Wii Pre-Order Thread - Facts, Rumors and Everything In Between

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Ecofreak

Ecofreak

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Some people have been asking about preordering the Wii. Right now there are two confirmed locations about where one can jump on the boat early.

B0009VXBAQ.01._AA280_SCLZZZZZZZ_V41617776_.jpg


1. Gamestop
For Previous Information on Pre-Order Deal for HAWAII ONLY - Refer to this post: this post
Status: Pre-Order Info Sign Up
Conditions: Unknown
Start of Preorder: Unknown
Link: http://www.gamestop.com/gs/wii/wii_signup.asp?

2. Amazon (Thanks to bmarquardt for the Heads Up)
Status: Sold Out as of September 15th
Conditions: Unknown
Start of Preorder: September 15th
Link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0009VXBAQ/

3. FYE
Conditions: Put down $50
Start of Preorder: Sometime during late spring 2006
Store Locations: http://shop.fye.com/StoreLocator.aspx

4. Lik-Sang.com
Conditions: No Money Down
1. Your pre-order is not binding and you can cancel at any time.
2. Once release details are known, you will receive an email that you need to confirm.
3. Should you decide to confirm, you will keep your position in the pre-order list.
4. Unit price and features are not confirmed and can change at any time.
5. Release date is not confirmed and might change.
6. The product is listed with a dummy price - your credit card is NOT charged.
7. All special pre-orders are limited to a maximum of 1 unit.
8. Depending on release schedule, you will be offered choice between European, US or Japanese.
9. Choices and changes are also allowed if several editions/colors are made available.
10. Once games and accessories are confirmed, you will be able to add them to your order.
Start of Preorder: I forgot ^^;
Link: http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=351&products_id=6998&

I will update the post as more pre-orders (hopefully) start up. Good hunting!
 
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[quote name='Ma12kez']From my understanding that is just what it is, a downpayment. I pre-ordered mine there last winter with a downpayment of $50 and I was second on the list. I checked back last month to confirm my spot and they are like "there is no list, the $50 is just a downpayment and does not reserve a spot or guarantee you a system at launch." Maybe your GC is different, but this is my experience from it. I just took my $50 back after that.[/quote]

That's too bad, I was going to just preorder there, since I haven't any games I want to trade, and the few I considered trading in definitely wont add up to $50.
 
[quote name='SneakyPenguin']I am now number 7 in line at my FYE.[/QUOTE]

Hey Sneaky, you live in Redmond, WA? Which FYE did you go to? The one in Alderwood Mall?
 
I'm reading that there won't be a national pre-order promo set up until after an EB/GS managers' conference on Sept. 25th.
 
[quote name='gunm']One of the guys wondered if someone was going to get fired for "leaking" the pre-order deal before today, particularly since the news got all over the Internets.[/quote]

??? no one "leaked" the deal...especially since there were flyers throughout hawaii gamestops about the deal
 
[quote name='Michaellvortega']Not afraid of all the Fatwalleters buying all the units up? Those guys are the assholes of the universe.[/quote]

lol...so says the cheapassgamers who buy out new discounted games (suikoden tactics and Pirates [circuit city], metroid prime 2 [gamerush] etc) just to trade in for a couple bucks when others wouldve loved to get them and play them for the low low price. love it when people blame others when theyre equally at fault, bravo
 
So Gamecrazy isn't doing a pre-order promotion then?

I updated the OP w/ info from Gamestop.com. They really should have done a better job w/ the disclaimer b/c now they have egg on their face.
 
[quote name='Americanpierg']??? no one "leaked" the deal...especially since there were flyers throughout hawaii gamestops about the deal[/quote]

Are you from Hawaii? I've been to several GSes in the past week on Oahu and I didn't see those flyers. As far as I can tell, it was a very soft sell. In fact, if Hack didn't bring it up here, I wouldn't have known.

Besides, I'm just mentioning what the GS employees were talking about.
 
[quote name='Americanpierg']lol...so says the cheapassgamers who buy out new discounted games (suikoden tactics and Pirates [circuit city], metroid prime 2 [gamerush] etc) just to trade in for a couple bucks when others wouldve loved to get them and play them for the low low price. love it when people blame others when theyre equally at fault, bravo[/QUOTE]



i completely agree, most are hypocrites
 
I went into the EBgames here in Easley, SC. Asked the guy if they're doing preorders. He said they have to wait til they have the vendor meeting and they will know hopefully this next weekened. So until then, I'm not worried about it. And knowing that Nintendo is going to have more consoles available on launch than Sony and M$, I feel kinda secure as to getting one w/o a preorder. Course If i'm garanteed one on launch if I preorder, Imma jump on it.
 
[quote name='gunm']I'm reading that there won't be a national pre-order promo set up until after an EB/GS managers' conference on Sept. 25th.[/QUOTE]

I called a number of different EB/GS stores today and that's exactly what they told me.
 
[quote name='bluto20']I went into the EBgames here in Easley, SC. Asked the guy if they're doing preorders. He said they have to wait til they have the vendor meeting and they will know hopefully this next weekened. So until then, I'm not worried about it. And knowing that Nintendo is going to have more consoles available on launch than Sony and M$, I feel kinda secure as to getting one w/o a preorder. Course If i'm garanteed one on launch if I preorder, Imma jump on it.[/quote]

I called that store myself, despite living in Greenville. I figured maybe the Greenville boys were tired of hearing my voice. He said that he'd heard GameStop was waiting to find out how many units they'll be getting at launch before taking preorders.

I hope everything looks true about this trade in $50 deal dying. I get the idea, but I don't like it. If they do this, I'll order at Game Crazy.
 
I just got back from my EB. As soon as i walked in the clerk said bad news. He then showed me the email saying that the hawaii trial was a success and it ended today. He also said that they had a confrence call with the dm and they said they they may have the same deal in the mainland starting mid oct. i have no proof so take it as you will.
 
I got back from GameStop a few hours ago. I successfully pre-ordered a Wii. I paid it off in full, although the GameStop did not officially have the correct SKU and the price, so at first, my total came out to around $450. Thankfully the manager knew that was not the correct price, and I ended up simply paying $155 (in addition to the $104.50 worth of trade-in credit).

So now, let me tell you how it went exactly.

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I got to the store at around 9:00 AM. There were already 3 people waiting (for the PS3), and I was the 4th one there (the first one for the Wii, at least at my store). The first person got there at around 7:00 AM. Wow. I chatted with the people there, talked about the systems, what time we woke up, etc. Just stuff to pass the time. From the time I got there, to opening time, only 1 other person came early (which made for a total of 5 people in line before the store opened). Some of the people had noted that they saw other stores on their way, and had seen lines outside. At around 10 AM, the store opened, and we went inside. As soon as we got inside, the line suddenly grew to about 10 people.

Before the employees started taking pre-orders, the manager reminded us that while we are guaranteed to get a system, we are not guaranteed to get it at launch or by Christmas. He also told us that we had to provide comments, presumably on this new pre-order system.

I waited in line, the 3 people before me had brought quite a few things to trade in, one lady even had a plastic bag completely full of games, and even offered to give some to us if we happened to not have enough. It took some time, mostly because of actual trade-in process. Scanning barcodes, typing in game names, etc. I'd say each transaction took anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes, kind of lengthy in my book.

Now it was my turn.

As I said earlier, the stores did not have any official SKUs for the Wii or PS3, instead, it seems as if a codename was given to each system along with an SKU. They did not have any official prices for the Wii, and the store had the price pegged at like $500, even though we all know that is clearly wrong. The employee took my 14 games (I had 15, but they couldn't take PSO 3), which totalled $104 in trade-in credit, plus the promotion bonuses. I paid the rest of the system off in cash. Since they didn't have the correct price in their system, they told me that I should just pay off however much I wanted, so I threw down another $155 to make it total around $260. No tax or anything was added too, so yay for that (normally 4% tax in Hawaii).

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Everyone was given a large THANK YOU card that had the obligatory 'no guarantee' disclaimer, along with the date the pre-order was made, and a checkmark next to the picture of the system(s) pre-ordered. Of course my card indicates that I ordered the Wii. We were told that we had to keep these cards, and I assume that also means we'll have to bring them in upon pickup. The employee stapled my very long reciept to the card, and that was it.

I also mentioned earlier that we were required to provide some comments, and my exact comments were:

"Please don't ever do this again."

I walked out, made sure to read the information on my reciept to confirm everything (I was actually confused at the reciept for a few minutes, but figured it out). That's about it.

While I didn't exactly hate the whole process/concept, I get that a lot of people do, and that it truly is a rip off. I had games that I was going to sell already, and the whole "Trade 3 Get an Extra $10" promotion made the entire deal slightly less painful. In the end, it wasn't annoying, it didn't take TOO long, and of course the store I go to has always had a really good track record, helpful employees, and lots of space. I do fully expect to get my system on launch day, and while it's not a 100% guarantee, I think its far better than waiting outside a Wal-Mart hoping for the best. Finally, I'm glad that this part of the process is over and done with. I have a pre-order, it's all paid off, now all I have left to decide is what other games to get and if I want an extra controller, and to simply wait for launch day (which I wish came sooner).

Based on my experience this morning, I have to say that things went fairly well, especially considering that the store only found out they were doing this last Friday. The turnout is just about what I was expecting, and I'm sure they'll be taking in pre-orders all day today, as many calls were being made about it while they were processing transactions.

As I have reiterated time and time again, pre-orders are currently ONLY being taken at Hawaii GameStop and Software Etc. stores. There is no official word on when pre-orders will be taken on the mainland.

Also, further proof that this is actually a test of this system, came by way of a paper that was sitting on the counter. I took a glance at the paper, which was basically a memo with information (SKUs, names, directions, etc.). The first line of the memo noted that this was a 'TEST'. So again, this is a test currently isolated to Hawaii (and some say Guam as well), for this new pre-order process.

TEST means that there is a possibility that it may be rolled out nationwide at a later date. Maybe for the PS3/Wii gen, maybe next gen. Who knows. But if you plan to pre-order at GameStop/EB, you probably should buy some fodder or hang on to those games you've been waiting to sell, at least until official details are announced by GameStop/EB. Also, hope that there is a similar deal going on with regards to trade-ins when pre-orders officially start, because I have to say that the extra $40 I got from it was mightly helpful. Then again, the best thing you can hope for is that this pre-order system doesn't happen at all.

Edit: Wow.... I made it on to GameSpot. :/
 
I agree that overall the process was relatively painless. By the time I got in there, the store I visited was Monday lunch time dead, and I was only the 3rd guy who even knew/inquired about the promo. The store you went to is pretty much the district office (was one of, if not the first software, etc store on the island), plus it's in the mall, so not too surprised about the turnout.

The GS employee who took my pre-order didn't ask for comments, though. If he did, I would've said the same: the idea is shitty overall. In the end, the $10 extra credit promo made it slightly less of a rip-off, and luckily I did have some games I was on the fence about keeping. I wouldn't have done it otherwise.

Not sure what is going to happen nationally. I've read elsewhere that this test ended and considered a "success"? How is that possible when the retail day isn't over and the promo was supposed to have gone for the rest of the week?
 
[quote name='hack']
I got to the store at around 9:00 AM. There were already 3 people waiting (for the PS3)[/quote] Three lucky SOB...

[quote name='hack']
247075383_da734f4e40_o.jpg


[/quote]
This burns my eyes :hot:... why didnt you get a PS3!!!!:roll: I have a feeling there will be plenty of Wiis on launch day! :cool:
 
[quote name='gunm']I agree that overall the process was relatively painless. By the time I got in there, the store I visited was Monday lunch time dead, and I was only the 3rd guy who even knew/inquired about the promo. The store you went to is pretty much the district office (was one of, if not the first software, etc store on the island), plus it's in the mall, so not too surprised about the turnout.

The GS employee who took my pre-order didn't ask for comments, though. If he did, I would've said the same: the idea is shitty overall. In the end, the $10 extra credit promo made it slightly less of a rip-off, and luckily I did have some games I was on the fence about keeping. I wouldn't have done it otherwise.

Not sure what is going to happen nationally. I've read elsewhere that this test ended and considered a "success"? How is that possible when the retail day isn't over and the promo was supposed to have gone for the rest of the week?[/QUOTE]

it could be considered a success if they hit their target number in less than a day.
 
[quote name='oasisboy']
This burns my eyes :hot:... why didnt you get a PS3!!!!:roll: I have a feeling there will be plenty of Wiis on launch day! :cool:[/QUOTE]

Probably because he bought the console he wants to own and is nice enough not to whore a PS3 to sell on ebay screwing someone that actually wants to buy one to play.
 
[quote name='oasisboy']This burns my eyes :hot:... why didnt you get a PS3!!!!:roll: I have a feeling there will be plenty of Wiis on launch day! :cool:[/quote]

Because I have no interest in the PS3, at least not at it's $600 price tag.

Wii is where it's at this gen, and I'm there. XD
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Probably because he bought the console he wants to own and is nice enough not to whore a PS3 to sell on ebay screwing someone that actually wants to buy one to play.[/quote]

LOL if everyone who bought one wanted to play one there wouldnt be any talk of shortages right now...because everyone knows...sony is falling hard. come janurary when the ebay hysteria is over, sony will sell as well as the 360 sold in japan
 
[quote name='Americanpierg']LOL if everyone who bought one wanted to play one there wouldnt be any talk of shortages right now...because everyone knows...sony is falling hard. come janurary when the ebay hysteria is over, sony will sell as well as the 360 sold in japan[/QUOTE]

And you can predict the future huh??
 
The sad thing is, I bet this could end up being a successful test. Why? Because no one in Hawaii knows if they will have another chance to preorder, meaning if they want to preorder, this is the only way to do it - not to mention it happened to coincide with a trade-in deal. I could trade in 15 Powerdromes right now for $50 in credit, but when October rolls around, I'd need $50.

Fact is, this is a win-win for GameStop, and bullshit for the rest of us.
 
[quote name='gunm']I agree that overall the process was relatively painless. By the time I got in there, the store I visited was Monday lunch time dead, and I was only the 3rd guy who even knew/inquired about the promo. The store you went to is pretty much the district office (was one of, if not the first software, etc store on the island), plus it's in the mall, so not too surprised about the turnout.

The GS employee who took my pre-order didn't ask for comments, though. If he did, I would've said the same: the idea is shitty overall. In the end, the $10 extra credit promo made it slightly less of a rip-off, and luckily I did have some games I was on the fence about keeping. I wouldn't have done it otherwise.

Not sure what is going to happen nationally. I've read elsewhere that this test ended and considered a "success"? How is that possible when the retail day isn't over and the promo was supposed to have gone for the rest of the week?[/quote]

Some people I were talking to has said that other stores had really long lines. I checked the GameStop on the other side of the mall I was at, after I pre-ordered my stuff, and I didn't see many people there at all. I suppose it varies.

The whole bad part about the extra 10 buck promo is the fact that it probably won't exist around the time that everyone else gets to finally pre-order stuff. That sucks majorly. I would have went elsewhere to pre-order had the promotion not apply or not exist.

Just hope that it doesn't happen nationwide, that's all I can say.

On one hand, I see GameStop/EB not doing this because of all the negativity they've been getting since I broke this story. But on the other hand, GameStop/EB is a company and really wants money, so they may end up doing it anyway.
 
[quote name='botticus']The sad thing is, I bet this could end up being a successful test. Why? Because no one in Hawaii knows if they will have another chance to preorder, meaning if they want to preorder, this is the only way to do it - not to mention it happened to coincide with a trade-in deal. I could trade in 15 Powerdromes right now for $50 in credit, but when October rolls around, I'd need $50.

Fact is, this is a win-win for GameStop, and bullshit for the rest of us.[/quote]

Your right. If you look at it as from a buisness stand point, it is a great deal. If they just let you use $50 in cash/credit they aren't really getting anything out of getting your money early (since it goes towards the cost of the system in the end).

But if they make you trade in stuff, they can EASY stretch out your $50 trade-ins into a looooot more money.
 
Goodbye, GameSpotters.

Seriously, anybody read the comments on most of GameSpot's news posts? They cause me great discomfort.
 
[quote name='hack']I also mentioned earlier that we were required to provide some comments, and my exact comments were:

"Please don't ever do this again."[/quote]
Well said.
wooper.gif


Edit: Wow.... I made it on to GameSpot. :/
Click to expand...
Congrats, hack. A reputable and level-headed gaming site.

[quote name='hack']Wii is where it's at this gen, and I'm there. XD[/QUOTE]
You have an aptitude for effectively wording the truth with brevity.

The PS3 will play nice looking games. But nice looking games do not equal good games or enjoyable games. Final Fantasy as a series bores me, and I'm not shelling out near to $1000 to play another Metal Gear game.

When casual gamers, non-gamers, even the anti-nintendo crowd see the Wii in action with the controller, it should sell itself hands-down. Wii sports, Zelda, Ubi's Red whatever game, Trauma Center and Wario Ware on an interactive in a store, or experienced at a friends house will be the test. People will see and experience a console clocking great processing and video abilities, and fun games at half the cost of other systems with far less emersive play.
 
[quote name='guinaevere']
When casual gamers, non-gamers, even the anti-nintendo crowd see the Wii in action with the controller, it should sell itself hands-down. Wii sports, Zelda, Ubi's Red whatever game, Trauma Center and Wario Ware on an interactive in a store, or experienced at a friends house will be the test. People will see and experience a console clocking great processing and video abilities, and fun games at half the cost of other systems with far less emersive play.[/QUOTE]

Not to bust Nintendo's chops too much, but how is the path Nintendo taking with the Wii any different then from GC? If a cheaper system with a decreasing loyal fan base (Gamecube) in a sense failed to capture or even hold market share, what will bring people back to Nintendo? It seems like some people are trying to sell the Wii to themselves, so that they are confident in their purchase. WHO CARES if the Wii fails to or succeeds at outselling the competitors? As long as you enjoyed the games you purchased and got your moneys worth YOU Wiin.
 
[quote name='RelentlessRolento']do you win a free sex change for being on gamespot?[/QUOTE]

Naw that's a Joystiq thing.
 
[quote name='vhgong']And you can predict the future huh??[/quote]

No I cannot predict the future, but yes I can indeed produce a statistically favorable prediction about the future to an accuracy within one fourth of a standard deviation through careful and rigorious analysis of available contemporary and historical data on console launches within the United States.
 
[quote name='CheapyD']It's Okama Gamesphere. Okama means gay in Japanese.
gamesphere2.gif
[/quote]

what episode and season was that featured in?
 
So, did people who got in on Amazon's preorder not get anything? This new paragraph (new to me) showed up on Amazon's listing today:

[quote name='amazon.com']It's the news you've all been waiting for! Nintendo's long-awaited new console, the Wii, is now confirmed to ship November 19 of this year for $250, but now the big question is "So when can I pre-order it?" We haven't started taking pre-orders yet, but click here to receive an email alert as soon as we do. In the meantime, keep checking back here for more information on the Wii console, games, accessories, and more![/quote]
(Emphasis mine)

And edit, from their comments:

[quote name='amazon.com guy']Hi! My name is Jon, and I'm an editor working on the Amazon.com Video Games team. We know that everyone is excited to get their Wii pre-ordered... heck, we're anxious, too. Unfortunately, we don't yet have our launch allocation numbers from Nintendo, so we don't have any hard and fast data for you.

For a brief period on Friday, we did offer pre-orders for the Wii, however, the rate at which pre-orders came in dramatically outpaced what we had anticipated, so we suspended pre-orders until we are able to get a firmer commitment from Nintendo regarding how many units we'll have for sale.

Because the pre-order window was so brief, the e-mail many of you signed up for notifying you that pre-orders were available was never triggered to send out. We apologize and have fixed the system to ensure pre-order e-mail notifications are sent in advance.

In the meantime, there are several ways you can stay up to date on the latest Wii information:

Visit our Nintendo Wii page and sign up for e-mail updates
Visit our Video Games store: http://www.amazon.com/games
Visit our Video Games blog: http://www.amazon.com/vg-blog

We apologize for any confusion regarding the status of Wii pre-orders, but hope this clears some things up. If you have any questions or issues, Amazon.com Customer Service is always ready to assist you, and I'll do my best to answer questions in this forum. Thanks!

- Jon G.
Editor, Video Games
Amazon.com[/quote]

[quote name='random guy']If we were lucky enough to get in on the pre-order window, will Amazon still honor it?[/quote]

[quote name='amazon.com guy']I can confirm that we will be honoring the pre-orders already taken.

- Jon[/quote]

They'll honor them, but no promises as to when you'll get it I guess.
 
It's good to hear that they'll be honoring the preorders, and I see no reason to think that the first people to preorder wouldn't be among the first to get their systems, although there's no guarantee that you will get one immediately after launch, of course. I didn't get any email notification that it was available for preorder, although I had registered a few weeks ago. I wouldn't have known if it wasn't for CAG.
 
With Nintendo promising 4 million worldwide by the end of the year AND the launch date being November 19, there are going to be a weekly steady supply of these things each week through December--everyone will get one, it's just a matter of when.
 
[quote name='Americanpierg']No I cannot predict the future, but yes I can indeed produce a statistically favorable prediction about the future to an accuracy within one fourth of a standard deviation through careful and rigorious analysis of available contemporary and historical data on console launches within the United States.[/QUOTE]

Which book did you copy that from?
 
Okay, even looking past the absolute travesty that is the required trade-ins, what really gets me is their complete inability to guarantee you a system by the holidays. I say again, why in the world would you put yourself through this, essentially paying them more (taking into account the value of the 10+ games you must trade in) than you will be able to buy the system for anywhere else when they spell out for you that they can and probably will screw you come launch day (week, month).

GameStop is the Bush administration of the video game industry.

"LIVE IN FEAR!!! BUY THINGS!!!"
 
What is the usual return policy for video game hardware at box stores? Similar to other electronics (30 days or whatever the usual return limit is, opened or unopened)? Just need to start plotting how I'm going to use my EB credit if they pull some shit that forces me to buy it elsewhere. Figure if I have a month before I have to return one I buy elsewhere, I can hope Nintendo's supply keeps up so I would eventually be able to snag one at EB.
 
[quote name='Michaellvortega']Not to bust Nintendo's chops too much, but how is the path Nintendo taking with the Wii any different then from GC? If a cheaper system with a decreasing loyal fan base (Gamecube) in a sense failed to capture or even hold market share, what will bring people back to Nintendo?[/quote]
The gameplay. And the games of course.

It seems like some people are trying to sell the Wii to themselves, so that they are confident in their purchase.
Click to expand...
That's entirely possible, as there are people who try to sell themselves on anything. "Hey, I just dropped $25,000 on a crappy car. But it's got a killer audio system!" I haven't noticed this in the Wii crowd, so much though. I mostly see people who've been following the potential of this system, and then began drooling seeing the controller in action. I think a lot of the Wii-Anxious are excited to see what should be a true Next Gen system.


WHO CARES if the Wii fails to or succeeds at outselling the competitors?
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I miss a lot of the threads at CAG, but I haven't seen any such attitude in this forum. Personally, I love the free market system, I love corporations having to compete. It brings me a better product. I don't care who sells the most, so long as I still have choices.

Right now the 360 plays very nicely, but the price tag and the game line-up for the PS3 have me waiting a long while before I drop any money on Sony. I'm anxious for the Wii, but even if I weren't able to get one for a few months after the release, I wouldn't mind. Currently, the system I'm most loving is the DS.

As long as you enjoyed the games you purchased and got your moneys worth YOU Wiin.
Click to expand...
That my friend, is exactly right.
 
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