Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Those purple folk at the GAME Group (a prominent games retailer) have released European sales details for the first half of 2008, and it's looking pretty good. Group sales are up 54 percent, with like-for-like sales up 28.4 percent. Like-for-like is such a dumb term. Reminds us of these things.

Anyway, despite the strong performance of the group as a whole, the constant shortage of Nintendo products has left a gap in the big fat bricks of cash they're raking in. Well, the UK and Ireland are doing okay, but international performance isn't as high -- "particularly in Spain." Those wacky Spaniards and their neverending lust for technology! Total international sales were up 43.9 percent, with like-for-like (arrgh!) sales on the low end of the scale at 16.9 percent.

GAME will be opening 60 new stores before the end of the year, so if you aren't familiar with that big, neon purple logo, you soon will be.

Reader Shawn, hailing from sunny and fabulous State College, PA (hey, we're practically neighbors!), wrote in to inform us that his local Circuit City had restocked Wii consoles and Wii Fit bundles. He received an email from the retail giant (he's likely signed up for some waiting list thing) and headed on down to his store to check. Sure enough, he found both in stock and ready to be liberated from the confines of the dusty retail shelf it sat upon.

We did our own fact-checking, calling up the local Circuit City in our own town, as well as checked their site online. Online, we had no luck, but the young lady that answered the phone at our local Circuit City store said that they did indeed have consoles in stock, but they were holding them until Sunday. Then, they plan to hand out vouchers and sell the consoles like it was launch day. When asked about Wii Fit, she assumed the store would do the same thing, but had no official word to give.

So, for those of you still in the market for either a console or Wii Fit, we'd suggest calling up your local retailers (it might be other retailers than just Circuit City) to see what the deal is. Because this isn't something confirmed by corporate (or a Sunday circular scan), we're going to keep it in the rumor pile.



[Thanks, Shawn!]

What's the worst thing that could ever happen to you? Okay, scratch that, try not to think about that. What's the worst thing involving video games that could ever happen to you? Well, our worst fear has been realized, thanks to a Sam's Club employee.

You see, Sam's Club shopper Shawn recently found himself inside one of the huge warehouses, shopping for that 82-pack of tube socks we assume, when he stumbled upon a Wii, sitting there for sale. What happened when he tried to buy it? Well, he was denied his console, because it was being set aside for a "Grand Re-Opening" for the store. Horrible, right? We think so.

Seriously, we would've been screaming at the store manager. But, in the end, it's not like it would've mattered. We would have fought to give the jerk retailer money, so maybe losing that sale was a good thing. Not for Shawn, though. Sorry, buddy.

See also: Best Buy purposely holding their stock?

We're not saying the cost of purchasing this SNES display kiosk is too high, because $249.99 isn't that much money (the cost of a Wii, if you can actually find one). No, the high price comes from having to pick this up locally, in Jonesboro, AR (otherwise known as "the south"). Now, we've lived in "the south" before, so we don't want to offend anyone, but we know from experience that those living down there can't be trusted.

Oh, we can regale you with the many times we were fooled by that well-known southern kindness and charm, only to awake an indiscernible amount of time later, duct-taped to a chair in a leaky, dark basement somewhere. If only we had developed muscles by participating in physical activities in the outside world, we could have ripped through that duct tape!

Anyway, this cabinet. Yeah, it looks sweet, but, as we said, you have to pick it up locally. The seller isn't willing to ship the darn thing.

[Via Go Nintendo]

See that look? Yeah, well jerk, that's the exact look Reggie Fils-Aime is giving you right now, should you happen to be one of those retailers forcing consumers to buy bloated Wii bundles.

Chatting to Reuters, Reggie stated that Nintendo was "not [a] big fan" of the practice, and pointed out that bundling the Wii in such a manner "masked" the price advantage enjoyed by the console over its rivals. Not that high prices seem to be putting many people off, but we certainly see his point.

Reggie also said that retailers had been informed of Nintendo's displeasure over the matter, before ominously adding "We don't have to remind retailers of the strength we have right now. We are simply making an observation and that reinforces our point quite nicely with retailers." You tell 'em, Reginald.

[Via Go Nintendo]

The Consumerist is reporting a very odd story. Apparently, some Best Buy out in New Jersey has been trying to pull the wool over the eyes of their patrons, with a single employee prowling the store, claiming to have the "very last Wii." Of course, someone snatched it up with the quickness, but not 30 minutes later, another employee was at it again, prowling the store looking for another customer to snatch the console from them. There was even an announcement on the PA system.

The tipster even said he overheard two manager types discussing the "sales technique," deciding on when they should send out the next Wii.

Nanostray 2 ... on Wii? Orb, Thorn and Midnight all coming this year? When they leak retail information sheets in the UK, they do it right. Wii UK got their hands on a retail list (origin and destination unknown) with few concrete dates and a lot of unexpected, and even unknown games, as well as a few old favorites we're always happy to hear about. Hit the jump for the full list, but keep in mind that these are UK titles and games ... and since there's not much source information, you might want to keep a few grains of salt handy. But it's okay to get a little excited. We won't tell anyone.

It's a fact of life. For most of us, when we need to get a game, we have to walk into the game store. Some times it's just easier to go down the street for a game then to wait the time it takes to arrive on our door step from ordering online, and don't get us started on shipping fees! That's why Games Radar's latest story about a couple brave individuals who spoke out about their experience working in games retail captivated us so.

The story is broken up into three different parts, each detailing a certain aspect of the job and the pros and cons of such. The entirety of the story spans 17 pages and has eight different anonymous individuals commenting on their current or past experiences working in the games retail space. And if you've ever found yourself on the buyer's side of the desk, smashing your fists against your temples in anger as you scream for the 18th time that you do not want a strategy guide, nor do you wish to reserve anything, it's definitely worth a read.

We know lots of gamers who have pretty adamant stances either for or against certain retail outlets, so we thought it might be an appropriate bone upon which we could throw down this fine morning. Let's not pull any punches. Where do you shop -- and what stores will you avoid unless there is absolutely no alternative? Share your experiences, the good and the bad, and hey ... you can throw in some ugly if you feel so inclined.

According to a scan of The Retail Insider (we assume it's an in-company newsletter, we never worked for Best Buy) available over at Go Nintendo, all the Best Buys are going to be holding all of their available Wii units to sell on the weekend of December 17th. You can read the reasons why above, however we're still chalking this up to be a rumor at this point due to the typo in the last bullet point.

What do you guys think?

Crushed because you came away from the Wii launch empty handed? Dealing with waffling salespeople at your favorite retail outlets? Concerned that it may be a while before you can get your hands on one? Relax, dearest fanboys, because a little birdie told us that GameStop and EB are getting in new shipments for this Friday and they're going to open up a few hours early -- we're hearing 7AM. There's no word on the number of units allocated for the forthcoming madness on the year's biggest shopping day, but we expect no less than preorder numbers and likely more.

On a related note -- we spoke with some folks at Best Buy also, and while they couldn't give us a firm date on when they would receive their next shipment, the did tell us that several shipments arrive at stores each week, with games, accessories, and yes, more consoles. So if you're trying to find an extra nunchuk (like we are), a Wiimote, or even to find out when your Best Buy will receive more Wii units, give them a call in the mornings -- keep fishing and you'll catch one.

1UP is also reporting that new shipments are expected, and it seems some of the commenters talked to our little birdie or one of his co-workers, as the 7AM story is repeated there.

So who's camping this week to remedy the lack of Wii?

You guys really like Target. Is it the minimalist logo? The peppermint-fresh color scheme? Maybe it's just that they aren't the other guys, we dunno. Whatever the reason, if it brings more photos of the Wii retail experience, we're in. We're on your side. Dedicated fanster (like hipster, but... well, y'know) Carl encountered the Wii experience in the wild and wrestled it to the ground using only his cell phone, and he's sharing the spoils with you, dear reader. Here it is, the Wii in Mesa, Arizona.

[Thanks, Carl!]

Check it out -- the Wii is once again tops on a retail predictions list. Since PC World is a European retailer, it may not be much of a surprise that they've anointed Nintendo in the console wars for this holiday season (as there's no PS3 in store), but they've also picked the console as the hottest must-have when it comes to electronics.The Wii took the top spot of their ten predictions for the hottest movers and shakers of the season. Unlike many other lists, however, the Wii is nowhere near the most expensive item on this wishlist. Check after the jump for the full rundown.

PC World was one of the early outlets to offer preorders for the Wii in the UK ... looks like they've taken off!

Well, vast oceans may be a tiny exaggeration. Large warehouse may be more accurate, since that's where these pictures appear to have been taken. All the poor Wii merchandise and endcaps, waiting to be herded into a store so that they can be what they were meant to be.

It's great to see what's going to populate all that empty space at Target we've been seeing. There are several shots tucked away after the jump -- pictures of endcaps and all the goodies that will fill them. Those controller gloves look pretty sweet, but dog tags? What, are they worried we might kick off while playing and someone will need to identify our bodies?

[Thanks to everyone who tipped us on this!]