Nintendo World NYC now taking Wii pre-orders

Sure, you could've gone ahead with one of those sketchwardo Wii pre-orders from any number of fly-by-night online stores, but this here's the real deal: Nintendo is now taking Wii pre-orders at their flagship Nintendo World store in New York City for $50 a pop. They've got around 100-300 slots total, and started taking orders on Thursday, so if you want to make sure you've got a Wii in your hands come launch day, you'd best be heading over soon -- they're not taking orders over the phone. Of course, with the infinitesimal spec bumps going into the Wii, we don't foresee many production problems, so your standard-fare midnight line-up at Wal-Mart or Best Buy should produce results. But we're guessing if push comes to shove, about the last place Nintendo is going to short on the Wii action is their own NYC store, and you don't want to be the only kid in your borough not getting down with that Wiimote come 12:01 AM, November 19th.

[Raz 4 life @ Sep 16th 2006 8:12PM]

Obligatory post about "so if you want to make sure you've got a Wii in your hands come launch day" joke.

*tee hee*

[Ray @ Sep 16th 2006 8:19PM]

If only I lived in New York... WOTS is that GameStop/EB won't take preorders until the end of september at the earliest- after some managers conference or something...

[WiidAddict @ Sep 16th 2006 8:43PM]

Amazon was accepting preorders Friday morning. On the Wii page it has a sign up for notifications when it's ok to order, before Friday it had signup for Preorder notifications. I was able to get my preorder on for 4 units Friday morning, and apparently they are going to be delivered before 10/4. Ridiculous delivery date aside, I hope that the preorder is legit. Amazon also had 3 month trials of Amazon Prime so I got overnight shipping for $4 a pop. I'll be accepting preorders starting tomorrow.

[Brennan Campbell @ Sep 16th 2006 9:10PM]

is it possible to pre-reserve the Wii, Wii games, etc. at let's say........Best Buy? Because i rather pick it up myself, n wait buy Best Buy at 6-7pm on my Birthday which is the 18th.

[taakin mraji @ Sep 19th 2006 12:10AM]

THIS SONCOLE KUCS! lol:P

[Matthew Rader @ Sep 16th 2006 9:28PM]

Nintendo World Store isn't doing a midnight launch as of now.

[Raia @ Sep 16th 2006 9:47PM]

when I went today they said thay were still Undecided about a midnight event, so I guess check back with them in a few weeks or so. If they do one, I'm sooo there nurturing my dorkyness, and ushering in the new generation

[N @ Sep 16th 2006 11:18PM]

They're making A TON of these Wii consoles, double the amount of PlayStation 3s, and the Wii is less popular (at least for now). You should have no problem picking a Wii up on launch day as long as you get to your local store sometime in the morning.

[tehuberone @ Sep 17th 2006 12:07AM]

i agreee with N. nintendo said it will have 4 million consoles sold so with the PS3 only having half a mil available it is fair to say that you might wait in the Wal-Mart line just to realize that the line was pointless when there are more left after everyone in your town has gotten one. But I'll be in that line for 6 hours because im not taking any chances.

[adam @ Sep 18th 2006 9:08PM]

Nintendo world store frequently sells new releases 1 day early. Wouldnt be surprised if instead of a midnight launch, you could pick it up one day early.

[xBox killer @ Sep 17th 2006 2:58AM]

Suck this xBox!!!

[Rishard Chapoteau @ Sep 17th 2006 8:35AM]

300 actually strikes me as a low number for a major store that they own. How many are they launching with in total? I heard numbers of 750k us before, but I haven't heard anything recently.

[Scott Rubin @ Sep 17th 2006 10:53AM]

Wow, lol. I was at the NWS yesterday to place my preorder, now I wake up to see this article on Engadget. All I can say is that if you are within striking distance of NYC, this is the place to preorder. The experience will prove to be wondrous compared to what you get at your local Best Buy or Gamestop. Speaking of Gamestop, when I preordered my Wii, the employees were talking about how Gamestop is requiring trade-ins to get a preorder. That's really shady, and I definitely wouldn't go for it. I've never traded in a game in my life.

[Brian @ Sep 17th 2006 4:22PM]

To those that preordered the Wii at the Nintendo World Store, what does it say on your receipt slip? Is it supposed to say anything about the Wii? I just preordered and got a receipt saying SODEP Fee: $50.00.

[Jas @ Sep 17th 2006 4:27PM]

My receipt says the same thing. SODEP Fee. Also, I don't know why no one else is posting this, but there is no limit as of now. I was there 30 minutes before I posted this. The 100-300 slots is not true. The person I preordered from said they had no cap yet and the console was guaranteed on launch day.

[Jeff @ Sep 17th 2006 4:42PM]

Yep, I just picked up the pre-order today too... $50 for the SODEP Fee. The guy who sold it to me said they would probably have the midnight launch but to follow up Mid-October. Apparently the big party is going to be in Times Square so they might do something a little early around the Rock that night too.

[Shahryar @ Sep 18th 2006 11:02AM]

Do they still have slots available?

[Harry Wynn @ Sep 18th 2006 12:48PM]

Yes they are. I just pre-ordered 2 myself. There's still no cap on the pre-orders they're taking.

[Mark @ Sep 20th 2006 3:43PM]

I am going to be in NYC for the release weekend, but live in the Bahamas so I can't pre-order. Any ideas anyone? Think I can just go to the store on the sunday morning? Line up the night before? Or would that be pointless without a pre-order receipt?

[Mark @ Sep 20th 2006 3:48PM]

I am going to be in NYC for the release weekend, but live in the Bahamas so I can't pre-order. Any ideas anyone? Think I can just go to the store on the sunday morning? Line up the night before? Or would that be pointless without a pre-order receipt?

[Eric W @ Sep 22nd 2006 4:48PM]

I just called the NWS and they've stopped taking preorders.
The woman said they might resume taking them, and that I should call back in two weeks.
Release date stands at November 19th.
Price is $279.99.
Limit two per customer. (Pre-orders and in store).
She said she was unsure of whether their would be a Midnight release event.

[Dean @ Oct 1st 2006 10:23PM]

I was at the NYC Nintendo Store on 9/24 and they were taking pre-orders but said they still didn't know if they were having a midnight launch as Toys R Us down the street is doing a midnight thing, just so you know. They said they wouldn't know until mid October.