Well Doc I would assume the Wii would be one of those systems assumed hard-to-get. The portable systems from Nintendo were never expected for that to happen.

PsychoGiga: Why not just play it for the GameCube?

Break, it makes sense that the pink DS-s would be getting sold out. People are buying Christmas gifts for their 12-year-olds.

...Your legs got numb from cold at 30?

COSSACK HAS VICTORY CONDITIONS!

After 63 days of searching around, I finally managed to score a Wii. I believe this is a tale worth telling.

On waking up on Sunday morning, the January 21, I learned that the Toys'R'Us stores in Quebec all had at least 20 Wii consoles by store available on Saturday morning. I had no chance to go there on the day itself, and by looking at the shortages, I thought that there was no way that they could still have any in stock, 24 hours later. From what various people told me in the last two months, whenever some consoles show up, they sold out within minutes. Still, I decided to phone in to the two stores somewhat close to home.

The first Toys'R'Us I tried gave me the expected answer: we're all out. The second one, however, was another story. By chatting with the staff there, I learned that they received 30 consoles to sell on Saturday, and that they sold 28 of them during the day. Someone also picked up a unit right after the opening on the next morning, and as such they exactly had one unit left. I pleaded for them to keep it aside for me, that I could be there within an hour, etc. Nothing could do: they didn't take reservations. They also told me that it might still be there if I decided to try and get there, but that the chances were slim. I thought: meh, why not? If this doesn't work, I can still check on the other stores around. And so I got in the car.

When I walked in front of the store, the first thing I noticed was the several sheets of paper on the doors saying: "Sorry, we have no Wii consoles on sale. Saturday January 20." That was obviously a lie, since they received 30! I pressed forward, headed to the section dedicated to video games, and saw a single Wii box (a real one, not one of the annoying demos) behind the counter. There was a sign above said counter with the message: "Sorry, we don't have any Wii consoles." Just when I was about to get the attention of a clerk about it, a woman was asking them about "if [they had] any Wii models in stock", to which they declined. Right after she started walking away, I went on: "I heard that you still had some of these consoles this morning... Is that true?". He turned around, grabbed the box, put it in front of me and said: "That's my last one." Score!

The only explanation I can make out of this? While they said they couldn't put it aside for me, they did it anyway and waited to see if I would have shown up. Obviously, they could have sold the thing later in the day anyway, so it wasn't a lost sale at all. Talk about being lucky....