Still can’t get a Wii
Here it is over two full months after the launch of the Nintendo Wii. In our neck of the woods (Denton, TX,) they’re still impossible to get unless you’re a student or other individual with no life whatsoever.
I just called wal-mart–which I normally don’t shop at anyway–because they were supposed to get a shipment today. It’s 10 A.M. and most of the people in the area are church goers. I thought my chances were good. No, they got them last night at midnight (15 units) and immediately sold out.
What surprises me is that Nintendo is actually shipping quite a bit of these. I don’t remember the last time I saw a store with 15 xbox 360’s in stock, it’s sometimes rare to even see that many PS2s in a store. And yet, they’re still selling out almost instantly. In the first two months the Wii sold more units than the xbox 360 did in its first year and the high powered, high priced, high expectation sony PS3 is behind both of them.
I’m not exactly a normal day job guy anymore, I choose my own hours. I can’t imagine how hard it is for the average working joe.
Update: We did finally find one.
15 Comments
» Leave one of your ownRSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
Comment by fotobymatt@lj — January 28, 2007 @ 6:00 pm
I’ve given up. It’s just not fun anymore. Craigslist in Houston has 5 that were just listed today, and ebay turns up over 2500, give or take a few bogus offers. Nintendo touts the success of the system, but they don’t mention how many of the systems are bought and then sold online for a profit.
I don’t know how long it will take for scalpers to get bored, but I just don’t care anymore. I’m sure there will come a day, sometime this year, when they won’t be sold out the moment they arrive, but I don’t expect it to happen any time soon.
Comment by Fullman — January 28, 2007 @ 7:42 pm
I’m not having any luck either, they disappear minutes after any store that gets them opens… the same line of jobless/lifeless students and spoiled brats. Nobody will tell you when they’re coming in, nobody will tell you anything.
Can’t hold them, can’t reserve them, can’t pay in advance, forget it.
I’m about to give up. I mean, the Wii looks like fun, but it’s 2007, they completely omitted HDTV output (480p doesn’t cut it, Nintendo), and their games inconsistently feature 16×9 and 4×3. I mean, XBOX at least had everything consistent back in 2001.
I don’t know, it’s just starting to not be worth it.
Though — I remember XBOX 360 being sold out for quite some time after it launched. I guess we just have to be patient.
Sucks tho, IIRC, you could reserve/advance the 360.
Comment by Consumer — January 30, 2007 @ 4:22 pm
I can’t find one for retail price 1/30/07. Its really frustrating! I can’t beleive that Nintendo can’t keep up with demand!
Comment by Michael Louviere — January 30, 2007 @ 8:23 pm
The ps3’s are all over the place. I would have thought the PS3 would have been more popular than the Wii, Why do you guys think the Wii is doing so well?
Comment by tony ryan — January 31, 2007 @ 9:10 am
ive tryed to get a wii bt no were has 1
Comment by tony ryan — January 31, 2007 @ 9:11 am
ive tryed to get a wii bt no were has 1 ive given up im gonna get a 360
Comment by Jay G — February 2, 2007 @ 7:49 am
Only one Best Buy worker would tell me when he thought they were coming in, and when I got to the store that day (about a half hour before it opened) there were already 120 people in line. I found out later that some had been there since 5:30AM, and the store didn’t open until 11:00. I can’t compete with that - especially since I live in the Northeast and it was literally 10 degrees that day.
Comment by Ryan F — February 23, 2007 @ 5:14 pm
Its been about five months since the wii has come out and I have looked everywhere, talked to everyone, yet still can not find one. Everytime I call,GameStop or K-Mart they act like there so annoyed to talk to someone who wants a wii. If there isn’t a big shipment soon I’m going to have to move on.
Comment by George — March 4, 2007 @ 11:55 pm
It really is driving me crazy! Everyone around me has a Wii - They all seem to get lucky walking into a store that just.so.happens. to have one. People I know that didn’t even care about getting one bought one, and yet here I am - the guy who waited outside 3 times at 3am til store opening, and I’m Wii-Less. Searching from November to March? Thats insane. What is Nintendo doing? And whyyyy can’t we reserve them!?
Comment by Bob J — March 5, 2007 @ 8:34 pm
Yep, just about ready to move on to PS3 or a 360! The local Bestbuy gets a few and poof they’re gone in three seconds. I’m told when they advertise 10 they must have 10 on hand before the store opens, so… Bestbuy’s ads come out Sundays, so check late Saturday night or first thing Sunday am (hasn’t worked for me so far..) As for the 480p max deal its keeps the cost down, but big whoopee deal if I can even buy one!!!
I know Nintendo doesn’t even care but I’m about to junk my PS2 and buy a PS3.
Comment by Alex — March 5, 2007 @ 9:53 pm
I’d buy a PS3 myself except there’s just nothing interesting about it. It’s exactly the same as the PS2 with more horsepower and higher resolutions. I don’t care about that, I want better games, or more fun gameplay. I have a PS2, I don’t need a PS2 on steroids.
Same with the Xbox/Xbox360. Xbox had about 5 games worth playing that weren’t available on other systems. I rue forking over the cash for an Xbox original even though I got it used for $100.
Comment by bob — March 17, 2007 @ 8:44 pm
Nintendo sucks. I so disgusted with how poorly this entire wii thing has been set up im not buying from nintendo anymore.
Comment by Alex — March 18, 2007 @ 6:29 am
Hold your horses there Bob. The reason you can’t get a Wii is exactly the opposite of Nintendo sucking! Just because something’s immensely popular doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get it.
Wii has outsold every other console every month since it’s release. Nintendo is producing them, and as fast as they can, people are just buying them at nearly double the rate of the other two new consoles!
I think the main people to be angry with here are the dozens/hundreds of scalpers that gobble up systems and then put them on ebay or craigslist.
Comment by Andi — March 21, 2007 @ 6:02 am
In the UK, England, we’re having the same problems. The consoles are arriving daily in the shops at between 10:00 and 11:00. They can’t be reserved or saved by a phone call, not even for 20 minutes for you to get to the shop. You can ring, get down there quick as they’re in stock, and there gone. The only people who are able to get them are people that don’t work, students and people connected with the shops, many of these buy them and then sell them on ebay.
There’s goto be a better way of doing it? I mean, they’ve been released here for 3 or 4 months now.
Comment by bill ishman — January 22, 2008 @ 12:03 pm
I finally got a wii after searching the stores in my city for three months. I stood in lines for hours and made many phone calls to most of the stores without any luck. I decided to continue my wii search on line and ended up on a wii tracker web site. Their it was, the flashing in stock sign that stated amazon had the wii in stock for its retail price of $250.00.I highly recommend these wii tracker sites if you are trying to find a wii.
http://www.instockonline.org
http://www.wiitracker.com