Live from Nintendo's Wii launch in New York
By Paul Miller 
posted Nov 18th 2006 11:15PM
posted Nov 18th 2006 11:15PM
UPDATE 3: Attention, folks, Reggie has been spotted. We love the big guy, and the very privilege of watching him play a bit of Wii Sports baseball has us shaking in our little blogger boots. He was upstairs at the Toys "R" Us Wii display, so we got some pics of that too, all of which can be spied after the break. One hour to go!
And here we are. To accompany the intense amount of Wii insanity, Times Square is its regular ol' bizzy self on a Saturday night.
You, friend, are a nerd. FTW!
We can hardly wait!
The few, the proud, the insane. Here we are at the front of the line.
Isian Triforce Johnson, a member of Empire Arcadia here was first in line, started his campin' at 9PM this Thursday. Yes, he legally changed his middle name to Triforce. Yes, we think that's pretty awesome.
The nearest we've seen of violence here tonight was these guys and their intense Mario Kart battles. Oh, and that PSP fanboy in the back gets some dirty stares now and then, other than that it's stayed pretty clean.
"Segwii"
Naturally, the little kid was kicking the other guy's ass.
Joystiq's own Chris Grant throwing up the Wii gang sign.
Rocking it old school.
We knew Mario had a brother named Luigi, but who knew Luigi was a brutha?
We can't really read that, but if you can, more power to ya'.
After explaining that you need very little motion to control the Wii, Reggie proceeded to do very not that.
Fun Reggie fact: he plays best while using his own Mii avatar.
Poor Link, sitting here all alone. "Why don't you love me Reggie?" he says.
So...? o_O
That doesn't stop people from being excited over the launch, now does it? Also, if you got your ps3 a week ago and didn't sell it on ebay for like 50,000 $$$ then -you're- an idiot.
I'm torn right now my wal mart may, or may not have enough units in and i don't have the MONEY RIGHT NOW! My mom was kind enough to lend me her credit card (lol now I sound like a kid, I'm 19) but she won't go to the midnight release... and I need her signature... damn it. I hope there's some tomorrow morning.
I am really thinking about getting one of these!
http://www.laptopbatteryclub.com/
Well were all not as lucky as you Roy.
like, seriously, they spelled unleashed wrong on the big countdown clock
Glad I'm not the only one to notice that!
haha, yah, mii too. haha.
I looked up 'unleased' to make sure it isn't an alternate way of writing unleashed....
What about the Los Angeles Launch event at Universal City Walk? I'm going to a Tenacious D concert there tonight so I'm already gonna be there. Are they going to start selling them at midnight there? I hope so. Then that will make tonight the most tasty event of the year so far. The D and Wii in one evening, almost too much for one man to handle.
I am really thinking about getting one of these!
Its sweet!
"like, seriously, they spelled unleashed wrong on the big countdown clock"
Wow! So they did.
I hope that thing is one giant LCS screen and not just a glowing plastic thing with a clock in the middle. Lots of news crews looking; it'll be the laughing stalk/stock/whatever of the industry!
5,000, eh?
I hate to imagine the riots if they only have 5.
Then again, there actually are a sane number of Wiis...
this is one awesome night to remember yes im in line in vestal ny yeah
Dude! That's awesome!!! I was just in Vestal NY today! Was at Binghamton College for a conference. Good luck getting the Wii!
hahahahhaha "unleased" you know !!! hahah idiots..
Kind of expected to see everyone in the line playing multiplayer DS-lite games to pass the time, but I can't see a single one in those shots... what kind of Nintendo fanboys are these?
*talkin' 'bout Empire Arcadia*
Have you ever noticed that only Arturo, PC Chris & Wyldflower are the only persons in the whole list that actually look like normal not-obsessed people? The other ones look like freaks w/o social life...
Ha, the next batch of photos busted my previous comment about the lack of DS gamers... Hope that Segway went in for its recall so that it won't suddenly knock its rider/wii/tv off midway down the line!
Did you see Eric Cartman in line? or is he still in the future?
Haha, I was thinking the same thing (Even started worrying I'd freeze myself down last week - still a while 'til we get the Wii in Norway).
All of you that now own a Wii: F**k you! I want one :(
They spelled it wrong.. the official countdown of the Wii.. I so trust Nintendo not to make any mistakes on the console!!
I will give them credit for having more launch units than the PS3.
Wow. What a complete and totally retarded comment. So you think the advertising people who built this banner have ANYTHING to do with the console? Run home fanboi. Run home and pitch a fit to mama.
I think they were trying to combine Released and Unleashed. It sorta works if you think about it like that, but it is still a bit of a stretch.
LoL @ the black dude dressed as Luigi.
"LoL @ the black dude dressed as Luigi."
That's Leroy, not Luigi.
Is it just me, or does it seem like there are like, ten times as many people in line for the Wii as the PS3, and yet none of the violence and hostility.
Heck, I don't recall there being ANY mention of people getting together with their PSPs while waiting in line for the PS3. There was one actual picture of people playing on their DS, though there were probably plenty of others who had done the same thing, just not while the camera happened to be on them.
What is the source of this gaping chasm of civility? I'm honestly curious. Is it purely due to the intentionally limited release of the PS3? Were the riots perhaps staged by Sony in the hopes of generating more hype?
Is there perhaps something inherently more mature about the attitude of the Nintedo/Wii fan vs the Playstation/PS3 fan? Or is it just simply a pathetic, yet vocal minority of annoying PS3 fans who are spoiling it for the relatively normal majority, and there's actually no major difference between either fanbase?
Perhaps We simply haven't gotten far enough in the timeline to know that there won't be any riots, though from the people I've talked to, nobody that intended to get the Wii seemed to be expressing any concerns about being able to get one, if not on the release date, then soon after.
Whatever the answer, it's definitely food for thought.
PS: OMG! Segway Wii! It's the SegWii! That's seriously so cool.
This is very simple: Nintendo games has less violence, the target of nintendo is families, children and peaceful people :o)
Its probably cause we (or should i say wii) Nintendo gamers will buy the system to actually play it. People who are buying the PS3 just seem to be greedy punks looking for a way to get rich quick via ebay. That's just my two cents, I guess.
These huge lines dont seem so bad at all.
Lol! look at that gameboy colour!! i haven't seen them in ages, good to see them back.
Those Wii trucks seem liket they're from a Wii game.
I know exactly why he has one too. It covers all the games that the DS no longer supports and it's all of $10 at EB games are wherever you can find them.
You tell em' John! That guy is complete and total retard. Good for him that he's exited about the wii and not the PS3(hopefully), but still. Whatever. Man, I don't know if i'll even get a wii on Christmas! :( Boo Hoo
OF COURSE the quality of the advertising/message and the console quality are related! The same company buy both, don't they? If they can't get a banner right, how will they get the console right? The same people hire both, OK, not the same guy, but the same company hire the ad agency, as hire the engineers, the plastic contractor, the electrical contractors, etc.
This is a total gaff! What, it's not worth spell-check?
No thats not Leroy, its the new culturally diverse and politically sensitive LuWiigi.
does that billboard say "unleased" haha.
Hey, looks as if Reggie hit a home run there. Thats one more home run than all the nerds standing in the queue outside will ever hit ;)
I love people who can't spell when it comes to big events. Come on, that's just amusing!
lol, i havent seen a gbc in forever....
*turns and looks at bedside. oh wait, i saw one today. ds is for losers old school ftw!
Ill buy a Wii once im able to demo it, so after my neighbor buys one.
I want a Wii beanie! :[
Looks like a lot of fun.
Forget the Wii Beanie, I'll take a SegWii with a side order of fries please.
Oh, well sure like to be there right now... too bad it gonna be released here in December on Australia and Asia... I Wish some Filipino there who will buy that will bring it here... So I can Buy it!!!! waaah! But I have plenty of reasons that it will happen just very expensive! Well, More power to ya! it's very nice of nintendo to release 7,000 units rather than sony who release how many? 700? and no more struggling even if you're the 7000th customer hahaha...
I just noticed Christ Grant. He's cool. He scored me a free Joystiq t-shirt, lol.
I've paid for my reserved system at EBGames so they won't sell it out from under me. I'll pick it up tomorrow, but the kids don't know about it and it will sit under the Christmas tree until the 25th.
My question is, will they need therapy when they grow up because I made them wait??
Or will they somehow stumble upon this thread before then and just ruin it all?? That would not be good.
The Wii is finally coming! The wait is almost over. PS3 is going down! :)
i dedicate this to the geniuses who thought the Wii wouldn't have lineups like the PS3.
So the Wii gets better games and it's cheaper... hmmm.. oh yeah, and there's more available launch day... which one to pick...
I was at a small realease in Rochester MN where only 30 units were there HAHA 7,000 thats sweet
we got egged in out wii waiting line in Pittsburgh tonight, at a target :( no good
so when is www.smashmywii.com coming?
actually each street block is 1/20 of a mile, and the avenue blocks are about 1/6 of a mile. That's still a long line ... but if they have that many in stock, I suppose that's the place to go to find one tomorrow. Thanks Engadget!
JTLYK, the pics came out really fuzzy, but you guys prolly know that already.
I got to play a Wii today (okay, technically yesterday) at the local GameStop, and I have to say, it was pretty fun, but a little too sensitive for my taste. I was playing Excite Truck.
Don't forget, this is a completely new control style you're getting used to. I know it took me a couple weeks to get used to the sensitivity of the joystick on racing games when I first began playing them.
Actually, a short block in NYC is 1/20 of a mile and long blocks vary, but that one is 1/6 of a mile. So the line is about 0.43 miles long. Does that change your arithmetic?
I have to wonder wether it was Nintendo's work or if it was Toys 'r' us' work. Also, Nintendo Japan, designed the console, and I would assume Nintendo of America directed the NYC launch...