Originally Posted by JUSTSULTAN Well i was able to pay off my deluxe. According to my Gamestop guy i was the second to have it paid off. I mentioned that all i wanted to was come in and pick everything up and be out of there. He said "it would be nece" then went on to tell me that majority of people are are going to come in with stacks of games day of and cause even longer waits, not to mention those who didnt preorder waiting for their games to trade and walk ins! Its going to be bananas put i cant wait.

All of the Gamestops where I go have you pay/trade as soon as you get there (after 10PM, for midnight launches) and then you just wait in line with your receipt which is numbered, and you get the corresponding numbered bundle with all your stuff. A line of 50+ people usually blows through in 15 minutes or less.

Plan b for everyone is just to wait outside of any of these stores with a stungun.


free console = win

Well if Bestbuy sends me an email im sitting tight on launch day. Store opens at 10, ill show up at 11. Walk up to instore pickup and leave.

Originally Posted by Sir_Fragalot The wait depends on location and area. A bigger more crowded gamestop I would consider getting there a bit earlier, but a smaller one, you should be fine. I don't talk to anyone unless it's in line waiting for the store to open. I want to eliminate as much chance as possible of someone coming up to me and jacking my system.

Well i guess ill get there at 6 am and wait in the car til i see some people roll up. Guess ill be needing a chair and a blanket cuz itll be cold as hell that early in Colorado, our mornings and nights are 32 f now so i know in November it will be torture! And why on earth would you so willing to risk a felony or worse for an electronic? I just dont get it...

Originally Posted by FatherChesz All of the Gamestops where I go have you pay/trade as soon as you get there (after 10PM, for midnight launches) and then you just wait in line with your receipt which is numbered, and you get the corresponding numbered bundle with all your stuff. A line of 50+ people usually blows through in 15 minutes or less.

My gamestops are the exact opposite. The 3DS launch was you pay at the time of release and it was a pain in the ass. Luckily I was like 6-7th in line and this was because there were about 2-3 people camped out since 4PM. The store was open though so we didn't have to wait outside.

Also I forget what launch it was but I remember someone on CAG getting mugged for their console. It could happen, and well it's not totally hard to do in a big open parking lot. Someone would jack it and ebay it for money. That reminds me, Gamestop.com better ship UPS and not USPS. Last time I had USPS they were ing idiots and delivered my package but left it outside in the ing rain instead of opening my porch door and putting it in there.

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Originally Posted by Sir_Fragalot My gamestops are the exact opposite. The 3DS launch was you pay at the time of release and it was a pain in the ass. Luckily I was like 6-7th in line and this was because there were about 2-3 people camped out since 4PM. The store was open though so we didn't have to wait outside. Also I forget what launch it was but I remember someone on CAG getting mugged for their console. It could happen, and well it's not totally hard to do in a big open parking lot. Someone would jack it and ebay it for money.

Wow, really? Every GameStop preorder I've ever done has had you trade-in/pay in advance and wait in line with a receipt. I'd be pissed if someone was trading in dozens of games before me at a midnight launch.

I'm still on the fence about waiting in line for the mugging reason...not the greatest neighborhood for my GS.

Originally Posted by KanYozakura Wow, really? Every GameStop preorder I've ever done has had you trade-in/pay in advance and wait in line with a receipt. I'd be pissed if someone was trading in dozens of games before me at a midnight launch.

I think they might have done that for the 3DS but I know Wii and DS were pay right at the time of when you get up to the counter, not beforehand because I remember paying for the DS right at launch and well while my Wii was paid off, other people paying on the spot.

I did my 3DS pre-order through Best Buy as an in-store pickup. I got the pickup email the day before it launched... and walked right in and picked it up, no hassle and no wait.

I imagine the GS's around here will do the normal pre-pay/wait for midnight thing as always. I might go, depending on how cold it should get/how many people are expected to be there, but I know that my Best Buy should definitely not be having a midnight launch. They only do shooters and I don't think they're even doing Halo this year. So I'll probably go to the GS at midnight, and get my backup console first, and then hit BB first thing that morning. If I get the BB console (which I'm kind of positive about), I'll sell my console to a buddy, but at least I'll have that backup.

If both of those fail me, please let GS.com be a sure thing.

Originally Posted by NoMeDigas I did my 3DS pre-order through Best Buy as an in-store pickup. I got the pickup email the day before it launched... and walked right in and picked it up, no hassle and no wait.

Thanks, apparently some peoples wii u preorders say backordered. So I assume by now the ones that still say in process are likely to get that email.

Just traded in Forza 4, Halo CE and Mario Kart 7 at GS for $70.50. Put it down towards my Wii U preorder. I wanted to ask, would it be better to pick up my preorder in the afternoon of the 18th? I want to avoid the crowds.

Originally Posted by gamerguy73 Just traded in Forza 4, Halo CE and Mario Kart 7 at GS for $70.50. Put it down towards my Wii U preorder. I wanted to ask, would it be better to pick up my preorder in the afternoon of the 18th? I want to avoid the crowds.

I would choose either the midnight release, or early afternoon. At a midnight release, the employees want to go home just as much as you do. As an SM for Gamestop, I worked the midnight release, got home around 2AM, and typically had an early open the next day - opening the store at 9AM. So I had to be there at 7:30AM. Depending on the Gamestop, they most likely are doing this same thing. Again, we want to get out of there. Come between 10PM and 11:45, finalize your purchase by paying off the difference, and then get your system at midnight and go home. If you come before 11:45, I would have you out of there by 12:15. The idea being that all you need to do at midnight is get your system. No transaction on a register.

Now if you come the next day, you will have to go to a register, no matter what. Most Gamestops have 2 registers, so you could have a bottleneck there should both registers have customers with trades, and a line behind them. That usually happens on a release date the moment we open at 9 or 10AM, and when school/work let out, between 3PM and 6PM. Plus I would anticipate a lot more walk-in customers bothering the clerks about how they can't find a Wii-U anywhere, and customers who want to buy accessories and games after they got their Wii-U elsewhere on launch day or at midnight - Many people regret not picking up something with their system until they get it home, or parents who need help setting things up, or just want to gain some knowledge about their new system and so forth. So there will be a lot of distraction within the store on launch day.

If your Gamestop is known for managing midnight releases well, go at midnight.

If mine is doing the midnight thing I'll get there at 11:30. I'm not waiting in any multi-hour lines. That was the whole reason for preordering . If they aren't doing a midnight release (likely for this store), I'll roll in around 11 or 12 the next day. Some of you guys seem to enjoy the line waiting thing. Maybe it's an age thing but I can't stand waiting around for anything any more. I almost went nuts at PAX having to wait 2 hours so my son could play Halo 4. At least there I did have the 3DS and all the street passes I could handle so I had something to do. I wouldn't expect the same at a Wii U line full of mostly resellers.

And it is my plan to go in beforehand and pay the rest of it off. I see no reason to mess around with that on the release day and I already have credit sitting on a card in a drawer so there's nothing out of pocket for me to pay it off at this point.

Originally Posted by shrinky215 I would choose either the midnight release, or early afternoon. At a midnight release, the employees want to go home just as much as you do. As an SM for Gamestop, I worked the midnight release, got home around 2AM, and typically had an early open the next day - opening the store at 9AM. So I had to be there at 7:30AM. Depending on the Gamestop, they most likely are doing this same thing. Again, we want to get out of there. Come between 10PM and 11:45, finalize your purchase by paying off the difference, and then get your system at midnight and go home. If you come before 11:45, I would have you out of there by 12:15. The idea being that all you need to do at midnight is get your system. No transaction on a register. Now if you come the next day, you will have to go to a register, no matter what. Most Gamestops have 2 registers, so you could have a bottleneck there should both registers have customers with trades, and a line behind them. That usually happens on a release date the moment we open at 9 or 10AM, and when school/work let out, between 3PM and 6PM. Plus I would anticipate a lot more walk-in customers bothering the clerks about how they can't find a Wii-U anywhere, and customers who want to buy accessories and games after they got their Wii-U elsewhere on launch day or at midnight - Many people regret not picking up something with their system until they get it home, or parents who need help setting things up, or just want to gain some knowledge about their new system and so forth. So there will be a lot of distraction within the store on launch day. If your Gamestop is known for managing midnight releases well, go at midnight.

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

Originally Posted by io If mine is doing the midnight thing I'll get there at 11:30. I'm not waiting in any multi-hour lines. That was the whole reason for preordering . If they aren't doing a midnight release (likely for this store), I'll roll in around 11 or 12 the next day. Some of you guys seem to enjoy the line waiting thing. Maybe it's an age thing but I can't stand waiting around for anything any more. I almost went nuts at PAX having to wait 2 hours so my son could play Halo 4. At least there I did have the 3DS and all the street passes I could handle so I had something to do. I wouldn't expect the same at a Wii U line full of mostly resellers. And it is my plan to go in beforehand and pay the rest of it off. I see no reason to mess around with that on the release day and I already have credit sitting on a card in a drawer so there's nothing out of pocket for me to pay it off at this point.

Thanks for the info io.

On a few occasions, I have seen people camping out from before the store even closes. Not sure why people stand in those boring line for 3+ hours, you can just roll in right at 11:50 and be out of there in less than 20 minutes. Even our Halo Reach line had like 100+ people, and was done by 12:20

If you go to pick up your pre-order and they hand you a damaged box (smashed on the edges), will they give you another one, if you don't want it? I have never pre-ordered anything before.

Originally Posted by Wii Got U If you go to pick up your pre-order and they hand you a damaged box (smashed on the edges), will they give you another one, if you don't want it? I have never pre-ordered anything before.

Nintendo ships to stores using really high quality packaging. Xboxes came in the worst shipping material, and then Sony was in the middle. In the case of the Wii-U, if your take-home box is damaged, then it would be from the store employees doing some damage to it, not shipping.

This gets more complicated if you are getting your console at midnight from Gamestop, which I can explain if you need?

Originally Posted by shrinky215 Nintendo ships to stores using really high quality packaging. Xboxes came in the worst shipping material, and then Sony was in the middle. In the case of the Wii-U, if your take-home box is damaged, then it would be from the store employees doing some damage to it, not shipping. This gets more complicated if you are getting your console at midnight from Gamestop, which I can explain if you need?

Can you explain about Gamestop? I read somewhere that GS stores their consoles in their bathrooms.

Thanks

Anyone have a definitive answer on how in-store preorders will work with Bby? I put down my $5 as soon as I could, but I'm getting antsy as to how they will deal with an order like mine.