How to find a Wii
After spending hours driving more than 60 miles Tuesday in search of a Wii, I am pretty much convinced that there are next to none available in retail stores anywhere, nor are any stores likely to be getting more before Christmas.
You never know, of course. A call I made to a Nintendo representative revealed that it's not entirely clear if retailers will be getting more before the holiday. But time and again, salespeople told me that they didn't expect to get any more after receiving shipments last Sunday that quickly sold out.
So what's a Wii hunter to do?
Wouldn't Wii hunters love to see a scene like this, from the Wii's launch event in Los Angeles, in November 2006. Alas, there appears to be no Wiis to be had before Christmas.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)As a Toys "R" Us salesman told me during my stop at one of their stores, one method would be to "Call everywhere in the world, every single day of your life if you really want one."
But if that doesn't work, here's what else you can try.
First, GameStop retailers are having a promotion on Friday in which they will accept paid preorders and will guarantee delivery of a Wii sometime in January.
But this program has gotten enough attention that I was told by one GameStop clerk that you'll probably have to line up to preorder.
You could also try buying one online. eBay, for example, seems to have many of the consoles for sale, though I would tend to doubt at this point that you could get delivery prior to Christmas. But you never know. It's certainly worth checking out the possibilities.
This is what Nintendo recommends:
"Get to know your store managers. Ask them when their shipments come in, so you can be on hand the day they show up."
"Call around. You can increase your odds by checking in with more than one store."
"Try smaller stores in out-of-the-way places. Many different kinds of stores sell video game products, so don't go to the same megamall that everyone else is going to."
"There's no one surefire way to find a Wii. But by teaming up and getting creative with your approach, you're bound to have more success than the people who just go to their local mall and do nothing else."
"If you see one, be sure to grab it!"
This is surely fine advice, and if you follow those suggestions, you'll probably find a Wii eventually, though it may still take you some time. Certainly, try to temper your kids' expectations that there will be a Wii under the tree on Christmas morning, because if you don't have one already, odds are you're not going to find one.
For its part, Nintendo is certainly aware that the shortages of the console are causing consternation among consumers, but it is taking the position that it's doing what it can to address the issue.
"If it were possible to snap our fingers and manufacture millions more, we would do it," Nintendo said in a statement it delivered to me Tuesday. "We're continually putting more and more Wiis into the pipeline, but they all sell through almost instantly. Production has already been boosted more than once, and we are actively increasing the number of systems provided to retailers around the world."
That's all fine and good, but it certainly doesn't put a Wii under your tree. And from my experience, it doesn't look as if much will. The best bet at this point is to accept that you're going to have to wait.
My advice? Keep your tree up, and when you finally find a Wii, wrap it up, put it under the tree, and pretend Christmas has been extended into January. What kid wouldn't love that idea?
Daniel Terdiman is a staff writer at CNET News covering games, Net culture, and everything in between. E-mail Daniel. 
It's not the number of stores you visit to check on stock, it's the number of days you spend revisiting stores until you can catch one on the morning a shipment arrives. I was able to pick up a Wii back in August after trying for several days to locate an in-stock store using the telephone and several Wii-tracking websites.
There just aren't enough days left to catch a Wii shipment before the holidays. But if the kid were me, I'd rather wait and get the real thing a little late than get a substitute that I didn't like as much: "I'm sorry Johnny, I know you wanted that laptop for your own, but I couldn't get one right away, so instead I got you this nice blade server! No, I can't get you the laptop later anymore, I spent everything on this beast. Enjoy!"
after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I had to pay a higher price, but it'
here.
Stood in line at Best Buy at 5 AM...none in stock.
Went to Target at 6 am...none in stock.
As I pulled into the Target parking lot, I noticed a line starting at the Gamestop nearby. I asked what time they opened, and someone in line said 7. It was 6:15, and I didn't want to wait in the cold, so I drove home to get a jacket and a drink. By the time I got back at 6:50, the line had grown from 10 people to about 200.
Thinking quickly, I remembered that there was a EB Games in another shopping center 5 minutes away. I drove there quickly, and when I pulled up, there was no line. I walked inside, and there were 5 people waiting in front of me for Wiis, and the store had 4 cases of them. I brought the Wii, and went out later that day to get accessories and games.
Moral: know what stores are owned by who and where the out of the way locations are. EB and Gamestop merged a few years back, so knowing that they were one in the same meant knowing that if one had the Wii in stock, all of them most likely did.
Might have to pay more than cost but there's a price to pay when you have to have things that everyone else does.
From my previous comments...
"I've used http://wiialerts.com to buy three Wii's in the last month through Amazon. They'll send a text message and email as soon as they find stock available at a variety of places - with Amazon being the best, in my opinion. But you do need to act VERY FAST - links on email will direct you to the correct page to purchase, but the text message feature is what made this site work for me...instant notification. Stocks at Amazon rarely last more than 10-15 minutes, even with Amazon restricing purchases to 3/month (to limit the eBay-ers?). Just have your CC in place for your Amazon account (or other), and click away!
Nothing is a guarantee, especially less than a week from Christmas, but it was obviously a lot easier than driving/calling around hoping to stumble across a hidden Wii! Now if only they can help me find GHIII for the Wii...
Good Luck!!"
- No wonder I like Ars Technica better than this place
- by bdonohue1 December 21, 2007 11:05 AM PST
- Which part of "get a life" don't you understand, looking for a toy and writing about it in a tech column? This is gestalt?
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