I have said I'd never be one of those poor saps getting up early to get a Christmas gift that's in short supply (or maybe I should say "phony" short supply). But there I was on Sunday morning in front of the Target store at Herndon and Willow lining up to see if I could get a Wii console, which is Nintendo's operating system for the Wii video games. It was 7 a.m. and the store opened at 8 a.m. Did I mention it was very cold?
At the nearby Best Buy store, there were dozens of folks in line. I spotted them when I did a drive-by recon mission to scope out the competition. I decided to take my chances at Target -- and my shopping instincts paid off.
Best Buy only had 19 of the consoles (which sell for $249 each) so as soon as employees from that store handed out numbers, those not getting a number started sprinting for Target, which was a few storefronts away. I was feeling very fortunate as I watched the herd coming at me. I was No. 2 in line in front of Target.
There were three others behind me before the Best Buy gang showed up. A Target employee came out to say they only had seven consoles to sell that day, so I was in. But most of the other people were disappointed.
I remain frustrated at Nintendo, though, for this bit of marketing hype. In this terrible economy, why don't they want to sell as many of the Wii systems as they can? I could be wrong, but I can't believe that the demand is so high that they can't make enough.
But the game system is very cool. I had to try it out when I got it home. And as an added bonus, you don't have to be a genius to hook the system up.
Welcome Jim Boren. You are now the proud owner of the perfect party system/drinking game.
I'm on my way to a friend's place right now. Enjoy.
It was well worth the wait, Jim. You, and whomever you bought it for, will love it. I happened on my first one (I have 2 kids) last November in Costco. I walked in and there were 3 sitting there near the front. With bated breath, I grabbed one. The other 2 disappeared in a flash.
When I visited Costco this past October, there was a whole stack on an end cap and no one was even looking at them.
What's great is that you have instant future gifts with the new games they bring out each year. Our daughter is getting the World Tour and our son, stationed in Korea, got several new games. (His apartment is the base meeting area thanks to his WII)
Have a Merry Christmas
Let MOI guess, you will be playing baseball!
MOI is not one to play games on the telly but have seen the adverts for it and assume one gets 'hooked' on rather quickly. Does it allow you to be the best baseball player? Make you feel as if ready for the 'Big Show'?
Questions, questions...........will this be the end of the Jim Boren we know and the start of a whole new man? Will you have Bill McEwen over and see who has the best arm in baseball?
MOI is impressed, the 'child' in Jim is alive and well.........Happy Christmas.