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OFFICIAL: Wii preorders start today (10/13)

fatius

Member
Got mine. Went to a gamestop in nyc (in the village around st. marks)... they came out and said "only 32" and i was #34... so I went down the street with #33 and we stood in line at ebgames... I got #18.

All told there were probably over a hundred people combined between the two lines. Lots of happy campers, and lots of people where were turned away.
 

Soul4ger

Member
Holy ****. I just got back. They already had my name down, so I didn't even really need to line up, but EVERY STORE IN THE AREA IS PREORDERED OUT. :O :O :O I didn't expect any line at all, but there were over a dozen people there by 9:30, and by 10:00, they were turning people away. Holy shit.
 

BuddyC

Member
aztrex said:
Careful about repeating yourself you might get this thread locked too.
Nah, his thread got locked because there's no sense in having two threads running parallel conversations.
 
I just got back from the preorder event at my local Gamestop. Here are my observations compared to Tuesday's PS3 preorder, which I also attended.

On Tuesday, there were around 8 people in line at the time the store opened. I arrived at 9:05 and was number 6 out of 8. The store got 8 system preorders, so everyone was able to reserve a PS3. The earliest person showed up at 9am.

Today, I arrived at 9:20 and there were already 9 people in line. The earliest person showed up at 5am. By the time I was at the register at about 10:05am, there were at least 30 people there for a store that only got 10 systems. Needless to say, maybe people left disappointed.

Not drawing any conclusions from this, only reporting what I saw :)
 

Soybean

Member
Yay! That was fun. Got there at around 8:30, and 4 others were in line. Around 30 people in line at its peak (some people who arrived after me had come from other stores where the line was already way too long). People were far more informed about the Wii than the PS3 line was about the PS3. Even the parents who were there knew stuff. It was actually a lot of fun hanging out with fellow Nintendo fans.

This chick was very knowledgeable about Wii, and borrowed my DS:
268552772_ed15c54964.jpg


Doesn't look like a lot of people, but it peaked at 30 in line:
268553297_0b017c0700.jpg


You can only reserve 5 items at a time, so the receipt in back is for the Classic Controller I reserved:
268553298_8a35ce45b2.jpg
 

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
tried three stores, no luck at any. All had 20 + before 9 am. Two only were going to have 14 systems, one at a mall had 35. I didn't want to have to camp out. Will Best Buy or anyone have a midnight opening for the release?
 
Just got back!

Store 1: 20~ people.
Store 2: 15~ people.
Store 3: 15~ people.
Store 4: 20~ people.
Store 5, around 8:15: 1 person in line, 15 soon after.

Needless to say, people were turned away at all locations. I was suprised to say the least.
 

fatius

Member
UncleScr00ge said:
The earliest person showed up at 5am. By the time I was at the register at about 10:05am, there were at least 30 people there for a store that only got 10 systems.

I'm surprised by the amounts of lines people are seeing (including the two lines I saw). I figured there were so many that people weren't going to be pre-ordering too much. But I guess people wanted some reassurance.
 

Kodiak

Not an asshole.
Walmart will be doing midnight, I really don't know how you "camp" at walmart, unless they make a predesignated place for it. Regardless thats where I'll be on the 16th.
 

Philia

Member
Just got back from my Gamestop. I got there about 8:20. I was 12th in line. The first group of about 5 or 6 were 20something people that got there at 4, most had DS's. Then there was a few moms, then me. I actually wound up talking to the moms about the systems, they were there for their kids and wanted to know what these "zelda" and "red steel" games were :lol . Manager showed up a little after 9, and gave out 15 tickets. #15 got there at about 9, there were about 7-10 people after that that got turned away. From that time until I actually got to the register and made my preorder, they probably turned away an additional 8-10 people up until when I left, and the phone was ringing off the hook the whole time. I wound up putting 50 on the system, 5 on Zelda, and 10 on the classic controller. FYI the accessories went in their system this morning, the classic controller/nunchuk/wiimote all require $10 deposits to preorder. The manager told me they were supposedly getting a small supply of controllers, so if I wanted either I should preorder them now, so I went ahead and dropped the money on the classic, not sure if I'm getting a 2nd controller at launch or not yet.
 

Khalid-S

Member
I just came back from cambridge eb games .. my number was 3 (i went at 6am) i ordered alot of wii games .. but i forgot to add the classic wii controller on my list :(.
 
Shit. There's not even a reason to go my local Gamestop & EB. I was told by the GS store that were at least 10 people outside(+ anyone else around the corner) from where the manager could see. They are getting 14 systems. So they will be gone by the time I show up.

As for EB, there's a line out there too. The manager didnt say anything but it seemed to go along with "I dont think you will be able to get a system, mam".

I dunno what to do. Im gonna have to preorder online at this point. From what everyone has said, I think some people have seriously underestimated how available Wii will be come next month.
 

Soybean

Member
Bah. It's going to be fine. I pre-ordered just in case, but if everyone in this thread can't get one by strolling into a store on launch day, I'll eat my hat. Just go to stores that pepole don't associate with video games, like K-Mart or BJs.
 
Turned away at two locations.

The first, an EB, started taking pre-orders hours before the store even opened, which pissed me off because I called them last night and they said they would start taking pre-orders TODAY, not yesterday. The second, a GameStop, ran through their alottment just as we got there, but even then we were about fifth back in line. Looks like I'll be camping out on the 18th.

I guess that's what I get for living in a major metropolitan area (Orlando).
 

PkunkFury

Member
All 3 stores in Lafayette IN were out of pre-orders before they opened. A good 30-40 people were turned away from the store closest to school. Of course I was one of them. Looks like I'll be camping out on the 18th at Best Buy. Sucks I had a meeting this morning or I'd have lined up early. I drove by on my way to school at 8:00 and saw like 40 people lined up already. Someone brought a large table and a bunch of guys were sitting around it right outside the door. Looked like everyone was freezing and had been there for a while :lol
 

Meohsix

Member
just got back from EB
mine had about 12 or so people waiting outside
but the store only had 8 system pre orders they could do
i got there at 830 and was #1 in line =D
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
About 40-50 people in line at one EB here, which is more than twice the number in line on Monday for the PS3.

I have my Wii secured, and paid in full. Just need to pre-order a couple games now.
 
gamergirly said:
I dunno what to do. Im gonna have to preorder online at this point. From what everyone has said, I think some people have seriously underestimated how available Wii will be come next month.
I tried to warn you earlier.
 

BuddyC

Member
If nothing else, these pre-order threads have helped me to recognize a fair number of other Indiana residents. I never knew we had so many :D
 

Xdrive05

Member
PkunkFury said:
All 3 stores in Lafayette IN were out of pre-orders before they opened. A good 30-40 people were turned away from the store closest to my Apt. Of course I was one of them. Looks like I'll be camping out on the 18th at Best Buy. Sucks I had a meeting this morning or I'd have lined up early. I drove by on my way to school at 8:00 and saw like 40 people lined up already. Someone brought a large table and a bunch of guys were sitting around it right outside the door. Looked like everyone was freezing and had been there for a while :lol

I live in Indianapolis and called/checked on four different stores. All sold out as of 10:20am, the time I actually got off work :mad:

It was really bad too, 'cause I called the last store and the guy told me they had a few left, but by the time I got there they were all gone. I thought I was going to have a fit.

So now what are my options? Camp out at Walmart @ midnight?
 

Vark

Member
Got there at 8:30am and was 5th in line. Some friends of mine showed up later and at around 9:30 they were near the end. I think they only had 16 systems.

Only saw one guy get turned away, but while we were in getting things done the phone kept ringing.

The store there did an *excellent* job btw.

All the EB's in my area are trash but I've had nothing but good experiences with the Gamestops in Gaithersburg MD.
 

Dimmuxx

The Amiga Brotherhood
I preordered mine at EB Games(in Sweden) on 11th may and there was no line and I'm nr. 1 at that store btw. :lol
 

PkunkFury

Member
BuddyC said:
If nothing else, these pre-order threads have helped me to recognize a fair number of other Indiana residents. I never knew we had so many :D

where are you located?

Xdrive05 said:
I live in Indianapolis and called/checked on four different stores. All sold out as of 10:20am, the time I actually got off work :mad:

It was really bad too, 'cause I called the last store and the guy told me they had a few left, but by the time I got there they were all gone. I thought I was going to have a fit.

yeah, I considered going to Indy and trying my luck but I sorta knew it wouldn't work. Heck I should have driven up to Kokomo or South Bend, maybe some deserted stores up there. I think I may leave Lafayette for the launch night. Too many college kids here and not enough stores
 

Xdrive05

Member
BuddyC said:
If nothing else, these pre-order threads have helped me to recognize a fair number of other Indiana residents. I never knew we had so many :D


Where do you live here?

/stalker

:)
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
just got back. already had mine pre-ordered from the amazon link like a month ago. but my brother-in-law still needed one.

well, he still needs one. store got 15 units allocated and all of them were spoken for before I got there like 15 minutes before it opened.

looks like he's standing in line on sunday if he wants one.. ehh... I might still stand with him.
 

spengo

Member
Man I was just thinking about what it is going to be like after there are actually commericals for this thing. I really hope Nintendo can produce the numbers at launch. I think this might be alot bigger than most anticipated. I'm actually starting to get worried now.
 
Xdrive05 said:
So now what are my options? Camp out at Walmart @ midnight?

Yep. Get up early morning and hit up Walmart. If local Super Walmart doesnt do it, will try the other 10 miles away. I need my Zelda fix. I aint waiting until December! Im kinda surprised. I didnt really think that many would show up(why I told my cousin to go ahead to store). And now Im screwed.
 

blahness

Member
question about system launches @ costco:

does costco have them on launch day? anyone have any experience with launch day at costco?
 

Xdrive05

Member
EDIT: question answered

But does this mean Gamestops are done for pre-orders? You can't wait in line at GS on launch and get one, right?
 
Xdrive05 said:
EDIT: question answered

But does this mean Gamestops are done for pre-orders? You can't wait in line at GS on launch and get one, right?

I suspect this is NOT the case. N's launch numbers are very strong, and I think GS and EB are being very conservative right now.
 

big_z

Member
WTF, camping out for preorders!!! This is getting insane. I wasn't expecting this at all... i think now im going to leave a little extra early for the bestbuy or walmart camp out.

Anyone know if walmart does midnight launch in canada???
 
Why do people prefer to buy this stuff at GameStop to a general retail store? I would never go into another mall store to buy games, if I could help it. And for Wii launch, I can help it.
 

Xdrive05

Member
Jonnyboy117 said:
Why do people prefer to buy this stuff at GameStop to a general retail store? I would never go into another mall store to buy games, if I could help it. And for Wii launch, I can help it.

For me, my Funcoland is in a strip mall right next to where I work, so it's mainly for convenience. Plus, the regular retail stores where I live don't do much for launches, and most of them don't even do midnight launches.
 

fatius

Member
Jonnyboy117 said:
I would never go into another mall store to buy games, if I could help it. And for Wii launch, I can help it.

What do you mean? Do you mean gamestop is some kind of mall store... as opposed to what? Best buy?

I'm just wondering what you mean, my gamestop/ebgames are not in the mall, I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything.
 

suaveric

Member
blahness said:
question about system launches @ costco:

does costco have them on launch day? anyone have any experience with launch day at costco?

they had 360s last year on day one. so i assume they'd have wii's then as well. I'm just worried about what they'll pack in with the Wii. I really don't want excite truck...
 

MrDaravon

Member
Jonnyboy117 said:
Why do people prefer to buy this stuff at GameStop to a general retail store? I would never go into another mall store to buy games, if I could help it. And for Wii launch, I can help it.

For me it was convienance. I try to avoid GS/EB when I can, but I figured camping out for an hour and a half was a hell of a lot better than lining up 6+ hours at a 24hour Walmart or possibly longer.
 
I'm surprised to hear allocation per store is so low for the Wii. Looks like the predictions of 700k+ for launch day might be a little off.
 
SailorDaravon said:
For me it was convienance. I try to avoid GS/EB when I can, but I figured camping out for an hour and a half was a hell of a lot better than lining up 6+ hours at a 24hour Walmart or possibly longer.
I feel the same way, that's why I did it for PS3/Wii, plus I wanted to avoid the online rape bundles this time.
 

xsarien

daedsiluap
typhonsentra said:
I'm surprised to hear allocation per store is so low for the Wii. Looks like the predictions of 700k+ for launch day might be a little off.

You know there are other, bigger stores in the U.S. that sell video game hardware, right?


SailorDaravon said:
For me it was convienance. I try to avoid GS/EB when I can, but I figured camping out for an hour and a half was a hell of a lot better than lining up 6+ hours at a 24hour Walmart or possibly longer.

I try to avoid it too, that's why I'm doing this crap online.
 

castle007

Banned
typhonsentra said:
I'm surprised to hear allocation per store is so low for the Wii. Looks like the predictions of 700k+ for launch day might be a little off.

no, I think gamestop is trying to avoid getting too many preorders.
 

Kuramu

Member
Crap.... my cat woke me up early. i couldn't get back to sleep, so i put the radio on quietly to doze back of. However, the radio is my alarm, so i never heard it and overslept. Thanks, stupid jerk cat, i just called 5 EBs and GSs and all sold out. Jerk
 
Picked up a preorder with ease at Burlington MA EB. Got there 5 minutes before store opened, and I was about 30 back. Turns out their allocation is 36 systems. So I guess I was pretty lucky. By the time I was paying, there were another 10-15 people behind me. So about 10 people came and went home empty handed but they showed up after the store opened and didnt wait for more than a few minutes.
 

Pellham

Banned
Well I didn't get a preorder cause the lines were too long, but w/e, probably going to import a pre-modded Wii anyway.
 
I was the second person there at about 7:20am... by the time the store opened at 10, there were over 25 people... when I left a few more had shown up...

Got mine though.... they had two lines running and I got #1. :D
 

StRaNgE

Banned
woah, i debated all morning if i should do the wally world thing or go to GS this morning.

got the bug after reading this and decided to go.

my closest store had a total of 11 of us, and the store was getting 17 preorder spots allowed.

now i might go do the midnight release thing at wally world still and give one up as a xmas gift to someone, time will tell.
 
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