14 DAY TRIAL // The Wii has again started to play hard-to-get with customers, so Nintendo and GameStop's management implemented this rain check program for people who buy an out-of-stock Wii after December 20th, 2007. Basically, you'll receive a "rain check" certificate, guaranteeing you'll have a Wii on your hands before the end of January.
Why is this offer available only through GameStop? Because "they have the ability to track specific purchases and where shoppers go in terms of specific stores," reckons Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America President. "As you can expect, the way the system needs to work is certificates need to be matched to Wiis and individual stores, and only this retailer can do it."
He added: "We're working with all of our retailers to make sure that every last available system hits stores for the holidays. But we expect no slowdown after the end of the year. There are temptations for consumers to pay more than they want to to resellers. If you can hold out a little bit longer, there will be more and more products available in January; we are not slowing down."
Well, we're guessing you're not, after all, it's not just the customer who wants Wiis on shelves, is it now? Nevertheless, rather than making empty promises about when Nintendo is going to meet demand, Reggie Fils Aime clearly stated that "there's no way to answer that question until [they] actually meet it." You've got to hand it to him. The man never misses when faced with answering a straight forward question like this one.
Of course, you can always go for a PS2 this holiday season. Jack Tretton hinted in an interview there's nothing it can't provide in terms of gameplay, that other systems can. Just thinking of how cheap a PS2 unit is this time around... naaa, you can't fool people who've seen Wii Sports in action. You can take a rain check on a machine, but you can't take a rain check on a wish.