The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last - Gizmodo Comments

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

plu_To — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 02:23:52 EST

Hmmm....$399 in Australia and you can walk into any store and pick one up...I guess we are not caught up in the hype

plu_To

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Nintenboy01 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:13:48 EST

@smitty1123: Yeah, the poor GameCube was nowhere near as popular as the Wii is now. That's probably one more reason why Nintendo was conservative when it came to Wii's specs - they didn't wanna risk developing a powerful, expensive system only to have it tank in sales. I know that at one point in 2003 or 2004 they actually had to STOP manufacturing GameCubes to clear out unsold inventory.

Nintenboy01

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

hedges1968 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:55:37 EST

@Nintenboy01:

New Zealand, it definitely seems a US only thing.

hedges1968

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

smitty1123 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 15:57:35 EST

@Nintenboy01: Absolutely. And plus, the quick (shoddy) ports and mini-game collections are much faster to make than a full fledged AAA title. I think most people forget that the success of the Wii caught tons of devs totally off guard and they are still rushing to catch up (and unfortunately the quality is suffering as a result of that rush).

smitty1123

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

ChickenSangwich — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:55:37 EST

@MacAddict21: It's not illegal at all actually. The only problem is Nintendo will stop selling the offending retailer any more Wiis after they catch them marking it up over MSRP. MSRP = Manufacturers Suggested Retail Proce. It just happens to be a really strong suggestion.

ChickenSangwich

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

imagefix — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:37:51 EST

@RedBeard: I was lucky enough to have pre-ordered my Wii in May last year, so I didn't have any problems with that system, but I wasn't as lucky with the PS3 and I wound up in the same boat as you: buying a bundle online for about $1,000 last December, which included games a second controller and a few Blu-ray discs. The good news is that I walked into a brick & mortar Target with my online receipt and I was able to return everything that was unwanted (and of course, unopened). I kept the second controller, but got a full refund for everything else. I'd assume Wal-mart has a similar policy.

imagefix

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

TehPath — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:20:51 EST

I waited 10 hours in line for my Wii at launch, totally worth it, I was 3 hours late to work the next morning, and surprisingly, my parents scored my little sister a wii the next day.

TehPath

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

EvilSnowMan — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 12:30:24 EST

Best Buy, Circuit City, and EB Games all have them in stock here... If I had some more spare money right now I would be buying them up everywhere and reselling them online...

EvilSnowMan

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

dcartist — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 10:32:03 EST

Of course the US is the region with the bad Wii drought. Nintendo makes much less money on an American Wii than it does on any other region.

With the current deflated dollar, the Wii MSRP is lower in the US than any other country than Japan (and in Japan, they don't have to ship the completed product far from China or Taiwan or wherever, compared to shipping to US 4000 miles which adds in a lot of cost).

In Europe, the Wii's MSRP of 249 Euro ( $365 US ) means that Japan makes $116 more on a Wii sold in Europe.

If Nintendo makes $40 profit on a Wii sold in the US, they make $156 profit on a Wii sold in Europe... though tariffs and stuff might influence both those numbers.

dcartist

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Jeff the Riffer — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 10:08:07 EST

Or you can just save up all your Holiday gift money, wait until Spring when the shortage is forecast to end and pick-up a cheap unit off eBay after scalpers discover they can't sell them for $500 anymore.

Than again, I didn't get a PS2 until 2005...

Jeff the Riffer

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Rain-man — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 09:54:02 EST

@frink: Nintendo World Store in NYC (I think).

Rain-man

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Jesse in Japan — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 06:41:29 EST

There's no shortage of Wiis in Japan now. I can buy a used one for about 23,000 yen.

Jesse in Japan

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

glass — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 05:42:51 EST

supply < demand = nintendo can charge whatever the hell they want.

glass

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

x23 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 05:28:03 EST

@cellshadedninja:

I mean if I'm going to spend 500+ dollars it might as well be on a PS3 not a system that will retail at $250 not even a week after christmas.

i seem to recall having that same line of thinking *last* year. took me until June to find one for my brothers "Christmas" present.

at most i have only seen 2 on a store floor since then.

x23

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Nintenboy01 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 02:41:31 EST

@smitty1123: Hmm, perhaps you're right. Maybe it's just the deluge of casual games and lousy ports that tend to overshadow how many good games have come out. Kinda like the PS2 where the ratio of crap games to great games is huge.

Nintenboy01

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

smitty1123 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 02:23:44 EST

@Nintenboy01: If launching with a Zelda game and then still getting out a Mario and Metroid game in the first year isn't focusing on the hardcore fanbase, I honestly don't know what is...

smitty1123

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Nintenboy01 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 02:14:07 EST

@hedges1968: Do you live in England by any chance? It does seem like only the US has a severe Wii drought.

Nintenboy01

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

hedges1968 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 01:47:24 EST

Where I live you can walk into any Games shop or the Warehouse (our place to buy cheap arse rubbish) and buy one at rrp.

hedges1968

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Nintenboy01 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 00:13:14 EST

@Dinther: This is why Nintendo should still try to focus more on their hardcore fanbase, because many casual gamers can get easily bored and abandon them.

Nintenboy01

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Dinther — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 23:21:48 EST

@jrghoull: I am bored with the Wii too. But then again I am a casual gamer. In the middle of Nintendo's target group. We bought 3 games in addition with the bundled Wii sport and I am so bored.

Even new games in the shop can't entice me to spend money on it. The Wii used to be on standby all the time but I switched it off as it sits unused for months on end.

If they would release a decent Media player solution that can playback media on my network I might bring the thing back to life.

But to be honest, I would be just as bored with a 360 or a PS3 or even a PC game for that matter.

Dinther

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Nintenboy01 — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 21:06:50 EST

Curses! I missed my chance to get a Wii today. This morning the local Best Buy in midtown Manhattan said they had Wiis in stock but it was snowing so I went there after lunch. All the units sold out (or so they claim).

Nintenboy01

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

notyavgkat — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 20:13:40 EST

thank god I found mine in a wal mart back in May, for retail... 263.21..or something with tax...I couldn't believe it when I walked on that isle and they had like 4 or 5 Wii's just sittin there...I was like OK...it's mine....and I'm still loving err minute of it....i feel sorry for those that gotta get a new one ripped off of ebay and elsewhere

notyavgkat

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Kenpachi13 — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 17:45:43 EST

My brother got a wii in june, beat twilight princess and hasn't touched it since..
I seriously think the"wow factor" is declining for the wii, and the PS3 is gonna tie with microsoft for 1st place in this generation of console wars

Kenpachi13

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Collins1 — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 17:16:04 EST

And to think they're making all this fuss over the Wii...

I got mine on the Euro release date and barely play it. I dusted it off for mario galaxy and that's all since march.

Collins1

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

SAIFDS — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 16:06:13 EST

Holy shit, I can always sell mine for $500?

lol that's unbelievable.

SAIFDS

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

kevinXnaked — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 15:26:36 EST

@jay82: Bro everyone who's dissing the Wii will be begging outside our houses once Super Smash Bros comes out. And nintenboy that reply was for your first comment. Your not gonna find jack this time of year in NYC.

kevinXnaked

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

rh2600 — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 15:15:17 EST

This is a pretty sad state of affairs. In NZ they are still super popular, but I guess due to a small population there is stock everywhere leading up to xmas.

[www.gpstore.co.nz]

Wii Sports bundle and charging station for US$380... free delivery, shipping within 24 hours....

rh2600

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

kevinXnaked — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 15:14:19 EST

@Nintenboy01: I hope your not serious.

kevinXnaked

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

smackswell — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 14:17:06 EST

Does anyone seriously believe this price is inflated? The dollar is currently worth little more than that flaming feces on your doorstep.

smackswell

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

NeoAkira — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 13:49:37 EST

@MonkeySeeMonkeyDo:

Did you only play Wii Sports? because I would imagine that when you only play the bundled game for months it would get boring.

Perhaps buying other games would have made it less boring? well I mean what do I know I just play video games.

NeoAkira

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

MonkeySeeMonkeyDo — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 12:58:13 EST

I walked into Circuit City and bought one shortly after they were released. We kept it for a couple of months then we sold it. It was fun at first, but it got old pretty fast.

MonkeySeeMonkeyDo

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

nightmar3 — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 12:41:13 EST

@MacAddict21:
No far from there.

nightmar3

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Rob C — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 11:26:59 EST

I got mine at the local grocery store. Every other electronics retailer I went to was sold out. I called about 30 of them...

So, we were grocery shopping, and I though, what the hey, lets check it out. They had 3, sitting there behind the glass. The clouds parted and beams of light shot down with a heavenly chorus in the background. I have my wii. I only paid retail too!

(I'm thinking of buying one or two and selling then on ebay, make a tidy profit.)

Rob C

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

dragonphyre — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 10:43:10 EST

Got mine used from Gamestop for 230.

dragonphyre

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

jay82 — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 09:15:50 EST

Paying so much is ridiculous. I got mine 3 months after release due entirely to the fact that my wife called 5+ stores every day to see if they had any in stock. The point is, don't whine and cry about the price if you're not willing to put in the effort to find one at retail prices. And to everyone deriding the wii as inferior to the other systems: Can I sit down with my wife and two young children and within 5 minutes be playing a game on your PS3 or 360? Sure, I sacrifice graphics and gameplay with my choice of system, but I get to involve my family in a hobby of mine. It's now something we do together, not something that takes away from them...

jay82

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Windhawk — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 08:15:02 EST

I happened to walk into a GameStop at just the right time and waltzed off with one for $250. Picking one up is at the whims of the godz. If you are desperate to score one it looks like eBay typically nets you one for not much more than $100 above the retail. Sure, there are greedy bastardz out there, but a $350 Wii can be had without too much hassle.

Windhawk

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

dcartist — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 07:46:17 EST

This whole past week they were in stores during the week... Two different friends scored them in retail straight up... but each case, picked up last one.

Be persistent. The second store employee (first in the back) lied to my friend and said there weren't any. My friend insisted the guy in the front had told him they had one, and he reluctantly "discovered" it back there...

Jerk was saving it for a friend probably or going to scalp it with somebody... My friend should have got him fired, but didn't want to be bothered.

dcartist

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

jamar0303 — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 04:54:49 EST

@Nintenboy01: It also lets you play DVDs in your Wii- if the Wii is modded with the right chip. The rest can run Gamecube homebrew, allowing you to use your Wii as a proper MP3 player, among other things.

jamar0303

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

jamar0303 — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 04:52:17 EST

@Nintenboy01: I'd be inclined to believe you, but I've never seen a Wii sold in China with American firmware. It's all Japanese, which means that if anything, the shortages should be showing up in Japan.

jamar0303

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

banmojo — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 04:41:23 EST

I paid a high school kid 50 bucks to stand in line for me the 3rd week after release last year. Best 50 bucks I ever spent.

banmojo

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

lladnar — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 03:39:36 EST

haha, remember when the wii was supposed to be in high supply and not have supply problems like the 360 did at launch? I got mine a week or so after it came out. One of my friends used to work at Best Buy and found out when they were getting wiis. We got there pretty early that morning and there was already a line. They had 12 wiis and my friend and I were 12th and 13th in line. We flipped a coin for it and I won. He got his a few months ago. I still play my 360 way more. Mostly cause thats what I bought Guitar Hero for.

lladnar

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

bbfreak — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 02:36:23 EST

Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be able to get a Wii by 2009.... Maybe...

bbfreak

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

snitch29 — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 01:27:49 EST

dam nintendo makes 60,000 units a day, thats krazy and theres still sold out. but you have to handed to them though because wii is cheap and fun, most of these other consoles have games that are not even fun anymore its like your always on a freaking mission with then, that gets borring with time.

snitch29

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

mainlinx — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 01:23:43 EST

@Nintenboy01:

you're best bet to get any hot rare items like the wii in the city (for retail) is the times square toys r us. they give vauge answers like "we should be getting some more in" or "we will definetly get another shipment before christmas but not sure when.you're best bet is to just check back" which is the gos honest truth. keep checking back. the weekends are the best times to go early in the morning.

mainlinx

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Nintenboy01 — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:21:03 EST

@OmegaRed59: Even if it isn't ultra-powerful Wii still counts as "next-gen" anyway since it succeeded the GameCube.

Nintenboy01

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

OmegaRed59 — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:13:53 EST

@tokyobob: I guess you don't read the Japanese hardware charts. What is your classification of "next gen"? Does anyone care about "gens"?

All I care about is that Super Mario Galaxy is a lot of fun to play. Seriously people. Why hate a system? Games are games. Buy the system (or systems) that has the games you want.

OmegaRed59

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

jrghoull — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 23:27:10 EST

man, not to trying to sound like a dick (in fact i'm being sincere when i say this) but i feel sorry for a bunch of u! i really do! about 6+ months ago i went to a target which advertised that it would have some wiis in stock. went there, waited in line, and got the wii for 250. i also got the last copy of zelda that they had at the time. Sadly however, despite the coolness factor of the wii, i played it all of 4 times, and then gave it to my bro who promptly shat his pants after finding out that i had one and didnt want it.

am i the only one on giz who bought this thing out of hype and the fact that it was the cheapest of the next gen, only to find out that, while a novel way to play video games, was at the same time just a fad?

jrghoull

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Nintenboy01 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 23:07:53 EST

@cellshadedninja: Too true. I love the Wii and all but paying over $300 for something that's only about 50% more powerful than a GameCube is a bit much.

Nintenboy01

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

knarf61 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 22:54:54 EST

i picked one up at cosco for $259. They had a whole pallet of them. as a matter of fact, when I was leaving the store about an hour later, i noticed that only two others were sold during that time. check cosco before you try crazy online prices.

knarf61

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

cellshadedninja — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:56:42 EST

Nintendo should issue a warning to retailers against marking up the price of the Wii, otherwise they'll be losing one of their largest selling points this holidy season: the lowest price of all 3 next gen systems.

I mean if I'm going to spend 500+ dollars it might as well be on a PS3 not a system that will retail at $250 not even a week after christmas. This is ridiculous and this is why capitalism sucks.

cellshadedninja

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Nintenboy01 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:48:41 EST

@topcatticus: I guess all the stories of Wiis being super-hard to find are coming out of the midwestern states or something. It seems most major cities get Wiis stocked regularly.

Nintenboy01

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

TylerM — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:39:57 EST

I got a Wii from Ebay brand new, for 305 dollars last week. It's really difficult to find the suckers in a Walmart around here.

TylerM

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

topcatticus — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:20:06 EST

I just saw a stack of Wiis at two Vancouver Future Shops as I was looking around for a cable. You just gotta know where to look and when, people.

topcatticus

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Nintenboy01 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:17:17 EST

@MacAddict21: Lets you play, uh, "backup" software.

Nintenboy01

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

MacAddict21 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:01:41 EST

@jamar0303:

what does the modding do?

MacAddict21

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Nintenboy01 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:53:53 EST

@jamar0303: Maybe that's why the US market is choking for Wiis - a lot of them (even US versions) just wind up in Asia and support pirated media.

Nintenboy01

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

jamar0303 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:41:37 EST

Come to China- no shortage of Wiis, and they're pre-modded for convenience- all for only $300.

jamar0303

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

THX5334 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:35:35 EST

@MacAddict21:

Try Gameplay on Venice, B/W Overland and Sepulveda.

Also last week the Best Buy in West Hollywood on Santa Monica and La Brea had Wii's in stock while I was buying Rock Band. They don't put them on the floor so you have to ask.

I got mine through my old job, which was a boutique Home Theatre store. I got lucky in that they were going to take it out of my paycheck, then they filed Chapter 7 and I got to keep it. I got very lucky.

Still, for those that want one, it's not worth the exorbitant prices. I own all the consoles and I still play the 360 more than either.

THX5334

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

strobefx — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:26:43 EST

I'm still on the fence about getting a Wii. It seems that the strong exclusives are still coming almost solely from Nintendo, but it is a pretty compelling purchase at around $280 CAD.

On the other hand, the 360 has a huge amount of top quality hardcore games.

I might end up with both, eventually.

strobefx

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

mt_chgo — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:26:06 EST

I live in Chicago and searched high and low for a Wii without success. So one weekend about a month ago I was out in Rock Falls (west of Chicago toward Iowa) and on a hunch checked out the local super Wal-Mart. They had four in the display case and who knows how many in the back. Score! So if you're looking for a Wii and live in a metro area, take a drive out to BFE and you might find one.

On a side note, I was in Philly a few weeks ago and the downtown FYE had three available w/o bundle.

mt_chgo

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

tokyobob — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:13:32 EST

oh hum .. gratz on your slightly upgraded gamecube's The Wii shouldn't even class as a next gen console.

The Japaneses have tired of the Wii there are plenty left on the shelves in Tokyo stores Just a pity they are so region locked I could have made a killing on ebay ;-)

tokyobob

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

MacAddict21 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:09:32 EST

@nightmar3:

you dont live in los angeles do you?

MacAddict21

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Nintenboy01 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:00:53 EST

@nightmar3: Tsk! How evil!!!

Nintenboy01

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

nightmar3 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 19:56:33 EST

One store in my area is getting wii's tomorrow and I'm going to get one to sell. After black friday I need some money to finish paying off the monitor I bought and the wii's are going for a lot more than they are worth on ebay.

nightmar3

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

helfrez — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 19:35:01 EST

Supply and demand is in full effect in my parts. I traded my 4month old Wii with 2 controllers and 1 game, for a 60GB PS3 with 2 controllers and 2 games lol. The guy bought the PS3 because Wiis werent available at the time, and the kids just wouldnt play it because all of their friends had Wii's lol. Now I just need to get my mits on a Xbox360 some kinda way lol. No big deal to me because I know 3months from now I can buy another Wii lol, not alot of real advanced games or online games I was interested in playing yet anyway.

helfrez

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Nintenboy01 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 19:33:35 EST

I'm planning to wait for a new Wii tomorrow morning before the shops open. Anyone know a good place to find them in Manhattan???

Nintenboy01

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Sean — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 19:32:43 EST

I don't think gizmodo staff knows what a wholesaler is, unless they are saying that game-stop (who buys their stock froma wholesale distributor) are selling the system at a $200. Unless by "wholesaler" you mean "people that aren't bound by contract to sell at suggested price and buy a ton of systems form the distributor or other retail outlets and price gouge on the internet.)

Sean

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

markarian — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 19:32:35 EST

I got my Wii on launch day last year by camping out all night in front of my local Wal-Mart. It was cold, but all my friends were there with me getting theirs, and there was a utility outlet on the curb, so we played Smash Bros. and ate tacos all night. THAT's how I got my Wii. Everyone laughed at me at first, assuming the Wii would be in plentiful supply. When I turned on Twilight Princess for the first time, I realized that I had finally come home to the Nintendo I grew up with, and the all nigther was so worth it.

markarian

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

aR-Tard — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 19:13:41 EST

@Lorne:

Damn...I could have sworn there were some left a few minutes ago.

Kinda wierd...guessing Wii sales will go down because not too many people would pay more for a Wii than a PS3 or 360...

aR-Tard

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

blank — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 19:09:31 EST

@aR-Tard:
From your link:
"Quantity Remaining:0"

blank

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

aR-Tard — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 19:02:59 EST

[www.bestbuy.ca]

<3 Canada

aR-Tard

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Tommasta — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 18:28:49 EST

@frink: Ummmmmmmmm..... NO.

Walmart has the Wii CUSTOMER CHOICE BUNDLE for $677. That includes the system, an accessory, controller, nunchuck, Mario Party 8, and a choice of 6 games. Not just the console.

Sort Price: High > Low, then scroll down a bit. You will find the system on Walmart's website for $249.24. Durrrrrr

Tommasta

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

EQC — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 18:19:37 EST

@MacAddict21 and @bez_online: I wonder if now and then, looking for a "We" or "Wee" might also work.

I've heard a few stories of people scoring big on ebay due to seller misspellings. "Dimond" rings anybody?

EQC

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Redwraithvienna — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 18:18:05 EST

Well .... look at the USD vs Yen ratio last year. and then look at it this year. Expect lots of importet consumer products to cost more this year.

Redwraithvienna

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

forrestcook — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 18:12:30 EST

Im happy that I've got mine, but I was one of those evil people -trying- to sell the thing after I got it day one. Not a single bite on my auction. Oh well, it's a fun system to have.

forrestcook

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

gizmodome — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:46:25 EST

[www.hacknmod.com]

gizmodome

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

MacAddict21 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:43:59 EST

@bez_online:

yes but you'd have to look through an ocean of wii's that are all selling for 400+. By searching for the misspelled name, you come across listings whose prices are still very low due to lack of traffic.

MacAddict21

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

MacAddict21 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:42:55 EST

it is illegal for major retailers to sell the Wii higher than its sticker price. best buy, circuit city, game stop, toys r us, and other stores like that CAN NOT charge a penny over $249.99. That is why they sell them in "bundles". The bundle forces you to buy 6 more games and usually some third party peripherals. They often include games that they are overstocked in the bundles. This insures sales of stagnant inventory. Without the bundle, retailers wouldn't make any money.

MacAddict21

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

bez_online — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:41:41 EST

@MacAddict21: Wouldn't just searching for the word wii on eBay be easier, and yield broader results? (and then sort by price, highest to lowest). Maybe i'm missing something here.

bez_online

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

snoldak924 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:39:57 EST

uh, supply and demand anyone? the price will continue to be high until there is more supply. it's not evil corporations, just the market going to equilibrium.

snoldak924

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

bez_online — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:38:39 EST

@frink: CompUSA lists for $249.99 - of course, it's out of stock though. Can we say rain check!

bez_online

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

MacAddict21 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:37:49 EST

on ebay they sell for about 450 dollars. i snagged a used one with 2 controllers and 6 games (in addition to the wii sports) for a total of 12 games for 365. but i got lucky the seller spelled it "Nitedo Wii" so im guessing not too many people came across it.

you might want to check out [www.refreshthing.com] this page will refresh every 5 seconds telling you what wii's are in stock, and where. most of them are "bundled packs" 600 bucks buys you the console with 6 games you have to select from a list.

hope that helps some of you.

oh and btw, try to do what i did when buying on ebay. search for "NITEDO WII" and "NINTEDO WII" and "NITENDO WII". a lot of these sellers are old farts that were in line on black friday, and they're flippin the wii to make money to buy presents for their familys. They dont even know what a nintendo wii is, therefore they often misspell it. You can save hundreds with their stupidity.

MacAddict21

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

fusedinertia — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:30:31 EST

I signed up on a web page that sends a text message for when Wiis come in stock on major online retailers and scored a Wii on Amazon using the one click purchase feature, and I paid the regular price of $249.99! Amazon put up 1,000 units which were gone in 10 minutes....

fusedinertia

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

frink — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:27:35 EST

at least you can buy one for $250

Can you? Walmart is listing them at $670, EBgames at $600, Best Buy doesn't even list them, and Circuit City doesn't give a price. Take note that none of the above are actually in stock. Where can you get them for $250?

frink

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

seanism — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:16:00 EST

And since its christmas and little Billy HAS TO HAVE a Wii for Xmas mommy will buy it for $400-$500

seanism

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

RedBeard — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:15:34 EST

i ended up buying mine through walmart.com but i had to buy it in the bundle which came w/ 6 games...ended up costing me like $680 w/ shipping...i really wish i'd spent more time researching each game i got, but i was so scared that i wouldn't get one at all i made quick rash descisions.

i want a 360 this year

RedBeard

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

seanism — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:15:19 EST

Thats freakin ridiculous. Amazon has them for $520 and up.

[www.amazon.com]

seanism

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

howdytex — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:08:33 EST

'Round my area, craiglist sellers are asking in excess of $500 for them. And someone will probably buy them, too. That's crazy.

howdytex

The Wii is MORE Expensive This Year Than Last

Emiat — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 16:51:01 EST

Makes me somewhat thankful I got mine last year in time for Christmas now.

Emiat