Wii Q&A Thread

[Jain Zar]

Im mostly paused in my Wii playing, but thats because I am on an Ultima kick and am replaying 3 at the moment.  Because I love me some 8 bit Ultima.

The system is fun, but I never expected it to be my sole electronic entertainment anyhow. 
(I have Zelda, but I am waiting on that till after the New Year when I have component cables and a reasonably priced fairly sized 720p HDTV.)

It also depends on what I have the urge to play.  This week its ancient RPGs.  Next week I might binge and purge on Excite Truck or Dragon Ball Z.

Ya never know.  Its why I rarely get rid of my old games.  (Though Super Monkey Ball BB might be getting traded in because its awful and I hate it.)

I have gaming ADD though.  And too many games to play.   And a friend who wants to go back to WoW.  (I am trying to get him to hold off till I get a 24" iMac with OSX 10.5.  I'm not sure its working.  I just want to wait till Jobs' Turtleneck wearing jerkoffs upgrade the specs and throw in a new OS.  is that so wrong?  Of course then I will just HAVE to use Bootcamp and try playing through another Dawn of War campaign.  Maybe try out the Necrons at max detail instead of minimum settings for my lappie.)

Plus I love tabletop games and keep buying new ones we never get to play.  I just dropped 70 on Battlelore and still need 2 boxes of the new Warhammer Fantasy starter set.

I'm sick in the head.   

[schild]

I'm sick in the head.

No, you're not. I promise.

[stray]

I'm really surprised to see so many favorable articles and good first impressions from non gamers about the Wii. Even more are popping up after the Euro launch.

I thought the Wiimote was a cool idea and all, but still a big gamble.  Nintendo, otoh, knew exactly wtf was up.

[MuffinMan]

If anyone is still looking to pick one up, Target stores will be getting shipments throughout the week but is hoarding them all for Sunday morning.

[Baldrake]

GDIACF, Tale. I went to my local EB Games on Saturday. They had a pile of Wii boxes and were doing super-disdainful eye rolls when I asked if any of them had, you know, a Wii in it. They told me that they still get lineups of 30 people every morning just in case they get a new shipment, and that whatever they get sells out in minutes. Seems bad for getting one before Christmas.

[Roac]

Ya never know.  Its why I rarely get rid of my old games.  (Though Super Monkey Ball BB might be getting traded in because its awful and I hate it.)

I'll second that.  Wife and I rented it, and don't care for it.  The game itself is a good idea, and we *want* something with lots of minigames that use the Wiimote.  Thing is, Monkey Ball is a good example of how NOT to build for the Wiimote.  The control scheme was horrible, and we spent most of our time trying to get the use down right. 

[HaemishM]

I've been spending the game time I have playing Call of Duty 3. Some of the more obvious uses of the Wiimote don't work as well as they should (the driving mini-game should have just used the Wiimote instead of trying to use the Nunchuk too) but the shooting and tank-driving are fun. I can imagine a mech game would be a blast on the system. Once I finish COD3, I'll be splitting time between Marvel Ultimate Alliance on the Wii and an MMOG I'm testing that I plan to blog about a bit later in the week.

[Tale]

GDIACF, Tale. I went to my local EB Games on Saturday. They had a pile of Wii boxes and were doing super-disdainful eye rolls when I asked if any of them had, you know, a Wii in it. They told me that they still get lineups of 30 people every morning just in case they get a new shipment, and that whatever they get sells out in minutes. Seems bad for getting one before Christmas.

www.dse.com.au 

[Strazos]

Wait, you actually asked if the promo boxes sitting out on the sales floor had any actual hardware in them? Am I missing or misinterpreting something?

[Jain Zar]

Again dude, your foolish gamestore ways DONT FIT WITH THE REST OF REALITY.

Usually if you see a box in a store it has THE FUCKING PRODUCT IN IT TO BUY.

Gamestores have empty boxes with PREORDER THIS stickers on it in an attempt to get people into the store to buy shit they don't want since the object they saw that in every other store IS THE FUCKING PRODUCT isn't there.

I know this is shocking, but it tends to be an effective use of limited store space and a way of not pissing off every customer in the shop.

[schild]

Empty boxes have been a way of advertising for 20 years. I have piles of them from when my dad worked for Nintendo in the 80s.

[Strazos]

Seriously, in a small store such as an EBstop, logic dictates that you don't leave valuable stuff sitting around the sales floor, where people can just pick it up.

We have a stack of fake Wii boxes in the front window. I don't work in marketing, and it wasn't my idea. But how much sense would it make to leave something like that out in the open? We don't have the pre-order stickers on the vast majority of stuff, and no pre-order shit in the windows. They're all empty so there's nothing to steal. Is that such a hard concept?

You're only the second person this season I've heard of even asking that question, and the only other people to ask were two old ladies, and they quickly realized themselves how silly their question was before we even answered.

Do you need a damn moisty nap for that sand?

[Jain Zar]

Seriously, in a small store such as an EBstop, logic dictates that you don't leave valuable stuff sitting around the sales floor, where people can just pick it up.

We have a stack of fake Wii boxes in the front window. I don't work in marketing, and it wasn't my idea. But how much sense would it make to leave something like that out in the open? We don't have the pre-order stickers on the vast majority of stuff, and no pre-order shit in the windows. They're all empty so there's nothing to steal. Is that such a hard concept?

You're only the second person this season I've heard of even asking that question, and the only other people to ask were two old ladies, and they quickly realized themselves how silly their question was before we even answered.

Do you need a damn moisty nap for that sand?

No.  I'd rather gamestores stop sucking cocks in hell.
Which they clearly won't.

[Strazos]

I could ask if you're fucking retarded or something. Possibly drunk.

Are there any mental health professionals on the board?

[Baldrake]

We have a stack of fake Wii boxes in the front window. I don't work in marketing, and it wasn't my idea. But how much sense would it make to leave something like that out in the open? We don't have the pre-order stickers on the vast majority of stuff, and no pre-order shit in the windows. They're all empty so there's nothing to steal. Is that such a hard concept?

You're only the second person this season I've heard of even asking that question, and the only other people to ask were two old ladies, and they quickly realized themselves how silly their question was before we even answered.

Do you need a damn moisty nap for that sand?

And I bet those old ladies never came back after copping your attitude. That'll larn 'em. Good job, soldier.

But no, I'm not talking about fake display cases in smash and grab reach. I'm talking about boxes on stock shelves you could only get to with a ladder. You know, stock shelves. Filled with stock. And empty Wii boxes.

And anyway, I live in Canada. We don't have crime here.

Or Wii's.

[Strazos]

1) I did not give them an attitude. I did not have a chance to give them an attitude, as they quickly realized how silly the question was as soon as they asked.

2) Gamestop does not keep games/systems on the floor, so we don't really have many "fake boxes" sitting out. The only ones we do have are a handful for upcoming games.

Real shelves with fake Wii boxes would be fucking stupid.

[Viin]

So what did we learn today?

www.amazon.com

[Strazos]

Know anyone who actually got one through Amazon?


I would be curious to know how many PS3/Wii units Amazon was able to get ahold of for this holiday season.

[murdoc]

When the first Playstation came out I was having trouble finding one until I went into the Sony Store and just happened to ask if they had any. The salesguy said that 'no, they didn't have any', but as I was leaving he told me to hold up for a second.

He then goes to the display window, grabs one of the "presents" that were wrapped under their fake tree, rips the gift wrap off and hands me a brand new PS.

Who knows who's idea THAT was, but I couldn't believe that during the Xmas season, they wrapped up a Playstation to use as a fake present under their fake tree. Only reason I can see for it was that one of the employees was hiding it there until payday or something.

[Jain Zar]

I could ask if you're fucking retarded or something. Possibly drunk.

Are there any mental health professionals on the board?

In other words I won?

Cool.

[Tale]

In the wee, wee hours
That's when I think of you
In the wee, wee hours
That's when I think of you
You say, but yet I wonder
If your love was ever true
In a wee little room
I sit alone and think of you
In a wee little room
I sit alone and think of you
I wonder if you still remember
All the things we used to do
One little song
For a fading memory
One little song
For a fading memory
Of the one I really love
The only one for me

[stray]

O Wii Q&A Thread, we hardly knew ye!

[Yegolev]

Real shelves with fake Wii boxes would be fucking stupid.

My local EB had a row of Disgaea 2 boxes on the top shelf.  I carried one to the counter.  The guy says "We don't have any of those."

ZOMGWTFBBQ

[Strazos]

You still don't have Disgaea 2?

[Xanthippe]

I finally got to play the Wii yesterday that we bought a few weeks ago.  My children were hoarding it.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a little sore today.

It's awesome.  It's getting a lot of use around here.

What exactly can you do with Wii Friends besides trade Miis?

[HaemishM]

When they get games that allow online play, you can play with your Wii Friends. I think you can also message/email your Wii friends as well.

[Roac]

When they get games that allow online play, you can play with your Wii Friends. I think you can also message/email your Wii friends as well.

Yeah, your friends code works just like an email address.  You can send email from/to your Wii.  I can "type" about as fast using the Wiimote as I can using a stylus on my tablet PC, which is to say, about 10-15wpm at best.  Not bad, considering.  A little below using a BlackBerry, better than a phone.

[Xanthippe]

When's the keyboard coming out?

I want to see some traveling Miis!  Why don't I see any?

[Azazel]

Again dude, your foolish gamestore ways DONT FIT WITH THE REST OF REALITY.

Usually if you see a box in a store it has THE FUCKING PRODUCT IN IT TO BUY.

I've agreed with much of the stuff said about how Strazos' crazy game store ways/attitude/perceptions dont fit in with the rest of reality (ie, I'll ring to see if your shop has a console in stock whenever I actually think to do it, usually after work and so I dont have to make the fucking trip out there for no reason. I will be surprised when heavily-advertised item of the moment isn't actually available for me to purchase. And so forth.

But on this point, I have to agree with him.

Reasonably expensive consumer electronics goods in small-to-medium sized boxes don't make for terribly good "leave it on the shelf inside a box" items since they have a way of, you know, walking off without actually being purchased. Think of digital still and video cameras and the like for comparable box sizes and logic. Hell, my MP3 player (which is smaller, but cost a bit more than a Wii) came in a comparably sized box.

[Yegolev]

You still don't have Disgaea 2?

You are going to get such a pinch.

[Velorath]

I've agreed with much of the stuff said about how Strazos' crazy game store ways/attitude/perceptions dont fit in with the rest of reality (ie, I'll ring to see if your shop has a console in stock whenever I actually think to do it, usually after work and so I dont have to make the fucking trip out there for no reason. I will be surprised when heavily-advertised item of the moment isn't actually available for me to purchase. And so forth.

But on this point, I have to agree with him.

Reasonably expensive consumer electronics goods in small-to-medium sized boxes don't make for terribly good "leave it on the shelf inside a box" items since they have a way of, you know, walking off without actually being purchased. Think of digital still and video cameras and the like for comparable box sizes and logic. Hell, my MP3 player (which is smaller, but cost a bit more than a Wii) came in a comparably sized box.

Except I don't think anyone was really talking about boxes that were just sitting around in reach of customers.  I know from the Toys R Us I used to work at, that a lot of stores like to display empty boxes on the top-stock shelves.  The one I worked at had them on a shelf on top of the glass cabinets the games were in (behind the counter), and I could see how customers might think there were actually systems in them.

[Azazel]

Not having ever worked in chain retail, I read "the sales floor" as "on the shelves, or near them, like everything else in a normal store".

I'll check out system boxes next time I go into a K-mart/Big W/Target/TRU etc. They tend to do things a little differently than smaller places like an EB due to floorspace differences.

[Yegolev]

TRU has empty Wii/360/PS3 boxes on the bottom shelf, no glass.  No Wii or PS3 units for sale.
Target does not have empty boxes, just empty shelves.
I couldn't tell what the fuck was going on at the Wal-Mart I visited.  No boxes and no labels on the shelves to indicate they might be selling consoles.

[Jain Zar]

Nobody has em in stock, so what's the point?
My local Shit Mart has a display shelf with the PS3 and its prices in it, alongside some games.  The Wii cabinet is games and where systems would go is Zelda strategy guides.
The 360 section has games and machines.  (Last year the 360 case said they weren't getting any more until Januaryish or something.)

It tends to be a nice way to see if a product is in stock.  If you see it, its in.  Nothing there?  It is not there.
Its why I hated Funcoland the one time I tried to buy old games from em.  I thought I was gonna be walking out with a SNES boxed copy of Saturday Night Slam Masters, but nope.  They just had the boxes out but no game.  Which is stupid.  Then of course the games they did have they didn't even give me the box anyhow. 

Fuckers. 

[CmdrSlack]

My local EBstop is now saying that they'll have a bunch when they open on Sunday.  First come, first serve, etc.  I could take the kid to learn about how stupid it is to wait in line for a console, but she's too little to really get the lesson.

Fuck that.

I'm waiting to see how my gift card haul comes out this year.  Since nobody in my family knows what to get me, I get gift cards for Best Buy or [Random Department Store].  I'll wait until after the holidays and get one then.

If anything, the Wii's unavailability has really helped me save cash to spend on gifts.