Happy Wii-niversary, everyone! One year ago today, I walked into my local Target at 8AM after camping out all night and bought one of the dozen or so systems they had that morning. I’m still surprised how much fun the camp out was and even more surprised that a whole year has gone by already.
Share your recollections of the Wii launch with us in comments!
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November 19th, 2007 at 11:54 am
W00T ONE YEAR! One years since I as well was out in line for my Wii. I was in line in October for the reserve at EB Game, my bud and I were 8th and 9th in line with the first 5 people ordering PS3’s (ha wankers.) And then in November I also got inline, even though I was guaranteed one I just could not sit idly by, I had to be in line go get it launch day…launch hour…launch minute. Oh and of course both times playing some Mario Kart DS over wifi with others in line. 50 games I have nabbed for Wii in the first year and what a year. Holy shit its already a year!
November 19th, 2007 at 11:57 am
Not one year since it was released in Europe, but close enough.
I remember going at 7am to my local game store with my pre-order ticket, getting my Wii, immediately I went home to play it. I got majorly addicted to tennis and decided that I would come home from college at lunch time just to play it. I got home only to find a second Wii had arrived, the one from amazon.co.uk O_O
Sold that one on eBay and made myself enough profit to get more Wii games later that day ^_^. ‘Twas a marvelous time… Marvelous indeed…
Happy Wii-niversary everyone!
November 19th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
It was the midnight release at Gamestop for me. I remember heading out with a friend and standing in the freezing cold with my DS in my hands. We had a good time with all the others waiting for the system and when I finally got my system me and my friend headed over to my house and hooked it up to get the first wii experience. I made my Mii (which resembled me way to closely) then we played a quick game of bowling and I shoved him out the door so I could go to sleep.
November 19th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
I camped outside of Best Buy for 17 hours to get my Wii the first day it came out. I was 2nd in line. It’s hard to imagine that it’s been a year already. It’s even harder to imagine that it is as difficult to get a Wii now as it was a year ago. There are a lot of people here at work that want to get one for their kids or themselves, and I’ve been telling them what essential accessories and games to buy. The part I can’t help them with is telling them where to get one. All I know is that I am glad I have one already. I just wish I was at home playing SMG instead of at work.
November 19th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
My little brother showed up at the nearest Wal Mart two days before, directly after school to make sure we had the first spot in line. He knew that I had to work the whole day before it came out, so he had to make sure that we got it. What a great brother.
November 19th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
17 hours at my local Wal-Mart. Got in line at 7:00am for the midnight release. When I got there, there was 6 people waiting, I then established that I was number 7.
There was a total of 20 consoles. So once the number in the line grew to 20, we started explaining to people that were late that they were out of luck.
The 6 had a nice nook away from the door as not to draw attention. However since one of the 6 worked at Wal-Mart we were able to tap into their power and hooked up a Sega Genesis and played it up on Sonic 2.
Those not playing delved into their assortment of DS games and we multi-playered it up as the sun went down along with the temp.
At one point my fiance arrived with snacks and an extra blanket. =)
As the moment arrived we got in line and marched in. I got an extra controller, an extra nunchuk, a classic controller, Twilight Princess, and Red Steel (which I later traded back in for Raving Rabbids).
A buddy joined me at my house to play. We unboxed it and played Wii Sports and were floored. Never had my expectations been met so well. Until of course I popped in Red Steel, which froze up my system.
To end my friends, it has been a great year. Can’t wait for my vacation around X-Mas time to catch up on the 15 titles I own but have yet to beat.
Oh, and I was also able to walk into another Wal-Mart about a month ago and snag one for a friend for Christmas. I don’t know why everyone is having such a hard time finding one!
November 19th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Silly me. I really thought I wouldn’t have a problem on launch day. I lazily crawled out of bed at about 7:15am, made some coffee, and left the house. To my surprise, both local Targets already allocated their allotment and the BestBuy’s line was as long as 3 city blocks. Off to my local Toys R Us, where I found quite the line, but not as bad as BestBuy’s so I pulled into the lot and jumped in line only to be told that all 50 tickets promising a Wii that day were gone. Fortunately, I had no other financial obligations at the time and was able to buy the last ticket, ticket number 50, from a little SOB at the back of the line for $80. Best 80 bucks I’ve ever spent!
November 19th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
I remember I went to Walmart at 10PM but just missed the ticket by one person, so I went to Best Buy and camped out there. It was very cold for a Florida November day. Luckily I had Mr Johnny Walker with me keeping me warm. I also had the luxury of camping with 2 friends and my car was right in front of us, so we would take turns going in the car to keep warm. Had to wait till 11AM for the store to open. Had to race for a Zelda game and an extra Wiimote/Nunchuk set. It was crazy and I almost ALMOST gave my Wii up to a dad with his kid that I saw at the Walmart. But I didn’t and still feel bad till this day.
November 19th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
I can’t believe it has been ONE YEAR since I got in line at my local Toys-R-Us a full FIFTEEN MINUTES before they opened, sneaked past the “pre-orders vouchers only” line (I didn’t have one!) and bought one of the only two available Wiis to be sold without pre-orders from a clueless cash register girl that just started her shift at that moment!
One year later, and I have added a PS2 and an Xbox 360 Elite to my video game console collection!
November 19th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
I waited 12 hours in line at the Universal City LA GameStop to grab the thousand or so Wiis. Time well spent, indeed. 5 PM to 5 AM, then 3 hours of TP while battling the urge to sleep
November 19th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
My friends and I spent the night outside of a Best Buy – I think we got there around 11pm the night before and we were 30th or so in line. Nobody knew exactly how many systems they would have, but some of the guys in front of us worked for Best Buy and told us they suspected there would be more than 50, so we figured we’d be safe. They were right; there ended up being over 60 available, so we all got one and a copy of Zelda that morning. It was really cold that night, but we made friends quickly with other people and raced each other in shopping carts in the parking lot. Good times.
November 19th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
My one-year memory:
It’s dark. My alarm is going off, and I can hear my cell phone ringing on volume level 5, the highest setting. It’s my friend Fitz, the driver for today. He’s outside already. Great. I throw on yesterday’s clothes and bolt out the door. Same shirt, different day. I double, then triple check my wallet. I’ll do that again when we finally reach the store. Nightmare scenario: Waiting in line for hours to get a Wii, then check your back pocket and you grasp nothing but air. It’s there though, so I jump in the car and we tear down the road to the Watertown Best Buy/Target plaza.
We had decided to forgo the waiting overnight plan in Framingham in lieu of a foolhardy break of morning jaunt to a Best Buy just outside of Boston. Should have listened to Reggie. The spin wasn’t spin this time — there were actually going to be shortages today. The line at Best Buy stretches down and around the mall’s outside walls and reaches the Target on the opposite end. I guessed 150 people, but you’d be pretty safe betting the over on that one. Target is empty, because they already gave out all their tickets. Only a handful of kids remained behind, telling people like us the bad news: “There is no Wii for you here today.”
We burn out of the parking lot with a squeal of the tires and a wave to the local cop, who was probably there because of the rowdy PS3 launch days earlier. He would be largely unnecessary with all us “Wii hippies” keeping the peace today. Make fun, not war, right?
Thirty minutes later we hit Toys R Us in Dedham, because Fitz lives that way and the line had been only a handful of people when he left an hour earlier. It was bigger now, but nowhere near the 84 consoles the store had been promised. We run into the line so fast that I forget my DS Lite and phat in the car. No time for games. We wait.
Three hours after that, I’m bowling.
November 19th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
WOW A YEAR! I got mine at Nintendo World… Arrived at 5AM with my preorder and waited about 4 hours in the cold…. GOOD TIMES!!
November 19th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
11/19/06
Me: “Psh. I don’t need a Wii at launch. I can wait.”
11/23/06
Me again, after getting a taste of Wii Sports at a cousin’s house on Thanksgiving: “Hmmm. There might be something to this Wii thing. Maybe I will purchase one.”
11/24-12/26/06
Me: “WHY CAN’T I FIND A WII ANYWHERE??!!!!”
12/27/06, Noon
Best Buy manager: “A shipment of Wiis just arrived, if you’d like to wait right here while we process them, you can buy one today.”
Me: “YAHOOOOO!!!”
And it’s been love ever since.
November 19th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
It’s been a year and I still do not have enough money for one! For God’s sake, I cannot believe I still do not have one. I have followed Infendo, Joystiq and IGN OBSESSIVELY and yet I still do not have a Wii or a DS.
Wish me luck – though my parents are financially unstable, I’m hoping for one this Christmas. (Sorry for the downer story – but it fucking blows! I haven’t been able to experience LoZ:TP, Paper Mario, Elebits, SMG, or any Wii goodness… though I’ve read all of the reviews!)
November 19th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
My story is like the first part of most other people’s story, only after missing out on my local 24-hour Wal-mart’s midnight launch (they gave away all their vouchers within minutes of announcing them at 2pm), and counting more people in line at Target than the number of Wiis Target was getting…. I went home to bed, and hit ebay the next morning. Markups weren’t bad for the first couple days….
Today is like a second launch day for me, because while I bought Super Mario Galaxy at 10am last Tuesday, the next night I had to send my Wii back to Nintendo (using their handy prepaid UPS label which they’d mailed me) because it had stopped reading discs. The fixed Wii arrived this morning, so I’m counting the minutes right now.
November 19th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
I didn’t camp out on launch day… but I did a couple weeks later. I stayed outside of this Game Stop (who I usually refuse to do business with) all night, freezing, 4th in line… and then they only had 3. Disappointment ensued.
November 19th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
I spent all night on release day trying to get one of the thousand Wiis that was SUPPOSED to become available on Amazon. Whether or not they ever did is a subject for debate – the reviews and comments sections on Amazon became a pretty hot area for disgusted users posting their sob storied about calling customer service and getting nowhere.
So I took my wife to a local Target and proceeded to try three other Target stores – all of which were already allocated to the people in line. I went back to the Target my wife was in line at (around 6 in the morning) and realized that there was a Circuit City next door – and there were only 3 people out front! I got in line, saw a sign that said “12 Wiis Available” and let out a sigh of relief. I called my wife and pulled her out of line and we proceeded to chat with the folks in line and play Mario Kart DS. About 4 hours later I had my Wii, but I still had to go back to Target to get games and controllers – Circuit City had squat besides the consoles.
That was really a fun experience, even though it was freezing in Kansas City that morning. And it made Thanksgiving a blast to have all the cousins bowling, boxing and playing tennis.
November 19th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
1 Year of Wii FUN !
Wow, this time last year, I was playing Wii sports with the girlfriend,and could not put it down! I Only put it down to make more Mii’s. Unfortunately, I bought Red Steel which could have been called “RED A$$” to be more accurate, but it was fine, the Wii was super great. I had not felt this way about games in a LONG time.
Very good year With AAA titles : Zelda, Mario Galaxy, Wii Sports. Along with “almost there” but not quite AAA titles, such as Super Paper Mario.
A few useless channels on the ” online” front and a disappointing online commitment by Nintendo, but then again, it is absolutely FREE and bound to get better…I HOPE!
The VC was both Sweet and SOUR at the same time. It is slightly overpriced, with absolutely no changes to the games, at all, no online added. People could download most of these unaltered ROMS for free, if they wanted to. Yet, I still downloaded a select few MUST owns on the VC none the less, especially the SEGA games. Theyare great.
Over all, not a perfect year like many a fanBoy would say, BUT a very VERY good year.
GO Wii !
November 19th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
I remember the heckelers, but I also remembered the insults that were nintendo-themed geared towards them. That is when I realized that I belonged there. lol.
November 20th, 2007 at 3:41 am
Got mine on launch day without even lining up!
I originally had no intention of getting the wii.
My sister had preordered hers and when she picked it up, there was one more wii left behind. Someone had passed it up, so she called me from the store and asked if I wanted it. I thought “why not?”
Glad I did.