-constant conversation with complete strangers about video games. It was great to be able to cut loose and talk about all sorts of weird video game oddities, like the antics surrounding the 360 release, or the outrageous eBay auctions for PS3 receipts. I was able to inform some of the parents in line, getting it for the kid, about the various features of it. Some didn't know about the Virtual Console, and thought that was "the Bee's Knees".
And in the end, we all got the reserves we wanted.
Interestingly, I went for a taco run around 3 AM last night, and swung by the outdoors Gamestop to see if anyone was camping out. There was one guy, in about three coats, playing a DS in a fold-out chair. He said he'd been there since midnight.
Now we all must wait a month to get the actual product.
Wiifanboy is saying that Canadians won't be able to pre-order til Monday.
:)
I'm gonna head over to EB at lunch just to check it out anyways.
I would rather line up on the 18th though. It'd be much more fun. I would imagine that a lot of the people in THAT line up would have a DS with them. That would be some fun wifi gaming
AirSpeak - http://itunes.com/apps/AirSpeak
I was outside of EB 3 at 7 am with 2 other people... They only took 12 reserves. I got mine, but tey already had all of their reserves filled withing less than 2o min.
Just got back from the local EB Games (at 10:20AM CST). They had 31 available for pre-order, I was number 19, and I got there around 9:30AM.
Preordered the following:
-The Wii (1 control, Wii Sports)
-An extra controller set (WiiMote and Nunchuck)
-Zelda
-ExciteTruck
-Red Steel
There was only 1 or 2 more people in line than they had systems, and they said they *might* be getting more. It looks like Nintendo is getting out enough to satisfy as many people as possible, which I think is fantastic.
I'm psyched!
-Trillian
I would rather wait for Costco Wii console bundle, which the price will probably end up just below $250 with a game and an ccessory or two.
You should have seen how fast 360 Bundle went last christmas. Just below $500 and you get a game, charger and two wireless controllers. Of course, it still available today.
So screw you Gamestop, I'll stick with my local wholesaler.
\
My local EB opens in 8 mins. I called the store at 8am this morning.. 2 hours before they even open.. I asked if there was a chance at getting a Wii preordered and he said no. My guess is the preorders don't really exist and if they do the employees are taking them all. I got my preorder for this system about 2 weeks ago through another company, but Game Stop/EB have won't be taking any real preorders today.. just like they didnt on the PS3.
Posted by Hemos on Friday October 13, @09:40AM
from the come-and-get-it dept.
[ Nintendo ] [ Games ] Punkster812 writes
"Tomorrow, Friday October 13th
Great, so we're stuck on today until SG-1 comes and breaks us out?
I toyed with the idea of not pre-ordering because I suspect there will be tons of units available at launch, but decided to go ahead and try. I've GOT to have a Wii.
So, one of our GameStops (Austin) opens at 9:00. I figure if I get there at 8:15-8:30 that would be plenty early. On the way there, I pass an EBGames, which opens at 10:00, and there's already a HUGE line. Sure enough, the GameStop had a long line as well. I decide to try another GameStop closer to where I live, and get there around 8:30. It already had a fairly long line as well. I -might- have gotten a console there, and I'm certain I would have if I had started with that one. But, I didn't want to risk sitting in line for nothing, so I decide to try one more EBGames in a mall nearby. SCORE! The employees were already there, and were just handing out numbers through the gate. After their 11 slots filled, they turned people away, which I thought was nice of them. Anyways, they opened up early and got everyone fixed up.
I'm glad I didn't wake up early for nothing. That would have made me wiip.
I was the second person in line... Got my system, and extra wiimote and nunchuk pre-ordered! I had lots of fun playing Mario Kart DS with the guy that was thre before me. Can't wait until the 19th of November. Twilight Princess FTW!
I just placed mine this morning, 10:20 Central, after arriving at almost exactly 7 AM. The people earliest in line had been there since 5 AM. Only the first eight people in line were able to place preorders, but with a target of six million systems out before Christmas, I'm predicting this isn't the last wave of purchases we'll be seeing. Still, the line had more than doubled before opening, despite reports from the employees that only eight preorders were available and people having left the line.
Sigs are like bumper stickers.
At the two locations my wife tried this morning, the employees had reserved all the copies. Nice.
Luckly, I was #12 in line and the EB games here only had 14 pre-orders. They charged $50 + $10 for remote and $10 for nunchuck. The guy seemed to think they were going to get a lot more in on release date, and thought the pre-order thing was silly.
I couldn't believe the remote is $39 and the nunchuck was $19, so assume your Wii's are going to be $60 more then you thought.
I just left my local EBgames. They only did 2 preorders, because they don't to do them all at once. Also, a preorder does NOT guarantee you a launch console. So, why can't they take my money for something they don't know if they'll have available?
PS: That is what part of the alphabet would look like if the letters "Q" and "R" were removed.
ok this is probably wayyy off but there are a total of about 4400 gamestops/eb games worldwide. nintendo is shipping 1 million units to the united states alone. A wild guess would say that about 40% of those units will go to Gamestop/ebgames and the rest would go to circuit city/bb/walmart/target etc. so if one divides 400,000 by 4000 (saying there are 400 outside of the US conservatively) you get 100 units/store. That makes me think that there are going to be plenty of Wiis available at launch (even if there were 50/store). Very smart move by nintendo because there will be a lot of parents come christmas time who can't get their hands on a PS3 that will just get the Wii instead.
The lase game console I bought was a Super Pong.
Seriously.
Last year.
New old stock from a small town Radio/TV repair shop that was shutting down (retirement) after 40 years in business.
It completely freaks people out when I connect it to my tuner card and play it on my computer!
---
"I can't complain, but sometimes still do..." Joe Walsh
Thats the period of time I camped. Needless to say I was first. The guys closing the gamestop gave me a gangs of london demo and shook my hand. They were kind of amazed. No one showed up till 5am. Only 14, tons of people had to be turned away. I never thought of myself as the sort who would go out and freeze for over half a day just to lay down a pre order but hey, I'm getting what I want.
I've never been this excited about a game system launch ever.
This is strange. I ordered my Wii at Gamestation in Birmingham at 16:04 on 29th September. They'd been taking preorders for quite a while by then. I very much doubt there'll be any shortage - I was told that Nintendo had been ringing the store to ask how many they wanted - but I wanted to be certain I could get the thing on the release day. Possibly there's some problem with the earlier launch in the US? Or is this a marketing trick to make Wii seem scarcer than it is?
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
From posts I've read on this thread and others, it sounds like a few people have been outright lied to by EB/GameStop regarding the PS3 or Wii. You can toss my story on that stack too.
The EB games at Northgate Mall in Seattle told customers that if they preordered a Wii game (for which preorders were available weeks ago) that you would be called the day before the console was able to be preordered. If you confirmed that you wanted one and could come in and pay before end of day Friday (as if anyone wouldn't - why would they get a game and not the system?), that your spot in line would be the same spot that you preordered the game in and you wouldn't have to wait in line for the store to open.
I was the ninth or tenth person to preorder a game (Zelda, of course). I got my phone call last night to inform me that "the store is opening at 9 AM tomorrow morning so you may want to get there early." Asking some confused questions, I confirmed that they reneged on the deal. The reason I preordered a game is that, like many people, I have a job and can't wait outside of a video game store at 8 in the morning.
Guess I'll call around and see if anyone has any guaranteed-launch-day-availability preorders tonight. If not, I suppose I'll join those that will simply head to Target, Wal-Mart or Best Buy on launch day and hope for the best, or maybe even wait for a while and see what Costco offers for a bundle. I would have liked to have one guaranteed on launch day, but it sounds like with the availability they have I should likely be able to get one before the holidays with no problem.
As far as I am concerned Nintendo is dead and has been since the days of SNES. I already have an Xbox 360 and am waiting for the PS3 to get a price drop... I have no need for a poor excuse of a game console.
Got there at 9:15 with 8 in front. By the time it opened, all 34 slots were gone and he was still turning people away. Other stores I called only had 8-15, whereas others were allotted up to 40.
That's not a reservation, it's a carnival game. I was going to preorder a Wii at the EBGames that's less than half a mile from my house, but screw it. What's the point?
I guess it took them a really long time to post, because when i sent the news to Slashdot, it was Thursday October 12th at like noon. I kinda thought they just skiped over it.
and also gave links to some of the WSJ and Fortune articles about how the Sony PS3 parts shortage means it will be harder to get a PS3 than to get a Wii, but that the Wii is still in every game store's top three anticipated hot sellers this year.
My son's down there with a friend from high school lined up to preorder a Wii - $50 at EBX at Pacific Place in Seattle - they had 8 people lined up outside the mall at 2 am (friend's older brother is 8th in line) and there were about 20 when I dropped my son and his friend off to wait for the 10 am store opening.
There's another store 2 blocks away, just in case, at Westlake Mall, but they open doors later, but same store opening time.
Don't worry, you can always get it at Target, Best Buy, Costco, and other stores if you miss out on the pre-order for this one.
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" it just goes to prove real gamers dont use the EB/Gamestop monopoly on game shops anyway. Ill just show up at Target or Best Buy when the Wii comes"
I see. All the "real" gamers get their gear at Target and Best Buy.
Ninjas don't carry tic tacs
dude, you forgot to preorder Mario Galaxy and Spore!
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I love how everyone is conveniently leaving out "As we cannot control production and shipping issues from the manufacturer..."
I can't count the number of times I didn't recieve something in a distro or didn't recieve enough just to have some whiny little idiot take it as a personal assault. The only reason I sometimes hate my job is the people. Before you go off about GS/EB, put yourself in our shoes.
Nintendo plans on having 10 million units ready by Christmas, well over there expected original estimate of 7 million. In contrast the 360 had 250,000 units ready last year and the PS3 only 400,000 expected by christmas.
In the duplicate slashdot submission I made about the EBX and Gamestop preorders yesterday, I mentioned that Nintendo has 10 million units worldwide, but only 4 million for the US market.
Gamestop and EBX only get some of the allocation. Target, Best Buy, and Costco have their own allocations. If you can't get a preorder from EBX or Gamestop (same company, same allocation), you should be able to get them from any of the other game console sellers.
Worst case - phone up all the stores in your area and see WHO is selling them on launch day - and go to one of the less popular ones. People tend to queue up at the fancy mall stores, so think about going to a smaller outlet instead.
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I used some comp time at work so I could get to EB Games in Sturbridge MA early. There were 4 people in line when I got there at 9:00, the first people in line got there at 7:30. There were 14 people waiting when the store opened and I pre-ordered the Wii and 3 Wii remotes and 3 Wii nunchucks. I had also previously pre-ordered Zelda, Excite Truck, Wario Ware, and Madden 2007. I didn't get a phone call and the email I got from EB Games contained only graphics (I use PINE) and they weren't attached to the email so I had no idea what it said exactly. I was unable to place a pre-order on the S-video cable unfortunately. Now I have to wait for the delivery. Do you think they will sell units prior to the official launch date? We know they won't be taking delivery Sunday November 19 so they will have to have units in stock before then. I plan on calling EB Games before the launch to confirm, I hope they do a midnight launch party at a minimum. I intend to get there extra early because I really want to get mine on launch day.
Regular Meta Moderators are not more likely to get mod points.
I agree, I bought a number of consoles on game day launch at Costco. Plus, they tended to sell them in a bundle with a few extra games, so it was usually worth it.
If you miss out on the EBX/Gamestop preorder, plan on going to Costco or Toys-R-Us or Target on launch day in the morning - head straight for the game area - this includes Fred Meyer (yes, they sell games). Price is usually the same, but less lines.
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In Seattle wireless joe, we post from our laptops as we wait outside game stops drinking coffee from the next door starbucks.
Exactly. I guess the rest of America doesn't have wireless everywhere - about half the city has pretty much free wireless or you can buy coffee and use it. Most of us have laptops with wireless or blackberry or something.
When I dropped of my son at Pacific Place for the EBX line there, there were about 20 people, probably half of them had laptops.
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I was limiting myself to preordering games that are coming out with the launch of the system.
-Trillian
Except I was one of the lucky ones. Barely.
I wasn't sure I wanted a Wii, so I decided at the last minute to preorder one anyway. I could always sell it for a profit if I decided I didn't want it later.
So I showed up at the mall at 9:45am, and strolled over to EB. Nobody was in line. I wandered over to a calendar cart which had just opened up when another guy went over to the gate and asked the employee about the resevations. I was surprised when he passed him a clipboard throught he bars, had him sign his name, and gave him a number. WTF! So I went over immediately and got number 7. I think they had 12 units total. But the guy wouldn't tell me how many units he was getting. He said they were told not to tell people because they might get robbed. I asked him how I was to know then if the money I was putting down was going to guarantee me a system. He assured me that I would get a system. So I took my number and got a coffee and waited till they opened and went in. As soon as the door opened the phone rings, and kept ringing (he kept picking up too) while all 12 people ordered. The people on the phone didn't sound happy that they'd already given away all the systems before the store even opened, and the folks that wandered in at 10am were also rather unhappy that even though they'd arrived right at the opening time they weren't to get a system.
I suppose it doesn't really matter that they did it this way cause either way the people that were late wouldn't get a system, but on the other hand, some people might have wandered the mall after seeing no line and then missed out because there was no sign telling them to sign up before they open.
Anyway, I preordered the system, an additional wiimote and nunchuck, the 512 memory card, and zelda. There really weren't any other games that seemed like they were worth getting for the launch that would use the controller effectively. Good thing it comes with those sports games. I hope they're two player.
Of which I was number 21 just walking up to the store at 10am. Granted I hate to wait in a line and the going was sloooooooow.
-Xen
By the time this article had been posted, my local EB (Sudbury, MA) had been out of pre-orders for an hour. Of course, that's why I was there @ 5:50AM, first in line, today I am the Alpha-Geek. (We got in some good multi-player DSing as well.)
uhm... ALL the new consoles are just overpowered sequels to their predecessors. Besides better looking games, what else is new about the X360 or PS3 compared to the Xbox and PS2?
Now, what is new about the Wii compared to the Gamecube? Yeah, see. Gamecube Turbo or not, it's still the only console actually attempting something different. That's the hook people are interested in.
No sig for you!!
Ask an EB employee what you are getting for your $50 dollars. It sure isn't a guarentee that you will get a Wii on day 1. Just a guarentee that they will probably sell it to you before they sell it to someone who didn't pre-order.... maybe. EB can get stuffed, how about they provide me with service rather than taking my money for nothing?
"I have great faith in fools: Self confidence my friends call it." ~Edgar Allan Poe
My local gamespot has only a few available... I was lucky to have been let in early a couple hours before they opened. There were 6 people getting there early... and the EB guy said cryptically that a mere three were 'a significant percentage' of what they were allocated. I'm guessing 10 or less, but it was at least 6 (he didn't turn anyone away that was there).
Just glad I got mine in.
"I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.
Ah. Ok. But where's Rayman's Rabid Rabbits?
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