Can I get a Wii U?

November 18, 2012 2:48 PM

What's the best way to get a Wii U? I didn't stand in line on launch night and now I want to buy one at a normal price, sooner rather than later.

Nintendo's new console, Wii U, is sold out in all my local stores. Perhaps in all stores in all of time and space. But I want one. Pretty badly, though not desperately.
Back when the original Wii came out, I was keeping up with gaming press, so I knew which store to hit on what day of the week to have the best chances. Nowadays, I can't be digging through a million articles like "No One Will Buy The Wii U" on sites like Kotaku trying to get useful info, and so I turn to the hivemind.
I thought for some reason I'd be able to order a Wii U on Amazon or something and have it delivered in a month or so. Silly of me. So, what do I do? Call Target every day? Get a Costco membership? Should I break down and get myself on the GameStop waitlist? I don't want to pay an extra couple hundred bucks to get one off Amazon Marketplace or eBay. Am I just S.O.L.?

posted by Straw Cab to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (6 answers total)

Best answer: Call your local stores and check out what their delivery schedules are, then set a schedule for yourself to call on those days to check their inventory. This is how my wife and I got our hands on a Wii at launch.

But honestly? I bet you'll have one in two weeks, and just by going into the store and asking. The Wii U is....just not pulling the same that the Wii was. Word on the street at most midnight launches was that people were buying one just to have it, no one really had any specific games in mind that were MUST HAVE.

Good luck, regardless!
posted by InsanePenguin at 2:54 PM on November 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

A lot of online retailers have stock checkers. Use them.

I just checked Target in the Seattle area and every store except one has them in stock.
posted by wongcorgi at 3:14 PM on November 18, 2012

There is talk of people just walking into various stores throughout the country and getting one. I would wait until the weekend after Thanksgiving weekend, I think most retailers (brick-and-mortar) will have some available.

Also, be aware that when you first plug it in, you immediately be forced into a 5GB FIRMWARE UPGRADE WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS FOR A NEW PIECE OF HARDWARE.
posted by kuanes at 3:19 PM on November 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: wongcorgi, neat; I did not know about that.

I see "in stock" messages for many Northern Virginia Targets, but when I called they all told me they were only for preorders. My local target didn't have a preorder program when I asked before launch. I'm glad I called before I drove over there.
posted by Straw Cab at 3:35 PM on November 18, 2012

Walmart has tonnes of them up here in Canada. Everywhere else seems to be sold out.
posted by mayonnaise at 1:57 PM on November 20, 2012

Response by poster: I wound up getting one by ordering it from bestbuybusiness.com, but now they are saying it's not available. I didn't want to post anything until I actually received it, since I was a bit worried something would go wrong and I'd be out $350.
Anyway, you all seem to be pretty accurate in that there are Wii Us on shelves in some stores. Best advice seems to be call ahead.
Thanks everyone.
posted by Straw Cab at 9:58 AM on November 22, 2012