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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.

It's tough out there if you're looking for a Nintendo Wii. I used the online tracker sites. I signed up for every email/mobile tracking service. I made sure to drive by local Gamestops between 11am and 1pm hoping to see the UPS delivery truck parked outside. In the end, I lucked out. I wanted to share my experience in hopes that it might help out others.

I spent part of the day at a local Gamestop that was getting a shipment of Wiis in that day. Turns out that Wiis come 3 to a box. I was #4 in line and surprise surprise, the Gamestop received 1 box of Wiis.

I took a chance and called a Costco. I called one that was in the urban center of town and farthest away from the suburbs. The lady who answered was great. She stated that they would open Saturday morning with 48 Wiis. She continued on saying that the Wiis were at their shipping hub and that they would be at the store Friday evening/morning.

I asked questions about vouchers, a line, etc and she answered them all. Basically, no line, no vouchers, and no they weren't going to open early. She ended by telling me that other customers were calling and talking about getting in line @ 4am. How nice.

My alarm rang @ 4:15am Saturday morning. I couldn't get up and going till 4:55am. My buddy Eric called up at 5:35 asking if I needed support. Heck yes I did. So he mumbled something about how early it was and hung up. Eric called me back to make sure that I was bringing the PSP. Of course I was bringing the PSP ... 4 hours to kill.

I showed up at Costco around 5:40am and there was no one there. I pulled out the newspaper and started catching up what was happening in the world. Eric showed up a few minutes later, laughed at me for getting there so early, and took off for McDonalds.

I was alone in the parking lot until around 7:30am. A couple ladies drove up and sat in their cars. They both saw me and came up and asked how long I had been there. One lady had been at a Christmas party all night and had not slept. We all agreed to stay in our cars for as long as possible (it was cold, windy, and rainy) and until someone drove up and got in line.

30 minutes later a guy in glasses drove up in a lexus, parked, got out and walked to the Costco entrance with a canvas fold up chair. Well that was that, the two ladies, Eric, and myself got out of our cars and took our places in line.

Turns out that everyone was really fun and in good spirits. I learned that the Costcos near the surburbs sold-out their Wiis with lots of people left waiting in line.

Costco management was really nice as well. They kept coming out to update everyone on the status.

-48 Wiis
-No Vouchers/Numbers
-The Wiis would be next to the cashier/checkout area
-1 per person, but you could take your Wii out to your car and get back in line.
-They would open a few minutes early (9:15 instead of 9:30)

By the time 9:15 rolled around, there were right around 30 people in line. Everyone kept themselves in check because it was a fact that they were all going to get a Wii.

My friend Jamie showed up just as the doors opened and picked up a Wii. Eric was pretty bitter about that, who knew that the turnout would be so low. :)

FYI - Costco was selling a bundle - $344.99. Extra Wiimote and Nunchuk plus Big Brain Academy.

I bought my Wii, took it to my Element and came back in to do some shopping. After picking up some things, there were still Wiis on the pallet so I splurged and now my Sister's family (her plus my five dear nieces and nephews) will open up a Wii on Christmas morning.

Now I can focus on games and components. Anyway, try your local Costco!