Wii Q&A Thread

[Merusk]

Yeah, so I had the cash for a Wii, then one of my Tie Rods decided to go bad and the dentist told me my molar filling was cracked.  Hooray for dental plans that only pay $40 of a $149 filling.

Looks like the Wii will be coming from the end-of-the-year bonus or the tax return instead.  Bleah.

[Big Gulp]

Yeah, so I had the cash for a Wii, then one of my Tie Rods decided to go bad and the dentist told me my molar filling was cracked.  Hooray for dental plans that only pay $40 of a $149 filling.

It seems like it's that way with every insurance plan.  Under ordinary circumstances I've got awesome health insurance through Blue Cross/Blue Shield.  When it comes to dental, though, the coverage sucks just like everyone else's does.  God help you if you need anything other than basic maintenance, because the dentists will hook up a vacuum to your wallet.

[vex]

It seems like it's that way with every insurance plan.  Under ordinary circumstances I've got awesome health insurance through Blue Cross/Blue Shield.  When it comes to dental, though, the coverage sucks just like everyone else's does.  God help you if you need anything other than basic maintenance, because the dentists will hook up a vacuum to your wallet.

All too true.  Wait until your kids need braces.

Looks like the Wii will be coming from the end-of-the-year bonus or the tax return instead.  Bleah.

Company bonus, there's a long lost tradition.

[NiX]

But now you need to know more people with 360s so you can play 4-player online co-op in R6: Las Vegas.

Just join me online and you'll have 3 other people to play with. It's not that hard, honest!

[Merusk]

Looks like the Wii will be coming from the end-of-the-year bonus or the tax return instead.  Bleah.

Company bonus, there's a long lost tradition.

And still pretty standard in the Homebuilding industry.  Hooray for companies run by families rather than "educated" corporate CEOs out to spike stock then get the hell out of dodge.

[Yegolev]

I have a funny story about me not getting a Wii.  I think I mentioned that Killjoy was coming over this weekend and he wondered why the hell I didn't have a Wii.  Somehow, despite my meager protests I agreed that we should get up early and see about this Target rumor.  I usually pop awake at 0630 so I didn't bother to set my alarm, but that was dumb because I AM FUCKING TIRED and my wife toenailed me awake (twue wuv) and mumbled that it was 0730.  Well, being awake already with the sun coming in the windows I decided I might as well go.

No time to try to wake up Killjoy, being a log like he is, so I drove out to Target.  Car clock said it was 0706.  Fuck.  I kept rolling.  There were a few other cars, everyone waiting in warm spaces like civilized people until a couple dingalings in a minivan roll up and head for the door.  The rest of us shambled to the door and formed a loose line.  Turns out those instigators simply thought the store was open.  Fuckwits.  No one went back to their cars, of course.  I was #5.

Eventually there were about fifteen people in line.  Every one of them wanted a Wii.  Closer to 0800, a Target employee came out to give us the bad news: no Wii at this store, however there were two in Acworth and twenty at Barret Parkway.  Cold faces became long faces.  "But we have six PS3s," she said.  There was general discontented mumbling from the crowd, and all but five of us shambled off to the cars again.  Note that there were fewer people waiting than there were PS3s.

I was on the fence.  And I was #2 in line for a PS3.  The $600 one.  But surely this was a sign from God.  Being a married man, I did the right thing and immediately started covering my ass: I called my wife.  Sunday being the one day in a week that we get to sleep late, she said that she didn't care as long as I stopped calling the damn house.  Well, slap my worm and call me Muad'dib, there you go; that plus my incredibly weak willpower had me walking out of Target with a PS3, a 3-year service plan ($59) and Resistance.  No Paul-damned cables, though.  Whatever, I'm working from home all week and I might just happen to find a set.

The PS3 is pretty fucking sweet.  Vagrant Story works great in it.

[Miasma]

Who is Killjoy?

I didn't get a Wii because the Toys R Us screwed up the pre-order list.  I had been on it since it was just a blank piece of paper on which people printed their names/numbers after handing over the deposit money.  Somehow my name didn't make it from that list to the computer when they keyed it in.  I phoned them to make sure it was in, gave them my name, they said it was ready to be picked up so I went down during lunch.  Then I got there and they couldn't find me, fucking idiots.  They offered me 10% off everything and any games/accessories I wanted when the next one came in but I also took it as a sign from God and cancelled my order.  I don't want some ugly IR bar on top of my TV anyways.

[Yegolev]

Who is Killjoy?

If you play WoW on the Crushridge server, you will know of him or his warlock Mortok.  Mortok is the guy that kills everything in some Alliance camp with a moonwell every four days.  Killjoy has made grown men cry, being the sort of rogue that will repeatedly murder someone for hours on end.  Currently doing the raid thing.  If he wasn't doing that, I might be playing WoW with him, stabbing Alliance in the face.

You can just get by knowing he's the one RL gaming friend I have, and I refer to him as Killjoy since his real name is John and this is the Intertron.

[HaemishM]

I don't want some ugly IR bar on top of my TV anyways.

The bar is really, really fucking tiny. You'd have to be looking for it, or close to the TV to see it. And you can put it under the TV too.

[schild]

YEG, YOU GOT A PS3? THANK HOLY GOD. THERE'S 3 OF US NOW. I WUV YOU.

[Yegolev]

YEG, YOU GOT A PS3? THANK HOLY GOD. THERE'S 3 OF US NOW. I WUV YOU.

Resistance is a lot of fun, I am surprised to hear myself say.  I'll get the PS3 wired to the Intertron eventually.  It needs a wireless card in it.

[schild]

You have the 60GB one. It has a wireless card - A/B/G.

[Yegolev]

Maybe I need to read the manual.

keke

[schild]

Maybe.

keke++

[Strazos]

How about Reading the Box?

[Yegolev]

I don't have a box because I downloaded it from a Russian server.

[HaemishM]

To get back to the Wii for a moment, the Wiimote can eat some batteries. It took about a week and a half to go through one set of regular old AA batteries, with about 2-3 hours of nightly Red Steel and some 3-5 hours on weekends with other sundry playtime mixed in. Not too far off what I expected. You'll know the batteries are getting low when the Wiimote is colored red on the Home menu and when the game stops and says "Wii Remote has lost connection" or something to that effect. The good news is the game doesn't disappear, it's much like when you pulled the plug on your X-Box controller by accident. I've put some rechargeables in the thing. We'll see how long they last.

[Strazos]

I thought you could wire the Wiimote to the console or something, so you wouldn't eat batteries.

[Margalis]

You can if you are good with copper wire and a soldering iron.

Rechargables sound like the way to go.

I'm still looking for a Wii. My friends all got one by somewhat nefarious means but I felt guilty so I didn't do that.

[Strazos]

I would have liked to see a charging station system for the Wiimote. Optional if need be.

[HaemishM]

I think Joytech is making some charging stations/battery packs, but I haven't seen them yet.

[CmdrSlack]

Wow, the Wii doesn't just come stock with rechargable Wiimotes?

Bah, who cares!  I will still continue my "call EB each morning and afternoon to see if they have one" campaign.  A Wii shall be mine!

[Strazos]

Wow, the Wii doesn't just come stock with rechargable Wiimotes?

Bah, who cares!  I will still continue my "call EB each morning and afternoon to see if they have one" campaign.  A Wii shall be mine!

We all fucking hate you.

Seriously, do us all a favor and just wait until Jan/Feb.

[CmdrSlack]

Wow, the Wii doesn't just come stock with rechargable Wiimotes?

Bah, who cares!  I will still continue my "call EB each morning and afternoon to see if they have one" campaign.  A Wii shall be mine!

We all fucking hate you.

Seriously, do us all a favor and just wait until Jan/Feb.

Fuck you.  I know the guys at the local EB and they told me, "just call us...we should be getting them this week and as long as we have 'em we'll hang on to one for you until you can get here." 

It's not my fault you work in retal and have to deal with jacktards.  But don't assume everyone is in the same boat, son.

[HaemishM]

I wouldn't describe working in retail as dealing with jacktards. More like BATHING in them, as if their very jacktardation was Calgon taking your sorry ass away.

[Margalis]

Somebody get me a Wii!

[schild]

If you live in Phoenix and need a Wii. Perhaps, maybe, we can...find something.

[Ezdaar]

How is the nunchuck supply looking? Picked up a Wii on Sunday at Target and I happened by again today just as they were cracking open a box full of Wiimotes, but no nunchucks.

[Margalis]

I don't live in Phoenix but I do live in a country that has UPS.

[Strazos]

Fuck you.  I know the guys at the local EB and they told me, "just call us...we should be getting them this week and as long as we have 'em we'll hang on to one for you until you can get here." 

It's not my fault you work in retal and have to deal with jacktards.  But don't assume everyone is in the same boat, son.

Calm yourself. Did I really need to green-test that one?

Besides, if you know the guys, that's an entirely different situation. I'm talking about the jacktards off the street who call...constantly, and ask the same damn questions:

"Do you have any Nintendo Wiis (or Wyys)?"
No
"Do you know when you'll have more?"
No
"Can you guess?"
No
"Can you set one aside for me when they come in?"
No
"Even if I call?"
No

Every time I work a few hours there, I must have to go through this same conversation at least 10 times. And most retards get bent out of shape when I tell them we are not doing reserves and that I can't put one aside (well, I COULD...just not for Johnny-Off-The-Street).

I might just tell people to go to Target or Best Buy instead. My store will only get a handful, while the big chains get 10s at a time.

[Margalis]

Can you really blame them for calling? What are they supposed to do, wait for you to call them?

I want a Wii. Your store might have one. You suggest what exactly?

[Strazos]

Wait till Jan/Feb. That's what I would do.

Or realize the store you're calling is small as hell and would only get a couple units. You'd have more luck at Best Buy/Target.

Or (this doesn't apply to everyone) learn from what you're told the first time you call and stop calling at completely random times of the evening. We tell people straight-up that we get deliveries every weekday, between 10am and 1pm. And that we don't hold units. We're sure as hell not going to have a spare unit hanging around 6:30 at night. Yes, I've had the same person call multiple times.

Part of the problem is that people are simply not on the ball. I can understand people calling mid-day, because that's when we've told people that we get deliveries. We get calls practically non-stop, all day, every day. I've personally had 1 call about a PS3, ONE. So everyone else calling is calling for a Wii. I think it would be fair to estimate the call volume for the Wii at 20/hour for our store, and our store is very new and still not that busy. I can't imagine the units lasting more than an hour and a half after we get them in, so I'm not sure what people are thinking calling at 4, 6, or 8 at night.

[Jain Zar]

I can't imagine the units lasting more than an hour and a half after we get them in, so I'm not sure what people are thinking calling at 4, 6, or 8 at night.

A large amount of the population works during the day and that's when they get off of work?

I know its shocking and all, but outside of videogames and each holiday season's artificially HOT NEW TOY, products tend to be widely available from retailers.

Its merely videogaming that has the low print run low availability better preorder shitstorms.  And that hasn't really been in effect until the PS2 in the US.  (Japan was different but it was mocked as horror stories at nerds waiting in huge lines to play Dragon Quest whatever.)  Most every other system was available on release widely and easily as would be expected of a product people might like to purchase.

Generally the newest music CD or DVD is advertised because they want to sell it the fuck out and satisfy customers.

Only in videogaming are games in limited quantities (if even ordered the shitholes that are any videogame retailer) at many stores, and the new hardware to play them released in such low amounts as to not even be available for 1% of the country's population to buy it the first day.

These companies should be releasing systems with 3 MILLION machines at launch for the US alone.  I think the Wii barely passed 600K for the entire continent.

We shouldn't have to stand in a fucking line for 14 hours in November just to have the chance to buy a consumer product.

Billion dollar industries should have enough machines to make it through the first day of avaiability at least.  If your product goes on sale at midnight and the line at Walmart has sold out 6 hours earlier, or 9 am at Best Buy and it was pretty much locked up at 5 in the fucking morning something is WRONG.

Maybe companies shouldn't even have a launch date till they have a real stockpile of systems.

Is hitting November 17 gonna help the PS3 at fucking all?

NO.  Anyone buying one (ok PS3 isnt a good example since it was merely fodder for the moronic shitheaps on ebay...) day one is generally thought to be someone buying it to play the damned thing and not because its the holiday shopping season.

Parents can't buy little Jimmy an expensive Christmahanakus gift when they can't find it and store clerks merely laugh in their faces for not being one of the frostbitten nolifers who were idiotic enough to stand in a line for the better part of a day or more.

So what was the point of even having these November launches?  Why not stockpile them to March anyhow?

[Strazos]

A large amount of the population works during the day and that's when they get off of work?

I know its shocking and all, but outside of videogames and each holiday season's artificially HOT NEW TOY, products tend to be widely available from retailers.

Yeah, no shit. Still don't know what's going through their mind thinking that there's still going to be units available that late into the day. At every retailer in my area that carries these things, the entire shipment sells out that day. Usually within 2-3 hours. And stores like Best Buy and Target will have these things ready to buy when they open their doors in the morning.

Also, lets think about this for a moment. What are the chances that I am the first person to inform these people that about the Wii? They know it's in high demand with low quantity. I'm not telling people to stand in line - I think that's dumb and refuse to do it. It wouldn't even help them at my store.

And really, if people ask, I just suggest they wait until after the holidays to get the thing if they don't want to participate in the rat race. Little Jimmy should be happy he gets anything at all from his parents.

Also...the Wii has a lot more than 600k units coming to NA. They pushed that many in just the first 8 days. Also, lets be real here - a Wii or PS3 is a lot more difficult to produce in bulk than a simple CD/DVD.

[Margalis]

A big problem now is that demand feeds speculators which take systems off the market, further increasing demand.

Actually I have no idea if that is a big problem, but it is annoying, that's for sure.