Wii Got It!

This past Friday, Best Buys in Canada were to have the Wii in stock. I debated back and forth in my head about waiting in line for several hours. After phoning at 3pm to hear that 3 people were already lined up, I gave up hope. There was no way I was going to wait 3/4 of a day outside for a game console.

With this in mind, I attended my brother’s Christmas concert and went out for donuts. It was now around 8-ish, and I figured I’d see how many people were there now…. 2! People had left! I figured it was because a wind storm was supposed to pass through that night. And if they had 11 like last time, I would have a guaranteed spot!

I rushed around the house to find a chair and some warm clothes. I arrived around 9:30 to find about 10 people there. I assumed it would only be me waiting outside, but my Mom insisted on staying, at least until midnight. I explained to her there was no point in waiting hours, leaving, then picking me back up in the morning. I told her how much they were going for on eBay. She decided to stay the night; with my little brother as well!

The line thinned out when some friends from the front left, and the guy in front of us walked away. We still didn’t have an official count on how many systems were available, but I knew I was number 8 in line. From here on out, I became extremely paranoid.

A few more joined. By now it was 11. The lady from the front explained to us that the security guard would allow us to sleep in our cars. We had to get them in line though. So we drove up in front of Best Buy, lined up our chairs in front of the store and began the wait. It was nice to not be in the rain and wind, although the car was freezing. At least I could listen to the radio, seeing as my iPod wasn’t charged in time, and my DS was dead.

Time passed slowly. For an hour, my Mom and brother wandered around the Save-On down the road.

Sometime between 11 and 12, the last of the Best Buy employees left and put out the signs with the console numbers. I didn’t wait to just jump out of the car like an idiot, so I picked up the garbage inside the vehicle and proceeded to take it to the trash bin by the sign.

28! There was 28! Holy crap! I was definitely going to get one, along with my Mom. Awesome!!

By 12:30, I was starving and decided to grab some food. Of course, the Wendy’s was closed, so I had to run about 5 blocks to the McDonald’s and walk through the drive-thru. That was awkward.

The McLady didn’t have a big plastic bag, nor a drink tray, so we stuck it all in one of their large paper bags. The bag broke once I entered the Best Buy parking lot (it was raining, remember), and there went my drink. Ugh.

At around 2-3 is when those stragglers started showing up. You know, the people who think they can have a nap and not have to wait super early like us. I hated them. Before 2 though, only 3 more cars had joined our line.

I dozed off around between 4 and 5, waking whenever I saw something pass the car. Suddenly, at 5, all those stragglers started a huge pile up behind our chairs.

I was not about to lose my spot! The lady who was behind us in line quickly jumped out there to see what was going on. I waited about 15 minutes then joined her. Even though the crowd didn’t seem to be invading our spots, I was uneasy around them. I decided I would wait outside.

And I waited. With absolutely nothing to do. For an hour. There were whispers in the line that tickets would be handed out 6, despite the sign explicitly saying 8 AM.

6 came and went. By 6:30, my Mom decided to go to the washroom at Wal-Mart. She returned around 7, and with another hour to go, I figured I’d go walk around the store as well. Walking past the Best Buy, I found cars wrapped down the road. There was probably 40+ people. Thank god I was number 8.

After taking a bathroom break, I decided to return just in case. Lucky decision. As I was walking back, my Mom phones and says “Get back here right now! They are handing out the tickets!”

After the sprint of my life, I returned to find them counting people and beginning the ticket hand out. We denied that my Mom and I were one and the same family. The lady proceeded to sell us the Extended Warranty. So much for “No Comission; No Pressure.”

Being now behind my Mom in line, she got 8 and I got 9. Yay! Success!!

From here, we went to Ricky’s for breakfast and returned to the store about 15 minutes before opening.

Tick, tock. 9. 9:01. 9:02. 9:03. Now I was getting frustrated. Oh! The doors are opening!!!

And in we went. It felt like an Apple Store opening, as two employees were clapping as we entered. They had set up a table with games and accessories near the checkouts. They even had cheap, no-name component cables! The consoles themselves were handed out to the individual checkouts to speed up the process and ensure no rushing around the hardware.

“Debit.”

“Last one; at the end.”

And that’s the tale of Wii.

I have pictures of the lineup and the console on my Flickr.