Wii tracker - real-time availability at 11 stores and counting.

Here is another link: Wii Availability Link. For others, just GOOGLE 'wii in stock'. There are others.

I was curious on how this would do also, but I keep hearing posts on how much fun it is to actually play it.

Rufus786 said: That is great that there is a controller tracker, I got a wii on sunday but I have not been able to find a classic controller or new remote and nunchuck anywhere.

Doesn't it come with a controller and nunchuck??

Try WalMart B&M. I score a classic controller, nunchuck, and the remote at WM B&M.

Rufus786 said: That is great that there is a controller tracker, I got a wii on sunday but I have not been able to find a classic controller or new remote and nunchuck anywhere.

i hate the wii , just want to play a simple game without a work out

peachsnapple said: i hate the wii , just want to play a simple game without a work out

So you've never played it?

Pellegri said: Boston Globe has a good story on how the Wii will/won't be a success.

With a relatively low-powered computer chip, an innovative motion-based controller, and a comparatively slender $250 price tag, the Wii (pronounced "we") is designed to attract millions of buyers put off by the high cost and complexity of Xbox and PS3. The Wii is also cheap to assemble. The Xbox ($300-$400) and PS3 ($500-$600) sell for hundreds less than it costs to build them, forcing Sony and Microsoft to swallow hundreds of millions in losses that they must make up on sales of games. In contrast, Harrison said, the Wii's sale price is only a little higher than its manufacturing cost, and that by next year, Nintendo will make a profit on every unit sold. Sony and Microsoft are huge companies that can rely on other profit centers to soak up the red ink. Not so at Nintendo, said Harrison. "We're only a video game company, so we don't have anywhere to hide our losses."

In the fight for gaming supremacy, however, it looks like Nintendo brought a knife to a gunfight. Because of its lower computing power, the Wii can't match the lavish 3-D graphics so popular with fans of first-person shooting games. Nintendo's machine doesn't even support high-resolution graphics as its rivals do.

The Wii's chief technical advance is a unique wireless two-piece game controller. With help from a motion-sensing chip developed at Norwood's Analog Devices Inc., the Wii controller lets users play games by moving their hands and arms.


I think the writer from the Boston Globe needs to exercise more effort in his/her reporting, or at least take the initiative to understand the gaming industry rather than make visceral judgments. Nintendo has specifically marketed the Wii to the casual gaming demographic rather than the hardcore gamer/hi-def community; there's a much broader audience when you think that the number of people in the U.S. who don't own hi-def TV sets still outweigh those who do. To claim that this strategy is fallacious or bound to fail ("Nintendo brought a knife to a gunfight") fails to show comprehension of this evidently clear-cut strategy. Nintendo and the 360/PS3 are on two completely separate ends of the spectrum.

Furthermore, one only need to look at the handheld platform to see how "lavish 3-D graphics" don't equate to instant success. Nintendo's efforts with the GB Advance and DS completely mock what Sony did with the PSP -- the total number of handheld units sold between the two giants isn't even close.
In broad generalizations, Nintendo succeeds with innovation rather than cutting edge technologies. Even a simpleton can comprehend that.

I'm not a Wii-fan, I don't even own one, but I've been a gamer for so long that I've seen my share of lazy reporting. The world needs less white noise in our media, driven largely by people who don't know what the hell they are talking about.

P.S. This has NOTHING to do with this thread, but well I saw the Boston Globe segment so I just HAD to comment.

gurudude said: And yet the review totally misses the mark as to WHY the Wii will be a success... It's not all about the ultra high end graphics... It's about accessibility - my 60 year old mother figured out the controller in less than 10 minutes (something that never happened with Xbox 360)... It's about games that I don't mind my 12 year-old playing and that they, I *&* my mom can all enjoy together, the latest high rez gore/war/splatter fest doesn't fill that need... It's after a whole different market than the 360/PS3... Casual gamers, Family gamers, NEW gamers - those are the people who will buy and continue to support the Wii... Hard core fanboys who can quote processor speeds and memory latencies and tech specs aren't the market, Nintendo left that to the 360/PS3... I predict that, just like all Nintendo consoles, they will make a nice profit in their niche without having to sell their hardware at a loss like the other do...

Very well said. This is the part that most people miss...Nintendo is really not aiming for the high-def, spec-spewing FPS crowd with the Wii. They're trying to produce an accessible console that has a high "fun and innovative" factor. Based on initial public reaction and sales, they've succeeded. Wii is a very clever piece of engineering, and it's a lot of fun, even without the 1080P "Wow, it almost looks real" factor.

Personally, I've never been sure I wanted a game to look photorealistic. If I wanted that, I'd just go to a movie.

And please, I'm not trying to turn this into a "Wii is better" discussion. That's not at all what I'm trying to say. It's not "better"...it's just "different". For the record, I own a lot of consoles, 360 and PS2 among them. I'll own a PS3 at some point, but I'm in no hurry.

My husband is trying to get a wii for that good price, not the bundle. Last time it sold out in Toys r us in like 5minutes. not a surprise. I hope they'll have a lot more after the new year.

mcsuebe said: Watch out...that Wii could be a lot more expensive than you think....

That is why you're suppose to attach the wrist band of the controller to your wrist. If you let go, the controller is still attached to you. (It has an ajustable slide to tighten)

it breaks

Bump