Over the weekend we received great feedback about the Wii U and your thoughts on the device. We have some very passionate fans out there! It was great to see the views from those of you that are on both sides of the fence. I, for one, am very excited about the launch and cannot wait to get the deluxe bundle.
For those of you that decided to think about the purchase, there is still time but you had better hurry. Best Buy, Toys R Us and Target have all reported that their pre-order stock is completely gone. That applies to both the basic and deluxe package. If the basic model is all you need, you might try Kmart, Sears and Game Stop, however none of them have the deluxe available.
Walmart claims to not only have both packages available, but they also have their own package. The Solution Bundle is $400 for the basic version and $450 for the Deluxe. It includes everything that you would receive everywhere else, but also adds a Wii Remote plus and a game. If you buy Walmart’s exclusive bundle, you will save approximately $10.
I had expected the console to sell out, not only because it has Nintendo’s name on it, but because it looks to be a great console. For me, the pricing is spot on. In fact, if you have listened to Infendo Radio, Eugen, Harrison, and I were pretty close to guessing the retail price and were only off of the package details by a little bit.
Nintendo fans are passionate, loyal, brutal and vicious when it comes to their brand. In their eyes, nothing can touch it, yet they set expectations that are sometimes too high. What amaze me is that, many times over Nintendo meets or exceeds those expectations. Sometimes those expectations were met before we even expected them (Power glove motion controller, and microphone on the Famicom controller).
Did any of you that pre-ordered end up changing your mind and cancel the order? What about those of you that were not going to pre-order, did you change your mind? If so, why?
Well, I had a lot of fun this last Saturday chasing the deluxe model around town. If you don't have anything better to do, here's my story…
Me and the wife set out at 10am Sat morning to Gamestop. I heard rumor of the deluxe model selling out of pre-orders.. and was thinking that I better get mine! Got to Gamestop, and lo and behold, they were gone! In fact they said at this particular Gamestop they sold out 1 HOUR after the conference! 1 hour! Holy junk. Anywho, I reserved a basic bundle there, just as a fallback in case I couldn't find one anywhere else. Also pre-ordered ZombiU, and Mario U there.
I then tried Game Stop online, nope.. gone there too.. Next on the list was Best Buy, so instead of driving, I decided to just call around. (Google maps is awesome for having phone #'s listed!) Called Best Buy, nope.. Wal-Mart?? Nope.. sold out. They also only did online pre-orders.. lame..
I thought, and thought.. ToysRus! Nobody goes there in Wichita! I got online and quickly snatched up one of their deluxe models! Hallelujah! I'd have to wait for shipping.. but that's OK. At least I got one.. right? … Well, after a while I decided that wasn't as fun.. I really wanted to be at a launch event at midnight… I called ToysRus.. they did pre-orders in person at the store! Sweet..
So, (if you're following very close) I now have a basic bundle, a deluxe bundle, and now I'm heading off to ToysRus on the other side of town. I get there and yes! They do, in fact, have pre-orders left. I snag one, and I'm finally done with the Sat morning shuffle. lol
I have since given (sold, w/e) 1 of the deluxe models to my younger bro. Who wasn't sure if he wanted one quite yet, and I now have a basic/deluxe model on order. lol Maybe a friend will want the basic, idk, but it was fun.. The wife was a good sport, and enjoyed running around, and shopping..
Crazy. I can't believe pre-orders sold out… I didn't even know that happened… It's a memory, and I'm sure it will be one I won't soon forget. 🙂
Huh… auto-form fill botched my name! 😛
Very Nice! I almost miss standing in line in hopes of purchasing a new console! I pre- Ordered mine from Best buy on Friday. I wish I had time to stand in line, like the good old days. I did not pre-order any games. In fact, most of the games were not available for delivery 🙁
Does anybody else have any Wii U pre-order adventures?
I have a local game store that I support, so it's been a couple years since I've been to Gamestop. Last time was when they charged me full price for the display copy of Mushroom Men! It was an open box and the kid is telling me it's new! How can it be new if it's open?!? Where was I?
Well the local game store doesn't get Nintendo products on time, they always go on sale the next day. So I dragged myself in to Gamestop at 10:30 west coast time and pre-ordered 2 of them. 6 years ago I camped out for a pre-order, and I decided I'm a little old for that. So if ebay goes nuts I'll sell one to pay for the other. If not, someone is getting an awesome gift 🙂
I totally want to pre-order a Wii U, but neither Amazon or Newegg are selling it at this point. Buying things online has spoiled me – not paying tax and not dealing with dickhead sales people (Gamestop). Until either one of those sites starts selling Wii U, I guess I'll just have to wait. I still have New Super Mario Bros. 2, The Last Story, the Kirby Collection, plus more backlog to play before the Wii U comes out anyway.
The only story I have is I wanted to pre-order on Friday, but I get out of work at 4 and I had plans to spend time with this girl, so I said "to hell with it" and did the right thing. Saturday Morning, Kotaku tells me GameStop is out of Deluxe sets nationwide. I comb my hair and put something over my undershirt and burn rubber down to the one near my house. Yep, sold out but since I've bought a lot of stuff there recently (somewhat truthful) and since I put a third of the money down in one shot for the basic set, IF the deluxe sets come back in, they'll let me upgrade. That basically means I'm screwed, because GameStop doesn't care; at least I don't think they do…the people at my store are pretty nice to me. Maybe I'll get lucky.
But wait, Wal-Mart still has pre-orders? LOL. LOL. LOL.
*Imagines trying to pick up a pre-order of ANYTHING at my local Wal-Mart* BAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh man, it'd be easier to raise the dead.