Buying A Wii: Or How I Learned To Stop Bitching And Stand In Line
So here we are six months after the launch of the Wii and the damn things are still near impossible to find in stores. Oh, sure: I could cheat, like my brother did, and purchase one via eBay, but I happen to be one of those suckers for punishment who still believes in the thrill of the hunt.
OK, so that's not entirely true, but it sure sounds good, doesn't it? The truth is that I happened to be wandering around the gaming section of my local Fry's Electronics and noticed some Wii display boxes, which hadn't been around the floor during my previous few visits over the past month. When I asked the clerks if they had any in stock, I was told they did, but they wouldn't go on sale until Sunday morning. So, if I wanted to get one of those precioussssssss consoles, it seemed like I'd have to show up at the butt-ugly crack of dawn and most likely wait in line with a bunch of people whom I naturally assumed would be teenaged dregs of humanity.
Imagine my surprise when I arrived yesterday morning to find that I was only the fifth person to show up (this was by 7 AM, mind you) and everyone else in line actually seemed pretty normal. There was the married couple lounging in some comfy-looking camp chairs (they'd been there since 4 AM), and two other guys close to my age (both of whom had arrived about ten minutes before I did), and an industrial electrician whom I spent most of the wait chatting with showed up a couple of minutes after I did.
For the most part, the wait in line was largely uneventful. In fact, no one else showed up until 8 AM, but after that there was a pretty steady stream of people who increased the line's length for the last hour before the store opened. Of course, we had a couple of foul-mouthed teenagers arrive towards the end of the store's pre-opening hours, but I took solace in the fact that they weren't going to actually get a Wii for themselves... because all the fliers acting as reservation tickets had been handed out to those of us who'd showed up early. The other notable moment was when some sketchy middle-aged guy showed up in his P.O.S. car and tried to sell us his used Wii for $300.
Of course, Fry's was forcing everyone to buy at least two games along with the consoles, but none of us had any real complaints about this since everyone I talked to was already planning to buy at least that many titles. I ended up picking up Wii Play, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and an extra nunchuck. And, so, my story ended at 9:20 AM, with me walking out of the Pleasant Hill Fry's Electronics with a brand new Wii and some great games to go along with it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a Wiimote to blacken my eye with.
Hit the jump to see pictures of the Wii, the games, the line at Fry's, and the flier that was handed out to those of us who actually scored a console!
Boy of Tomorrow
Posted to Miscellany on 16 April 2007
· Comments (18)
Other stuff like this: lines, masochist, nintendo, sucker, the hunt, wii, wii play, wiimote, zelda
Congrats Boy of Tomorrow... it's about time.
I also like how everyone in line seems to be standing a safe 4 feet from each other.
How do they stand on that fence so perfectly... magical balancing wii.
What can I say? We were not a cuddly bunch.
The nunchuk, in particular, looks very precarious on that railing.
But congratulations on scoring a Wii! I remember back in November feeling ridiculous buying one on eBay (with a relatively small markup, thankfully), assuming that the market would be quickly flooded with retail-priced consoles. If I knew then what I know now about the supply situation, though, I probably would have spent even more.
Yowzers!
I still haven't found a Wii, so I can appreciate the excitement. I'm just not one for early mornings :) I did try about a month ago to hit TRU in one of their Sunday sell-throughs.....I ended up being about 5 people away from the last person in line to get one. Ah well. I just hope I find one before June.
they're gonna fall!!!
I'm sooooo gay. I'm just looking at the picture going... "ooh what a lovely looking view"
I finally got a Wii two weeks ago at Toys Are Us on April Fools Day. They had sixty-five systems, and I happened to be fifty-one in the line.
I love the damn thing! I've been hooked on Super Paper Mario for the past week because it's such an amazing game.
Do you live in oregon? cause that totally looks like the goonies neighborhood
Nah, I'm in the East Bay of CA. We have the equivalent views, but more sunshine.
i got my wii in january, however, i have yet to get a second nunchak and wiimote, but i havent been hunting for them either. if i happen to see them available, ill get em
Congrats BOT! I'm sure you will have many fun hours with your Wii. I am still having a blast with mine.
"You'll shoot your eye out, kid." Gratz on getting yours. The Boyfriend managed to get ours online from a site that gave email notices when ones were available. But then I was willing to buy a pretty substantial bundle if need be (like Walmart's 6-game bundles. Ouch.)
I was lucky when I got mine. I called a few places in January after striking out a few times and happened upon 3 at the Wal-mart one town over (about 20 minutes in traffic). I drove as fast as I could, not realizing they were STILL going to be in such demand. If I'd known that, I'd have snatched up all 3 and helped out my Wii-starved friends.
pleasant hill.... oregon?
Near Pleasant Hill, CA, actually :)
Nunchuck? Wouldn't a second Wiimote have been a wiser choice?
perhaps they were sold out..
Perhaps, i'm a tard... Wii Play... comes... with.. a ... wiimote...
yeah i'm a moron
*blushing*