Nabbing My Wii

Hurrah, I got one! Indeed, I was there at Times Square NYC taking in the atmosphere and also getting to grips with navigating around the city blocks. When I gave it some thought, the grid layout was actually pretty convenient, so long as you knew the two intersecting streets, you could locate any place in the city.

Osa had met me at Penn Station because she was coming from her other house in Long Island. We walked down to Times Square which is just a few blocks from the Station and my first Wii sighting was this:

Times Square Will Toys R Us 

Wii at Toys R Us at Times Square

Couldn’t miss that eh? This was the Toys R Us store, the official location of the Wii launch. Interestingly this next generation console would be the first to launch to the world in America instead of Japan.

 

Well, the place was packed. There was a queue going all the way around the block, I knew then that I wouldn’t be getting a Wii from this store.

Osa didn’t seem to keen on the idea of hanging around the crowds, I would say she likes the quiet life these days. We decided to get a late dinner together though. Turning into the side street (to the right in the above picture) we found a Mexican. I’ve never been to a proper Mexican restaurant before so this was a first for me, sure I’ve had it at friends places and the like but in England there don’t seem to be many places to go out to eat to.

The tortillas were the best I’ve ever tasted. My main meal was chicken in chocolate bean sauce. Chocolate in a dinner sauce? Another first for me, pleasingly it was all rather yummy.

During dinner, me and Osa came to an agreement. Considering I wanted to hang around and see the entertainment as well as watch the count-down till 12am, I was going to stay. Osa would get a taxi and take my bags back to her place, then I was done I would join her at the apartment.

Making sure I had the essential; warm hat, wallet, phone and camera I handed over the bags feeling guilty for they were very heavy! Osa shouldered them well and she got into a taxi just around the corner, so no worries there.

Time to party!

I have some videos that I took with the camera that I will put up here shortly. They give a good idea of the hustle and bustle of the block and also some of the entertainment on show.

I had a good laugh at some of the people walking around dressed up as Mario or Link from Zelda. They would walk following the queue rousing cheers from those waiting along the side of the building.

At the corners of the buildings there were Wii Representatives in white jumpers and Wii bobble hats. Some had ‘TVs in a rucksack’ or some where actually wheeling around little demo stations with a Wii set up to play inside. My first glimpse of this interesting machine.

At this point I knew I would have to plan my next move if I was going to secure one for myself. How could I not go home with one being at the launch party?!

I knew from research before that the major electronics retailers would all have a limited number of Wii to sell, not just this one Toys R Us. The difference was however, that Toys R Us were hosting a midnight launch. Meaning they would open at 12:00am to sell the first Wii in the world. The other retailers would be opening at their designated usual morning hours. Therefore if I hunted around I could probably get in a small queue and wait till the morning in order to secure one for myself.

Using my awesome new Blackberry Cell Phone, I loaded up Google Maps and searched for the electronic stores I knew were selling Wii; ‘Best Buy’ and ‘Target’. Best Buy was closest, only 2 minutes away, so I walked there. I was in luck, only about 4 people were sat outside. There was a definite chance that I could find a store with not very many people outside.

I returned to Times Square for the count-down..

Times Square Wii Count Down 

30 minutes, 37 seconds to go..

This was the spot that I waited, oh yes I forgot I bought a book with me to read because I guessed there would be some waiting involved. Unfortunately it was a bit useless and became a mental exercise in blocking out distractions, it was hard to not look up from the book whenever you heard a big cheer as yet another costumed up gamer ambled by, or the constant shuffle of people milling by right in front of your nose. A homeless lady didn’t even think twice about rummaging through the bin that I was leaning on either.

 

Thus, 20 minutes later, having read a whole 3 pages and not being able to recollect any of the story anyway I gave up and put the book away. Used up the last minutes just watching the crowds and readied myself for the count-down.

9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.. 1!

Woooo! Erm… Hurrah? Hmmmm, well there was a bit of a cheer from the queue right in front of the sign but that was it, the count-down disappeared and was replaced by some cycling ads showing off the Wii and er that was about it for zero hour. I was frankly underwhelmed, I was expecting a big rousing cheer from all around the block but that didn’t happen, I guess they couldn’t see anything round the sides), at the least I was hoping for some pyrotechnics, I had read somewhere that there would be pyrotechnics, I want my pyrotechnics I cry inside!

I couldn’t even see the customers get their first sale with Reggie behind the cashier. boo! The best view I could get was of some Wii Representatives (in blue) waiting around inside Toys R Us.

Wii Representives Toys R Us 

Wii Representatives inside Toys R Us

I took some more pictures and waiting a little longer to see if anything happened, eventually people started emerging from the front doors of Toys R Us brandishing their big plastic bag containing a brand new Wii. I thought the crowds were rather well behaved as it could have been pretty easier to mob these meek exhausted looking gamers. Ah well that’s the difference between us Ninty folks, just look at the Playstation 3 lines getting shot and mugged..

Times Square Wii Me and the Crowds

Me and the Wii Crowds

Eventually just watching the crowds move very very slowly into Toys R Us I got bored and decided it was about time to make my own moves.

Dodged into a McDonald’s to a) eat fries, b) purchase a coffee to prep for the night ahead c) warm up, it was frosty cold out!

Dodged out again and decided to find another Best Buy closer to Osa. Using Google Maps again I was able to find one about 10 minutes away from her flat but too far to walk. I was waving for a taxi but then a thought occurred to me that I should run back to the queue at Times Square because the queue at the back at already diminished when I left Macdonald. I found the queue about half of the way around the building. There was a female Wii Representative there so I asked her if this was still the queue and could we get a Wii?

She said that in order to get one I needed to have been given a white wrist band earlier but they had stopped giving them out a while ago. Toys R Us would have more shipped in for the morning though.

I decided to go with the Best Buy plan, ran back to get a taxi but then another thought occurred me, it was cold. Let’s get one of the cardboard boxes that strewn around the Toys R Us building and make myself more comfortable, I grabbed 3 and folded them up.

Then I got a taxi.

The taxi pulled up in front of the second Best Buy and there were already a group of people sat in chairs outside so I joined them by creating a little cardboard box fortress. Just like old days..

In my fortress I sat for a while gauging my comfort level. An hour later, it wasn’t enough, so I packed up and ran to Osa’s apartment. Poor Osa, I had to wake her up in order for her to let me in but she had said that was OK previously, I still felt guilty. Dumped everything out of my rucksack as quietly as I could and stuffed my sleeping bag inside. Ran back to Best Buy and was pleased that no-one else had come to take my spot yet.

Set up my fortress pt II but based around my sleeping bag. Aaah that was much better, very cosy and snug now.

A Bum Waiting Outside Best Buy

Best Buy Bum

Shortly after that another chap came and sat by me. I started talking to him a little and found out he was a Computer Animator, the very same as my just recently completed degree, how about that. He said he was going to get a Wii for him and his girlfriend who was back home snoozing.

Outside Best Buy : Brian

My ‘queue partner’ Brian.

His name was Brian, he donned a jacket much thinner than mine but didn’t seem to succumb to the cold as much as me, or was doing a better job than me at hiding it, mind you, I had forgotten my scarf.. he had not.

Anyhow, it was boring, I was cold and tired but kept the dream of Wii playing alive to keep myself going.

The hours passed, and the sky started to get brighter. I was expecting the store to open at 8am according to the opening hours notice however at about 5:30am some people unlocked some side-doors and went inside. Looks like they were setting up and preparing. At 6:30am out came the Best Buy staff in blue jumpers and started handing out tickets to those queuing in order. Now it was getting exciting!

I packed away my sleeping bag and abandoned the trusty cardboard fortress as we all got in line. Lots of hub-bub.

Best Buy Wii Queue

Best Buy Queue for the Wii, note my cardboard fortress by the truck.

According to the ticket, I was #19, excellent. In my research I had found out that all Best Buys were expecting a minimum of 15 Wii’s each and in the built up areas more like 40-50. This ticket basically guaranteed that I had Wii #19, all mine, Mr. 19. Sensible stuff from Best Buy to avoid a potential scramble inside. We all could rest easy.

Best Buy Wii Ticket

Best Buy Wii Ticket #19

We were all jumping up and down mildly both from the cold and excitement when finally at 7:am, the Best Buy staff let the first 5 people in to purchase their Wii.

Brian and I chatted deliriously to pass the time when finally it was our turn too. We stepped inside and were grateful for the warmth of the store. Upstairs we went and chose our accessories first on the table laid out in front of us.

Best Buy Wii-sessories

Wii-sessories, remote controllers and ‘nunchuck’

Then we joined the mini-queue to actually get our Wii and buy it. The Best Buy staff were calling people up one at a time and maintaining order.

Best Buy Purchasing Wii

Best Buy Staff Call the Shots, purchasing Wii’s

Then it was my turn, I was handed a Wii Box, told to choose my games and handed over my credit card. I absently mindedly accepted an offer for a Best Buy warranty, I was just keen to grab everything and get back to Osa’s place and crash. Oh well.

Finally..

Best Buy : Ka-ching!

Ka-ching!

I was the proud owner of a Wii. It felt grand and oddly rewarding for all my effort put in to get one.

I trotted back to Mulberry Street and Osa had just gotten up when I rang. I promptly crashed out hugging the Wii box to my arms (or something like that 😉 ).

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