Haul pics - 03 December 2006

Today is Nintendo's official launch of their Wii console (retail price: 25,000 yen) in Japan, and of course yours truly managed to snag not one, not two, but THREE Nintendo Wii consoles! How did I do it? One word - Preorders. Actually I placed my preorder for two consoles from two home entertainment stores in my little sleepy town of Tatebayashi, and the other console was purchased at my town's biggest electronics store, Yamada Denki, about 15 minutes after the official 10am launch time without having placed any preorders or waiting in line!

Even though I placed my preorders last month when it was officially made available for preorders on 03 November at all electronics and home entertainment stores throughout Japan, I was told that there was no guarantee that I'd get one. With one preorder placed at a local home entertainment store, I head over to a nearby home entertainment store to place my preorder with them to increase my chances of getting a Wii console. So on launch date this morning, I headed over to the first store I placed my preorder with and surprisingly, they told me that anyone with their preorders placed with them will have their orders filled! After purchasing my first Wii console, I decided to visit Yamada Denki to purchase the Zelda game as they usually have the best prices at 15% off retail price. I arrived at Yamada Denki and found a staff standing at the entrance handing out reservation tickets to anyone who wants to buy a Wii console. Since my boss told me that he'd like to get a Wii console as well, I went and bought the second Wii console for the boss, then remembered that I had a preorder with another local home entertainment store nearby. The last store had enough units only to fill all customers' preorders, so I bought the third Wii console for use at my company's "entertainment room" (which is actually part of the boss' room). I then bought a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and headed back home to enjoy several hours of Wii gaming. My shoulders and wrists were exhausted after the gaming session.

Click here to check out the pics.