Finding popular game system proves to be a ‘Wii’ bit difficult
Published 6:00 am Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Santa is finding it a Wii bit difficult to fulfill theelectronic Christmas dreams of children around the country thisyear.
The Nintendo Wii is a hot commodity this year, and gaming andelectronics salesmen say they’ve been selling out as fast as theycome in. Some retail outlets are even having to monitor how manyWiis can be bought at once.
“As you can imagine, they go quickly when they come in,” saidWal-Mart Media Relations Spokesman Kory Lundberg. “And because ofthe high demand we’re having to limit purchases of the Wii to oneper transaction so everyone that wants them gets one.”
Store clerks say shoppers come in droves to ask about the Wii.And shoppers say unfortunately, nothing but the Wii will satisfythe visions dancing in their heads.
“My son wants a Wii. That’s all he wants. I could get him a carand he’d be mad he didn’t get a Wii,” said Lawrence County’s JohnMartin as he browsed the shelves of Nintendo games at theBrookhaven Wal-Mart.
Susan Harvey, of Radio Shack in Brookhaven, said Martin isn’talone.
“The Wii is a wonderful product, but there are others that aregood too,” she said. “But most of the time, shoppers tell us theirchild or grandchild won’t take anything else.”
But some people have figured out how to capitalize on Wii-mania.After being told about a system on eBay for around $700,14-year-old Meredith Allen of Brookhaven said she’d sell the Wiisystem she got for her birthday a month ago for $800.
“I’d take the money and buy another Wii later,” she said.
Apparently Allen isn’t the only one with that idea. A cursoryglance of eBay listings for Wiis on Tuesday morning found Wiisystems, some packaged with games and controllers and otherequipment, listed at prices ranging from $295 to $698.
Radio Shack’s Kevin Harvey said there are other optionsavailable for people for whom nothing but a Wii will do.
“I think they realized they’d made a boo-boo, so they have a Wiicard you can buy online for $249, like the system,” he said. “Thenyou can trade it in for a Wii when they’ve got them in stock.”
Lundberg said the reason the Wii is so popular this year isbecause it combines so many different needs into one bigChristmas-wrapped package.
“One of the things you’re seeing with the Wii is that it hitsall the right trends,” he said. “It gets the family together, getsyou involved in physical activity, and there’s the competition, ofcourse. It’s really kind of cool.”
Allen’s mother, Kelly Allen, said that’s the reason shepurchased the Wii for her daughter in the first place. She said theidea that it would insure Meredith would be active made the Wii agreat purchase.
“It’s definitely worth waiting for,” she said. “It’s a lot moreinteractive, because you don’t just sit in a chair to play thegames. You have to stand up and actually do some work.”
Kevin Harvey said if activity is the important ingredient, andnot the Wii label, Wii’s predecessor, the Xavix, is also a greatinvestment. Xavix has many interactive games, but was never aswell-known as Nintendo’s competition because it was never aswell-marketed.
“It’s not as in-depth as the Wii, but it came out first. Thegraphics aren’t as good, but then again, it’s also not asexpensive,” he said. “It’s as close as you’re going to get to aWii.”
Meanwhile, Susan Harvey said, if nothing else will do, there’salways the promise of a Wii to keep the masses satisfied.
“We sometimes tell people to print a picture of a Wii and telltheir children they’ll get one as soon as they’re in stock,” shesaid.