World of Wii

After Sony’s un-uneventful release was the less publicized Wii release. Why was it less publicized? One reason, Nintendo knows how to get shit done. 8 consoles for 60 people waiting is a mess bound to happen. But when you have 50 consoles for 60 people, it’s very easy to chop down to 50. And it makes it even easier when you tell them “We’re getting another shipment within 6 days. It should be around 90-100 units. Just check back daily, and we should have them available without needing to camp again.” With news like that, there’s hope for all before Christmas. But, for the hardcore, that’s not soon enough.

Read on to hear my camping experience.

Unlike the PS3 launch, the Wii didn’t require days and days of camping. But it wasn’t without it’s… issues. All in all, I will say that I was mostly impressed with all the Wii launches at various stores. There were a few exceptions, but nothing major. Being the good camper, and planning out ahead (with a little help from a birthday party), I stayed up until 5:30am on the 18th, and proceeded to sleep the day away. Unfortunately, I ended up waking up at a little after noon, but the nap was good enough to hold me over. The first thing I did after waking up was get online to do a bit of research. Not fully trusting the various sites that offer camping tips and inside info, I decided to go straight to the source, and start calling potential camp spots. Circuit City, Best Buy, Target, Sears… I called a wide variety of stores in my area. For the most part, I was met with knowledgeable staff that were very helpful. Sears was the first store that I sensed would have issues when I was told that they were only getting 3 units. Further more, when I asked if they’d be doing any sort of line management in the morning to decide who gets the 3 units, I was met with the answer of, “Uh… what? No, they will just go on sale when the store opens.” I said “Good luck with that” and hung up the phone. Best Buy was probable the “best” of the potential camp sites in terms of availability. My local Best Buy received over 90 Wii. Unfortunately, since the store was visible from the highway, and Best Buy is so well known, a line had started on the 17th, shortly after the PS3 line was appeased. A few stores down now, I’m starting to get a little bit worried that I may have underestimated the draw of the Wii. My next call was to Wal*Mart. No answer. Call again, no answer. Not even a voice mail. Try another store? Same deal. (We’ll return later to Wal*Mart to expand on their shitty release). So, I continue down the list. Circuit City. 50+ units, 10am opening, line management starting a few hours before doors opening, ticket vouchers, no line yet. Sounded perfect. BUT, the closest one was 3x the distance of any other chain I ended up calling. So, at least now I know I have a fall back camp spot. But then I called Target, the saving grace. 51 Units, 8 am opening, 7am vouchers, line management as necessary. So, I made Target my… well… target camp spot, and tentatively plan to scout it out around midnight and start camping as necessary.

So, in my hours to kill, I grab lunch with a few friends, and on the way back decide that since I couldn’t get Wal*Mart on the phone, I’ll just try walking in and asking. It’s around 4:00pm at this point, and there’s no line outside, or inside (as many Wal*Marts are 24/7 or at least open late). So, I decide to ask around and get the scoop on their plans for the release. After a few questions, I’m told “We’re doing a 12:01 release, and a line will start a few hours before hand. Vouchers will be given out, and then you won’t be able to leave the store, less you forfeit your spot in ‘line’.” Excellent. Sounds even better than target, mainly because of the midnight opening instead of 8am. So, I head on home to get some ’supplies’, whip up a quick dinner, and head back to Wal*Mart a few hours later. When I see no line at 9pm, I figure something had to be up. So I start asking around again. And what do I find out? Oop, they already gave out all the vouchers. Guh… did I wait too long? I started feeling like an idiot, but later the next morning, I hear from some fellow Target campers that they were given out at 4:15!!! FOUR FUCKING FIFTEEN! Less than 10 minutes after i was told “Come back in a few hours” WTF!!! And to top it off, they didn’t even start a line. They just were standing around the electronics section, and said “Okay, who wants a Wii?” Random people that just happened to be shopping at Wal*Mart, and didn’t even know what the Wii was (until they called to ask a husband, or child) received vouchers. More over, since they gave them out so freaking early, there’s NO chance in hell they were able to make sure everyone stayed on store property. In fact, I didn’t see a single person milling around waiting. I’m sure everyone just left, and planned to come back at 11:30. Pure… 100%… bullshit.

So, feeling a bit pissed off, I head to the next closest Wal*Mart. Perhaps they aren’t as stupid and inept as the last Wal*Mart. Nope, they were, but in a different way. First of all, in a 24/7 Wal*Mart, doing a 12:01 release, they had the campers waiting outside… I arrive at about 9:30, and there were about 40 people waiting outside the doors. So, I head inside to ask someone what the deal was. First response I get “Yeah, they wait for playstation. Line outside wait. Yes.” … Right… I smile, nod, and slowly back away. Fortunately, the next person was a little bit more ‘informed’, and could actually speak English. I was told that they had 30 units, the line was outside, they aren’t managing it at all, and they won’t be doing any sort of vouchers. So, basically everything that they could do wrong, Wal*Mart did wrong. Now, a bit pissed off at Wal*Mart, I head home, and start planning my Target camping. I make some snacks, get some warmer clothes, and mentally prepare myself for zoning out for hours on end. Fortunately though, while preparing, I receive a phone call from Drew. Equally frustrated with Wal*Mart, I convince him to drive down from NH (~45 min?) and join me in my Target Camping.

So, he arrives an hour or so later, we pack up, and head on out. We arrive at target a little past midnight and there’s people outside. Good, at least we know they are getting some, and that they haven’t all been claimed yet. And in a bit of even better news, they had 51 units, and we were the 39th (and 40th) to arrive, with about 5-7 people that had left and given up on camping. We had found our campsite. And I must say, it was quite a friendly camp site. There were people of many age groups there. The college kid, blowing his entire savings, the young working stiff that has too much money to blow (aka, me), the parents spoiling their children a little too much, the broke college student, whoring himself out for $50 to camp and buy a system for a friend. But surprisingly enough, there was only 1 e-bay’er. And, it was only a potential e-bay. Since the Wii’s are in such high supply, the profit margin for e-bay’ing the Wii is minimal, so he was saying that he’s probably just going to make his cousins/siblings/relatives very happy gamers come Christmas. (But this kid was a SERIOUS e-bay’er. He had aquired something around 10 PS3s through various camping, pre-orders, e-bay sniping, etc. He said he thinks he’ll make about $10k profit on all the PS3/Wii/Tickle Me Elmo sales he plans to make. Not bad for a week worth of camping, and a bit of planning)

The camp itself was fairly uneventful. The most interesting part of the night was when the street sweeper came to sweep the parking lot, and basically just tooled around the lot for 45 minutes, randomly sweeping whenever he felt like it. After that, the only real enjoyment came at 7:15, when tickets were finally given out. In addition the the overwhelming sense of excitement when you receive your own ticket, it’s almost as much fun watching the last person get their ticket, and then watch as all the people who thought that arriving at 6:30 was a good idea go home. (Side note: the line management was so good, that I don’t think anyone was able to line jump. I ended up having ticket 31, which was pretty much exactly where I expected to be.) So, like I said in my last post, “After 1 coffee, 8 hours in the cold, 1 hour in the rain, 6 layers of clothing, and $430 removed from my wallet, I’m now one happy (but tired) Wii owner.” Check back, as I’m sure I’ll have plenty to update with Zelda, and Monkey Ball. So… why do I need to go into work? Damn thing is cutting into my quality gaming time.