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- somelifeguard, on 10/12/2007, -3/+144My Story
There was 2 lines, 1 for 6 PS3's, and 1 for 15 Wii's.
I camped out at Toys R' Us Wii Line, the line filled up by 8 o clock the night before.
We all played tetris DS, Mario kart, table games, etc via WiFi, pretty fun night, but then after we all woke up, we found that these 2 guys jumped to the front of the line, and were sitting by the door, expecting that they could both get a Wii AND a PS3 systems, despite it being clear that you could only get one system. Of course, jumping in front of 21 people who have all been waiting for song sitting through the cold of Utah is not the best idea, after various threats, insults and profanity were thrown across, a HUGE guy from Samoa dumps this big bucket of water on them, (this is when its 30 degrees outside) so the idiot who jumped gets mad and starts to go at the Samoan guy, and was like YOU F***ING THREW WATER AT ME!!!!, then the Samoan guy looks him straight in the eye and says, "sorry, I should of pissed in it first", then a fight starts, and it didn't take more then a second for all 20 other people to run in and jump the guy who butted in line.
Nothing comes between a man and his wii. - noodlez, on 10/12/2007, -1/+37can we frontpage this comment somehow?
- bpwwhirl, on 10/12/2007, -6/+34They are bringing plenty to market. Only problem is... the demand is huge!
- RobertsRobe, on 10/12/2007, -2/+29shouts of "+2 damage, +2 damage" could be heard for miles.
- m0ke, on 10/12/2007, -2/+27Last night I went out to a diner at like 1 in the morning and saw about 15 people camped outside Toys R Us, in heavy jackets, armed with laptops and thermos' of coffee. I bet none of their irc buddies believed them.
- jer2eydevil88, on 10/12/2007, -2/+27If they were able to steal wifi or have something from a cell carrier then its more likely they were playing WOW than trolling IRC channels.
- nrvous250gt, on 10/12/2007, -4/+28An historically high concentration of middle-aged virgins.
- Charron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Nope, this was the camp-out for pre-orders. The "***** things" are being released Nov. 17 and 19 (PS3 and Wii respectively).
- ghm101, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18Do you really have to camp out for a Wii?
I thought Nintendo had their ***** together and were going to bring plenty to market. - johnhummel, on 10/12/2007, -5/+16My experience (copy and pasted from my blog):
I left the house this morning at 0530 and got to the nearest Toys 'R Us at 0600 to wait another 5 hours for it to open.
There were people that had been there since 1200 *Saturday* waiting about to reserve the PS3. Luckily, I was #15 on the Wii reservation line.
But that wasn't the most interesting thing. There were two points of interest. The first was that there were the people that were also in line for a Tickle Me Elmo doll. It was clear there were a lot of them there just to buy them for eBaying - but even the people there for their kids wanted to buy 2, because they *knew* they could sell it on eBay.
Those Elmo folks are scary, scary people. I mean - they freak me out a little bit, and there was almost a fight when some guy showed up at 1030 - 30 minutes before the store opened - and wanted to get the manager to open the door for him so he could let his son go to the bathroom.
The Elmoites did *not* take well to this. The New Guy finally had to take off for this life.
The second thing was how many conversations went like this:
Me: So, what are you in line for?
Woman (typically): Oh, I'm getting that Wii thing. I wanted to get a PS3, but they're only going to have 5 of those, and they're already taken by those folks up front.
Me: Well, that's fine - I think the Wii is better anyway.
Woman: Oh, I don't know anything about it.
Me: Really? Well, let me tell you.
I then give them a 30 second rundown of the Wii - how the controller works via position and movement rather than just button pushing, etc. And the response was usually like this:
Woman: So, you can play like - real tennis with this thing?
Me: Pretty much.
Woman: Wow - I think I want to play with this thing now!
And *that* is what I think that Nintendo is banking on. At first, I thought they were foolish. But the more I think about it, the more I realize they're right.
First, you're going to have the people show up between November 17th and December 25th looking for PS3's. And, unable to buy them, they'll pick up a Wii (since, by all accounts, Nintendo will have plenty available). They don't know what the difference is - they both play games, right?
Then, come Christmas morning, the kids open their Wiis. And even some of them go "Ah - I wanted a PS3!"
Then Mom and Dad put in Wii Sports to "try it out and make sure it works". And then they see how to play Wii Tennis, and go "Huh - wait, I can play this!"
And then it's all over. If average Grandma and Mother like the many I saw in that line get all excited for the Wii when they learn how it works, wait until they *see* how it works.
I think the only other thing Nintendo needs to do is come out with a Wii Aerobic game that, like Dance Dance Revolution, can track your time, how often you work out, and set up exercise programs for toning/weight loss, and stats (so people can track their progress over time and see their endurance go up). Advertise that during Oprah, and they'll sell *millions*.
Anyway, I got my Wii reservation, and from what little I've seen, it's going to be a very Nintendo Christmas.
More later about "Phoenix Wright 2: Justice for All" that I've been playing. One clue: I'm getting a bad case of Nintendo thumb. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11@23r17i05o42n
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=212
good day - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15Geeeeeeeeeeeeeek fight!!!!!!!!
slap slap claw *throw water* slap slap slap - sjbdallas, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12If I was running Microsoft, I would have had sent out $50 off xbox 360 coupons to all these stores doing PS3 and WII preorders. Anyone who didn't get a pre-order gets a coupon. How many people would be pissed enough that they stood in line for nothing and just buy a 360?
- cvrefugee, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13I remember camping out for the 360...oh wait, I didn't...I bought a brand-new premium from Overstock for $312 shipped.
- Topher06, on 10/12/2007, -12/+20"An historically high concentration of middle-aged virgins."
Isn't that every time an Apple store opens up? - Quix, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10"Gamecube 1.5 will be sitting on the shelves everywhere."
That's right, dude-with-troll-ready-nickname, they will be ON THE SHELVES. Where we can ACTUALLY BUY THEM! And they will be bought, trust me.
Unlike your beloved PS3, which won't be on shelves anytime soon.
Take your Sony-induced bitterness elsewhere. Don't worry, you'll finally get your PS3 in June or so. We'll all be enjoying our innovative new Nintendos in the meantime.
Haters suck. - hack58, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8they are not all located in malls, I live in central Ohio and the 3 EB stores that are closest to me are in strip malls (outdoors).
- honavery, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8"Is this normal in America?"
Unfortunately, yes. People were also camped out for Elmo, but each store had over 100 of those. - GrayV, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Is the Samoan guy for hire? I've often considered a camp out but always wondered what's to stop "bigger boys" from just turning up at opening time and giving a big "screw you" to the no-longer-happy campers.
I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often in this day and age. Well done the Samoan and the other 20 who only joined in after the queue jumper had a lot of his fight kicked out of him by the huge islander. Notch up a point for modern society. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6everyone needs a Samoan around. In my experience with Samoans (my team leader was Samoan) they are very straight forward people and very honest, and can seriously F you up if you piss one off, which also doesn't take much effort. So its great to have one around at all times.
- ctran, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I would pay to see this!
- ardnut, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Is this normal in America? In the UK I've just pre-ordered online, no need for insane camping.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8The hype has been *incredible* in the US, and part of it is an artificial shortage of units, yes.
- nibble128, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8I went to that toys r us in Alaska that they were camping at, I am sad to say by 11 all the preorders were completely gone.... Does anyone know a site to organize campouts?... best buy said that they extremely expect not to sell out launch day, however with their first come first serve policy, I don't know how much I trust that (considering the hype of the Wii).
Links to possible campout plans please, because hanging out in the cold with others is fun, hanging out alone... just plain sucks. - imtigger2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Wii spam??? I'd love to see some, I haven't even seen a commercial for it yet, let alone a single email... and i get plenty of 'em, and belong to just about every gamer email out there.
NO idea what you're talking about. Produce some evidence. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5How about 75 people outside the one in Time Square 1 night before the pre order.
Shot this video while shopping in the city.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKdH1lnm1m4 - sjbdallas, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Azur2:
I agree with the "artificial" comment. If they just released the damn things without any talk of shortages or how many were being manufactured, then there wouldn't be this insane camping thing or a resell market on ebay. - h4rdcor3, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I group of people from my floor camped out at two stores and ended up getting 6 PS3's and 3 Wii's. Do any of them plan on keeping the PS3? Nope. When they go for 1400 on ebay i wouldn't keep it either
- zeejay, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7It wasn't normal until the PS2 shipped, with WAY too few units to meet demand at launch. Since then, it's been all downhill. Thank Sony.
I'm not worried about getting a Wii before Christmas. I'd get a PS3 too, but damn, I still can't get past the freaking $599 MSRP. Add 3-4 games, spare controllers, and accessories and it's pushing US$1,000 after tax. That's just... wrong. - jocnnor, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7There are good reasons for not wanting to keep the PS3. First reason begin the reduced supply of consoles will yield a higher return on resell than, say, the wii.
Secondly, if the first model PS3s follows anything like the first model PS2s...the unit will be defective in a year. The later models may increase the life of the unit ( probably by a year or so :-P ).
I personally am considering camping out for a PS3 to sell. Of course, I'd have to justify the (supposed) return to be much greater than the cost of missing a few days of work/sleep/warmth/sanity/etc. - drlha, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6This is my plan also. The good thing about the Wii launch date is that its the weekend before Thanksgiving. I live in a college town, so all the prospective Wii buyers will have gone home to mommy when Wii launches. I fully expect to be able to walk down to Walmart to buy one on launch day.
For those thinking I'm being too optimistic here, I went down to Walmart to get a turkey baster the Wednesday before thanksgiving last year, and they had Xbox360s on the shelves for purchase. Next week they were all gone and I didn't see an Xbox360 on their shelves again for 4-5months. - b3mus3d, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3noodlez-
I've seen blog posts front-paged with less content than that, so probably. - m00nstone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Oh dude, you had me at damn fine piece of ass. I'll line up for ass any day of the week.
- ArmchairAthlete, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wally World is open 24/7 typically, so I wonder if they'd sell them at Midnight.
- rheaume, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Turns out they were Ebay-ing their units"
you lost me at that point...
ugh - doddilus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2My local toys r us decided to give the tickets out early because so many people were lined up. I got there a few hours before the store opened and got the bad news from people lined up for the new tickle me elmo
I live in West Virginia btw, i usually never have to pre order anything - NSMike, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Since I'm not devoted enough to camp out, I'm banking on the supply being greater than the demand... Here's hopin'.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2im a bit confused - they camped out for actual systems or just to pre-order a system?
- DarkXanthos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I agree that there will be enough to go around... but not on launch day. All of the preorders sold out and that is half the supply of each stores' Wiis (per my local TRU manager). On top of that, in the line I waited in there were easily 15 or so peeps who wanted a Wii but couldn't get one. Tack on a few more peeps changin their mind and going for a Wii and you've easily got a launch date sell out. The next shipment won't have hype about it specifically so things will probably ease up at that time.
- zkwang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Now, wouldnt it be interesting, if everyone who bought a PS3 attempted to sell it on eBay.
But when they actually get the system ... they realized the only people who wanted a PS3 were the ones who bought it to sell on eBay ...
Good old Nintendo ... they at least know what they are doing. - blofeld9999, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3While many malls do have an EB or Gamestop, there are a ton of them outside malls. In Orlando, most of the closest ones to me are in strip malls.
- Litzau, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3there is no way in hell i am waiting in a damn 9 or 24 hour line unless there is a damn fine piece of ass at the end of it...these people are morons.
- LastDays, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i'm going to walmart at like 6 in the morning on launch for wii, hopefully that will suffice. Anyone else going to walmart on the 19th for the wii?
- dogbowl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1yea, good luck with that. I now have -0- to worry about with my TosRUs preorder(the guys that run my local toysrus are pretty good). I wouldn't put it past the EBgames dorks to 'lose' your preorder when it comes in, and make you wait for the second shipment.
I think launch day for both systems is goign to be ugly. And from my experience, there is a lot more demand for the Wii than the PS3. - shiftless, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The good news is if you are unable to get a Wii at launch, an additional 7 Million units will be shipped between the 19th and Christmas.
One of the things about scalping consoles to be sold on eBay is that the manufacturer should be prepared enough so this issue never arises. All you are doing by selling the product unprepared is damaging your fan base by disappointing them. I'm starting to think that Sony is using disappointment as a marketing tool, which is very confusing to me....
So far I have been very impressed by the sheer volume of Wii's that Nintendo has been able to produce and I'm sure every Wii obsessed digger will manage to get their hands on one at launch or very soon thereafter. - dogbowl, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Thats BS.
ToysRus does have some kind of a feedback system per store. The manager at mine really wanted us to send our comments in (It must help out his ranking with corporate). You should definitely contact them and let them know.. - countjedula, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i was there in line for the wii. i didnt camp out but i got the very last pre order for the wii at the line i was in :p
- AMDnVidiaATi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"Temperatures had already dropped to forty degrees F, and had hopefully plateaued."
Are you kidding me? 40F? Heavy winter jackets? These people are pussies. - GTAcrimelord, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I drove by the Toys R Us in my town (about 50000 within city limits and about another 50000 with county added) at around 2:00am to take a friend home and saw about 6 people in line. On my way back at about 3:10am, the line had increased to about 10 people, and when I drove by at around 8:00am in the morning, there were probably about 18-22 people in line. The sad part was how that Toys R Us only had 4 PS3s available for preorder, which means 14-18 people waited for absolutely nothing. I really feal bad for the 2 guys that had been there since 2 in the morning or earlier since it only got to around the upper 30s that night.
- Moojack, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6He said diner, as in a place to eat. Not dinner, as in the meal.
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