Quark

Wii Sports is killing me. Rayman even more so. But yeah, I didn't get why people were throwing Wiimotes at TVs and jumping around, until I finally PLAYED THAT DARN THING! Obviously Wii Sports can't be played while sitting down - blasphemy! Zelda and the Shooters are okay while sitting, but even Red Steel felt so immersive when actually standing up. And my right arm is just gone - yesterday, I tried a 3-player Tennis match for the first time, and I just got kicked because I couldn't even lift my arm anymore, it hurt too much. As with everything that requires training, I will probably not have a problem anymore once I'm through this, but boy does it hurt...

I went into the other Gamestation in Reading yesterday to ask about cables - no estimate yet. But I noticed that they had a HUGE pile of spare remotes (remote only! not with Wii Play, which they also had loads of), which is the first time I've actually see them. Game and everyone else didn't have any at that point, and Game had previously also only allowed one of them to be sold, and only together with a console. I have the feeling that some of that stuff was distributed pretty unevenly, and that no cables whatsoever were either manufactured or shipped (apart from the odd one that is now being flogged on eBay for 70 quid, god knows where they came from). Seeing that there is a shortage of Component cables everywhere in the world, that Europe launched last, and is a bit behind when it comes to HDTV, I think it's fair to assume that a lot of shipments are currently going to the US or stay in Japan. Can't even blame them for that, but a few RGB cables would've been nice...

Although it's not my "setup", I think this result is pretty good considering that all accessories are in *very* limited supply. Apart from cables, I now have everything I need. And one of those little beauties is leaving me again, but everything else is now spread out over the living room floor, torn apart.

Right, Gamestation this morning seemed to have a lot of Wii Plays (a lot = more than one, no idea how many), but not a single stand-alone remote - they said I should come back on Sunday for them. Ended up buying two Wii Plays by accident because I thought one of them was only the controller. Was a bit frantic, but I guess that's the best way of getting a controller, and a 5£ "early delivery charge" isn't too bad either My Gamestation also said that their shipment was stuck in a container in Dover - it looks like Gamestation's entire batch is held up, but that only seems to affect this particular chain. They said they might be getting their Wii Plays today, but don't have a clue about the individual remotes. Anyone heard of component cables and RGB cables? There weren't even mentioned at the launches I was at, and I consequently forgot about them. Didn't see them either.

Game were the only ones selling Wii Play - and as far as I know, Wii Play also is the only way of getting at extra remotes at the moment. By accident, I picked up two Wii Plays instead of one Wii Play and one Wiimote - now I'm glad I did, otherwise I wouldn't have had any.

Right - just back from Game, and I just went past all the Wiis other people were running for (after all, I was at the midnight launch elsewhere) and just grabbed everything else on the shelves. I tricked the clueless sales assistant into selling me two Wii Plays - more or less coincidence, but anyway. Also got two more nunchucks and the only (!) classic controller they had. They had initially said no extra controllers or nunchucks for anyone. Couldn't care less. All I am missing now is one more pair of remote/nunchucks and a component/RGB cable. I think I'm leaving that for now and will periodically check before christmas... The whole accessory problem has been a bit of a shambles, though. Apparently, no one in the UK is getting spare remotes until at least Sunday. So far, that seems to be true - Game were the only ones having some, but only in Wii Play, and Asda, Tesco and Gamestation didn't have any - neither remotes, nor Wii Plays.

The verdict on launch night is in, and it doesn't look too rosy - my Gamestation had 28 Wiis, all on pre-order (I was No. 8). They had roughly an equal amount of Zeldas and a bit fewer Red Steels and COD 3s. Then there was a handful of those two racing games and that's about it. I saw someone walking out with a Super Monkey Ball, but there must have been only two or so. What's annoying is that there were NO spare remotes on sale whatsoever. Apparently, some crate got stuck in Dover. There was no Wii Play either. Only a few nunchucks - pretty useless without remote. And their 4 classic controllers were obviously swooped up by other preorderers before I arrived. I then checked ASDA and Tesco - and they didn't have ANYTHING Wii-related. No consoles, no accessories, no games. The night shift manager was pretty p*ssed off, because apparently he was waiting for his own Wii too. And at Tesco they said that I was No. 50 asking, and that they had turned a way a lot of disappointed people that had queued up. Something is going pretty badly at the moment - both Tesco and ASDA not having ANYTHING is outright ridiculous. I would have expected some shortages here and there, and no consoles on sale, but not even *any* games? If anyone wants to stuck up on Wii accessories like cables, spare remotes, Wii Play etc. I would STRONGLY recommend going to your local Gamestation or Game tomorrow morning when they open, preordered console or not - you might end up with a Wii, no games, and no controllers....

I love it. I'm from Germany, we never had anything like that there - shops have to close at 8pm. Actually considering going down a bit early, but then again it's cold, it's windy, it's not a very nice area and I might actually get mugged. So, on second thought, I think I'll still show up there at 11:45 After all, my preorder was confirmed - it'd be different if I was going to HMV London...

By the way, I saw my local Gamestation taking the discs out of a HUGE pile of Zelda boxes yesterday. Must have been at least 20-30. Considering it's a small one in a Blockbuster, I was quite surprised. Only saw 4(!) boxes of that racing game that escapes me right now. Might actually pick up a game or two more than I thought, because I think that they will be in VERY high demand until the end of the year, not only the consoles. I'm just hoping I'll be able to get all four controllers + nunchucks I'm hoping for. Might actually do a bit of midnight shopping at ASDA and Tesco if I can't...

My Gamestation (Reading - Lower Earley) is having one, so I'm going to go there in 1 1/2 hours and grab what I can...