I ended up heading to the Target in Eagle Rock in the Los Angeles Area at around 4 am and when the tickets were passed out I was #110 out of 120. So I lucked out.

I picked that spot because from what I read, only west hollywood and burbank targets had more units. I would have hated to see the lines in the locations with just 60 units. In all, I'm happy with the wii. I was shooting for the ps3 but that was mainly to just upgrade from a broken PS2 from how ever long and I had a lot of ps2 games sitting still wrapped. Nothing new on PS3 appeals to me and the wii has been loads of fun out of the box already. So I'm damn well pleased with it.

I was shocked when I drove by my local Best Buy yesterday morning - there was an enormous line, at least 3 times longer than the line for the PS3.

Also, my brother went out to his local Gamestop and found that it had been robbed late Thursday night of a bunch of PS3's, 360's, and Wii's.

Wow, 4am and they were almost out? I live right down the street from that Target, and I was considering going there, but not that early...

While I was one of the unlucky few not to get a Wii at Bestbuy, I do respect how they handed them out. They put up a sign on the door a few days early, saying that at 8am (an hour before the store opens on Sunday) they would give out tickets to a raffle for all the systems they had, and that nobody had to lineup and wait. This didn't stop people from coming at 3am and complaining that it was still unfair, but I think that's the fairest thing they could do. What ticked me off was that I was one of the few (maybe dozen or so) unlucky people that didn't get picked, and if I had just stood in the toysrus line right next door, I would've been guaranteed one. Not Best Buy's fault, however, and despite the whiners I actually liked the process. It did give preferential treatment to the people who had, like, five kids come with them, each of them getting a ticket, but hey, if they're getting them to play with and not to sell on ebay, I have no complaints.

Costco also sold theirs early, but I couldn't go because I wanted to wait for the raffle (hey, the odds were good!). That ticked off a bunch of people lining up at 10am, since they had been telling people that they wouldn't allow people to line up early.... apparently, when they saw the line at 8am they sold them and closed the store back up, without putting any kind of sign out.

At this point in life (wife and two kids) I'd have side with a raffle. I mean you look at the lines and it is college kids with no jobs. People with responsibilities have little to no chance of scoring one.

My brother said he went to a Wal-Mart at 9 in the evening, to try to score a Wii at the midnight launch. They had everyone in the Garden center, but no official line what so ever. He decided to leave because he wasn't convinced he'd get one.

That being said, there's no precendent for these types of things. There is always going to be a bunch of disappointed people, and they WILL complain. If anything, people should find out what types of measures the store has devised for their launch, and shop accordingly

Apparently the lottery mechanism was put into place because there was a lot of fighting going on during the PS3 launch... in particular, a bunch of big guys cutting in line at the last second.

Not sure if this was a company-wide policy, as I did see something about a raffle in the local BB ad as well. It really is, IMHO, one of the best ways to do so, because everyone (that can get there at a certain time) has an equal chance of getting one. The method left a lot to be desired... they pretty much put the tickets in a cardboard box, then a plastic bag, and let customers pick the numbers, but there were a lot of sequential picks (101, then 102, for example), which makes me believe that there wasn't enough shuffling going on. They also need to make sure they take away the extra tickets from family members once one of them wins and the group goes in...

Or they could do a royal rumble setup, where the last guys in line go in the ring first, then every few minutes the next to last guy comes in, and the winners get the systems. Or just a mad dash race in the store. I dunno, take your pick.

Guess what everyone! I am number one in line right now at BB! Not a person in sight (except normal customers) the employees are giving me funny looks, but it will be worth it when I get my hands on.... Wait, what's coming out now? Humm, I can't think of anything that would require me waiting in line! Wow, I guess I just got so used to it over this past week(end) that this just feels like home some how... That crack in the concrete, the gum on the wall... *sigh* I don't want to leave....

You should tell them you heard about the Xbox 720 pre-release and you're not taking any chances.

Man, 23299 ebay auctions with the keyword Wii, and 15265 for PS3 right now. I figured the PS3 would have a bunch, but the Wii? Thankfully, very few seem to be getting the prices they want, but man is there going to be an overflow when all these non-sold ebay Wiis get returned to the stores, around the time when they're much easier to find...

@ 1000 this morning, there were over 33,000! Good thing I sold mine...

that's pretty acurate, you do need a pole holding a gun in the ps3 line though.

And everyone in the Wii line needs a DS.

and the guys in the ps3 line need to be round.

Is that a chair in the wii line or a crudely drawn towely?

I have a wife and kid and worked Saturday night and I managed to snag a Wii (25 of 87). I went to bed early and gave up some sleep to go out at 4 a.m. and was back by 9:45 a.m. We all played later that night together. For the Best Buy I went to, people were still showing up at 7 a.m. (tickets went out at 8 a.m.) and still securing a Wii, so it did not take much effort from everyone. I know of some other stores (an area Target for example) that had little to no line until early morning.

Partly, it depends on where you go. I had the choice of a college town which filled up quicker (despite the weekend being the beginning of Thanksgiving breaK) or a much more populated area which ran the risk of larger people to Wii ratios. I went with the populated area and scored.

I'm not saying everyone had the same situations everywhere, but there were opportunities for "people with responsibilities." I saw many grandparents, parents and kids, a wife sitting out for her husband for Christmas, and yes, college students, in the Best Buy I was at. It was actually a diverse crowd with the college students only really taking up the first 1/3 of the line.

So, maybe your situation didn't allow you to get one, but opportunities were there for many people.

PS3... whole different story.

You're a towel!

Oh man... I have no idea what's going on right now...

I had my wife drop off my 6 year old at 10pm at Wal-Mart. She wanted to be part of the fun, but no way I could keep her entertained for much longer than that. I ended up getting some dude's sister to buy the one my daughter was going to get since I didn't feel like trying to explain why she should be able to buy one as her own person. At the end of the day the result is the same, 2 console purchased and my mom has one of her gifts taken care of.

Our Wal-Mart was pretty cool. The first people got there at 5:30pm the evening before launch and the dad bought a pack of flashcards to hand out so the order of arrivals was intact. I got 8 and 9 (out of 20) when I got there at 8am on Saturday. By about 4pm, all 20 were gone. We all knew each other and were free to come and go as we pleased. Some guys brought a TV and a 360 and we played GoW and Halo 2. We had about 7 DSes, mostly Mario Kart. We watched The Wizard because I felt it appropriate. At Midnight Wal-Mart didn't even bother handing out tickets since we already had the numbering done with the flash cards. The cashier even required us to show our numbers before she'd sell. Overall, a very pleasurable experience and I would gladly do it there next time. Plus, it was only $249.24.

After I checked out, I swung by Best Buy and Target. People outside, nearly freezing. Target was pitch black. I couldn't understand why they'd be there we were done 8-9 hours before they would and were warm and happy. I don't remember us turning away many people once we got to 20, so I don't think they were there as a backup plan.

How come there aren't any listen in the Amazon marketplace? I'd assume there'd be several for all sorts of outrageous prices. Is there some sort of restriction?

Has anyone heard any number besides 20 for Wal-Mart? Is this accross the board? I have heard this for every Wal-Mart in my area and seen it online a lot. I wonder why this was? Did the company itself impose this limit to save stock for Black Friday or holiday shopping in general?

The managers at ours said they didn't know for sure if it was 20 or 29. They had 20, but they were expecting 9 more via FedEx that day. Those 9 never showed up.

It seems too coincidental if every Wal-Mart got exactly 20. There had to be a reason for them to distribute them that way. I don't know why they'd keep them in reserve; they know they'd sell instantly, why keep the stock?

possible black friday ad:

"come one, come all, we have 3 PS3s in stock which we will have a race to some chairs to see how many will fall!!!"