AVS › AVS Forum › Gaming & Content Streaming › Home Theater Gaming › Nintendo › Any chance you could walk in on Sunday and buy a Wii U, with no preorder ?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Any chance you could walk in on Sunday and buy a Wii U, with no preorder ?

post #1 of 37
11/13/12 at 9:44pm
Thread Starter 
What are the chances that you could just go to a random Target or Sears or what have you and buy a Wii U on Sunday ? No chance ? Slight chance ?
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 37
11/13/12 at 10:10pm
K-Mart.

Also, Nintnedo has shipped more consoles than what was set for pre-orderds. You might get lucky at Best Buy or Gamestop. Walmart and Toys R Us also have "unofficial" bundles.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 37
11/14/12 at 2:19am
Pretty fair chance. Hard to say. Some NoA rep was quoted as saying gamestop sold out on pre-orders, not total stock.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 37
11/14/12 at 6:27am
From what I've read it seems like it'll vary widely by area/store, so seems like there's at least a shot. For instance, I heard that GameStop only has sold out preorders as well, but then heard their non-preorder stock was like four units.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 37
11/14/12 at 9:13am
3DS-like launch availability, that's my prediction. First 30 days will be tight, then once the 4-5 games people wanted to play over the Holidays are gathering dust you're good. Or I'm wrong and these will be out of stock for years like Wii... I'm excited to try one, but in no way excited to own one. Not yet, I guess. Might change if you guys all come back with some awesome reviews.


FWIW, if you're really interested in trying that approach, I'd apply the Slickdeals Golden Rule™: NEVER call the store first. Always check in person. Otherwise some store employee will be selling your WiiU on CL for profit.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 37
11/14/12 at 10:29am
Trying to predict this is a fools game. I was told by people I would be able to walk into a store and get a Wii and I figured the same, but that didn't work out so well here. People were lined up for blocks. Gamestop supposedly has a waiting list with over 250k people. On the other side of the fence you had the ps3.

All you can do is try.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 37
11/14/12 at 12:11pm
I hear some places have a waiting list beyond the sold-out pre-orders, so I'm guessing the Wii U won't be available widespread in the medium to bigger cities 'til 2013.

Like with the Wii, places like Sears and Target might be getting shipments of 3 or so units once or twice a week, so people who are checking frequently might be able to luck out. But I have a feeling with the sold-out status so close to Christmas, there will be enterprising individuals who will be snagging all the Wii Us they can find and putting them up on eBay or Craig's List with a high markup.

Good luck!
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 37
11/14/12 at 11:04pm
Thread Starter 
I'm not actually interested in getting one myself, as I don't see any games that can convince me to withdraw $400 from my bank account. Would I like to try the NSMB and Zombie U ? Sure... Why not. I'd love to try it out. But pay $300 plus tax, plus more for a game ? Not even close.

Now, i know that Nintendo has a certain base of fans that will be there for them for every major launch. Those guys already have their Wii U's preordered, and you also have the whole Ebay/Craigslist profiteer crowd. So, there is going to be some demand from those two camps. The third camp, of average, normal people that aren't looking to flip, and aren't diehard Nintendo fanboys, that's the camp that I'm wondering about. Are these average Joes,and soccer moms going to be interested in getting one of these ? I have two young boys, aged 9 and 12, and they don't have the slightest clue about the Wii U. None of the non-gamers in my circle of friends have any awareness of the Wii U at all.

There is also the Nintendo deliberate shortage factor. Nintendo has been masterful in the past, of orchestrating a strategic shortage, to create the maximum hype possible. Anybody that remembers the Nintendo 64 launch will remember how well Nintendo can do that little parlor trick. The Nintendo 64 was extremely hard to get ahold of, and then all of a sudden, about 8 days before Xmas, the stores were flooded with N64's, so that every kid that wanted one under his Xmas tree had the potential of getting one. (whether their parents would pay the $$$ was another story...)
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 37
11/15/12 at 2:34pm
"I'm not actually interested in getting one myself"

THEN WHY EVEN START THE THREAD?
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 37
11/15/12 at 7:07pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by darklordjames View Post

"I'm not actually interested in getting one myself"
THEN WHY EVEN START THE THREAD?

I'm just curious about this launch. Wondering if it's going to be a smash hit for Nintendo or somewhat of a disappointment. I think it's very interesting to see how the public at large is going to react to this launch.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 37
11/15/12 at 10:33pm
Yeah I hope some better games come out for it.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 37
11/18/12 at 5:52am
I bought the deluxe set at Target this morning. Waited inline about an hour and a half, over 50 people waiting. Target had around 100 systems mostly the deluxe. I had no pre order.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 37
11/18/12 at 6:10am
I went to the midnight launch at Best Buy. They received about 90 and were nowhere near sold out. Maybe 40 ppl in line.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 37
11/18/12 at 6:12am
Yeah, I take back what I said earlier: Based on the twittersphere, word has it that stores are getting plenty in. If Nintendo can keep the supply up, it looks like anybody that wants one should be able to get it.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 37
11/18/12 at 6:13am
I bought the deluxe set at Target today, too. There were about 3 people waiting when I pulled into the parking lot when the store opened at 8am. I was the second person in the electronics section. They hadn't put any units out, and the woman took about 10 minutes to find them, coming out periodically to ask several times which one we wanted. By the time I left, there were about 7 people waiting; one had preordered, the rest of us just strolled in. I have no idea how many units they had in stock.
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 37
11/18/12 at 6:23am
There were still WiiU Preorders on CL for $500+ yesterday...

This morning there's only one, "NIB WiiU- $430"


Even the scalpers aren't trying very hard, which isn't a good sign. eBay is hilarious, tho. Some of them are asking $700 for the premium set. This one... game and.... I think there was a price.


Reply
Reply
post #17 of 37
11/18/12 at 10:19am
My local Wal-Mart got six in (three basic and three premium) and sold all of the premium units. They still had all three basic units when I checked today.
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 37
11/18/12 at 12:23pm
My local Walmart has a sign saying they did not receive any Wii Us and are next planned to get Shipment nov 28.

I had a pre order backbone March, they cancelled them all in June.

Not to stressed about it though -- figure if I see one I will grab it --
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 37
11/18/12 at 4:32pm
Since I was out anyway, thought I'd check- tuens out the Walmart has one here on the shelf now, and Target had "multiple" earler (not sure how many, but still some.).


Nintendo needs some hype... You wouldn't have seen a Wii on the shelf day 1. Or day 60, for that matter.
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 37
11/18/12 at 6:16pm
While I was at the local Walmart an hour ago I figured I would check to see if they had sold out of them yet. They had two deluxe ones and two standard ones. I decided to pick up a deluxe one while I was there.

I agree with the statement that Nintendo needs some hype for this console. I've talked to people that think the Wii U is just another accessory for the Wii. That is not a good sign for Nintendo.
Reply
Reply
post #21 of 37
11/19/12 at 5:52am
Naming it the Wii U is the reason most casual fans have no idea this is actually a new console.
Reply
Reply
post #22 of 37
11/19/12 at 6:37am
seems like the launch was pretty hit or miss. I see all these online comments about walking in a buying one or that systems are still sitting on the shelves while others say the systems in their area sold out quickly or they didn't even have any available beyond preorders. I know in my area no store within 50 miles that I called had any left by noon.
Reply
Reply
post #23 of 37
11/19/12 at 9:23am
I'm in charge of getting a basic Wii U for my company holiday gift raffle so I called around yesterday morning and all stores near me (quite a few in the northwest suburbs of Chicago) were sold out.

So now I'm sweating it out that I'm not going to come through with what promises to be the most popular gift in the gift raffle in time for the party. Ugh.

I'll be keeping an eye on the online inventories and will drop a post in here if I find success and would really appreciate it if others here did the same for me.
Reply
Reply
post #24 of 37
11/19/12 at 9:53am
Act fast!
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Nintendo-Wii-U-Gamer-Bundle-w-Customer-Choice-Wii-U-Game/21803986?wmlspartner=WWi7N*bbiGA&sourceid=24089945881147219678&veh=aff
Reply
Reply
post #25 of 37
11/19/12 at 12:53pm
Thanks for the tip but I need the standard 8GB console, not the bundle. Again though - thanks for posting it! Maybe someone else who was looking for a system hooked it up.
Reply
Reply
post #26 of 37
11/19/12 at 4:50pm
you can get the standard 8 GB model with the Walmart deal. I think you can also likely return the game one you get it, at least that's what I'm seeing online.

I did the Walmart bundle they had yesterday requiring the console (I ordered the Deluxe) and 2 games and I'm planning on trying to return one of them (Zombie U) and keeping Mario U. At worst, I'll go through the hassle of selling Zombie U on eBay if I can't return it for some reason.

My Wii U shipped today; tracking number and all...it gets here tomorrow (with their free shipping, too) and I honestly wasn't expecting it to ship until next week at the earliest and had the sinking feeling it'd be late into December before it'd actually ship. So maybe Walmart actually has these units on hand and aren't selling future stock here. I'm extremely pleased. They haven't shipped the two games yet, but my system is on the way and I don't have to worry about tracking another down while waiting to see if the Walmart order actually went through.
Reply
Reply
post #27 of 37
11/20/12 at 1:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by voodoozen View Post

There were still WiiU Preorders on CL for $500+ yesterday...
This morning there's only one, "NIB WiiU- $430"
Even the scalpers aren't trying very hard, which isn't a good sign. eBay is hilarious, tho. Some of them are asking $700 for the premium set. This one... game and.... I think there was a price.

Cheers on your awesome physique!
Reply
Reply
post #28 of 37
11/21/12 at 8:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Auditor_Kevin View Post

Thanks for the tip but I need the standard 8GB console, not the bundle. Again though - thanks for posting it! Maybe someone else who was looking for a system hooked it up.

Why would you NEED the lower bundle? Is saving $50 really that big a deal in the life of a console that should last you 2-3 years? Especially when all reports are that the non deluxe is going to be frustrating long term?
Reply
Reply
post #29 of 37
11/21/12 at 8:49am
I happen to agree with you but I'm not buying this for myself, I'm buying it for my company's holiday party - so I have to stay on a strict budget.

Anyone have any luck walking into a brick and mortar and finding one?
Reply
Reply
post #30 of 37
11/21/12 at 9:38am
Found one at the Rolling Meadows, IL Walmart. They had one other basic unit in stock if anyone else is looking for one.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Nintendo

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Gaming & Content Streaming › Home Theater Gaming › Nintendo › Any chance you could walk in on Sunday and buy a Wii U, with no preorder ?