Questions about the Wii

[Two and a Half Inches of Fun]

Can you just walk into a store and buy a Wii yet or are they still impossible to find? How do they cost?

[Just Some Guy]

It's still retailing for $250 and supplies are still sparse. I haven't seen one on shelves since well before Christmas.

[aktep]

You can just walk into a store and buy one, as long as they're in stock. Sunday morning is supposedly your best bet.

At lease some Gamestop stores will take an order and call you when the system comes in. That worked for one person I know - she had a Wii within hours of putting in the order.

[Mahaloth]

Originally Posted by Two and a Half Inches of Fun

Can you just walk into a store and buy a Wii yet or are they still impossible to find? How do they cost?

You have to be very lucky to find one. If you do, it's $250.00.

I see a brand new one on half.com for $299.00 and another for $349.00. That does not include shipping on those.

[Two and a Half Inches of Fun]

Originally Posted by Mahaloth

You have to be very lucky to find one. If you do, it's $250.00.

I see a brand new one on half.com for $299.00 and another for $349.00. That does not include shipping on those.

Are there any estimates on when you will be able to just walk into a store and buy one like with an Xbox 360?

[shy guy]

The summertime is a good bet; console sales slow down then.

I got my Wii last August by just walking into the Nintendo World Store in NYC. There was a period of about two months or so where that was actually possible.

[Justin_Bailey]

As long as you hit one of the big box stores (Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, Toys R Us, etc) on a Sunday morning right when they open, you WILL get one.

As for walking into a store and buying one, I'd say if it doesn't happen by July it won't happen until next year.

[Just Some Guy]

As noted the rushes on the Wiis go in cycles and we're in the post-Christmas bump (not as rushed as Christmas time when the only way to get a Wii was to descend into the underworld, defeat the Seven Mascots of Gamedom in single combat, lead the armies of portables in a climactic battle against the forces of darkness before the gates of the Internet, and pay $249.99).

[Jophiel]

We just bought one for my son's birthday and had a hell of a time with it. None at the box stores, none at the game stores, none online. Finally bought one (new) off of eBay for about $50 over retail which didn't stong much since we're splitting the cost with my mother 50/50 anyway.

I personally would have been willing to go store hopping some more but time is getting short before his birthday and now we have it (plus the Best Buy receipt from where the guy bought it -- still good for 3 weeks worth of return time if we really need to).

[Ruby]

We, too, bought online for about $50 over retail. It was well worth it for us when our only alternative seems to be standing in line at the big-box stores in sub zero weather for 2+ hours to get one of 16 units that week.

[E-Sabbath]

Saw two on the shelves at Target last week. They both vanished in an hour.

[Satellite^Guy]

S^Gal and I were at Future Shop Friday, and asked one of the guys there if they had any. He said they had ONE, and got it for us.
When we got it home, we discovered it was an open box special, where they knocked off a whopping 3 cents from the price!!
We played it for a few hours, when it started locking up on us.
Turns out it was defective, which is why it had been returned to Future Shop in the first place.
We brought it back, and they are supposed to be getting their new ones tomorrow morning at around 10, and the manager said they'd put one aside for us.
Which is probably they only way we'd get our hands on one anytime soon.

S^G

[tim314]

I just got a Wii this week. Conveniently, my wife has a friend who works at Toys 'R' Us. We gave her cash a couple weeks in advance, and she bought us one as soon as they got a new shipment.