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It’s a year after the Wii’s release, and it’s still nearly impossible to find one of these consoles on a brick-and-mortar store shelf. I’ve read stories portraying certain retail employees working the store aisles like popcorn vendors at a baseball game, hawking the “last Wii in stock” -- only to somehow find another unit or two in the stockroom twenty minutes later for another round of sales. It makes you wonder if Nintendo is milking some insanely smart marketing campaign. Or, is it genuinely hard to find a Wii, a year after its initial release?

By all accounts: yeah. It’s still that hard to find. But I have to believe that it’s not impossible. I am in the market for one for my son (and, ahem, myself). Here’s my Wii Strategy Guide -- which I hope you can add to! Together, Wii shall overcome:

Pounding the Pavement
This was my first move, and it isn’t working. Showing up first thing on Sunday morning at the big-box retail stores is a very hit-or-miss proposition. Ditto for trying to corral the UPS man on a Friday afternoon, or Tuesday morning, or whenever you think a particular store gets its delivery of Wii consoles. If you know someone at the store or if you can weasel your way into making friends with the floor manager or a stock boy -- great. Then pursue this strategy. But, if you don’t have inside information, you’ll waste time and money carting yourself around town.

Internet Searches
You should first and foremost harness the power of the Internet. Then, hit the streets if you absolutely have to. There are a number of sites that can help locate the nearest Wii retailer or online seller. I’ve put together a batch of them. Here are the sites that I’m using, and many of them seem quite useful. I’m ranking these based on the probability that each one will help you in your search.

Wii Tracking Sites
eBay. But, only if you are desperate -- and money is no object.


NowInStock.net has an RSS feed! Sign up and get your clicker finger and credit card ready to go. I think this site is a great resource. You can also get e-mail or Twitter notifications from here. Very helpful and probably provides the most help overall.


OuttaStock.com offers pretty much the same kind of thing as NowInStock, but they also offer a widget (Mac and PC), which is tied to the information on their Web site (but not, alas, to your zip code). Worth trying.


PriceGrabber lists online retailers, although the prices aren’t cheap. But, the site has a strong reputation for featuring reputable sellers. Safer than most for online ordering.


WiiTracker can help you find units near your location. It can even indicate whether or not the store has them in stock (although that information may not be completely trustworthy!). It also has history information, so you can pinpoint what you were doing instead of buying a Wii when it was available four days ago.


Although poorly organized and not that pretty to look at, xpBargains does offer an RSS feed. It also lists some, um, lesser known retailers. Proceed at your own risk.


RefreshThing is a site that auto-refreshes a particular URL address. And, they’ve set up a Wii tracker. Just click on the Wii icon, and you’ll get in-stock info for some major retailers. Pretty basic, and it’s not tied to your real-world location.


If you’re a fan of Target stores, then try Chris Lambert's Wii Locator. It purports to track the actual Wii inventory of the Target stores near you. But, there’s no guarantee that this data is timely or correct. Last time I checked, the data was over a week old. I have to assume that all of that inventory is long gone.


Yahoo offers a Wii store locater and in-stock availability for five major online retailers. That’s it. Yahoo. Whoopee.


The only thing worse than a poorly-built Wii tracker is a year-old Wii tracker. Avoid sites likeNintendo Wii Christmas that simply list eBay auction data and push ads at you. This one is even missing some of the images on the page -- a clear sign that it hasn’t been updated and probably can’t be trusted.


iTrackr will send you an SMS message on your phone to alert you when a Wii is in stock in your area. It’s not free, but the cost is minimal. Has anyone used this service, and if so, can you speak for it?


Getting a “Deal”
One of the problems with finding a Wii at a brick-and-mortar store these days is that it may be a “bundled” system, with extra games or accessories. It’s harder to find the basic system. If a bundle works for you, some stores might let you pick the games; most don’t. Wal-Mart offers a Family Fun Bundle for around $550. For that price, it had better be very fun. It was out of stock the last time I checked (sigh).

When Desperation Sets In
You could, of course, simply go on eBay and buy one. Yes, this will cost more money -- a lot more. But, if you value your time (or get paid very well) then you might be able to justify it. I have seen plenty of Wiis on eBay, but I haven’t reached the $500 level of desperation just yet. I have, however, put in a few low bids.

I thought about calling up Nintendo’s 1-800 number and begging, but that’s probably not going to work. Has anyone tried this? The number is (800) 255-3700 if you are up to it.

Does anyone have any additional advice, or can you recommend any sites I haven’t checked out yet? I’m all ears.

With the holiday countdown well underway, I’ve been trying to find the perfect gift for my techie friends; not a small feat whatsoever. After all, they’re often the ones standing in line all night to get the latest, greatest tech gadget, making them nearly impossible to buy for. They pretty much already have everything they want, with one possible exception: the Nintendo Wii.

Last year, the demand for the Wii far exceeded the production; while still difficult to find this year, the increased production caused for a 467% rise in purchases on Pricegrabber alone. The question remains: why should I navigate the perpetually sold-out online landscape (or the antiquated treachery of offline shopping, replete with pushy, obnoxious shoppers) to get the Wii when there are so many other exciting tech gifts that could please even the pickiest person on my list? But before I abandon the plan outright, I figured I may as well see how the Wii stacks up to its hefty tech competition.

Announcing: The Inaugural Holiday Technology Death Match

Round One: Wii vs. MP3 Player
While ‘MP3 Player’ is often synonymous these days with ‘iPod’, this year the trend may be shifting ever so slightly in favor of our favorite love-to-hate Seattle behemoth. Surprisingly, Microsoft’s newly-launched 30 GB Zune beat out the suite of iPods on Amazon’s Black Friday sales. (The Zune was also the most researched term on PriceGrabber.) Still, the Wii is a strong contender in this match regardless of the brand, not only in terms of popularity & total sales, but also for its social value.

Whereas an MP3 is usually an individual device, the Wii, by its very nature, encourages socialization and camaraderie. When is the last time you and your friends got together to practice your air guitar skills? Oh right – when you played the new Guitar Hero III, NOT by sharing some iPod earbuds. There is also the personalization feature on the Wii where you get to create your “Mii,” a customizable cartoon avatar with interchangeable features & clothes that can saves your progress on the various games. Kind of blows away the optional engraving available on an MP3 player, doesn’t it?

I declare the first round winner: Wii

Round Two: Wii vs. GPS Devices
Portable GPS devices are also high atop many a holiday wish list this year...given my navigational skills, I know I want one! The Tom Tom One and the Magellan Maestro 3100 were big sellers on Amazon and Pricegrabber; in fact, GPS products nabbed five of the fifteen top spots on Amazon through the Monday after Thanksgiving commonly known as “Cyber Monday.” Prices on these systems have (thankfully) come down over the years, with robust devices ranging between $150-$250, making them far less costly than the Wii.

Still, they don’t allow for the timid to highlight their closeted air guitar skills nor do they provide for any aerobic nor entertainment benefit. I certainly haven’t sung along to the electronic voice guiding me to ‘take a turn in three-hundred yards.’ That notwithstanding, they DO excel in one area that the Wii clearly fails: quickly and easily navigating me to the stores that have the Wii in stock. And that, for this directionally challenged gal, is good enough for me.

I declare the winner of Round Two to be: The GPS Devices

Round Three: Wii vs. Other Gaming Consoles
Ok, so we’ve seen that the Wii can hold its own against other electronic gifts, but what makes the Wii better than the other gaming systems? Until recently, you couldn’t even play Guitar Hero with it, and isn’t Nintendo just that old-school company that introduced us all to Mario and Luigi? Think again. For one, the Wii has brought the gaming experience outside of the television into the living room with its interactive controllers and included sports package games. And with the forthcoming release of WiiFit, the long-awaited exercise game (utilizing a computerized balance board instead of the Wiimote controller,) there is an added health benefit as well. But let’s be honest here: The reason the Wii wins over the PS3 or Xbox is for one reason and one reason alone: Inclusiveness. Yes, the Wii – with its interactive games and controllers – has been the first gaming console to successfully persuade us women that video games aren’t for geeky boys alone. In fact, it’s not uncommon to see the Wii replacing the family board games as the post-dinner activity of choice, with even our parents’ generation acknowledging that there’s fun to be had in the challenging world of Wii Bowling. And to quote one of my male friends, “The Wii is every SMART guy’s secret weapon to wooing women.” As loathe as I am to admit this, it definitely worked for me.

I therefore declare the winner of round three – and the match – to be: Wii

While the winner is clear, looks like it’s time for me to tackle my next challenge: locating one of these seemingly magical devices before the Holidays. Wish me luck...or at least the procurement of a good GPS system to get me there!