Gamers Line Up To Get Their Hands On Nintendo Wii
Posted November 19, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Nintendo’s latest toy is cheaper, smaller, and less fancy than its competitors, but it hasn’t stopped diehard ‘gamers’ from lining up just to get their hands on the new Wii.
In Toronto, people started lining up Saturday in front of select electronics retailers where they could purchase a Wii system come first thing Sunday.
“I’ve been waiting since 9:30 last night,” said Jay Riley as he walked out with his coveted system Sunday.
Nintendo is hoping their more inexpensive alternative to the new Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 will capture a specific audience – people less interested in mind-boggling graphics and more concerned with fun, creative games that play the right way.
The Wii also boasts a unique controller that serves as everything from a virtual tennis racquet to a golf club and brings players right into the game.
“It’s a great system,” said Matthew Brown of Gaming Invasion.
“It’s amazing, innovative fun.”
And if nothing else, they’ll probably get some people that just couldn’t stand waiting in the Playstation 3 lines.
“It’s crazy, but not as bad as the Playstation 3,” said gamer Jerome Siam while waiting for his turn to enter a store.
“Why not (buy a Wii)?” seconded Riley. “PS3 would be way too hard to get.”
Playstation 3 launched earlier in the week, and the madness around the highly touted new toy sparked several incidents in the U.S.
Police in California had to break up a fight at one store, in Connecticut a person was shot while waiting in line and in Wisconsin, a 19-year-old was caught in a stampede as people rushed doors.
But many weren’t necessarily deterred by the lineups. For some it was more a question of brand loyalty.
“I’ve always been a Nintendo fan, ever since I was a little kid,” said Zaheer Suteir.
The Wii system retails for $280, roughly half the cost of Sony’s lower end version of Playstation 3.
