I'd heard they were doing preorders, so I went in yesterday with a bunch of games because, due to some dumb system that they came up with, they're accepting only trade-ins toward preorders, and at least $50 worth, at that.

I was told that their preordering was meant only to be a "test run" that would lead up to a nationwide preorder drive that would start lord-knows-when. The preorder was only "until supplies last," and supplies ran out before the day was through. Stores weren't supposed to be taking anymore preorders because they couldn't guarantee that you'd get a unit. AND, they don't even know how many units they'll be getting anyway! So now I'm wondering how they came up with the stock number that they were merrily handing out to customers on that "test preorder" day.

The GS guy said that the trade-in system was meant to try to avoid the Xbox 360 fiasco, in which a ton of preordered units ended up on eBay rather than actually getting played by "true" consumers. I asked if they were going to continue the "trade-in only" system, and he said it all depends on whatever the data from the test run says. But, he said, the trade-in thing seemed to be pretty successful. (So says a guy who probably has a ton of stuff to trade in, as opposed to someone like me, whose only games she has are ones that she wants to KEEP.)

Yeah, so. Any thoughts?

My friend, a GS employee, was telling me about this. GameStop as a whole really confuses me.

Even if I was interested in pre-ordering, I wouldn't scrounge up game trade-ins to do so--like you, I tend to buy games I plan to keep. I'd much rather go to another store that accepts cash, and doesn't pressure me to buy things I don't want or need to boot.

Gamestop is stupid, but at least they seem to have learned.  I bet the numbers available to the test-run in Hawaii were extremely low.  Nintendo has supposedly already started manufacturing Wiis, said something about a million ready for November and it is only launching in the US that whole month---I think you might have a good chance getting one that Sunday.  The only catch are those that get started on Christmas shopping earlier than the day after Thanksgiving, and that Sunday is the week of Thanksgiving, but I still feel confident.

I intend on going to Wal-Mart early on 11/19 and picking one up.  I'm certain as November approaches we'll be hearing more about how Nintendo's launch will go, but it seems to me that the US-focused launch is because they intend on getting as many people as possible a chance to own a Wii to counter yet another botched Sony release.

Ugh.
I'm preordering a Wii online as soon as I get the chance.
I don't ever sell my games, and I sure as heck don't practically give them away to GameSlop to resell at a 100%-500% markup. :(

There was a huge crapstorm over this over here.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119592

Of course, most of the people there are more jaded than anyone I've ever seen, ever... so take the outcry with a grain of salt. :)

Preordered through Amazon during their brief window of opportunity a few days ago.  Though I might still wait in line at my 24-hour Wal-Mart, and throw the other on eBay... who knows.

Yeah, that's completely bullshit. GameStop is trying to force trade-ins because they keep all money from the resale. With the sale of a new $50 game, a fair percentage goes back to the publisher they bought it from. The cash from a $45 used game, however, they don't have to share with anyone. That's one of the reasons companies like Sony are so hot over the idea of digitally-downloaded games: no resale.

Another thing - my friend who's a GS employee informed me of a 'rental' system available to employees wherein any game not maxed out on preorders can be checked-out, library-style, indefinitely. They take it home, play the snot out of it until they tire of it for free, bring it back, and sell it to the consumer as new-and-unused. From those so very dedicated to the consumer's rights, it sure seems like a raw deal.

schala - you're living in hawaii, I've heard that only gamestops/eb games in hawaii are doing that.
gamestops normally do not let you preorder PS3 and WII yet.

No GameStops/EBs where I live are taking pre-orders yet, but if they want trade-ins for a pre-order they can suck me.  I'm planning to camp with some buddies outside BBY anyway, but I wanted to get a pre-order as a backup.

I don't think I've ever bought a console at release. I tend to wait until prices go down and so it will be with the Wii.

Yeah, I've never bought a game system at release either. It was just the thought that Twilight Princess was going to be a launch game that pushed me to want to preorder a Wii. I'd figured TP was going to be optimized for the Wii so I wanted to get the most innovative experience possible, heh.

But now I think I'll end up delaying my purchase of a Wii. After all, it's not like I'm hurting for games to play.

And Isabela, yeah, I heard later that they were doing the preorder test only in Hawaii. Which I think is kind of weird just because of the size (and isolation) of the market here.

Metal Slug Anthology will have all six games...that just makes me want a Wii more. And a new Zelda...and the console of course.

I might just see if there's some cheaper way of getting it online (coupons, etc)...

=Joshua

Yeah... and I do want Twilight Princess... On the other hand, it's hard to say which system the game will be more enjoyable on. My Gamecube does feel pretty neglected lately. Maybe I should throw it a bone...

I think the Wii version wins out for me because it comes out a month sooner and supports widescreen and I basically want the Wii anyway.

If I ever feel like throwing my GCN a bone I'll finally play Lego Star Wars 2.

Price isn't really my issue when it comes to systems.  I'd drop (or try to drop) the outrageous $600 for PS3 if MGS4 was a day one title.  Thank goodness it's not and that's $600 I don't have to spend for at least a year (by which time the PS3 should be cheaper).  So far, I have only bought the following systems at launch: N64, NGC, XB, and DS.  Of those, I probably didn't need to get the Xbox, DS, or NGC at launch, but I would've ended up buying all of them before any price cuts happened, so it wouldn't have made a difference in either way.

PSP, however is a different story for me.  It's probably the first system I've really been price sensitive about.  I own two PSP games and I want to get a third, but I guess I don't want to play any of those games badly enough to justify the $200 price of the PSP.  Plus, I keep hearing rumors of a new model and I guess I can wait.  Oh well.