Topic: Wii U Countdown!

[DarkWolf]

BB will be out of business soon, or at least they'll end up like Radio Shack (primarily a phone store).  They can't compete with online retailers on price and they don't offer much of an in-store experience to really offset that.

[JonLeung]

I've been at Best Buy a few times in the past month for different reasons, but I always find myself asking someone about the Wii U (whether it was about pre-ordering it, and now that I have, I'm still asking about pre-ordering specific games), and I always get the same response: "what's a Wii U?"

Way to educate your employees, Best Buy.  Maybe you should hire people with a natural interest in electronics - which you obviously sell a lot of - if you can't be bothered to inform your workers.  For example, there was that girl that rang up Nintendogs on the DS for me back in '05 and she asked "what's a DS?"  It's one thing to not know what something is before they sell it, but after they've been selling it for months?

And I have like a dozen other bad Best Buy stories, though all about pre-order bonuses and misinformation.  And sloppy issue resolution, hoo boy.

Best Buy?  Worst service.  I only shop there because the Rewards Zone bonuses are sweet.  If they ever kill that program, I'll likely shop elsewhere, at least whenever there's the potential that I might have questions about anything.

[JonLeung]

For a console that's coming out in one month and is the successor to one of the most successful game consoles of all time, there sure isn't as much hype as I thought there would be by now.

I suppose the relative lack of advertising highlights a few things:
1) Nintendo is sure that the Wii U will sell out this year because there are enough informed hardcore gamers that have already pre-ordered.
2) Nintendo is probably hoping word-of-mouth of its (supposedly) ground-breaking gameplay will help sell the Wii U like it did for the Wii, at least early on and over the next couple Christmasses.
3) Nintendo is probably putting some effort/dollars into demo tours to give people a chance to get hands-on, since it gives people a better idea of the experience (like how the 3DS couldn't really be demonstrated unless you actually saw one).  But then again I don't know if this is more/less than I have seen them do for the past few consoles...

Or maybe it's because I live in Canada?  (I'm guessing Nintendo of Canada doesn't have the budget that Nintendo of America does, but I can't think of what else NoC does, if not marketing/distribution...)  The country-wide tour goes east to west, but doesn't hit anything west of Ontario until AFTER it's already launched.  TV spots can't be too much to ask, can it?

The biggest thing is that when they do promote it, there's heavy emphasis on the controller, for good reason, however, paired with the subtly-changed name, a lot of people are misinformed that it's just an accessory for the Wii.  Sometimes I wonder if, among the hardcore, it might make sense to emphasize its HD quality.  Some gamers have been asking for an HD Wii for years, not (what appears to be) another Wii accessory, so they should put the focus on what people desire.

I suggested my workplace get a couple deluxe Wii Us for the annual Christmas party as door prizes, which they managed to pre-order in time.  The Christmas party is the Saturday after the launch (a little early, yeah), so I expect I will have made some people very happy when they win them - though that early on, they might not know yet what it is, or that they have the hottest item that they could potentially sell to desperate parents for two or three times the value...

[JonLeung]

I almost forgot about this topic...been busy...though you guys are as well-informed as anyone (and know how to use the Internet) so you probably already know it's nine days from today.

Single-digit number of days left!  Or "sleeps", if you count it that way (that always sounds weird to me, though I get the logic, but whatever).  I hear Nintendo is banning (or discouraging) midnight launches, so yes, you will probably be sleeping the night of the 17th.

If any of you have to wait until Christmas morning, that's still 46 days away, or a month and a half.  I hope to have already mastered Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros. U, and Just Dance 4 by then.  (I've already maxed my mojo in Just Dance 4 for the Wii (non-U), but my brother insists on buying the Wii U version just for the Puppet Master mode.)  I have some time off coming up that I have to use before year-end, including a week off immediately after launch.

Still haven't been able to pre-order the individual games at Best Buy, sigh.  Wondering if I should have done that already at Walmart, or if I still should/could.  I'm guessing it might not be a problem (I live in Canada, where Skylanders toys are freaking everywhere, and I never see the sold-out shortages I hear about them in the States, if that's comparable), but if it is a problem, in the worst-case scenario, I would still have the pre-packaged Nintendo Land.  Of the three I expect to own, I'm probably looking forward to that one the most, since the experiences are fresher than more New Super Mario and Just Dance (not that those are bad).

Now that it's really close, are any of you guys any more excited yet?  Have you played it on the tours?  Here in Canada, provinces west of Ontario don't even get to experience the tour until after launch, which is silly...

[JonLeung]

I guess since it's a few minutes past 10:00 PM here then it's just after midnight over in New York, so that Triforce guy undoubtedly has his own Wii U now.  The Wii Us are beginning to be unleashed upon the world, so any more counting down that remains would be based on time zone and region...

For me, it's another 12 hours; at least Best Buy is opening at 10 AM instead of 11 AM as they usually would on Sundays.  Wish me luck, I hope to be first in line, so I'll probably have to be there hours before that.  On that note I should go to bed very soon.

Next time you guys hear from me, I'll be in the eighth generation of video games.  See you there soon!

[Rew]

Today's the day!

Of course for me, I probably won't be getting one until March because I can't afford--and I'm not likely to be able to find one until then even if I did have the money to shell out.

[JonLeung]

I have my Wii U now, after a four-hour wait.  At least the other people in line were conversational and excited.  But no, my streak for getting Nintendo hardware has ended...I was fourth...but I can't exactly do any better than being first in line as I was for the 3DS...ah well.  I have mine now, that's what matters.

Talk about anticlimactic...the Day One System Update is taking forever...  >_<

[Peardian]

My brother didn't decide until late that he wanted a Wii U sooner than later, so we missed out on pre-orders and such. I wouldn't mind waiting until Christmas time to get one, but for his sake we keep checking GameStop/Target/elsewhere in hopes that they have one.

[TerraEsperZ]

Good thing I wasn't looking to buy one. I heard from a friend that the local EB Games (Game Stop) got 27 per-orders but will only get 3 actual Wii U to sell on release day. It feels like a repeat of the Wii's launch over here.

[Peardian]

We got one! And so far, we're loving it. And we haven't even started NSMBU yet! Nintendo Land is great, and so far the Luigi's Mansion one is our favorite.

I'm not sure how the friend system works yet, but my account name is Peardian.

[JonLeung]

I made a Nintendo Network ID topic over here.

I already see you'll fit right in with everyone else on Miiverse, as they all seem to be superb artists; I Yeahed your awesome Luigi's Ghost Mansion picture.