Purchasing a Wii - A Trip Report with a Few Surprises

[4_2_it]

Pre-Game:

I called the the Toys U Us store on Wednesday and ask if they will have any Wiis available on Friday morning. Girl who answered the phone said yes. I asked how many and she said she did not have a count, however they did have 27 on launch day.

I stop by the that night on my way home from work for a little reconnaissance. The girl at the electronics counter confirms they will have Wiis on Friday. I see a cabinet full of Zelda games so I purchase one.

Toys R Us opens at 5AM on Friday. I enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and went to bed at 9:30PM. The alarm was set for 3AM.

Game Day - Part I

The alarm goes off. The temperature outside is 34 degrees. I wake up my daughter. We bundle up and head out. We arrive at the Toys R Us at 3:41AM. There are 7 people already in line. We decide to stay in the car until another car pulls up.

At 3:50AM another car approaches so we get out and wait in line. Of the 8 people in line only 5 were there for the Wii [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Three OOT types were there since midnight. They looked very cold so I gave one of them a couple packages of 'hot hands' that I always keep in my jacket pocket (good karma).

TRU employees start arriving at a steady stream beginning at 4:00AM. The excitement is building. By 4:45AM there are at least 50-75 people in line.

The store manager comes out for a smoke about 4:50AM. I ask him how many Wiis they have for sale. He says, "None." I say (or think to myself since my daughter is with me) "WTF!"

We decide to wait 8 minutes to get positive confirmation. The doors open and sure enough as we get to the electronics counter we are told they have none [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I felt bad for the guys who had been there since midnight.

We are dejected, however......

The Back-up Plan

My daughter was at the mall across the street from the Toys R Us on Wednesday and the the Game Stop there said they would have 9 Wiis for sale at 6:00AM Friday.

We run back to the car and get to the mall. I drop my daughter off at the first entrance (5:08AM) and she runs to to Game Stop while I park the car. She calls me 2 minutes later saying that she is 6th in line.

I join my daughter in line. Three of the guys from TRU (the midnighters) were right behind us.

About 5:30AM, the Game Stop employees appear. I approach the security door and ask how many Wiis they have for sale. The manager says, "10".

WOOT!!!

The Surprise

At 5:45AM the manager comes out and asked who is here for the Wii. A bunch of hands go up. He says they only have 10 and hands out Wii tickets to the first 10 in line. My daughter was very happy to hold our ticket.

He then asks who was there for a Playstation3. Only one hand went up in front of me. I asked him how many they had and he said 2 so my hand went up real fast (think calling an AI with the nuts fast).

So the store opens and we buy a Wii, 2 extra Wiimotes (last 2 -- no nunchuks) and a PS3.

By 7:00 we were playing Wii Sports. I defeated my wife and dauhter in our inaugral game of tennis.

The PS3 will find its way onto eBay later today.


Cliff Notes: Went to get a Wii at Toys R Us. They were out. Went to Game Stop and scored a Wii and PS3.

[astroglide]

i was 17th in line at my gamestop at 5:30AM. nobody was there to buy a ps3, and all of them were buying a wii to play it. they only had 6, so did the one at the mall. oh well, there's always sunday.

i could buy one on ebay but i don't want to give a nickel to anybody who planned on reselling from the beginning. grats on your pickups!

[Huskiez]

Might as well write a trip report as well.

On Wednesday, my buddy and I talked about how we both wanted a Wii and were willing to camp out Friday morning to get one. He looked into it and found out the Gamestop about twenty minutes away had Wii in stock. We planned to go there at 2:30 AM.

Late yesterday, my friend talks to another person who had camped before for Black Friday, and he says it's not worth it to be at the store at 3 AM, because this is too late to beat the hardcore people and too early to beat the normal folk. Either show up at midnight or 5 AM. I had no clue about this so we decided to be there at midnight.

We leave to the store and when we arrive at 12:30AM, there is no one outside. It is pretty cold but we set up shop. About 15 minutes later, the next person comes by. People keep on driving by asking us if we are there for the Wii. By 3 AM, there are 8 people on line. Almost all of us have a PSP or DS. It's pretty hard to fall asleep on the concrete with an inadequate sleeping bag. From 3 AM to 5 AM, no one shows up... so it appears my friend's friend was right about the timing.

Anyway, by the time 5 AM rolls around, the manager's assistant comes by and says there are 8 Wii's available, which is perfect for all of us on line. She says she will bring tickets out for us. She goes inside, and I plan to get some McDonalds which just opened. My friend tells me though I should wait for my ticket, which is a good idea. Turns out we only got our tickets at 6:50 when the managers comes. Even though we keep telling the people who come there are only 8 available, the line grows to about 30. The manager later comes and he informs there are 9... how do you miscount how many systems you have? Anyway, we go in at 7 AM and I get a Wii, a remote, and Zelda. They didn't have any Nunchuks, but I figure to get one online. An interesting experience overall. I can't imagine doing that for more than a day though.

Playing the system is definitely awesome so far. It was pretty interesting that my mom wanted to play when I was playing golf... she NEVER has showed any interest in video games. My sister also played too. My mom told me I had to bring it to my cousins house so we can play with them tomorrow.

Also, congrats OP on getting a Wii.

[Assani Fisher]

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Of the 8 people in line only 5 were there for the Wii [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]


[/ QUOTE ]

You do realize that it was Black Friday, right? I would think that the majority of people would NOT be there for a video game system.

And I think you're crazy for doing this on Black Friday...why not just wait until another day? With all of that said- congrats on getting one!

[correia]

My report is much less dramatic. Walked into Nintendoworld at 1:00pm and saw a crowd of people by the checkout line who were not paying for anything. Asked some guy in line what was up and he said they were waiting for an annoucement. After about 5 minutes of waiting a NintendoWorld employee came out of the backroom and asked everyone to remain calm, not run and follow him. When he said this I was standing right next to him so I was about 5th in line and scored a Wii. Fyi the line was at least a block long within minutes.

[wonderwes]

After reading these reports, I am so glad I did not have to wait in lines and got mine online. Were all accessories gone too?

[blackjack777]

Great read.