Wii Still Scarce-where to get one?

[Trumpman]

In my area, the Wii is still scarce. All the stores I went to yesterday said they were getting shipments this morning, but I was busy and couldn't go this morning, and now they are sold out. Where is the best place to get a Wii; I don't care if it's online or not.

PS: At my local Target, there were six or seven PS3s in the case, and no Wiis. They got in more Wiis this morning and those are gone as well.

:frustrated:

[DragonMaster Sam]

Circuit City in my area was having a Wii sale today. Got there around 8:30, behind about 9 others. Waited until 9:45 before we got the vouchers, then we got back in around 10 to buy our Wiis.

[PapaStu]

Theres talk on a bunch of gaming news sites (like Kotaku and Joystiq) that are saying that alot of stores are getting in DS's and Wii's again finally. Best Buy had a big circular announcement about Wii's that were in all stores today, and an above poster mentioned Circuit City. I know that EB/GS is doing a trade-in deal for cubes and GBAsp's for 50 bucks towards Wii's and DSlites which could only mean that they are getting in alot in stock as well.

[exit]

Well here's an inside tip, Wal-Mart will have them for sale on the 30th.

[scooterb23]

I bet if you're brave enough, there are a bunch of them in Ohio today...stupid snow storm

[jonjandran]

Word on the streets is that they sold out again today everywhere.

http://digitalpodium.blogspot.com/2007/01/target-sells-out-of-wiis-in-6-minutes.html

[Mr.FoodMonster]

I got one this morning at Target. I was number 30th in line, and they had a total of 62 units, all were spoken for before the 8am opening. I got there around 6:30 (the first guy in line was there at 2am) and they handed out tickets at 7:30. I went across the street to go laugh at the people waiting for BB to open at 10 (they also had 62 of them, figured they sold out) and then to the Meijer to get a hot chocolate, where I saw 3 people walk out with Wii's.

Looks like you're going to have to wait for one of these 'big shipment sundays' that have been going on and get out there early. It totally paid off, and I'm loving me some Twilight Princess.

[Lucifersam1]

I was short on time today and hit one EB (in Sturbridge, MA) and apparently they did not get a shipment for today. Or so they said. I was dissapointed as I had heard first hand, which was verified on DP, that EB supposedly was going to have a sale today. Ah well, there will be other sales. I am actually considering not getting a WII anyway now, and going with a 360 with an HD-DVD addon.

[Cobra Commander]

I don't get it. I know Wii's are tough to find but my god. Are they just not making them fast enough or what?
I work at Wal-Mart, and my girlfriends dad wants one. Everyday, I log into the computer and find that we have 26 "on order". I got an email from them last week that we were supposed to have some tomorrow(1/22).

We have have PS3's, PSP's and 360's lying in dust on the shelves, but every time they announce "Wii's for sale", it's like 11/19 all over again. I thought this would be over once the holiday's were done. Guess not. Go Wii!

[RegSNES]

I've yet to walk into any store that sells video games and see a Wii on the shelves. Is Wii Sports that much of a system seller or is it just the concept of the Wiimote? Whatever, the reason, Nintendo's gotta be doing something right if the stores can't keep the things on the shelves. I thought I'd be able to buy a Wii around March but now I wonder if they'll stay on the shelves long enough.

[jajaja]

I don't get it. I know Wii's are tough to find but my god. Are they just not making them fast enough or what?
I work at Wal-Mart, and my girlfriends dad wants one. Everyday, I log into the computer and find that we have 26 "on order". I got an email from them last week that we were supposed to have some tomorrow(1/22).

We have have PS3's, PSP's and 360's lying in dust on the shelves, but every time they announce "Wii's for sale", it's like 11/19 all over again. I thought this would be over once the holiday's were done. Guess not. Go Wii!

How many times have your store taken in Wii consoles? I mean how many batches.

[c0ldb33r]

I got mine last week at an EB Games. Just keep calling around, its all you can do.

[Cobra Commander]

How many times have your store taken in Wii consoles? I mean how many batches.
Since November, I'd say probably 7.

[jajaja]

Since November, I'd say probably 7.

Ok :) How many consoles in each batch?

[Cobra Commander]

Ok :) How many consoles in each batch?
Right now, this is the biggest batch so far with 26 Wii's. Our original batch back in November was 20. The others were no more than 10. Usually around 7 or 8.

[jajaja]

Ok, not really big batches :\ Can understand that they get sold out quick then. Are the 360 and PS3 batches the same size?

[Cobra Commander]

Ok, not really big batches :\ Can understand that they get sold out quick then. Are the 360 and PS3 batches the same size?
I haven't really been checking out the 360's( I believe we're sold out of them right now as well), but I watch the PS3's out of morbid curiosity. We haven't sold one in a few days now. We usually get around 5 or 6 each time. Every time I walk by, there's always a lonely 60GB sitting next an equally lonely 20GB. Those fellows haven't even been shifted or moved in several days.
The Wii's and 360's are moving really well, not so with the PS3's.

Today is my off day, so I might just wander over to the store to see if any Wii's came in. Unfortunately, I'm not able to log into the system off the clock. I'll have to see what's up tomorrow.

[segagamer4life]

I hit my local target yesterday AM... and got the last one of 43.... sweeet... the ol' lady is happy now :-)

[jajaja]

I haven't really been checking out the 360's( I believe we're sold out of them right now as well), but I watch the PS3's out of morbid curiosity. We haven't sold one in a few days now. We usually get around 5 or 6 each time. Every time I walk by, there's always a lonely 60GB sitting next an equally lonely 20GB. Those fellows haven't even been shifted or moved in several days.
The Wii's and 360's are moving really well, not so with the PS3's.

Today is my off day, so I might just wander over to the store to see if any Wii's came in. Unfortunately, I'm not able to log into the system off the clock. I'll have to see what's up tomorrow.

Ok, thanks for the info :) I guess the PS3 simply is too expencive :\ I read that japanese retailers (atleast some, if not many/all, dunno) have already dropped the price with 20%. Really sux for Sony, i hope for them that they get out the good games really soon.

[wallydawg]

My dad almost got one yesterday. He got the 44th voucher (out of 45) at Best Buy. Apparently a litte kid was crying because he got there too late so my dad gave up his voucher. :l

[Algol]

Try Sears. That's where I got my DS lite back when they were supposedly impossible to find.

[wufners]

My dad almost got one yesterday. He got the 44th voucher (out of 45) at Best Buy. Apparently a litte kid was crying because he got there too late so my dad gave up his voucher. :l
That was awesome of your dad.

[Snapple]

I've actually seen a Wii on the shelf. I'm still looking for a Wii, but there is this TRU in Orlando that is in a horrible location. You can't really see it well from the road, and it gets very little to no business. I don't think they're going to stay open for long.

I went in there looking for DS games, and I saw two Wiis just sitting there, much to my surprise. I couldn't buy one though, because all I have is a Best Buy gift card worth the price of a Wii. So I have to wait for Best Buy to get a Wii. I can't just go anywhere.

[Habeeb Hamusta]

Department stores like wal-mart or sears will get them in regularly but the problem is a lot of people go and check there. You need to find out the time of their shipments and go there and ask.

[RegSNES]

My dad almost got one yesterday. He got the 44th voucher (out of 45) at Best Buy. Apparently a litte kid was crying because he got there too late so my dad gave up his voucher. :l

Dude, your dad is a hero. =)

[XYXZYZ]

I was just at Rhino games just as they sold the last Wii in stock. They recieved their shipment one hour earlier.

[Garry Silljo]

I've actually seen a Wii on the shelf. I'm still looking for a Wii, but there is this TRU in Orlando that is in a horrible location. You can't really see it well from the road, and it gets very little to no business. I don't think they're going to stay open for long.

I went in there looking for DS games, and I saw two Wiis just sitting there, much to my surprise. I couldn't buy one though, because all I have is a Best Buy gift card worth the price of a Wii. So I have to wait for Best Buy to get a Wii. I can't just go anywhere.

Maybe you should take orders. If I cant find a Wii when my income tax check comes in, maybe I can pay you a fee to secure one from that Toys R Us? Price plus shipping plus moneys for trouble..... I dotn know how it would total out but my wife really wants one, which is exciting for me because she hates games most of the time. She even wants to play Red Steel and she despises FPS. I'm going to look locally first, but may look to others or Ebay if I must.

[Cobra Commander]

Well, here's another story from Wal-Hell. I checked the computer this morning and 11 of the 26 had come in. At break, we rushed over to electronics and see what was up. Without saying a word, the lady there saw me and just handed me an email.....
The Wii's are on Tab which means they'll be put in the little wal-mart flyers that clog up your mailbox. So whatever Wii's come in, they aren't selling until then. Not only is it just bad form to sell, we physically cannot ring them up for over 1 more week. Which, for our store in Bumblefuck Alabama, means no one is getting a Wii until February. I cried bullshit to no avail.
I don't know if that's every wal-mart or just our region or what, but if you get friendly with your local wal-mart electronics monkey, maybe you can find out how it is where you live.
Normally, I wouldn't care where I bought it from. I'd actually prefer to buy it from Target, or Best Buy, or EB, but that meager 10% discount does help out quite a bit.
Oh well. C'est la vie....

[Snapple]

Maybe you should take orders. If I cant find a Wii when my income tax check comes in, maybe I can pay you a fee to secure one from that Toys R Us? Price plus shipping plus moneys for trouble..... I dotn know how it would total out but my wife really wants one, which is exciting for me because she hates games most of the time. She even wants to play Red Steel and she despises FPS. I'm going to look locally first, but may look to others or Ebay if I must.

I'll think about it if I see it again, but I was back at Toys R Us again, and the Wiis aren't there anymore. So yeah. Back to square one.

This will all sort itself out eventually when everyone has their Wii.

[Habeeb Hamusta]

Yeah, Wii systems are still coming in rally slow at gamestop. We see maybe 3-6 every 2 weeks. Ridiculous that there is so much demand for them.

[Eteric Rice]

Wally, that was damn decent of your father. ;)

Anyway, it's hard to believe it's still scarce. Someone told me that the problem may be the accelerometers inside the controllers. The nunchuck has one, and the Wii-mote has three, I believe. They probably can't keep up on them. :(

[c0ldb33r]

Don't even bother. Wait until there's something worth playing released on it :(

[Trumpman]

So, I still can't find one. Any suggestions/inside tips for next week?

All help is greatly appreciated. Here in northern NJ Wiis are almost impossible to find.

[Tron 2.0]

So, I still can't find one. Any suggestions/inside tips for next week?

All help is greatly appreciated. Here in northern NJ Wiis are almost impossible to find.

I could use some tips as well.

Finding a Wii this month is driveing me crazy.

I've called just about every where gamecrazy,kmart,gamestop,tru and nothing still :(

[smork]

Easy to get near me, but they make you pay almost 2X US retail. Good thing I got my buddy to stand in line at Sam's in December.

Pretty crazy that they are still so scarce!!!!

[c0ldb33r]

Easy to get near me, but they make you pay almost 2X US retail. Good thing I got my buddy to stand in line at Sam's in December.
They make you pay more then retail? Weird.

Where is that?

[aiko]

Advance warning: TRU's 2/11 ad guarantees the Wii in stock.

Scans of the ad are at Cheap Ass Gamer (http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126671).

[dethink]

I've actually seen a Wii on the shelf. I'm still looking for a Wii, but there is this TRU in Orlando that is in a horrible location. You can't really see it well from the road, and it gets very little to no business. I don't think they're going to stay open for long.

I went in there looking for DS games, and I saw two Wiis just sitting there, much to my surprise. I couldn't buy one though, because all I have is a Best Buy gift card worth the price of a Wii. So I have to wait for Best Buy to get a Wii. I can't just go anywhere.


Which TRU is it?

*cough cough* :D

[zemmix]

I just happened onto a few in stock at Fry's while I was there getting a memory stick for my PSP. That was the first time I had seen one sitting on the shelf like that. Of course I had to buy three games but ah oh well. What fun is a system without any games anyway?

[Tron 2.0]

Advance warning: TRU's 2/11 ad guarantees the Wii in stock.

Scans of the ad are at Cheap Ass Gamer (http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126671).

Tru nation wide or is it just a online deal?

[heybtbm]

The TRU Sunday ad features the Wii...however they will only be selling them in a $299.99 bundle with the Rayman Rabbit game. No matter how desperate you are to get a Wii (I still don't have one either), I urge everyone to skip this "deal" and show TRU where to stick their bundle. I knew it was only a matter of time before this bundling bullshit spilled over to brick and mortar retail locations. Absolutely ridiculous.

As an added insult, you can't buy the bundle and return the game. It is being sold as 1 item on the receipt. FU TRU.

The Wii will be in the Circuit City and Target ad's on Sunday as well. No bundle required of course.

[SaturnFan]

The TRU Sunday ad features the Wii...however they will only be selling them in a $299.99 bundle with the Rayman Rabbit game. No matter how desperate you are to get a Wii (I still don't have one either), I urge everyone to skip this "deal" and show TRU where to stick their bundle. I knew it was only a matter of time before this bundling bullshit spilled over to brick and mortar retail locations. Absolutely ridiculous.

As an added insult, you can't buy the bundle and return the game. It is being sold as 1 item on the receipt. FU TRU.

The Wii will be in the Circuit City and Target ad's on Sunday as well. No bundle required of course.

I hate TRU. My hatred for them is right up there with GameStop and EBGames.

[Trumpman]

Over at CAG they are saying that the bundle is optional at TRU. Anyway, I am desperate to get one, so I am going to go on Sunday for one at TRU. What time do you think I should get there if the store opens at 10:00?

Thanks a lot!

[badinsults]

Well, I can't see what is wrong with bundling a game like RRR is. It certainly is one of the best Wii games.

[RegSNES]

The GameStop in my mall got some in on Tuesday. And sold them all in a short period of time. Found this out when I picked up Final Fantasy VI Advance. Man, 2 months after launch you STILL have a hard time finding these things. Is Nintendo not releasing enough or is the demand just that high that the second they are on the shelves, they disappear?

[smork]

They make you pay more then retail? Weird.

Where is that?

Oh, I'm in Malaysia. Nintendo hasn't released the Wii here, so it's all parallel imports. I suspect the locals are importing via play-asia or some such. Games are pretty unreasonable, too -- about $60.

The 360 and PS3 are parallel imports, too (from Singapore or Hong Kong), but their price is the same as what you'd pay at a store in either country. I got my DOA 360 special "limited" edition here for if anything a few $$$ less than I would in Singapore because of taxes.

[heybtbm]

Is Nintendo not releasing enough or is the demand just that high that the second they are on the shelves, they disappear?

The main reason that Wii are still "hard to find" is because of:

Target
Walmart
Toys R Us
Circuit City
Best Buy
Shopko

...all holding their stock of Wii's until Sunday's. All of these stores get in Wii's every few days, but refuse to put them on the sales floor or sell them. They force people to buy Wii's on one day (usually Sunday when their weekly ad's start). It's ridiculous and frustrating. I simply refuse to wait outside of a store just to buy one...I'm not going to play their game of creating "false" shortages. I can wait for a Wii. When I finally see one sitting on a shelf, I'll buy it. Until then, those stores can FO.

[Trumpman]

Thanks for all your help everyone.

I finally found a Wii today at Target. Good luck to all who are still searching!

[Tron 2.0]

Well my Wii woes are over now.

I was able to get one from tru on the 11th.

cheapassgamer.com was correct on the bundle deal it was optional.

I had a friend pick it up for me in morning since, i didn't want to... take the chance of trying to get one in the afthernoon.

I got what i wanted just the system none of that "bundle deal crap" i see... on ebay and on amazon.

All is left is to figure out what tv i'll play it on and... how in hell i'm gonna hook it up to my (cable isp) so i can surf the wii channel.

[heybtbm]

All is left is to figure out what tv i'll play it on and... how in hell i'm gonna hook it up to my (cable isp) so i can surf the wii channel.

You can buy a cheap (yet very functional) LinkSys wireless router at Walmart for $40. You can plug in your current ethernet cables in the back (for existing wired connections) and use the wi-fi for your Wii. What's funny is the average wireless router is now cheaper than Nintendo's USB wi-fi adapter.

[Tron 2.0]

You can buy a cheap (yet very functional) LinkSys wireless router at Walmart for $40. You can plug in your current ethernet cables in the back (for existing wired connections) and use the wi-fi for your Wii. What's funny is the average wireless router is now cheaper than Nintendo's USB wi-fi adapter.

Thanks i'll look into that.

I don't need some fancy router that's expensive.

All i care about that it works nothing more.

[scooterb23]

Went to 2 stores today (working on Sundays really cramps my chances of getting a Wii) of course they were all sold out again. Between the 2 stores, they had 100 Wiis (Wiiii?) for the Sunday sale, and all were accounted for by people standing in line for 2-3 hours before opening.

Maybe sometime in the next month or so the buzz will wear off a bit

[spunibard]

at this rate there will be far too much time before we see a black wii. this could suck a lot.



... 100 Wiis (Wiiii?) for the Sunday sale, and all were accounted for by people standing in line for 2-3 hours before opening.

[sirhansirhan]

I just came from my neighborhood Target (incidentally, the same place that I bought my Wii on launch day), and they had maybe five or so, which marks the first time I've seen them available for sale in a store I just happened to walk into. They also had a bunch of Wii Plays, which I've been told are hard to come by, and which I would have bought if I weren't retarded and had left some money aside to buy it with. Guess I'll have to wait a few weeks.

For what it's worth, there's a pretty gnarly ice/snow storm here today, and Target was absolutely dead (it was around noon I was there, and I bet there was a total of five customers in the entire store), so if they got the shipment today, that might explain things.

[cerex]

I'm currently in Australia and the same thing is going on over here.I called all the eb game stores and other electronic stores in my area and none of them had any in stock, some said that had not got any in since the 1st of january. I walked into eb last sunday and asked if they had any, they said they had one left. I was pretty low on money so I bought some games and walked out, I then called the bank to check my bank balance, had enough to buy one and some groceries for the week so i ran back in and got one... :)

[Trumpman]

Well, good luck to those who have yet to find one. The Wii is great! Check out CheapAssGamer for deal availability.

It seems like the fervor may be dying down a little bit near me. I got to Target an hour before it opened and was 4th in line.

[heybtbm]

It seems like the fervor may be dying down a little bit near me. I got to Target an hour before it opened and was 4th in line.

If you have to arrive 1 hour before a store opens to buy a Wii (3 months after lauch, mind you) I wouldn't say the "fervor may be dying down".

[slip81]

Well, I'd say there still in demand. After getting a job bonus I decided to start hunting for one, but haven't seen one in the 2 weeks I've been looking.

Granted I'm not going to any stores and waiting in line for them to open on Sunday, but seriously, the things' been out for 4 months and not a single store in a 25 mile radius of Providence, R.I has one.

Has this ever happened with any other console before?

[jajaja]

I've heard PS2 was hard to get for months too. But its strange that Nintendo havnt been able to produce a sick high amount of consoles by now.

[heybtbm]

I've heard PS2 was hard to get for months too.

PS2's were hard to find, but nothing like this. Wii's seem to have a shelf life of a less than an hour.


But its strange that Nintendo havnt been able to produce a sick high amount of consoles by now.

Low quantity = High demand. I'm not a "conspiracy" type of guy, but you have to wonder.

[jajaja]

Hehe, i didnt mean it like that, with conspiracy :) I just think its wierd that Nintendo havnt been able to fill the demand yet. Open a 2nd factory or whatever hehe, they must get enough consoles out there ;)

[norkusa]

PS2's were hard to find, but nothing like this. Wii's seem to have a shelf life of a less than an hour.

I think the demand has been about the same. I remember it was a little over six months since launch when I saw my first PS2 sitting on a store shelf. Same goes for 360.

Going by that, I'm guessing I'll see my first Wii in late May/early June.

[scooterb23]

I forgot to check in. A couple weeks ago, I found a solitary Wii sitting on a shelf at a store in Richmond, Indiana. At 2 in the afternoon. So keep hope alive folks :D

[diskoboy]

I finally saw one actually sitting at Target yesterday. It's gone now, though.

Story time! - I was checking out the Wii games to see if there was anything on sale. Another woman with her kid came up behind me. The kid must've thought I was gonna buy the last one, and he instantly started crying. The mom looks at me like, 'please let me get this, so my kid will quit crying'.

I just looked at her, snickered, and said "Ma'am, it's all your's. I've already got one. I was just looking at games"

The kid looked at me as if I just saved the world from complete destruction. And talk about a mood swing... He wen't from crying to dancing around the aisle in about .5 milliseconds.

Oh, to be a kid again! But I did my good deed for the year. :)

[scooterb23]

I bet she would have given you enough money to buy a couple games if you would have strung her along for a couple minutes. ;)

[RegSNES]

Story time! - I was checking out the Wii games to see if there was anything on sale. Another woman with her kid came up behind me. The kid must've thought I was gonna buy the last one, and he instantly started crying. The mom looks at me like, 'please let me get this, so my kid will quit crying'.

I just looked at her, snickered, and said "Ma'am, it's all your's. I've already got one. I was just looking at games"

The kid looked at me as if I just saved the world from complete destruction. And talk about a mood swing... He wen't from crying to dancing around the aisle in about .5 milliseconds.

Oh, to be a kid again! But I did my good deed for the year. :)

This story alone made the usual trip to DP forums worth it. =)

[diskoboy]

This story alone made the usual trip to DP forums worth it. =)


I even went so far as to recommend Elebits or Wario Ware. This kid couldn't have been over 6.

It's also times like that I miss working at a game store.

[wufners]

I had my first in the wild sighting of a Wii today. There was one single Wii at the Target in Tukwila, WA (a busy retail area about 20 minutes south of Seattle.) When I walked by the electronics section again about 5 minutes later, it was already being purchased. Don't know how long it had been there prior.

[neuropolitique]

I've still not seen one. My local target has had the same sign up since Christmas stating how sorry they are. Bastards.

[kainemaxwell]

We haven't had a Wii at my store in over a month now (people call us like everyday asking if we have one or not).