Readers Wait for Wii
Our readers, possibly inspired by this week's posts on our wait for PS3 pre-orderers, have sent in a small flood of tips sharing their experience waiting to pre-order the Wii this morning (oddly enough, we received no similar tips from PS3 pre-orderers). The stories are notable for the disparate numbers of pre-order units available and the number of people willing to line up in the morning's Wii hours (har har). Continue reading for quick summaries of some of these stories, and feel free to leave word of your experience with either pre-order in the comments.
Joystiq reader Blake grabbed the eighth spot in line at his local EBGames at 8:30 a.m. only to find out at 9:30.a.m. that the store would only have three systems available (compared to 14 PS3s). He then proceeded to grab the 11th spot in line at a nearby Gamestop, only to find that they had 10 systems. Blake's comedy of errors ended at 9:55 a.m. when he took the 12th spot in line at a third store which only had -- you guessed it -- 11 systems.
Reader Peyton Gauldin found only four people waiting when he entered the line at his local store at 9 a.m. By the time the store opened at 10 a.m. the line had ballooned to nearly 40 people, mostly twenty- and thirty-something men -- waiting for 17 available systems. Despite the funny looks from passerby, Gauldin said he thoroughly enjoyed waiting in the 40-degree weather to reserve his system.
Reader Chris found ii suspicious when the manager at his Wilmington, NC store told the line there would be ten systems available, then amended the number to eight shortly after an employee arrived. Even stranger, another employee said all stores in the area were getting 18 systems. Hmmm....
Reader Tommy Hutchinson was 17th in line when he got to his local EBGames at 7:30 a.m. this morning. Unfortunately, the high-volume University of Pittsburgh store only had 14 units available for the 34 people in line by the 9 a.m. opening, meaning Tommy went home without a $50 pre-order receipt. Hang in there, buddy.
Reader Dignan17's experience was much better. He got in line at 7 a.m. expecting a mad rush of people, only to find he was the second person waiting. By 8 a.m. the line still had only four people, but by 9 a.m. there were 14 people who received pre-order slips. The 15 or so who arrived after that were unfortunately turned away.
Also see -- We Wait for Wii: Bible Belt edition; Boston edition; Maryland edition; Philly edition
