The Wii-order experience
It's Wii preorder day! But is it such a cause for celebration? Unfortunately, it seems a bare few fanfolk walked away from their local EB or GameStop this morning clutching a receipt for the Wii. Reader e-mails are pouring in, lamenting the reserve numbers -- which in some cases were even lower than the number of PS3s allocated to a given store. Disappointment is rampant. For those of us who arrived early to spend hours cold lamping with our brethren, it was a tense morning, because no one really knew what would happen -- except that some people would go home empty-handed.
Reader Matthew Ryan snagged some pics at his EB Games in Virginia, near Washington, D.C. That store had 30 systems available for reserve (far more than many other stores), but nearly double that showed up in hopes of slapping money down on a system. And this blogger snagged a few shots herself at a nearby store. Check out the full story after the jump, where we've tucked a few of Matthew's pictures as well.
Alisha's Friday the 13th Wii-order diary:
7:38 a.m.:
Arrive at EB Games. Only three people already there. Score! Time enough to take a quick detour for coffee.
7:47 a.m.: Arrive at coffee shop for a white chocolate mocha. Mmm. Tasty! Just the thing for hanging out in the crisp (read: chilly) morning air.
7:56 a.m.: Suddenly remember that our local store only got three PS3s for preorder after employee reserves. Unnamed source on East coast indicated that stores would get 32 Wiis for preorders, but he'd also said 16 PS3s. Hmm. Quick math. Two times three is but six ... time to hurry back to the store just in case the numbers are low!
8:05 a.m.: Spend two minutes raving and swearing at the car that neglected to turn on a perfectly legal yellow light at a busy intersection. Safety? There are consoles to preorder here, people! Priorities!
8:09 a.m.: Arrive back at store to find that nothing has changed. Am still fourth in line and thus probably safe. Time to settle in with a book. Also of note: three of the four of us are female.
8:10 a.m.: Commence to checking watch every thirty seconds. Read exactly four words of book. Fret. Rinse. Repeat.
8:32 a.m. Subdued crowd begins quietly chatting when fifth person arrives. He reports that he called the store last night and they expected to have fourteen units for reserves. We all breathe a sigh of relief. One woman has been there since 6 a.m. and she was the first. She's there to reserve the console for her 15 year old son and to pick up a Mom of the Year nod in passing.
8:38 a.m.: Random guy stops to check Alltel store next door and asks what we are all doing. Upon learning, he joins the line as number six. Smart guy!
8:48 a.m.: Another intrepid consumer arrives, a chatty fellow who is there to reserve the system for his young granddaughter. He says that if he doesn't get it today, he's prepared to pay up to $1000 to see that she gets what she wants. He was told that our store would have twenty units. We are all further relieved.
9:01 a.m.: Conversation picks up. The grandfather offers everyone coffee. First EB employee arrives and passes out lists of release games and Wii accessories to those who need them. We explain some of the items to the mother, who is working off sketchy instructions from her son. Employee confirms fourteen systems available.
9:16 a.m.: More people arrive in a sudden burst, bringing the number to 13. One guy, an amusing fellow reminiscent of the late Mitch Hedberg, has driven in from a nearby college town with only one store. By 3:00 a.m., he says, they were up to 17 people outside. When he left to join us several hours later, the numbers had climbed to 50. Sounds like we were definitely among the lucky ones. People spend some time discussing console launches of yore, like the N64 and the Xbox.
9:32 a.m.: The comedian is regaling everyone with stories of How Trauma Center is So Incredibly Awesome. He's pretty adament about everyone reserving the game. Spirits are high. We're all getting a system. It was probably the most cheerful preorder wait in the nation. The mother and another guy make sure everyone has their numbers down.
9:47 a.m.: The time is fast approaching. Unlucky person number 15 arrives and those of us in the chosen group eye him with sympathy until he announces he's not even there for the Wii. Not there for the Wii? Scandalous.
10:00 a.m.: A few other poor souls are arriving, but we're in! We quickly form up in line at the register.
10:11 a.m.: Mission accomplished!
Matthew Ryan's preorder experience doesn't look quite so jovial, however. In his pictures, everyone looks very serious -- focused, even. There's a definite air of tension in the shots. From what we're hearing, that must have been more typical across the country, as more and more people learned that Wii preorders were turning out to be quite rare.
Must have been nice to spend the time inside. And are those ... chairs? Some people have all the luck.
Some of these people are not going to get a Wii today. That makes us sad.
These people look like they're taking their preorders seriously.
Share your own experience, good or bad, in the comments. We want to hear about everyone's day, though from our e-mails so far, we expect more bad stories than good. One reader even said Wii preorders were sold at their store at the same time as PS3, though it seems strange that no one heard about it. And several people drove from store to store, ending up number twelve when the allotment was eleven, fifteen when there were fourteen systems, and so on. It's not the best day to be a Nintendo fan, but rejoice! Surely there will be enough systems at launch, particularly if you select your retailer with care.
[Thanks to Matthew for sending us his photos, and to everyone who's e-mailed us so far!]
