I preordered mine at Gamestop, well my dad did for me I should say... According to the store employees, I'm first in line for the deluxe system. I got to say, I'm a bit surprised how GameStop is handling this. I'm a bit worried this will turn in to the 360 all over again where people who preorder think they'll get it day one, but stock will be low. It does seem like they'll at least do the first come first serve.

But thanks OP for providing the skus. I got a little freaked out when it only said Wii U, but that makes me feel more comfortable.

Also, I was wondering if Best Buy was updating so thanks people for letting me know some are marking it out of stock. All of mine have the deluxe system in stock, though it looks like two are out of stock of the basic model.

Finally, has there been any word on if any stores are having a midnight launch, besides Walmart and other 24 hour stores? The only thing I could find was a forum post on another forum saying no, but I'd like something more official.

Originally Posted by Ag_SurfR have you ever heard of these things called external hard drives?

I think Nintendo made the right call with using smaller and much quicker SSD hard drives within the system, and allowing us to attach any size external hard drive we want.

ill probably pre order 1 at best buy when i go pick up borderlands 2.

Had no interest in the system until bayonetta 2 became their exclusive...

At first I thought this thread was completely unnecessary.
Now I'm starting to think I should pre-order
and buy up all the Wii U consoles at launch,
and resell them right before Christmas for huge profit.
What do you guys think?

Originally Posted by gordojones88 At first I thought this thread was completely unnecessary. Now I'm starting to think I should pre-order and buy up all the Wii U consoles at launch, and resell them right before Christmas for huge profit. What do you guys think?

We think you should move along and troll elsewhere...

Originally Posted by TooPoor Had no interest in the system until bayonetta 2 became their exclusive...

That's like katy perry on sesame street.
Mommies everywhere are gonna protest.

I just hope they don't pull a nintendo and repeat the manhunt 2 incident.

If you pre-order at Best Buy for in-store pickup, they don't charge you until the date, right?

Waiting for Target or Walmart to start their pre-orders

..if they are doing pre-orders

Preordered mine at GameStop earlier as well. Makes me kinda of worried because employee said the company was only getting a total of 5,000 units at launch.

Originally Posted by morrodox After the disappointment of the Wii, and Nintendo in general, I think I will wait and see what kind of game support The WiiU gets.

Something like 50 titles looks good right now

Originally Posted by shopsmarts I have zero interest in this Wii U. It's a system for suckers at 300 and 350. Buy a real system instead: PS3 or 360.

Real system? What's the difference they at least they have the same graphics. The Wii U also shares the same controller as the Xbox 360 (you know what I mean). I say buy it and play some updated current games with the DLC already there, and play some Super Mario (Metroid, Zelda, Bayonneta 2, Pokemon ect.).

I will NEVER forget the Xbox 360 Launch. I was the Store Manager of Gamestop 1595 in Trussville, AL -- a few miles outside Birmingham. We were the busiest store in the region. We took something to the effect of 120 pre-orders before GameStop told us to stop taking them. We were told repeatedly that the company was getting enough units and we were even encouraged to collect the full dollar amount of the system to simplify the check-out process for the masses on release night.

Then the news came a week prior to launch. We were getting 12 units. TWELVE. We had 120 orders, about 75ish were FULLY PAID. First thing I did was cancel my employees orders as well as my own. It went over like a lead balloon but it had to be done.

Then as store manager I had the wonderful job of calling the 108 people who had put all their hopes into us making their and their child's christmas and inform them that no, we will not have their unit. It was the worst thing I ever had to do. The company informed us that we would not be compensating them for this issue, since it wasnt our fault. Of course, I'm not going to say that. The company also wanted me to push people into turning their pre-order into a gift card which they could later use to buy a 360. Imagine giving that to a kid on Christmas.

Oh the real kicker: Tell them you can convert the order into a PSP purchase (the PSP had launched earlier in the year) -- GameStop's rationale: The PSP was also new technology therefore people hunting a 360 would want it too. Jeez.

Then of course people are showing up to get their money back and hoping to God they can find a unit elsewhere a week before launch. The problem? We dont start our day with a ton of cash to issue refunds with. After one or two $300-400 refunds, I'm tapped out until I collect more cash. Or they could wait 1-2 weeks for corporate to issue them a check.

It was awful. My customers hated me and I couldnt blame them.

I ended up camping at Walmart for 20 hours to get my launch 360. Good times.

Anyway, heres hoping that the Wii U launch isnt similar.

Edit: Keep in mind this was circa 2005. I havent worked for GameStop for a long, long time and I hear they have changed many procedures over that time. I'm quite sure they wouldnt let this happen again. Well, not entirely sure....

Not nearly enough launch titles to interest me and the price is too high. Hopefully by mid 2013 there will be a price drop and some better games available. There might be 50 launch titles but most of them are recycled/available elsewhere and the exclusives aren't the big-time Nintendo franchises I think most were hoping to see (New SMB and not a new Mario; Nintendoland looks lame; Pikmin 3 is okay but it's not enough of a system seller to get me in for $350).

That press conference today was just as lame as their E3 show, and I'm a Nintendo fanboy who goes back to seeing the original NES at FAO Schwartz in NYC in 1985, a year before it went national. Never forget it either...but those days, sadly, seem to be fading for the big N. Even though I won't be preordering, I hope this system does well for them -- but I'm not convinced, personally, that it's going to.

Originally Posted by jyerby I will NEVER forget the Xbox 360 Launch. I was the Store Manager of Gamestop 1595 in Trussville, AL -- a few miles outside Birmingham. We were the busiest store in the region. We took something to the effect of 120 pre-orders before GameStop told us to stop taking them. We were told repeatedly that the company was getting enough units and we were even encouraged to collect the full dollar amount of the system to simplify the check-out process for the masses on release night. Then the news came a week prior to launch. We were getting 12 units. TWELVE. We had 120 orders, about 75ish were FULLY PAID. First thing I did was cancel my employees orders as well as my own. It went over like a lead balloon but it had to be done. Then as store manager I had the wonderful job of calling the 108 people who had put all their hopes into us making their and their child's christmas and inform them that no, we will not have their unit. It was the worst thing I ever had to do. The company informed us that we would not be compensating them for this issue, since it wasnt our fault. Of course, I'm not going to say that. The company also wanted me to push people into turning their pre-order into a gift card which they could later use to buy a 360. Imagine giving that to a kid on Christmas. Oh the real kicker: Tell them you can convert the order into a PSP purchase (the PSP had launched earlier in the year) -- GameStop's rationale: The PSP was also new technology therefore people hunting a 360 would want it too. Jeez. Then of course people are showing up to get their money back and hoping to God they can find a unit elsewhere a week before launch. The problem? We dont start our day with a ton of cash to issue refunds with. After one or two $300-400 refunds, I'm tapped out until I collect more cash. Or they could wait 1-2 weeks for corporate to issue them a check. It was awful. My customers hated me and I couldnt blame them. I ended up camping at Walmart for 20 hours to get my launch 360. Good times. Anyway, heres hoping that the Wii U launch isnt similar. Edit: Keep in mind this was circa 2005. I havent worked for GameStop for a long, long time and I hear they have changed many procedures over that time. I'm quite sure they wouldnt let this happen again. Well, not entirely sure....

interesting story, i cannot imagine being in your position, being that you worked for gamestop i have a question, does it show in the system a list of ppl that have preordered in order from day 1?

im just hoping they are organized now and if they are going to do a midnight launch they have the right names and orders for people who came first to preorder

Not sure if anyone's mentioned this, but I feel like it may be worth knowing if you're trying to pick a version or if you plan to purchase a lot of digital content.

Taken from NintendoLife (you can find it stated in various ways on several sites if you Google "Nintendo Premium"):

During today's Japanese Nintendo Direct presentation Nintendo introduced a new dimension to their online offering, called Nintendo Network Premium. It's a loyalty program similar to "PlayStation Plus" offered on PSN. It is believed that this is only available with the Premium Wii U package ... The Nintendo Network Premium service is designed for users who intend to download lots of content and includes a 10% discount on games in the online store.

Other sources are claiming that the 10% discount is given in a digital currency which can be turned into points that can then be used to purchase other games/DLC.

Originally Posted by shopsmarts I have zero interest in this Wii U. It's a system for suckers at 300 and 350. Buy a real system instead: PS3 or 360.

Who doesn't have those already fool? Might have to trade in a 360 slim for this.

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Originally Posted by henry00x interesting story, i cannot imagine being in your position, being that you worked for gamestop i have a question, does it show in the system a list of ppl that have preordered in order from day 1? im just hoping they are organized now and if they are going to do a midnight launch they have the right names and orders for people who came first to preorder

This was back in the day. We had paper tickets in a box that represented each and every preorder for all titles. We would mark the tickets to indicate order, but there was nothing official about that process. Its just what we did because it was easier.

These days they forgo the paper and its all on the computer. I left GameStop shortly after the merger with EB Games. They were installing the new system the month I left. I imagine there is probably a way to populate a list in order but I've seen some stores that keep a binder for system launches and they write the names in order for that purpose.

But I'm not sure exactly how they handle that these days. Its my hope that they dont take orders they cant guarantee.

Originally Posted by jyerby This was back in the day. We had paper tickets in a box that represented each and every preorder for all titles. We would mark the tickets to indicate order, but there was nothing official about that process. Its just what we did because it was easier. These days they forgo the paper and its all on the computer. I left GameStop shortly after the merger with EB Games. They were installing the new system the month I left. I imagine there is probably a way to populate a list in order but I've seen some stores that keep a binder for system launches and they write the names in order for that purpose. But I'm not sure exactly how they handle that these days. Its my hope that they dont take orders they cant guarantee.

thanks for your response, much appreciated

Originally Posted by henry00x thanks for your response, much appreciated

Always happy to share a war story