When/Where can i buy the NINTENDO Wii?

[cyman3]

Im not a huge gamer so i was thinking of buying Wii instead of PS3. I check online and a few stores while running errands... and i find out that its pretty hard to find a brand new Wii for sale.

Why is this? Its been a while since it came out, so whats the deal?

I dont want to buy if for more than its regular price (im not that desperate for it).

just curious what the deal is.

seems like PS3 is easier to find/buy.

why dont they ship more Wii to the US?

[chillzatl]

I'd get an xbox 360 over both of them. More/better games, media center functionality, HD-DVD IF you want it. It does everything the PS3 does at a lower price and with an infinitely better selection of games. Not to mention XBox live which has a movie download service and downloadable games, it's not even close.

the PS3 has nothing to offer other than being a BD player. It's easier to find because nobody's buying them.

The wii is a gimmick. You'll think it's the greatest purchase ever until you realize all the games are gimmicks. I own about 6 games for mine and the best game I have for it is the one that came with it. That should tell you a lot about it. They're still not easy to find, so I wouldn't go crazy trying until they have more games worth playing.

[joannes3000]

I can attest to how difficult it is to find a Wii. We just had a new Best Buy open up in Portland and they had 25 at the grand opening. Beyond that, I can't remember any other places having one in stock for more than a few hours.

I have yet to buy one, but it's on my short list of purchases to make. My 2 year old son has played some of the sporting games before and loves it, so that's the clincher for me. I already love the controller interaction with games like Trauma Center.

[Eddielives]

Keep checking web sites like slickdeals.net or dealnews.com. They will let you know where they are available before anybody else will.

[capstone21]

The big problem with the 360 is that it breaks down a lot. A friend from work has had to have his 360 sent in for repairs three times now.

[chillzatl]

I still contend that they break because people put them in a position to do so by cramming them into TV stands and such, where they don't get good ventilation. Not that the thing should be that sensitive, but every time I hear stories of someone having 2-3 360's break the same way, I have to suspect they are refusing to change where they put it in order to help prevent problems. Of the 12 people on my friends list only one has had a problem with his and it was a DVD drive that died. I don't know anyone who has had the RRoD yet. They did just extend the warranty to 3 years also, which is a good gesture.

I certainly wouldn't tell someone to steer clear of it because of potential problems. It's the best system on the market by 100 miles and will continue to be for at least another year or more.

[cyman3]

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I'd get an xbox 360 over both of them.

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i have a XBOX so i want to try something new.

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They're still not easy to find, so I wouldn't go crazy trying until they have more games worth playing.

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yeah, ive looked at the games list. not a big fan of the games they have. I like playing SPORTS games (gotta have my MADDEN and a basketball game) w/ a few action and adventure games.

but i figure the games list is pretty weak b/c the system is brand new... i think if we give it some time and it'll be ok.

rite?

[gsuteke]

depending on your point of view those things may be a little pricey when you add up the console, games, etc.

if you have a job that affords you the ability to buy 3 different consoles along with 3 different sets of games when do you find the time to play them?

i'm intrigued.

[chillzatl]

do you have a 360 or just an old xbox? The 360 IS something new! It's as next-gen as the PS3, except it has games you can play NOW. There's nothing the PS3 can do that it can't and it's cheaper. It's leagues better thant he Wii. If you like sports games, then the 360 IS the console to get. I have Madden and tiger woods on both and there's about a 9:1 ratio of time spent playing those on the 360 vs. the Wii. Seriously, you talk about waiting for games. The 360 has the best lineup of games you can get, the best sports games, the best action, best adventure, and it's going to be that way for years to come. There's no need to wait when it's got hundreds more games than either console right now and will have 90% of the games that other machines have in the future, plus a large list of AAA titles that are exclusive to the 360.

I'd like to think that the Wii will start getting good games, but I don't know. Right now developers are cashing in on this mini-game crazy because it's cheap to develop mini games. They aren't really focusing on pushing the boundries of what the system can do because it's easy to cash in right now. I've been burned buying Wii games so far, so I'm a rent first Wii owner now. The bad part is that since I've been doing that, I haven't found another game worth buying. They're all either old games ported to the Wii so the controls are so-so, at best, or they're rushed games that leave you feeling like you didn't get a fully fleshed out product.

Seriously, I'd get a 360 ten times over before getting either a Wii or a PS3. It's just not even close.

Do you have an HDTV?

[cyman3]

On average, i only play about ~3-4 hours a week.

and chillz, i have the old xbox. Ill keep XBOX 360 in mind.

and no, i dont have HDTV...

the gaming industry is crazy... you buy the xbox thinking it'll last you a good bit and xbox360, PS3, Wii come out.

what happened to the nintendo days that lasts atleast a decade? lol.

[gsuteke]

that's alot of money to be spending for 3 to 4 hours a week. and if you don't have the money you can't afford the games.

i'm having trouble adding the two together.

[ATLJA316]

I HAD a 360, with wide-open ventilation, and it failed once. I had it repaired and sold it shortly there-after.

My roommate HAS a 360, and it has broken down, and been sent in 3 times. Recent reportings revealed that the 360 has a 30% failure rate..30%!!!!

while the ps3 and Wii have a failure rate of less than 1%.

All that aside...it certainly is true that the 360 has a wider variety of fun games to play, and until proven otherwise, sports games are best played on a traditional console rather than the Wii.

I currently have a Wii, which i play 4 or 5 hrs a week at the most, but I certainly enjoy it more than any other console that I've ever owned (to this point, I've owned every major console w/ the exception of the PS3).

my current Wii game of choice is Resident Evil 4. It's simply the same gamecube game seen before, but revamped for the Wii. The controls are really fun because it's like playing w/ a traditional controller in one hand (nunchuck) and a gun in the other hand (wiimote). Overall it's a Great game, and combined w/ Wii sports, and the Wiiplay package - Multiplayer Wii presents a great time to be had by all.

That said......

I'll admit...the main reason I bought a Wii is because i heard speculation of a Bob Ross painting game. for those of you who remember bob ross and his PBS show..IMAGINE being able to do that yourself as a video game!!!

haha, thats my input,

let us know what you get!

(by the way, Walmart always seems to have Wii's in stock -- try there!)

[AmishBoy]

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articl...60_FORTUNE5.htm

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Microsoft Corp. said late Thursday that it will take a charge of up to $1.15 billion, due to an expanded warranty program for what it called an "unacceptable" number of repairs required for its Xbox video- game system.

Microsoft (MSFT) said that due to the needed repairs for the Xbox 360, it will be "enhancing" its warranty policy for the devices, expanding coverage to three years.

The company will "take a $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion pretax charge to earnings for the fourth quarter that ended June 30 for anticipated costs under its current and enhanced Xbox 360 policies," it said.

In a conference call with analysts, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said that the charge will have no impact on the company's overall guidance for fiscal 2008. The entertainment and devices unit president, Robbie Bach, added that the company still Microsoft expects the Xbox business to become profitable sometime in fiscal 2008, thanks to factors such as the release of the highly anticipated "Halo 3" in September.

Microsoft specifically cited the "three flashing red lights" error message encountered by Xbox 360 users experiencing hardware failures.

The company said that it will repair or replace devices that experience the " Red Ring of Death" within three years of their purchase. Previously, Microsoft offered a one-year warranty for Xbox consoles.

Microsoft also said that it will retroactively reimburse customers who have paid for repairs related to the red-light error message.

Hardware issues with the Xbox 360 have been widely reported lately, and the red-light message was dubbed the Red Ring of Death by gamers and bloggers.

Various published reports place the failure rate of Xbox 360 consoles at between 30% and 33%.

Liddell said that at the end of June, Microsoft had sold 11.6 million Xbox consoles. That figure falls short of prior estimates: Liddell said in January that Microsoft expected to have sold 12 million of the consoles by the end of June.

Bach declined to disclose the number of consoles that have experienced failures, though he said that "with a billion-dollar charge... it's a meaningful number."

The online publication DailyTech reported on July 3 that a British game- console repair company has withdrawn its service for the red-light error, citing the high volume of requests for such repairs.

In addition, a blog has been published specifically addressing the Red Ring of Death and offering methods for preventing it.

Bach said that no evidence of the red-light error message surfaced during the first months after the Xbox 360's release late last year, but elaborated with the following: "In the last couple of months, we started to see significant increases in repair requests ... and significant attention from people, so we geared up to respond to that."

The executive added that an alteration already has been implemented in both consoles Microsoft has in its inventory, as well as those now being manufactured. "We think we have our hands around it at the engineering level."

The $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion charge comes as Microsoft last reported having $28.2 billion in cash and short-term investments on hand at the end of its fiscal third quarter ended in March.

Microsoft is due to report fourth-quarter earnings July 19.

The Xbox constitutes a relatively small portion of Microsoft's revenue. The company's entertainment and devices unit, which includes the Xbox, posted $947 million in revenue for the company's third quarter, compared with $5.28 billion in revenue for the Microsoft's client unit, which includes its flagship Windows operating system.