This annoys me to no end. Since when is $250 an impulse buy for the average person? People are buying them because it's a great gaming system, coming up with excuses for why people are buying them is bullshit. Is this also the same reason the DS is kicking the ever living shit outta the PSP? Because it's cheap? No freakin way, the DS has better games that are vastly more fun.

This isn't the tiny little system that could. It's a direct competitor even though it may appeal to people for different reasons it's still competing in the same market.

Thanks for the reply!

i only have one set of components on my TV. The 3rd party brand I have has much better connectors than the 1st party brands. If I would be switching back and forth often, which has been the case, it seemed like the obvious choice

I bought my Wii at Walmart. They had them hanging from little hooks right by the registers. I was only there buying diapers for my four kids, but while I was waiting in line I grabbed some batteries, a candy bar, a lint brush, a Wii and the 50" plasma widescreen they had hanging next to the Wii.

There wasn't a need.

Chris

I hear what you're sayin' but I know several "average" people who said "I wasn't planning on getting one, but it's only $250". Sure the wow factor of the Wii plays a significant part, but the price point makes it a "what the heck, why not?" type of buy as well.

$300 is the magic number for a lot of stuff. I think any guy can convince his girlfriend/wife on the purchase of any techie item once it hits that magic sub $300 mark.

I know I have

Impulse Buy? Who camps out for impulse?

When they're in stores, maybe it's an impulse buy. Finding one right now requires a concentrated effort.

I'm sick and tired of trying to find a damn Wii. I sold my launch Wii to a friend (for retail) because his wife has not been able to find one and I had already beat Zelda. I figured that I would be able to find one to replace it by now. Today I called and found 30 in stock at Toys 'R Us, but they wouldn't sell them. I was told that they were holding them until next weekend when they have a new flyer go out. What purpose does it serve to hold them for a week and a half? It's not like they will get more money for them in that time.

I agree, I don't get this holding for ad shit.

It just forces people to wait in line/camp, they usually march you in and out when it's time to buy so its not like they are selling other stuff to you and thus making more money by getting people to see the ad and come to the store and buy other shit while they are there.

I can't see it cutting down on daily calls/questions about when they'll have them either.

I almost wonder if Nintendo is giving stores incentive to do it to keep the camping for wii stores in the news and get free publicity.

I'm not sure what, if any, legal implications there are, but I know having camped out once, that people get really angry when their numbers on-hand are below the advertised minimum.

In some states it is a legal issue.

Who (with any actual knowledge) stated that the reason for the hold-backs is the potential for additional sales?

Hold-backs actually help those who are most interested in getting a Wii. Without hold-backs, a person needs to keep checking with stores, perhaps multiple times a day. With guaranteed quantities available for an ad, people can decide on the specific date and time with a real good probability of scoring one.

Well, if next week's sales flyer states that they will have them in stock, then it should reduce the number of calls somewhat...people may not know if the store has any THIS week... but they'll know that the store will have it next.

Why? Except for a few internet forums, who exactly is still reporting on camping for console stories? I haven't seen any recently on any local news, or national news.

It was just a reason I thought of, since stores only goal is to make money. So I originally thought they'd do it for the same reason they heavily promote cheap loss leader items--get people in the store and hope they buy other stuff while there. But that got debunked with them just taking people to customer service to buy the console and sending them on their way.

More specifically it helps those who are most interested and also don't have lives and can wait in line for hours (more true a month ago when one had to show up several hours before opening than now when it seems an hour or at opening was good enough this last time).


Weren't the continual, instant sell outs mentioned in that NY Times article that was posted? But I guess that isn't directly related to campouts. I am suspicious that Nintendo isn't making them as fast as they could to keep the sell out buzz going. Especially since Sony is no threat right now. I have a feeling we'd see more Wiis in stores if PS3s were flying off shelves.

I mean it's a Gamecube with Waggle, as Luke Smith is fond of calling it, they should be able to make these a lot faster. The controller isn't all that high tech either, just IR sensing and accelerometers.

Well, I don't "get" why they are holding the Wii for theirs ads. But I also don't "get" why selling them as they come is any better or worse. Correct me if I am wrong, but when I read the above posts, I get the impression that people think that holding them is somehow negative. To me, either method of sale is as logical as the other.

Saw my first Wii the other day (well, first in a store). Was at Wal-Mart (Davnille, KY) on Sunday 7:00 AM. They had just got two in stock. I almost bought one, but couldn't bring myself to.

should have bought it

Yep. You could have sold it outright for a small profit...or better yet, tried it out for a week, sold it and broken even.

But most likely, you'd just have to keep it since it's so damn cool.

Easily my favorite electronics purchase in years.

Well if I was looking for one, I'd rather have the chance to luck into one, find one with iTrackr etc. instead of having to wait for hours for an advertised sale as I just don't have the time.

But I got a preorder with a bit of an hour of waiting so it's moot for me anyway.

eh, I bought mine randomly, and had 2 other chances to randomly purchase a Wii.

And your lucky/friends with a gamestore manager.

Most people have yet to randomly see a Wii anywhere.

I have been continually keeping an eye out for one for my brother (it was going to be a birthday gift) since the holiday season until now and have yet to see one in store. My family, due to not finding one, ended up getting him a PS2 instead. I'm at places that sell Wiis at least every other day and have yet to find one. All the places are getting shipments (1-3 units) each week and say they are selling out of them in minutes to either people camping the shipment time or people standing around when the box is opened.

very true...


but lets pretend I wasn't friends with this guy. It's not like he held anything for me. It just so happens that my hour lunch break coincides with his UPS delievery.

I know my girl's friend wants a Wii, but they're dumb. I'm not gonna pay out of pocket, and just hold onto it for them.

Now, I would call them and let them know, but these things never last more than an hour or two anyway

Which means you got lucky, which was the other part of my statement.

People can luck into them, but it would be easier to luck into them if the big box stores just put them out when they got them as well, instead of holding them for ads as they get a ton more units than the small game stores