Live from Nintendo's Wii launch in New York

We're hanging out at Toys "R" Us Times Square this evening, getting all ready for a bazillion people to get their respective Wii on. As of 9PM the line is already mind boggling, but the word is Toys "R" Us is stocked with 5,000 7,000 of the dang things for the launch, so there are going to be a lot of people going home happy this evening. Keep watching this space for more of the action as it unfolds, and make sure to peep the pics after the break.

UPDATE 1: New pics aplenty. Also, the scuttlebut on the street is that there are actually 7,000 of the little machines stashed away in Toys R Us, and from the looks of white wristband ubiquity (the wristband guarantees you a console tonight), nearly reaching all the way around a city block now, that could very well be correct.

UPDATE 2: Tons more pics. Here's a map of the Wii line. That may not mean much to you non-New Yorkers, so let's put it in perspective. A short block is 1/8th a mile, while a long block is about 1/3rd a mile. So this line is the better part of 4/5ths a mile long. A little arithmetic... we'd estimate that's about 2,500 - 2,600 people or more. Good news for New Yorkers looking to buy a Wii tomorrow morning.

UPDATE 3: Attention, folks, Reggie has been spotted. We love the big guy, and the very privilege of watching him play a bit of Wii Sports baseball has us shaking in our little blogger boots. He was upstairs at the Toys "R" Us Wii display, so we got some pics of that too, all of which can be spied after the break. One hour to go!

And here we are. To accompany the intense amount of Wii insanity, Times Square is its regular ol' bizzy self on a Saturday night.


You, friend, are a nerd. FTW!


We can hardly wait!


The few, the proud, the insane. Here we are at the front of the line.


Isian Triforce Johnson, a member of Empire Arcadia here was first in line, started his campin' at 9PM this Thursday. Yes, he legally changed his middle name to Triforce. Yes, we think that's pretty awesome.












The nearest we've seen of violence here tonight was these guys and their intense Mario Kart battles. Oh, and that PSP fanboy in the back gets some dirty stares now and then, other than that it's stayed pretty clean.




















































"Segwii"








Naturally, the little kid was kicking the other guy's ass.
























Joystiq's own Chris Grant throwing up the Wii gang sign.






Rocking it old school.






We knew Mario had a brother named Luigi, but who knew Luigi was a brutha?














We can't really read that, but if you can, more power to ya'.






After explaining that you need very little motion to control the Wii, Reggie proceeded to do very not that.




Fun Reggie fact: he plays best while using his own Mii avatar.














Poor Link, sitting here all alone. "Why don't you love me Reggie?" he says.

[milomilomilo @ Nov 19th 2006 6:33AM]

Nintendo has lost me as a customer.

Not because their system is bad, but because they hyped the system so highly that the launch of 2million systems does not cover demand. I drove around 2 counties tonight trying to find one.

The problem with this is folks get tired of trying to find a store to buy it and just say "to hell with this".

It may just be me, but if nintendo expects me to wii hunt for months just to play it, than it just shows they only care about quarterly numbers.

Nintendo will lose countless loyal customers for this push/pull marketing.

[Daviel @ Nov 19th 2006 2:51PM]

@ milomilomilo:
uuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... relax! There's new shipments coming REALLY soon... i'm sure you'll live!

[Grey Acumen @ Nov 19th 2006 9:03PM]

ROFL!

If this a satire of how the PS3 and Xbox all limited their releases in order to boost hype and the Wii didn't even need to do that and they still had huge lines, then this is hilarious.

If you're actually serious, it's even more hilarious.

[milomilomilo @ Nov 19th 2006 6:38AM]

honestly, if they are targeting the casual gamer, than how can they expect people to even bother with it when they look in the paper or such and it says "massive shortages" or what not.

[Spencer @ Nov 19th 2006 11:32AM]

Are you sure you aren't confusing the Wii with the PS3?

[Zeruel @ Nov 19th 2006 8:29AM]

OMG, I know Triforce! He was a pretty big guy in the Street Fighter scene. He can also play a pretty mean game of Tetris DS as well. Some people may mock him, but he does what he loves, and that's gaming, so you gotta have some respect for someone who'll stand their ground...

Just wondering because if he was first did he actually get the system handoff from Reggie?

[James @ Nov 19th 2006 8:31AM]

Did anyone else notice that fact that they were using a Component video cable for their segwiis? pretty funny given the reviews stating how it looked on a large screen using the provided composite. Just my observation

[Terrorbyt3 @ Nov 19th 2006 11:37AM]

@milomilomilo:

Seriously dude, get a effin' grip. You sound just like the mothereffin' customers I have to listen to every freeking night who have no GD conception of how this crap really works. *Whine whine whine* This "lost customer" BS is just that. B. S. You drove around all last night? There were very few places _last_night_ which were releasing them. Most were releasing them _this_morning_. Try again Efftard.

[Daviel @ Nov 19th 2006 2:48PM]

i love the dude with the GB color!!!
that's the way!
Long Live The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of the Seasons and Ages!

[Jared Yuan-Vogel @ Nov 19th 2006 3:53PM]

the line's actually half a mile, not 4/5ths.. cuz the long blocks are 1/5 mile and the short ones are 1/20th.. tho still its a long line :-P

[Zakk @ Nov 19th 2006 5:31PM]

lol, I work @ Best Buy down here in Wichita, Kansas, and well we got about 100 units and only sold about 10 today, hmm... no one was in line when I left work yesterday night, funny.

I was gonna get up early and go get one, but the fun thing is that they've decided to just keep the rest that didn't sell until "Black Friday" let's see how that does. ^_^

[Grant @ Nov 19th 2006 6:04PM]

@ Zakk
"Wichita, Kansas"
so, i'm not saying that Kansas is behind in the times, and a completly underpopulated hick state, but last time i checked the wii works with a TV, not a tractor. So i guess the 10 people with TVs in your area decided to take advantage of it.

[Freso @ Nov 19th 2006 6:58PM]

It says... 00:02:08:3... 1 I think. I'm not entirely sure about the last digit, but I believe it to be 1. Yes. Also, 18 more days for Wii to land here. 18 long, long days...

[clifford @ Nov 19th 2006 7:53PM]

i just picked up my wii system and a copy of legend of zelda from the toys r us store in times square tonight. there was a bunch of people but no outrageous line like last night. it was a 5 minute wait before they let groups of about 30 people in the video game department at a time. and the great thing was that toys r us wasn't bundling the wii with a bunch of games you don't want to buy like all the other stores are. toys r us, you are awesome!

[Alf @ Nov 20th 2006 7:52AM]

It makes me laugh to read all the comments about: "teh ps3 is goooing dwon" as nintendo has already stated that they are not in competition with the ps3 or 360.

[tonyrobots @ Nov 20th 2006 8:34AM]

Are any units still available at Toys'R'Us?

[cubeboy101 @ Nov 20th 2006 11:25AM]

i had mine a week ago i allso got my ps3 ha ha

shouldnt wii be laffing at you for OWNING A RETARD 3 console like any sane person will be dualshocking in 2007 and beyond YOU PURCHUSED A OBSOLETE CONSOLE WHY YOU LAFFING

[M. Z. @ Nov 20th 2006 7:44PM]

Is that ToysRUs out of stock yet? Because if they had 7,000, that rocks if there are still more left.

[Richard Dy @ Nov 21st 2006 8:13AM]

Oh, well sure like to be there right now... too bad it gonna be released here in December on Australia and Asia... I Wish some Filipino there who will buy that will bring it here... So I can Buy it!!!! waaah! But I have plenty of reasons that it will happen just very expensive! Well, More power to ya! it's very nice of nintendo to release 7,000 units rather than sony who release how many? 700? and no more struggling even if you're the 7000th customer hahaha...

[lotto @ Dec 4th 2006 4:17PM]

00:01:08:31 =) lol

[Nintendo Wii Fan @ Dec 7th 2006 4:11AM]

go mario



















http://www.wiiyou.com