Effort Creates Attachment (Wii Want to Play!)
My blankets are all covered in hay, but I finally have a Wii. Five years ago, the Gamecube was released and I managed to pick up a launch unit mostly by the luck of living near a low-traveled Walmart. This time, I was more prepared.
First, on Thursday, I went to buy a new TV. It is flat and shiny and 20" wide, and apparently the exact same model that is in the lounge in Stephie's suite. I didn't even notice until I dropped by Stephie's room today. So weird. But it seems like a decent TV, and it's a definite improvement over the old one.
After hearing about 30 or so people trying to wait in line for six copies of the PS3 at Walmart, we began to get nervous. Stephie and I had originally decided to wait together for the Wii starting at about 8 or 10AM on Saturday, but we figured we'd better check to see if there was a line already--so we planned to head out and look after Stephie's last class at 5:30PM on Friday. Right before Stephie arrived, Rachael randomly IMed me about how soon the Wii was coming out, so I invited her to join us, and she did. When we got there about 6:15PM, there were already eight people in line ahead of us, so we decided we'd better join up right then.
Now, Walmart didn't want us "getting in customers' way", so we got shoved into their greenhouse area, full of straw bales and pallets. The firstcomers had already turned half of the hay bales into a fort, so we staked out one corner on the high ground and spread out the one blanket I brought. It was already cold, so Stephie ran back to campus to pick up the rest of my blankets and (I think) a few of hers. At the very least, it must be said of Walmart that they brought us a huge jug of hot water, hot chocolate mix, and marshmallows.
Thus entrenched, and well-equipped with our GBAs, DSes, and Pokemon cards, we began to wait--but not before berating Keith into joining us at about 8:30PM, as the 13th (or so) person.
Of course, many of the Nintendo fans had Nintendo DSes of their own, so we managed to play an eight-player game of Tetris DS and a six-player multi-cart game of Mario Kart. Some other fellows brought small TVs and an SNES and a Dreamcast, for more gaming goodness, and there was a game of Risk and a game of Monopoly, as well as a few hands of poker.
We met a guy named Phil, the first one in line, who claimed to be incredibly good at Pokemon Puzzle League. This certainly intregued Stephie and I, so we'll have to play with him at some point. Stephie played Elite Beat Agents (a DS game) with him for awhile and liked it so much that she ran into the store to buy her own copy.
By the rules we came up with in line, we got hour-long breaks to eat, refresh ourselves, and whatnot. Phil cleverly brought paper and pencil with him, so we knew who was where in line. Walmart's management also let us stay inside the unused double doors during the wee hours of the morning that they are normally locked, which was warmer (but not warm enough), bright, on hard floor, and full of humming machines--meaning Stephie got no sleep and the rest of us got hardly any. (The four of us ended up cuddling up together back in the hay when morning came and napping a bit better then) We started discouraging people from joining the line once we hit the twenty confirmed units in the store. Throughout the day, management said they may or may get up to nine more, but those never materialized. A goodly number of people walked away disappointed. The hay really played havoc with Keith's and my allergies, and by Saturday afternoon it got to the point that Keith stood outside in the wind rather than staying in with the doom particles.
At about 7PM Saturday night we were led inside after being admonished to be quiet and respectful of "the customers" and lined up outside layaway, which was at least decently warm and full of breathable air. At about 10:30PM, they finished making little tickets based on our line, let us go, and told us to be sure to be back by midnight. (No need to worry about that!) The four of us went back to campus to shower, then we carpooled back for the final stretch...
Stephie bought Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Keith and Rachael got Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, and I picked up The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Initial Impressions: Quite positive. We're still working on perfecting the procedure for temporarily using a Wiimote on somebody else's machine, but I'm sure we'll figure it out sooner or later. One amusing but mildly disturbing feature is that the message board automatically keeps a log of how much time you've spent playing any particular game or puttering in one of the Wii channels. Was it worth the experience? Yes, but the experience was worth the experience. To a gamer, the ritual of a console launch can be utterly rewarding.
If you happen to have a Wii, my Wii Number is: 1765-7420-3578-2257
Randomly, two girls visited my room while I was out at a group meeting and while Stephie was playing Twilight Princess this afternoon. They left when they discovered I wasn't there and didn't even leave their names... I tried to think of who all they might be and showed Stephie a handful of pictures from Facebook, but none of them matched. If it was you, leave me a note, okay? Why didn't they leave me a note on my message board? :(
First, on Thursday, I went to buy a new TV. It is flat and shiny and 20" wide, and apparently the exact same model that is in the lounge in Stephie's suite. I didn't even notice until I dropped by Stephie's room today. So weird. But it seems like a decent TV, and it's a definite improvement over the old one.
After hearing about 30 or so people trying to wait in line for six copies of the PS3 at Walmart, we began to get nervous. Stephie and I had originally decided to wait together for the Wii starting at about 8 or 10AM on Saturday, but we figured we'd better check to see if there was a line already--so we planned to head out and look after Stephie's last class at 5:30PM on Friday. Right before Stephie arrived, Rachael randomly IMed me about how soon the Wii was coming out, so I invited her to join us, and she did. When we got there about 6:15PM, there were already eight people in line ahead of us, so we decided we'd better join up right then.
Now, Walmart didn't want us "getting in customers' way", so we got shoved into their greenhouse area, full of straw bales and pallets. The firstcomers had already turned half of the hay bales into a fort, so we staked out one corner on the high ground and spread out the one blanket I brought. It was already cold, so Stephie ran back to campus to pick up the rest of my blankets and (I think) a few of hers. At the very least, it must be said of Walmart that they brought us a huge jug of hot water, hot chocolate mix, and marshmallows.
Thus entrenched, and well-equipped with our GBAs, DSes, and Pokemon cards, we began to wait--but not before berating Keith into joining us at about 8:30PM, as the 13th (or so) person.
Of course, many of the Nintendo fans had Nintendo DSes of their own, so we managed to play an eight-player game of Tetris DS and a six-player multi-cart game of Mario Kart. Some other fellows brought small TVs and an SNES and a Dreamcast, for more gaming goodness, and there was a game of Risk and a game of Monopoly, as well as a few hands of poker.
We met a guy named Phil, the first one in line, who claimed to be incredibly good at Pokemon Puzzle League. This certainly intregued Stephie and I, so we'll have to play with him at some point. Stephie played Elite Beat Agents (a DS game) with him for awhile and liked it so much that she ran into the store to buy her own copy.
By the rules we came up with in line, we got hour-long breaks to eat, refresh ourselves, and whatnot. Phil cleverly brought paper and pencil with him, so we knew who was where in line. Walmart's management also let us stay inside the unused double doors during the wee hours of the morning that they are normally locked, which was warmer (but not warm enough), bright, on hard floor, and full of humming machines--meaning Stephie got no sleep and the rest of us got hardly any. (The four of us ended up cuddling up together back in the hay when morning came and napping a bit better then) We started discouraging people from joining the line once we hit the twenty confirmed units in the store. Throughout the day, management said they may or may get up to nine more, but those never materialized. A goodly number of people walked away disappointed. The hay really played havoc with Keith's and my allergies, and by Saturday afternoon it got to the point that Keith stood outside in the wind rather than staying in with the doom particles.
At about 7PM Saturday night we were led inside after being admonished to be quiet and respectful of "the customers" and lined up outside layaway, which was at least decently warm and full of breathable air. At about 10:30PM, they finished making little tickets based on our line, let us go, and told us to be sure to be back by midnight. (No need to worry about that!) The four of us went back to campus to shower, then we carpooled back for the final stretch...
Stephie bought Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Keith and Rachael got Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, and I picked up The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Initial Impressions: Quite positive. We're still working on perfecting the procedure for temporarily using a Wiimote on somebody else's machine, but I'm sure we'll figure it out sooner or later. One amusing but mildly disturbing feature is that the message board automatically keeps a log of how much time you've spent playing any particular game or puttering in one of the Wii channels. Was it worth the experience? Yes, but the experience was worth the experience. To a gamer, the ritual of a console launch can be utterly rewarding.
If you happen to have a Wii, my Wii Number is: 1765-7420-3578-2257
Randomly, two girls visited my room while I was out at a group meeting and while Stephie was playing Twilight Princess this afternoon. They left when they discovered I wasn't there and didn't even leave their names... I tried to think of who all they might be and showed Stephie a handful of pictures from Facebook, but none of them matched. If it was you, leave me a note, okay? Why didn't they leave me a note on my message board? :(