Where can I buy a Nintendo Wii?

February 27, 2007 4:21 PM

Where can I buy a Nintendo Wii?

I live near Boston and I have looked everywhere and everyone is out of stock. Additionally it seems that all online retailers are out of stock and have no kind of waiting list or backorder system, so I can't seem to even get in line for one. What gives? Why is it so hard to get one of these?

posted by cmicali to Technology (27 answers total)

Best answer: Hey chris. The Woburn and Saugus Targets seem to have some right now, though "limited availability" according to their web stuff.
posted by aubilenon at 4:23 PM on February 27, 2007

Ebay.
posted by ferociouskitty at 4:24 PM on February 27, 2007

Response by poster: aubilenon really! I may have to check them out tomorrow... also one thing I forgot to note, I'd like to pay the what they cost, not $300+ :)
posted by cmicali at 4:28 PM on February 27, 2007

Best answer: Follow this page closely. It's where I got my wii. If you got a blackberry + this page it's only a matter of days until you get a face price Wii.
posted by skepticallypleased at 4:28 PM on February 27, 2007

We are having this problem in D.C./Virginia suburbs, too. It's hilariously impossible to get a straight answer from any store re when they'll be back in stock -- they seem to expect us to show up every morning to check their inventory. For a while there was an online locator called something like wiifinder, but I think that shut down shortly after Christmas.

So instead sometimes we stand in front of the television swinging our tv remotes around like wii paddles and pretend we are playing wii tennis. Sometimes we launch the remotes into the tv screen for that real wii feeling. It's pretty fantastic, and alot cheaper.

Good luck! (on preview, very intrigued by skepticallypleased's post.)
posted by onlyconnect at 4:31 PM on February 27, 2007

Also -- I got lucky (no blackberry here) -- I just kept chekcing the page.
posted by skepticallypleased at 4:35 PM on February 27, 2007

Best answer: This hasn't been terribly accurate for my friend, who's desperately searching for one, but supposedly this searches your local Target's inventory. Just plug your ZIP into the URL in place of the "90210." Unless you're looking for one in Beverly Hills, that is.
posted by ferociouskitty at 4:35 PM on February 27, 2007

My friend was on a mission to get one. She asked at Gamestop when they would get more, they told her deliveries were made Tuesdays, but wouldn't hold one for her. She hung out in the parking lot until the UPS truck pulled up, and walked in with the delivery guy. He was delivering three, she got one.

Obsessions can be strange...
posted by Marky at 4:55 PM on February 27, 2007

They'll be gone by tomorrow, from Woburn & Saugus probably. I was using a tool like ferociouskitty's (zsazs wrote it, but I don't know if it's okay to link to). Check frequently and you'll find one.

Demoscene represent!
posted by aubilenon at 4:59 PM on February 27, 2007

Response by poster: haha that reminds me i forgot to reply to zsazs before... we both used to hang out on #trax
posted by cmicali at 5:10 PM on February 27, 2007

Bit of a long shot, but I got one this weekend from a stack in the shop at Palacio de Hierro in Mexico City - if you know anyone who's going that way.
posted by TrashyRambo at 5:26 PM on February 27, 2007

Luck, as far as I can tell. I'm in the market for one myself. The RSS feeds will help, but are no guarantee - you've just got to be at the right place at the right time.
posted by chrisamiller at 5:42 PM on February 27, 2007

If you wanna hike down to NYC, the Nintendo World store frequently recieves stock. Last time I was there they had just gotten in 60 of them. I think 30 went out the door in the 5 minutes I was on line, so, you know. Call ahead.
posted by GilloD at 5:43 PM on February 27, 2007

The right place at the right time is often Sunday mornings when the store opens (or a few hours before). Check the major bargain sites like Cheap Ass Gamer for previews of that week's ads for Circuit City, Best Buy and Target... if it's listed in the ad, they should have a few.
posted by MegoSteve at 5:49 PM on February 27, 2007

I got mine by asking my grandmother for one for christmas. She basically called some poor chump at EB games every day until he got some and in and put one on the back for her. So, the moral of my story is: use any retired relatives to your advantage.
posted by MadamM at 5:57 PM on February 27, 2007

This is how we got one: get your sunday newspaper early sunday morning (ours is delivered ~8AM, but could be had even earlier if we were willing to trek up to a paper box to buy one). Pull all the Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, what have you ads out and quickly scan which ones have Wii's listed. Once you have your target, hie your ass as fast as possible to the store. With luck you can be in line before the store opens and get one when they open or get a voucher for the next shipment that comes in. Often, if you are friendly with the local paper boy, you may convince him to part with the section of the Sunday paper which holds all the inserts--often these are printed and dropped on the saturday afternoon before the paper is delivered (to ease the delivery strain on the route drivers and allow for a larger newspaper than would otherwise be deliverable as a single entity). If you are willing to wait in line on a sunday morning, it's actually not that difficult to get one.

On preview: what MegoSteve said...
posted by Chrischris at 5:59 PM on February 27, 2007

Yeah, I know. I hung out there with you! (I was Cuthalion back then)
posted by aubilenon at 6:49 PM on February 27, 2007

Also, if you want to an extra Wii remote and/or a nunchuck, you can sign up with toysrus.com to receive an email when either item becomes available on-line. And act fast when you get the email notice!
posted by of strange foe at 7:04 PM on February 27, 2007

How to Get a Wii at Retail Price
posted by Manjusri at 7:40 PM on February 27, 2007

Oh, one more thing. The best place to find extra, in-stock wii-motes and nunchucks appears to be Sears, of all places.

Because most Sears electronics departments seem to be solidly focused on moving Flat screen TVs and Home entertainment systems, their gaming console departments often get short shrift (usually in locked glass cases tucked in a corner of the department away from the main traffic aisles). I was shocked a few weeks back to find my local sears had about 20 wii-motes and nunchucks in stock (nobody else in town had them).

Plus, who even thinks of Sears when looking for the latest and greatest gaming stuff?
posted by Chrischris at 8:14 PM on February 27, 2007

Know anyone who lives in the Seattle/Redmond area? They have them at the Nintendo store on the Nintendo campus in Redmond.
posted by radioamy at 8:53 PM on February 27, 2007

My boyfriend and I got one by asking the guy at Gamestop while buying other things and he looked past us not to make eye contact and said "I don't know when we will be getting more" and my boyfriend said "When will you not be getting any more?" so the guy behind the counter, still in his stare at the back wall said "There will not be any here on sunday, and don't show up around 6." They weren't supposed to tell customers when they were coming in, so coming across a lot of people that seem to expect you to come in everyday isn't uncommon.

Maybe this was luck, but we managed to get three that weekend. I think it helped that this is nyc area, but Nintendo World being aroudn the corner did not help at all.

I'm pretty sure that they are available on Sunday's, I dont remember what convinced me of that but we only checked on saturday night/sunday mornings during our search. And even up here the game stop only got a shipment of 9 and there were plenty more than that waiting for one, so you have to be there waiting, not just come by in the morning. It sounds kinda crazy, but thats how most people got theirs.

Good luck!
posted by rubberkey at 9:18 PM on February 27, 2007

My roommate has twice managed to get Wiis (once for me, once for a co-worker of his) just by being at the right Target at the right time (in this case: mid-afternoon, Hollywood, USA)
posted by Guy Smiley at 12:11 AM on February 28, 2007

Response by poster: cuth! so this is where everyone from #trax went...

thanks for the answers.. i'll be trying out the various strategies this week/weekend.
posted by cmicali at 5:15 AM on February 28, 2007

iTrackr
posted by designbot at 7:39 AM on February 28, 2007

well, for me, my sunday morning time was worth a little more than most maybe so i went on craigslist and got one for $280, new, with receipt. which is only like $12 over the price with tax. seemed fair to me. just had to drive 1/2 hour each way.
so i would try that.
and i have seen wii-motes everywhere lately, did not think they were hard to find anymore. best buy, toys r us, circuit city and eb games all had a bunch in stock.
the wii-play with the remote though was a bit harder to find.
posted by annoyance at 8:36 AM on February 28, 2007

OP: Why is it so hard to get one of these?

Because they're awesome.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 9:23 AM on February 28, 2007