Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006

1800 -  After watching Navy dominate Army for the fifth straight year, my friend Kai and I went around to all the local gaming, electronics, and discount stores to try and confirm rumors that they would have Wiis on Sunday. All we got were non-committal responses such as "Check our add!" However, we were undeterred and laid our plans to come back early the next morning, going solely on tips we managed to collect off the internet. We picked Target, as it opened early at 0800, and supposedly was getting a good number in.

Sunday, Dec. 3, 2006

0415 - I wake up to a screaming alarm clock after a mere four hours of sleep. More of a nap, really, than a night's rest. Normally, I would have blown off the alarm and rolled back over, but not today. Today, I am spurred on by the chance to get my hands on a Wii! I quickly dress (three layers deep in order to combat the below-freezing temperatures outside), and make haste to the lobby of the hotel I am living at to meet Kai.

0445 - We decide to make a quick stop for some critical survival gear: Dunkin' Donuts coffee/hot chocolate and breakfast sandwiches. We discovered that this particular DD is open 24 hours, and declare that fact to be awesome.

0505 -  We arrive at the Target parking lot to discover there were several people in line already. While this was worrisome, we decided to stay as it appeared the number of people in line was less than the number of systems we heard the store was getting.

0545 - Our situation has improved somewhat, thanks to a nice lady who arrived after us that brought a few extra folding chairs she allowed us to borrow. Our spirits were also raised by the fact that by this time a guy arrived who worked at the store, and claimed they got in 33 Wiis the night before. A quick count revealed Kai and I were numbers 9 and 8 in line, respectively.

0630 - We got a little excitement when a police car arrived and the officer walked our line with a flashlight. Turns out a local Dunkin' Donuts (a different one than the one Kai and I stopped at earlier) had been robbed moments before, and he was looking for the culprit. Of course, every other person in our line had a DD coffee cup in their hands! Oh well, at least we all had alibis...

0700 -  The store manager and a crew of his people arrive to hand out tickets to all of us waiting in line. Once we get our tickets, we are guaranteed a system when the store opens! So, with tickets in hand, Kai and I head back to our hotel in order to warm up. Elapsed waiting time out in the cold: >2 hours.

0800 - We pull back in just as the store opens. There are two distinct groups in the parking lot: there is a group of people clustered around the doors, and the group of people that were waiting in line with us earlier that are clustered in a gaggle in the parking lot. Looked like there were going to be a few disappointed shoppers...

0810 -  Kai and I leisurely made our way back to the electronics section, where we got our systems and games. Interestingly, they pulled out all copies of Zelda they had and stacked them next to the system. Apparently, they actually paid enough attention to know that just about everyone would want a copy. Unfortunately, they had no extra controllers/nunchucks.

Overall, I think Kai and I managed to play this one pretty well. We were able to secure our systems while managing to minimize our exposure to the cold weather. I must say, the Target deserves a lot of credit for keeping the whole thing very organized and civil.

Pictures
 

This is the ticket I was handed by the Target manager. It was sort of a "Get out of line Free" card.	This is the haul. I got 4 games, and I also had to get a stand-alone R/F modulator in order to hook the system up to the ancient TV in my hotel room.	When you first pull the system out of the box, everything is in two cardboard trays  stacked on top of each other.
Here are the two trays. The one on the left has the manuals, Wii Sports, controller, and sensor bar, while the one on the right has the system and stand.	Here is all the hardware out of the box.	The system comes with 3 complete manuals, one each in English, French, and Spanish.
Here is a size comparsion between the Wiimote, GC controller, DS Lite, and GB Micro.	In this closer view of the Wiimote and Micro, you can see that the D-pads are identical, and the A/B button look pretty similar to the 1/2 button.	The analog stick on the Nunchuck is pretty much the same size as the one on the GC pad, but it only has one ring on it.

Andy Rucker