MURDERFACE

All and All be very carefull of this "Promotion" I would get all your info upfront and speak to the manager or hell be patient they are going to be everywhere after the first of the year

I would not myself trust gamestop as I no longer shop with this company because of similar offerings and let downs in the past and not just with one single store with atleast a half of dozen of them.....

loki820

Manok

Peaugh

Nintendo ships you a new Wii... and you don't even have to wait until they get the Wii that you haven't shipped back, since they don't want you to ship it back until you get the new one...

And you're complaining?

The other 66.7% of console manufacturers would tell you to ship the unit to them, wait a month for them to get around to diagnosing the problem, and if it turns out to actually be something that the extremely limited warranty covers, they'll get you a new one in a month or two.

It took me a month to get my PSP back from Sony when it just stopped turning on, and I was ecstatic that it only took them a month. If they had shipped me a new PSP without even knowing what caused the problem in the first place, I'd be a Sony customer for life.

For all Nintendo knew, you might have placed a slice of cheese in the slot-loader. That's faith in your consumers, something most companies lack. I've known a number of people who had blatantly consumer-damaged Nintendo equipment (DSes with cracked cases, GBAs with crushed screens) - Nintendo just says 'Send it here, we'll fix it because we know we're going to make infinitely more money when you have a WORKING system to buy games for.'

RvLeshrac

The 'crystal ball' is Nintendo saying "We're guarantee that we're going to ship you X thousand/hundred-thousand/million Wiis by 1/XX/2008."

There's no 'prediction' here on Gamestop's part. Unless there's a disaster at Nintendo's manufacturing facilities, this won't be another 360 launch.

RvLeshrac

OtakuboyT

Ha!

SuperMekman

There are a few false assumptions going on about what is going to happen.

-Nintendo is partnering with GS to offer this, we KNOW how many we are getting (my store is getting 47 reservation allocations, others more). Yes, if you want a reserve, get to the store bright and early. I don't expect my store's allocation to last ten minutes.

-The pick up on January 25th is absolutely false, the voucher guarantees you a Wii BY the 25th. The reserved systems will be sold off as they arrive in the order the reserves were made. If Nintendo sent us a shipment of 18 next week, we call our first 18 reserve customers and let them know they are ready for pick up. The 25th is the due date, not the delivery date. We may have all the systems sold within a couple weeks and be back to selling them straight to the customer.

This is straight from my regional District Manager's mouth.

schattendrache

=D

sainraja

I hate the Wii.

Ken

Hell, I'd be happy if my parents got me a console at ALL. Jeebus, kids are spoiled these days.

Tsuzu

And yes...Nintendo will be counting these as consoles sold.

liqideos

Nevermind the fact that this was NINTENDO's IDEA!

This is Nintendo sponsored. Reggie said so on last week's conference call.

liqideos

Wargamer234,Sieg Zeon!

I opened my Wii, played ONE small match of WiiSports Tennis, and then the system died on me. It wouldn't load any discs. So I had to contact Nintendo of America (of course waiting a few days since they aren't around on Christmas holiday), wait for the replacement Wii to arrive (took them 3 weeks), and send them their dysfunctional pile of WiiGarbage.

Talk about the happiest Christmas morning moment fused with the worst Christmas morning moment. Laughter and cheer replaced by fury and tears in milliseconds.

Christoph

Papillon

I don't know if anyone heard, but GameStop is a BUSINESS. Everyone needs to back up and get over themselves. I'm not 100% sure but in my experience with retail a company isn't allowed to recognize revenue and make interest until a service is rendered (AKA game picked up). That's how Enron got so screwed up, by recognizing profit and investing money they didn't have before they actually had it.

And, Hell, even if that's not true, who gives a crap? No one gets mad at their bank for using their money to make investments. What do you think would happen if every person right now went in to withdraw all their money? If you've seen Marry Poppins you'd know that the bank would close and the SEC would step in to stop that noise. I bet you ANYTHING that if every GameStop customer went into their stores and wanted their $5 back they'd get it.

SO WTF?

tornaydo

chriscamp

TheJinManCan

MStiles

Would someone stop thinking about "OMG THE INTEREST" and think how awesome this could be for those people who have been searching frantically and as best as their working schedule allows them to search, and still have come up empty handed?

So far I have 4 mothers at my store who are thankful for this, even after I forewarned them that I [b]will[/b] surely have a line come Friday morning. As long as they get one, regardless of time, that is all that matters to these families.

They haven't given us all the details yet, (though I am off today, not sure if any extra info was given today), so I don't know if these Wiis will come in waves or just get dumped on us all at once for these people to pick up.

For those of you who are pissed off that "other customers walking in to try and get one are screwed", let me tell you, there are NO customers walking in GameStops who can go, "Wii, please", grab one, and walk out with Wii in hand; only the customers who have time or the ability to sit and wait inside the store for like an hour have been able to get Wiis, and a lot of times, they walk out empty handed because, hey, I didn't get Wiis that day! Rinse and repeat through Friday.

So, this situation will change. The good thing is I will be able to tell these customers I won't be getting any for walk-in customers till after such-and-such date, so please rest. It's nice to give these people a heads up, and it's going to be nice to give the few lucky people who order their Wiis a chance to relax, knowing damn well they will get a Wii.

The negativity is killing me. I'm actually surprised to see Crecente use that tone in his last paragraph, because, c'mon, does no one see the good in this?

TheJinManCan

If a kid can't wait until Jan. 25, I think they really need a wake-up call. When I was a kid, my parents wouldn't even let ME buy consoles, let alone buy them for me.

I think at this point, many people I talk to are going to be glad to hear about this program. I don't understand why so many people are whining.

..oh wait, yes I do. "WAHHH GAMESTOP IS EVIL WAHHHHHHH" *Eyeroll.*

Tsuzu

Must be nice to live where you do.

June

Who said it is?

Not to mention the item in question - the empty DVD box. Not a pretty certificate with golden letters and holographic stamps, not some kind of a club card, not some collectible item you can keep, not even 5% off coupon... Nothing is more discouraging than an empty box. Worse to it - you want to put it under Christmas tree. Srsly, not-so-spoiled-kids won't be happy either I assure you.

Mayu-mayu

the_roman_nose

Here is the real problem, what recourse do you have when the gamestop doesn't get the Wii in on Jan 25th? Or doesn't get enought wii's to meet the pre-sales?

It's a stupid program.

Why don't you take the $250 and wait till Jan 25th and buy one then?

Why reward shitty companies like EB Games with your hard earned money?

balls187

coan_net

SonicNirvana

I preordered my Wii from EB Games. On Sunday morning, I waltzed to the mall, was called to the front of the long Wii line, showed my pre-order slip and was out in a minute.

You're paying for the convenience of not wasting time and gas driving from one place to another searching for the system. It's not like you're paying extra. Any "interest" earned from your $250 is spent in making the DVD case anyway; game stores don't make a lot of money off systems to begin with.

And besides, if you don't want to take advantage of this, here's a tip: don't. Keep whining about how other people can while you scurry around for one over the holidays. Wait in line at Best Buy at 5 in the morning. Make friends with a Wal-Mart employee. Pay $400 to a scalper. I don't know why people are bitching when they've got a new alternative.

June

Nintendo is endorsing this, they know exactly how many units they can produce and how many they will give to Gamestop, thus the rain checks are limited.

The only thing that will delay these units are shipping problems, and then you can blame FedEx or UPS.

UVaDave

fritznbeef

thenino85

Gamestop is probably paying Nintendo extra for these units/this program to make sure they're gauranteed. Gamestop is hoping you either buy some games from them when you get the raincheck or you're going to buy games when you redeem it, that's why it's all in store transactions.

I bet they'll even pester you to pre-order Super Smash Brothers Brawl while you're there :)

UVaDave

Pre-Orders are the biggest scams in the industry. Hell, I was able to trade in some crappy games at my local Gamestop for Super Mario Galaxy without having to pre-order it. This happened when the game was only a day old and the clerks were still "acknowledging" the pre-orders.

I've purchased games and consoles at launch without a pre-order so many times before, that after my first and only pre-order experience with the Wii I'm never doing that again. Nothing says burn like pre-ordered "anything" that is not there, or guaranteed.

If you want a Wii, you have to get up early or stay-up the night before, nothing happens for video game consumer without dedication, these days.

Pre-ordering or "rain-checks" are simply not worth it.

SuperMekman

Qui-GonJim

Probably.

talisein

Try selling on Amazon for list price plus selling fee. It should sale, and you can even get shipping upfront from Amazon too. It's pretty nice they wire money to your account to cover shipping if your account is older than a week or something like that. In other words you have no upfront cost for placing the item on the site or shipping. At least that was how it worked last time I sold something there.

Mongoosekun

brianewing

On paper this sounds like a good idea, but I don't know too many parents who would want to spend $250 on a reserve they won't see until month later. I believe most parents would opt to buy some sort of gaming hardware instead. We'll see if this was the right strategy for Nintendo after December NPD numbers are released. The strategy will be succesful if the Arcade sells very little. The strategy will have failed if there is a major spike in Arcade sales.

Tepoz

moominsean

cactaur

In any case, I don't see anything wrong with this. They're getting stock numbers straight from Nintendo and there isn't really any other way to guarantee a Wii purchase at retail price right now. Only bad thing is it looks like it'll be impossible to walk into a Gamestop and purchase a Wii until February, since they'll all be spoken for.

swarmster

And as far as the "kids won't want a DVD case for Christmas" route, grow up. Maybe if there were parents out there who actually raised their kids responsibly, things like this wouldn't be a big deal. OH NO! Some little kid has to wait a month for a video game system. While in the mean time he gets bought other presents to hold him off. I'm REAL sure it will just cripple his life. That 9 year old kid GAVE his Wii away to a foster child toy drive, but we've got people wondering how upset a kid will be because he didn't get one for Christmas and has to wait a month. PA-THET-IC.

This holiday really brings out the best in people, let me tell you. *roll*

mva5580

elronathon

Benjo

Manok

And, I think it's clear from Nintendo's statements, this is NOT what they intended, quite the opposite. Mark my words, this will be a PR fiasco before the end.

jayntampa

davebg5

invictus2006

Roadkill

If GameStop just took lets say $10 for the pre-order, you would get all the eBay resellers in there taking up all the pre-orders from people who just want a Wii without paying more then they have to. (Then when the time comes that the Wii is in stock, those eBay resellers could then decide if the "market" is good enough for them to get it or not.)

Make those eBay resellers pay the full $250 now, then hopefully by the time they come in - the eBay market will crash and they will lose money! HA - Serves them right! (And for those who are not eBay resellers - well they got what they want, a Wii without paying too much.)

The only thing I would like to see is:

1. More then 1 day to buy the pre-order
2. Offered at other places - Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc..

what surprised me - that GameStop did not try to make it a "package" deal where you had to get 3-5 games for an additional $200 or something.

coan_net

I think this reservation thing is a bad idea all around, if they'd opened it up to anyone, no problem -- but the limit ... what do you bet some stores get like 24 reserves or something? It won't even make a dent in the demand, but it will piss off a lot of people. I can hear the customers now, "I waited in the f'ing line for 6 hours to reserve a unit, and you're f'ing telling me I can't even reserve one right now?"

That's when the weapons come out.

jayntampa

Kids these days...

Frank

invictus2006

davebg5

catnapped

catnapped

Player2

JimmyHACK

Why do you want something in return for paying retail price ? What sense does that make.

If you want a Wii within a month, put down your money, and it'll arrive.

As I hear, the quantities aren't even that high, so chances are if you aren't in line at the moment, you aren't going to get in line anyhow.

@mpmaley:

jynxycat

Most Wanted

mpmaley

Sugaray

OH, and somebody do the math and show people that the interest earned on 250 + tax for less than a month is a bit more than NOTHING. ( like less than $400 grand on the wildest estimate. not much to a company like gamestop.)

DonOfWar

They may have some inside information, but until they come out and make a a public statement saying, "Nintendo has made us their preferred distributor for the holidays" I would not count that they're doing anything but selling people a store credit.

I implore everyone to please spread this sentiment. I am sorry I don't have a counter option, but I would not be sure of your "sure thing" if you buy a $250 dvd case.

Sentientv2

Manok

shufflemoomin

DrFresh

So essentially this is no different than your average day of a Wii shipment coming in and getting snapped up...they hand out 1000 of these reserve tickets and that's it.

What the fuck is the point?

Norellicus

I won't do it, only because I can't see spending that much money for a couple of first party games that will get one play through and then sit on my shelf. but still, seems fine to me.

btw, a month's interest on 250$ is like 8$. sure, I don't like throwing money away, but it's 8$ and that's your biggest gripe? people are paying 400$ for wiis on ebay, 258$ seems like quite a bargain, does it not?

3inst3in

I've had one for weeks now I have been trying to sell, and so far no takers. I'm not even trying to make a profit, just cover my expenses.

loueloui

Mongoosekun

Kuraudo

The empty box is a tad crappy, but it's what the box symbolizes! Kids are supposed to be good at make believe. So these kids better start make believing or some parents might have to break out the 'ol hickory switch.

nago

KidU

I'd love to buy the crystal ball gamestop uses to magically predict how many Wiis they will have instock to fill these orders.

Manok

No thanks, maybe if this program offered.. something. Can I get a promotional DVD? promotional item of any sort? how about those Mario Galaxy coins? heck give me a $5 off coupon at least.

Wolfkin

Kyle81

It's a shame Gamestop and Nintendo didn't atleast throw something in to ease the pain. They can think of plenty of preorder gifts for games, but not for a console? Some sort of goody bag with a t-shirt and Mario figures would have been a nice gesture.

Kuraudo

@Ubisoft Angel: So people should pay above retail instead of getting one from Gamestop? That's what's retarded.

Agies

Ballaboy311

not_tom_brokaw

Wiis are still being sold-out at 3 in the morning in the freezing cold rain. I don't think preorders are such a bad idea anymore, even if Gamestop makes some money on it.

It's sort of what they do as a retail store. Make money.

nago

Gadgetron

CZroe

guy_jin

elronathon

What about...

"Happy Holidays! Just Imagine, You Could Have Been Having Fun Right Now With An Actual Wii If Your Parents Loved You More!"

or

"Nothing Says Merry Christmas Like An Empty Box And False Hope!"

or

"I O U! I Hope Santa Brought You Patience This Year..."

Heliophage

Pizza_Club

Try a reimport from europe. Steal it. Hustle for it.

But don`t give gamestop 250 bucks for godsake.

"KE"

KidU

Ness

Accordion

Frogbot

Zentac

This still won't stop scalpers though. WiiBay will thrive (still...)

holytramp

EmeraldDragon

Manok

mrpoopiepants