Insert Wii Pun

I want a Wii. I have money. These two things have been true for over a year, which is why I find it find inexplicable that, up until this week, I still hadn't been able to preorder one. I had been trying to give some lucky retailer my money for several months now, and there were no takers. It's as if the disastrous 360 launch scared North American retailers, collectively, out of taking console preorders, and now I'm being punished for it. Instead of preordering months in advance as I usually do and being rewarded for my caution and foresight, I'm being forced to wait and fight over preorders with the rest of the unwashed masses, and I'm increasingly worried that this launch is going to be a bloodbath.

Now, for the PS3, a bit of caution is understandable-- it's becoming increasingly clear with each passing day that Sony simply isn't ready for this launch, and the whole thing is starting to take on a decidedly spectral quality (like some kind of Phantom, if you will), with none of the demonstrations and details that a person would reasonably expect this close to the street date. However, the Wii launch shows every sign of being on schedule, and I simply don't understand this reluctance on the part of retailers to take my money, especially when those same retailers have, in the past, been perfectly willing to hold onto my software preorder money for years at a time. In fact, EB still has the $5 I gave them three years ago for Phantasy Star Trilogy, a game that, even then, I doubted would ever see the light of day, for reasons too complex to detail here. I can't recall ever previously needing to wait until so near a console launch to preorder it, and working without my usual safety net is making me very nervous.

I really feel like this launch is going to be more hectic than everyone seems to think-- I'm getting a definite Tickle-Me Elmo vibe here. People have been lulled by reports of Nintendo's large initial production run, but really, we're only looking at three or four times the number of available launch PS3s here, and I fully expect the difference in demand to balance out that difference in availability (although recent reports of even larger than expected production quantities have given me some pause in this regard), making the Wii just as scarce come launch day. There's certainly evidence to support this: Amazon opened preorders briefly a week or two ago, and they had to close them in less than an hour after the word got out and the volume far exceeded their expectations. So, what's a man who wants a Wii to do? Scan the internet like a hawk, that's what. Ever since EB announced that they might not be taking any preorders at all, I've been constantly refreshing video game blogs, retail websites, and forum threads in order to make certain that I could snap up an early Wii preorder slot once they became available (at someplace other than Toys R Us, who were taking preorders before the price was even announced and who I suspect have sold way over their launch day allotment).

Earlier this week, on Tuesday afternoon, that diligence paid off, when I got a hot tip that Rogers Video was taking Wii preorders, and that virtually noone had heard about it yet. I checked the website, and, sure enough, there they were. However, an order from the website only guaranteed shipping on or after launch day (as opposed to delivery), so, I left work a bit early, and less than an hour later I arrived at the Rogers on Prospect to see what I could find out. The clerk was, as I expected, largely clueless, but he had at least heard of the Wii. After checking his computer, he gave me the unwelcome news that I had to order it online and couldn't order it in-store at all, which made me rather unhappy, because that would cost me an extra $20 shipping and had zero chance of getting one in my hands on launch day, since mail doesn't get delivered on Sunday.

Now, I had other errands to run that night, so I decided that I'd give the matter some thought and then possibly preorder one from the website when I got home. However, by the time I finished my errands and checked the website (roughly four hours after I'd first heard about it), they were sold out. This, despite the fact that word never really got out on the internet (and still hasn't, even after the fact). So, the decision had been taken out of my hands, and I was splitting my time evenly between panicking and kicking myself over not grabbing one when I had the chance.

However, when I got to work the next morning, I checked the site on a whim, and, lo and behold, they were available again. I waffled again for all of five minutes, and then preordered one. This preorder was cold comfort though, because when I checked immediately after my order went through, they were sold out again, and I was afraid I might not be slated for one from the launch day shipment, and that I had just almost limped in because of some cancellations. My worries were allayed later that day, though, when Craig was able to preorder a Wii from them as well, as they had apparently reopened preorders for a while. The situation is hardly ideal, as I won't get one on launch day, and I'll have to pay shipping and handling, but at least I know that I have a near-launch Wii, and that it's not bundled with anything else. Besides, I can always cancel if I manage to secure a more appealing preorder somewhere else.

Since I'm now at least confident that I'd be able to get my hands on one in the first few days after launch, I've gone ahead and given EB my massive preorder list, consisting of extra games (four others besides the pack-in) and controllers (two base units, two attachments, and one classic controller) and whatnot. This will likely make me extremely bitter if I sit on all of those games and accessories for a week without a system to play them on, but I'll live. That being said, the fanboy in me wants to cancel my preorder with Rogers and camp outside an EB. I'm trying to keep that inner fanboy distracted though, with things like this. It's a flash version of the Mii Channel constructed using assets shown in various official demonstrations. So, what's everyone think of my Mii?


I'll close with the list of discarded post titles that led me to go with my final title. Your level of groan-age may vary:
"Wii for Mii"
"Pwii-order Pwoblems"
"Wii-tail Woes"
"Wii Envy"
"Woe is Mii"
"No EB for Mii"
"No Wii at E-Bii"
"A Hectic Wii-k"
"Next Stop: ii-Bay"
"Good Wii-sale Value"