Buying a Wii for Christmas - now?

deowolf

Since she's been making noise about it, I'm planning to get my wife a Wii for Christmas this year. Being September and all, I figure availability shouldn't be much of a problem, but I'm wondering if anyone knows about a tasty bundle that might come out between here and then for the holidays. On one hand, I'd get the guaranteed Wii, o the other I might miss out on some cool packaged deal.

Thoughts? Information? Please help me decide when to throw Nintendo my $300.

KingMoo

get it ASAP. There probably won't be any tasty deals because Nintendo isn't trying to get you to buy, they letting you try.

tsmvengy

I highly doubt that there will be any bundles come Christmas - the Wii is still selling like hotcakes and is hard to find in plenty of places. It will only get harder to find as it gets closer to Christmas.

Ohio

I think Wii availability depends a lot on where you live. I never see them. If you lived where I do, I'd tell you to buy one immediately if you ever see it. It sounds from your post like you're assuming they're generally available (which is a reasonable assumption two years later) but I'm here to tell you, it ain't so.

Don't wait for a bundle. Nintendo has no reason to make one. They're going to sell on their own. I bet they'll be impossible to find anywhere by this time in November.

LewieP

Yes. Get it now.

Bartholamue

LewieP wrote: »

Yes. Get it now.

I don't usually quote people, but I agree. Best to get it while you still can before the Christmas rush gets em.

cloudeagle

deowolf wrote: »

Being September and all, I figure availability shouldn't be much of a problem

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

It's been nigh impossible to find since it launched, and all indications are that it'll stay that way through this Christmas because it's so ludicrously popular.

If you really want one, pick it up the instant you see it.

astroboy

If you pick it up at Target, I think you get 90 days to return it, unopened. So if you do happen to see a package/better deal in the interim, you can take advantage of it and return the one you bought from Target.

KalTorak

The next time you see one in the wild, buy it. Buy it and run. Their numbers will only diminish as it gets closer to Christmas.

Doubly so for Wii Fit, if that's on her list.

PeregrineFalcon

LewieP wrote: »

Yes. Get it now.

There is no lime that is lime enough for this text.

Leitner

PeregrineFalcon wrote: »

LewieP wrote: »

Yes. Get it now.

There is no lime that is lime enough for this text.

I got one last year without that much trouble for my brother pretty late in December. Unless it's really all that much worse in the US (I'm assuming you're from the USA?), or you really want to get it not in a bundle I wouldn't worry quite so much as people are trying to make you.

BTP

KalTorak wrote: »

The next time you see one in the wild, buy it. Buy it and run. Their numbers will only diminish as it gets closer to Christmas.

Doubly so for Wii Fit, if that's on her list.

and probably the same for Mario Kart, Smash Bros. and Super Mario Galaxy (though this will be its 2nd Christmas).

Oh, and I guess Guitar Hero World Tour?

Don't forget Wii Play! And a Nunchuk....and a Classic Controller and Wii Points Card for the Virtual Console....and....

Fuck me. You could buy a Wii and STILL not be adequately prepared!

maximumzero

Yeah, go ahead and get it.

I haven't seen any in Southeastern Louisiana ever.

Yet when we evacuated to Vidalia, about 400 miles north, I saw stacks of them, and Wii Fit, as well, which I never saw in a store.

So yeah. Location location location.

Pemulis

Here in Madison they are relatively easy to find, but I imagine they will be sold out from Nov-Jan everywhere.

FyreWulff

Get it now. There will be no bundles. Bundles come when you're trying to move units. Nintendo has no trouble moving units.

PeregrineFalcon

FyreWulff wrote: »

Get it now. There will be no bundles. Bundles come when you're trying to move units. Nintendo has no trouble moving units.

Manufacturer-created bundles come when you're trying to move units and include %FreeShit as an incentive for $Reasonable.

Reseller-created bundles come when they have no issue moving units, and include %Shit for $Texas.

The Wii comes with the latter.

FyreWulff

I've yet to see reseller bundles, besides launch, but we know nobody bought those and the store was eventually forced to sell the Wiis by themselves

0blique

The only reason why you should wait is if you think you will change your mind. But if that happens, you will be able to sell it on e-bay for around what you sold, or much more depending on how much demand there is. If you're sure you're going to get one, do it now while you have the chance.

MYTHOS20000

I am in a similar situation; the wife wants one when Animal Crossing comes out, but I think November is too late to find one. Heck, I hit Target at least once a week and have never seen one there since it launched. I suppose I should begin hunting soon.

greeble

Get her a 360 instead, its cheaper. :P

But yeah if you really want a wii start actively hunting now. (Don't wait for it to show up in a store)

UnbreakableVow

I can't believe for a third damn Christmas in a row, there's such a high demand on a particular item.

Has this happened before with any product like this?

Khavall

cloudeagle wrote: »

deowolf wrote: »

Being September and all, I figure availability shouldn't be much of a problem

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Yeah. I mean. You'd think that eventually the Wii would cease being sold out, right?


Turns out that's not what's happening.

cloudeagle

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

I can't believe for a third damn Christmas in a row, there's such a high demand on a particular item.

Has this happened before with any product like this?

Not that I can think of. And it's not for lack of demand... Nintendo ships well over half a million of the things each month, and they keep selling out. It's bizarre.

Dr Mario Kart

FyreWulff wrote: »

I've yet to see reseller bundles, besides launch, but we know nobody bought those and the store was eventually forced to sell the Wiis by themselves

Frys had forced bundles in store for a very long time.

Most .coms are still a bundle. I just checked Walmart.com, Toysrus.com, Gamestop.com, CircuitCity.com

Amazon and Bestbuy.com have it listed standalone, and Target.com doesnt seem to carry the system online at all.

SkutSkut

I had to go to 5 stores 4 out of town to get my Wii. In March.

mynameisguido

Yes, get one now. When I had people starting to look for them for Christmas in October, they still had problems finding one.

So, yeah, start now.

liquidlogan

Just thought I'd throw this anecdotal piece of evidence in here. We've had half-a-dozen Wiis sitting in my EB for about a month or so, plus a couple of refurbished systems. As point of comparison, we had zero this time last year. I think supply might be slightly better this year.

RainbowDespair

Personally, I'd think that now would be the best time to purchase a Wii since the holiday rush hasn't quite begun yet and the 360 just got a price drop so there's going to be more advertising of 360 systems than Wii systems at the moment.

Personally, I would stop by stores that might have it on a regular basis (Target, Toys'R'Us, GameStop, Best Buy, etc.). Generally, once a store gets Wiis in stock, they rarely stay in stock for more than a day or so.

Oh and Leitner, yes, the Wiis are substantially harder to find in the US than they are in the UK. I can count the number of times that I've seen Wiis in stock on my fingers (and many of those instances were at store grand openings).

As for games, I don't think you'll have too much trouble finding any particular Wii game aside from Wii Fit unless you wait until the last minute. Pick up your games early just to be on the safe side though.

Dr Mario Kart

The easiest way to find one is to keep up with the weekly online ads. Many stores still hoard that week's shipment for a Sunday morning release.

Thats been my recommendation for anyone looking to find a Wii for a long time and they've all found them within 2 weeks tops.

cloudeagle

Yes, Best Buys typically put out their stock the instant they open on Sundays.

Other Wii-finding tips:

--Go to stores most people wouldn't think about, like K-Mart, Sears, or any place in a bad neighborhood.

--Go to Wal-Marts in the middle of nowhere, that is in towns less than 10,000 and over 30 miles away from a metro area.

The Dude With Herpes

So the flip side of this question; I'm thinking of selling my Wii.

I imagine if I wait till Nov-ish I could get more out of it?

wyrlss

You could probably put off getting it till the day before. I got mine about a month after launch without too much trouble.
Besides standing out in the cold in november for forty-five minutes before target opened after getting inside info on when they were getting their next shipment.

deowolf

So it was just a quick run to Toys R Us then, and now the Wii is sitting in the closet for three months, waiting for my wife to get back from the desert. This is easily the earliest I've ever started my Christmas shopping.

Anyone in the Yuba City, CA area who wants one should run down to the TRU there, they have a stack.

servbot

buy it now. i work at best buy and we sell still sell out of ps2's and gba's

The_Scarab

It's already too late.

Rent

Hilariously enough, I'm trying to get a Wii right now (mine a well own all the next gen consoles, right?) And in Oklahoma (where I live), they're predictably impossible to find. Although I called my Mom up (in California) and told her of my situation and she informed me of the "big ol' pile" of Wiis they had in Costco.

I think if you live in a very populus state on either shore (New York/California/Florida/etc.), you'll have an easier time finding it then if you live in Bumfuck, Nowhere or the South.
So, yeah, buy one as soon as you find one. Just don't open it until Christmas, and if you find a cheaper one buy it and the resell your first over eBay. I'm sure you can actually make a pretty hefty profit if you sell it close enough to Christmas.