U.S Report: Wii Launches with a Bang (News)

GamePro staff, GamePro

21/11/2006 09:23:37

Thousands of eager Nintendo fans lined up and around Toys R Us in Times Square in anticipation of a midnight launch of the company's new video game console, Wii. The lines stretched from the mega-store's 7th Ave entrance all the way around 44th and 45th streets where consumers had set up camp as early as Friday to secure an early spot on line.

Confident Nintendo fans boasted that the Wii would dominate Sony and Microsoft this holiday season and return the company to its former glory of the Eighties and Nineties. Said Edward, 20, from Brooklyn: "Everyone's getting a Wii, they just don't know it yet."

Nintendo plans to ship four million units globally by year's end. Many fans in line brought along their Nintendo DS and PSP handhelds to pass the time with multiplayer sessions utilizing wireless connections. Others got comfortable with futons and blow-up couches.

In sharp contrast to the Sony PS3 launch, which was marred by violence and shortages, Nintendo went to great lengths to provide a safe and organized launch. A crew of thirty Nintendo staff members patrolled the lines handing out wristbands to guarantee a purchase. Nintendo even provided fans who braved the cold with free Wii hats, seat cushions and t-shirts.

When the clock struck zero, one might have mistaken the Time Square scene for New Year's Eve when puffs of confetti blasted into the air and security began to usher eager fans into the store to buy their Wii's.

Toward the end of the night, Nintendo's launch event went off largely without a hitch. "It's been a quiet night," said one NYPD officer.

Some New Yorkers still didn't understand all the hoopla, though. One bewildered man, passing through the dense crowds of people lining up to play virtual tennis just shook his head and continued on his way muttering, "Only in New York..."