FARK.com: (3270499) Want a Wii? Gamestop can help. They won't actually give you a Wii for Christmas, but you can still give them $250

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		Want a Wii? Gamestop can help. They won't actually give you a Wii for Christmas, but you can still give them $250 (reuters.com)		71
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4506 clicks; posted to Geek » on 15 Dec 2007 at 1:25 AM | Favorite | share:

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onecanshort		2007-12-15 01:09:44 AM

I thought it was nuts that it took me so long to get one last February. But it's been over a year since launch and these things still can't stay on the shelves, that's nuts.

Deadite		2007-12-15 01:37:17 AM

Target, bestbuy, and some others will have them this weekend they stockpiled them for the last few weeks/months.

Mr. Bill		2007-12-15 01:38:59 AM

If anyone in the Vancouver area is looking for one, try Rogers Video. I picked one up there on Wednesday night (console + wii sports). I tried everywhere else: Costco, Future Shop, Circuit City, Zellers, Toys R' Us, The Bay, EB, Walmart, HMV. The only other place I didn't try was Best Buy but I had heard they were sold out too. Rogers will actually hold one for you (for an hour at least) if you call and they have them in stock.

doglover		2007-12-15 01:40:56 AM

The Wii, much like a fine Cuban cigar, is rolled on the nicotine stained thighs of a Latin woman to complete the manufacturing process.

Unfortunately, this is kept secret by shipping incomplete units to cuba and returning the finished ones to Japan for sale or export. Since any given day will have any Cuban who knows how to sail trying to hop over to Florida in a makeshift boat race, there are frequent shipping delays.

sigh, not really.
But given sony's brilliant leadership recently, nintendo would still look smart if it were true.

Bob Ondeeznuts		2007-12-15 01:48:03 AM

Have fun losers!

/had mine for almost a year now

RoxtarRyan		2007-12-15 01:59:34 AM

Fark headline from Feburary 2008:

People gave Gamestop money for Wii's they didn't have in stock, promised to it get to them "sometime"

Zenbrew		2007-12-15 02:01:04 AM

New low for the GameStapo. Making you prepurchase a product that's already out. Those douche bags will never get another cent of mine. I'll go to Wal-mart first.

Mentalpatient87		2007-12-15 02:09:26 AM

I've never had a problem with my local Gamestop. Got my Wii there no problem, too. Just walked in and they had 4 or 5 sitting there behind the counter. They had apparently just gotten them in that day, and I was luck as hell.

Now whenever I hear people looking for Wiis around here they can NEVER get one. I find it funny.

Choccy		2007-12-15 02:12:24 AM

Mentalpatient87: I've never had a problem with my local Gamestop. Got my Wii there no problem, too. Just walked in and they had 4 or 5 sitting there behind the counter. They had apparently just gotten them in that day, and I was luck as hell.

Now whenever I hear people looking for Wiis around here they can NEVER get one. I find it funny.

Happened the same thing to my brother. The day after Christmas. We've had a Wii for a higher time than average.

Nowhereman		2007-12-15 02:22:53 AM

Had mine 2nd week that it came out. cest la vie

wholedamnshow		2007-12-15 02:23:53 AM

Deadite: Target, bestbuy, and some others will have them this weekend they stockpiled them for the last few weeks/months.

No retailer stockpiles anything. As soon as they get them, they're practically on the shelf. I know people that work at different Best Buys, Targets, etc, and trust me, they're not keeping anything in the stockroom.

A friend of mine works at target, and I spoke to her today while I was shopping. They're expecting about 25 Sunday morning.

Twigz221		2007-12-15 02:26:09 AM

wholedamnshow

That's not really true. They DO stockpile. My sister is the head of hardlines at a super target and she told me she's had 31 Wii's in the back room since Wednesday and that they will not be put up for sale until Sunday. And that they do this often.

Pxtl		2007-12-15 02:31:18 AM

Twigz221: wholedamnshow

That's not really true. They DO stockpile. My sister is the head of hardlines at a super target and she told me she's had 31 Wii's in the back room since Wednesday and that they will not be put up for sale until Sunday. And that they do this often.

That's not stockpiling, that's just waiting until the end of the week so that consumers know what day to camp on.

doglover		2007-12-15 02:34:14 AM

Pxtl

That's ~~not~~ stockpiling, ~~that's just~~ waiting until the end of the week so that consumers know what day to camp on.

FTFY

Dr. Frisbee		2007-12-15 02:34:38 AM

I still laugh at people that want a Wii. Granted I haven't played Mario Galaxy yet (rated extremely high....I should try that game), but it truly is a "meh" machine plagued by so-so games.

smpbadger		2007-12-15 02:39:50 AM

Got My first Wii on launch day. Lost it to a fire 5 months later...walked into a best buy and got lucky back in May...havn't seen another one on the shelves since then

TonyDanza		2007-12-15 02:43:08 AM

New low for the GameStapo. Making you prepurchase a product that's already out. Those douche bags will never get another cent of mine. I'll go to Wal-mart first.

Yeah, what a bunch of asshats. Allowing you to ORDER something.

Zamboro		2007-12-15 02:44:13 AM

Dr. Frisbee: "I still laugh at people who want a Wii because I haven't tried the highest rated game for it and I am personally unaware of the many great titles for the system such as Zack and Wiki, Metroid Prime 3, Battalion Wars and so on, with more great games like No More Heroes and Smash Bros Brawl on the horizon".

Fixed that for ya.

kg		2007-12-15 02:45:22 AM

Why would they stockpile? Why not put them on the shelf as soon as you get them, what do they care when they are purchased?

Pxtl		2007-12-15 02:48:54 AM

kg: Why would they stockpile? Why not put them on the shelf as soon as you get them, what do they care when they are purchased?

Customers want to know what day they can get them in. It's nicer to tell the customer "we put them out on sundays. Call on saturday to find out if any will be in stock, and line up sunday morning to get one" than to just say "keep calling us every five seconds to find out if any are in stock until we both hate each other, you never shop here again, and our employee on the phones goes postal and digs the manager's guts out with the wide-end of a Wiimote"

Pxtl		2007-12-15 02:52:53 AM

Zamboro: Dr. Frisbee: "I still laugh at people who want a Wii because I haven't tried the highest rated game for it and I am personally unaware of the many great titles for the system such as Zack and Wiki, Metroid Prime 3, Battalion Wars and so on, with more great games like No More Heroes and Smash Bros Brawl on the horizon".

Fixed that for ya.

"and so on" is where the magic is. There doesn't seem to be much other than 1st-party titles. Even Battalion Wars II reviewed poorly (I was looking forward to it). Nintendo can only do so much alone - even Prime 3 was a singleplayer-only title, whereas that kind of huge FPS event of a game would have been multiplayer if it were a mega-cross-platform console event like Halo 3.

Here's a challenge: think of a good 4-player Wii game that isn't all shoddy minigames. This, on the ultimate family party console. Only decent one I can think of is the Mario Strikers port.

anonymous		2007-12-15 02:52:54 AM

OMG!! THIS IS A STICK-UP!!

tyndiesrntr		2007-12-15 03:15:02 AM

Didn't think I'd be able to get one anytime soon, but my brother works for Circuit City and held one back for me a couple weeks ago.

Sohta		2007-12-15 03:35:36 AM

Pxtl: Here's a challenge: think of a good 4-player Wii game that isn't all shoddy minigames. This, on the ultimate family party console. Only decent one I can think of is the Mario Strikers port.

Beyond strikers (obvious answer)? Easy: The BIGS.

e5wsf		2007-12-15 04:01:44 AM

Had to get one on ebay. $409 w/shipping

MadSkillz		2007-12-15 04:04:28 AM

And all this time, after playing mine for 3 weeks, it now is in my dresser collecting dust.

Lame console.

/shopping for an Xbox 360.

Nathan_X		2007-12-15 04:12:08 AM

Pxtl:
"and so on" is where the magic is. There doesn't seem to be much other than 1st-party titles. Even Battalion Wars II reviewed poorly (I was looking forward to it). Nintendo can only do so much alone - even Prime 3 was a singleplayer-only title, whereas that kind of huge FPS event of a game would have been multiplayer if it were a mega-cross-platform console event like Halo 3. Here's a challenge: think of a good 4-player Wii game that isn't all shoddy minigames. This, on the ultimate family party console. Only decent one I can think of is the Mario Strikers port.

The next time you feel confident in talking about video games, don't.

/Oh, Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, SSX Blur, and Umbrella Chronicles are all strong multiplayer titles.

Genta		2007-12-15 04:31:17 AM

Choccy: We've had a Wii for a higher time than average.

it was the highest of times, it was the lowest of times.

/Ricky Williams has a higher time than average too.

Bacontastesgood		2007-12-15 05:22:07 AM

MadSkillz

That's why I won't get one. Tried it out at friends a few times. It was always like, wow this is so cool. Then after half an hour, it starts to sink in that the graphics kinda suck and I'm tired of flailing my arms around.

Passive Aggressive Larry		2007-12-15 05:51:59 AM

Bacontastesgood: MadSkillz

That's why I won't get one. Tried it out at friends a few times. It was always like, wow this is so cool. Then after half an hour, it starts to sink in that the graphics kinda suck and I'm tired of flailing my arms around.

I never understand when people say this shiat about "flailing" their arms around to play the Wii. The best games on the system (Zelda, Mario) require little more than the occasional flick of the wrist. What you should do is stop playing Raymond Rabbits with your friends and try a title that isn't party games and a lot of movement (of which there are many). But if the only way you can play games is to completely sack out on a couch and not move for 3 hours, then you should probably stick to Xbox or Playstation, or just stop over-exaggerating motion controls for games on the Wii.

castufari		2007-12-15 06:57:42 AM

I got mine a few weeks after launch. Walked into a Super Walmart out in BFE one Sunday morning to get some juice and something for lunch. Stopped by the game area to see if they had any games on the cheap (I was doing a server upgrade that was going to take 12 hours and I didn't want to have to screw around on the net for that long). Was looking at the Wii titles, the guy said "we have a few in stock". Boom, sold.

As far as the controls, you don't have to flail around. A flick will do it. My kid and her friends go through the full motion because they want to. When boxing I do the same. For Zelda, no.

grinding_journalist		2007-12-15 07:16:22 AM

I work at Gamestop so I'm getting a kick out of these replies.

/woohoo
//not really

parkerlewis		2007-12-15 07:31:35 AM

Loves me some Strikers. Any Farkers play it online?

FunkyBlue		2007-12-15 07:44:57 AM

Pxtl: "and so on" is where the magic is. There doesn't seem to be much other than 1st-party titles.

The problem right now is a lot of the third parties wrote off the Wii because of the graphics thinking it was going to become another GameCube with a fancy wand, so games weren't planned around the interface and capability. When the Wii started selling like mad and outpacing the 360 and PS3, third parties were caught off guard and started making ports with motion controls to try and catch up. Seeing as the console is still selling this way, there will be better third party games in the future but it takes about 1-2 years to develop a decent game designed for the Wii and the motion controls. Seeing as some companies probably started their projects 6 months ago, I'd guess we'll be seeing some decent third party titles by next Christmas or the summer after.

/Don't knock mini-games. A few beers and Mario/Sonic Olympics is great fun. Until you do that damn swimming and all four of you collapse, rubbing your biceps. Pain aside, still more fun than some PS3 games.
//longest. slashy. evar.

Whatthefark		2007-12-15 08:20:59 AM

Luckily I have a friend that works for Best Buy. He called me at lunch about a week and a half ago and told me he was holding one, but I better hurry. I made it there in ten minutes.

I couldn't wait until Christmas though. I opened it, both my kids eyes lit up and we've been playing it ever since. I'll just get them some games for Christmas instead.

/Wii Sports bowling makes for a great drinking game with your buddies.

AlgertMan		2007-12-15 09:02:11 AM

Don't do it people. Gamestop/EBGames is fark it up for you

Renegade Pancake		2007-12-15 09:11:29 AM

I got a Wii last March.

/Sam's Club
//Sometimes it pays to be a member.

godofusa.com		2007-12-15 09:29:41 AM

I got my Wii 3 weeks after launch (old roommate got it on launch).. it's fun!!!

/loves his 360 too
//suck it, Sony

dfenstrate		2007-12-15 10:25:24 AM

Buy a used Wii. Nintendo stuff doesn't break anyway.

If you're lucky, like me, the one you buy will have been used to download $100 worth of console games.

Sure, Gamestop erases them, but nintendo just lets you download them again for free.

evilmrsock		2007-12-15 10:35:01 AM

Gamestop felt the need to tack a preorder for Smash Bros onto my last trade-in. Nobody mentioned preordering a goddamn thing, clerk just tacked $5 onto the stuff I was buying when he told me my balance, didn't notice it till i got home and saw the receipt.

I'd love to stop going but my girl works at Barnes & Noble which for a bizarre reason gets her employee discounts there - 15% off all items, 15% more towards trade ins - too much financial sense dammit ;_;

Evil Cat		2007-12-15 10:57:49 AM

Why the hell would you preorder a game nowadays? Big name games always come out in huge quantities, there is no longer any fear of not being able to get said game on launch day anymore.

/maybe if you are dumbass who wants the stupid "limited edition" version with a 50 cent figurine then maybe you should. To you I say fark you; you are an even bigger loser than I could ever hope to be, and I am quite the loser as it is.

Evil Cat		2007-12-15 11:03:20 AM

too drunk to realize this is for Wii console hardware.

Well wait till after xmas when all the a-holes put their "investments" back on the market because no one wants to pay $500 for $250 console.

Hell maybe I should try that with my Wii. I love it an all, but I could part ways with it for a while and buy a new one sometime next year if I could make a profit off my current one.

Bacontastesgood		2007-12-15 11:11:20 AM

Passive Aggressive Larry

Thanks for the tip, seriously. I'll give the new Zelda a shot. Oh wait, I already have it on my 5-year-old GameCube and it looks the same. How about the graphics kinda sucking? You got any tips for fixing that?

Glad your getting a good "workout", though. Don't forget to cool down and stay hydrated.

TheXRayStyle		2007-12-15 11:12:42 AM

Woohoo my first greenlight!

Anyway, we were fortunate to get a Wii back in January. I'm a fairly casual gamer and my wife barely ever played video games before and we're having lots of fun with it. Heck, even my mom bought one after I brought mine over for a while, and I don't think I've seen her play anything more than solitaire on a computer or console before. I'm still enjoying Wii Sports, though Zelda is a pretty good game. I just got Super Mario Galaxy as an early Christmas present last night, so I know what I'm doing all weekend...

JeffTL		2007-12-15 11:41:07 AM

I hope they've paid good attention to what this increase in cash and unearned revenue will do for their current ratio.

British		2007-12-15 12:41:35 PM

I've only had 2 chances to buy a Wii.

1. Once at Target several months ago.

2. Another was in Tokyo, Japan(tons were being sold when I was right there at the counter). Meh.

TonyDanza		2007-12-15 01:14:39 PM

evilmrsock
15% more towards trade ins

No

LesserEvil		2007-12-15 01:20:31 PM

Hah.... my mom wanted to get her grandson (my 7 year old son) a Wii, so on Black Friday, she headed out - at 2:30am. The line for the available Wiis at the local Miejer (24 hour store) for 4am release was already 100 strong (for 20 units), so she headed out to the alternative I gave her: the FYE store in the local mall. She got into the mall at 4am, and across the way was the GameStop, a line already 30 strong, all waiting for the Wii. At 5am, the GameStop manager came out and said that he only had 11 units, so the rest left, while my mom waited patiently at FYE, the only one when they opened...

I told her she should have bought all of the units they had. Easy money on eBay right now.

At any rate, my son is enjoying the system.

It boggles my mind how shortsighted people are when it comes to finding high demand items. I bet 25% of the stock goes to stores people don't think carry them - and end up getting bought by employees, friends of theirs, or people who just happen to see them by accident; and that they often sat on the shelves for a few days before getting sold. Meanwhile, supposedly tech-savvy people are getting into fist fights waiting in a line at their local Best Buy.

evilmrsock		2007-12-15 01:33:43 PM

TonyDanza: evilmrsock
15% more towards trade ins

No

Yeah, actually. I've done it on several occasions. The receipts list a bonus on each trade in and a deduction off each purchase on each line item. If you're telling me gamestop employees don't get that, then I laugh very hard because it sucks to be them even more in that case.

ianderthal		2007-12-15 02:23:16 PM

Got mine the day it came out. Showed up at the local Target about a half-hour before it opened, 6th in line. Haven't regretted it since. Anyone saying the games "take too much flailing" hasn't played it enough, and if you're someone who honestly cares that much about graphics, I'd like to point you towards the clue train, where all the great games of the past are getting on...and they're still fun.

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