Originally Posted by io

This has nothing to do with location - that's the way it was most places between the two systems. The key difference is that with the Wii, they announced a few days ahead of time when they would take preorders at Gamestop. And with the 360 launch snafu the year before, people knew they had to be there quick to get a valid (ie, day one)preorder and the resellers were out in full force. This was before the Wii got super-hyped to the general masses once it got released but it was still hyped enough with gamers and resellers that the preorders could only be obtained pretty much by lining up before stores opened.

For the Wii U, on the other hand, Nintendo announced pricing/release date one morning, and GS started taking preorders right away. Even us in the know here on CAG only had a day or two notice that Nintendo was probably going to announce the details and we still didn't know if GS would follow that up with immediate preorders or announce future ones like they did with the Wii. I was much relieved when they started them immediately and I "strolled in" around 11am and was the first person to preorder at a store that had, 6 years ago, sold out of Wii preorders before they opened. Most people didn't get wind of the availability of Wii U preorders until that evening and it wasn't until the next day that Deluxe preorders got cut off and even longer before they all did.

So, really, it was a matter of the circumstances of the announcement more than anything else which at least explains the easy first day of preorders. There was also slightly less hype for the Wii U than for the original Wii (which explains why it took a few more days for all the preorders to sell out). Though we have already seen that ramp up as people realize what it is (ie, a new Nintendo system) and I'm sure it will be as scarce as the Wii through the end of the year at least.