Crowds gather to buy Nintendo's Wii

November 19th, 2006, 05:09 Posted By: gunntims0103

news via today.reuter

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - More than 1,500 die-hard Nintendo fans, some of whom camped out overnight, eagerly awaited the Sunday release of the company's Wii video game console, the latest entrant in the $30 billion global game market.

At the Times Square Toys "R" Us in New York, where a midnight(0500 GMT) launch party was planned, a line of approximately 1,000 gamers snaked around the block on Saturday.

More than 500 enthusiasts gathered for the West Coast release at the GameStop store at Hollywood's Universal City Walk.
Game Console Wars
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The video game industry's own clash of the titans reboots this week with the midnight launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 and Sunday's debut of Nintendo's Wii.
Full coverage

"We have enough product to satisfy the demand that's anticipated," Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime told Reuters.

Instead of trying to steal hard-core gamers from Microsoft and Sony, which have already released the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, Nintendo hopes to expand the traditionally male video game audience by luring new players.

Nintendo priced the Wii at $250, compared with the $600 premium PS3 and the $400 top-end Xbox 360.

The Kyoto-based Nintendo Co. Ltd., which created video game characters Super Mario and Donkey Kong, has hooked girls and seniors with its "Nintendogs" pet training games and its "Brain Age" cognitive fitness title for its hand-held DS machine that is a break-out hit.

The device offers touch-screen and voice recognition capabilities that allow users to "pet" and speak commands to their dog or to write and speak answers to brain teasers.

Nintendo has taken a similar approach with the Wii.

'MAKES YOU FEEL IN THE GAME'

The console's computing power is dwarfed by the Xbox 360 and the PS3. And the Wii does not offer the lifelike, high-definition graphics its bigger rivals boast.

Still, the Wii has captivated cynical gamers with its one-handed, motion-sensitive controller that lets users simulate fishing, playing tennis or shooting a bow and arrow.
Game Console Wars
Photo

The video game industry's own clash of the titans reboots this week with the midnight launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 and Sunday's debut of Nintendo's Wii.
Full coverage

"That's what makes you feel in the game," said Sergio Gonzalez, 18, who along with friends Anton Stockton and Tulgat Vandandorj, has been at the front of the Wii line at a Los Angeles Best Buy since Friday afternoon.

Gonzalez and his buddies say they will not flip their Wiis on Internet auction site eBay.com -- where people are selling reserved Wiis at an average price of $605, according to eBay Market Research.

Waiting in line in Times Square, 17-year-old Xavier Herrera had the same plan: "I'm playing it tonight."

People who got their hands on the PS3 early also sold the system on eBay, reeling in more than four times its retail price.

Nintendo expects to ship 4 million Wii consoles globally by December 31, double the number of PS3s expected by year end.

Nintendo's last console, the GameCube, sold 21 million units globally to land in third place, behind Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox. The company sold 11 million GameCubes in the United States and intends to double that number with the Wii.

Video game analyst David Cole, president of DFC Intelligence, said Nintendo is offering a one-two punch at launch with its games "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" and "Wii Sports."

"I'm a 'Zelda' fan. I have to get 'Zelda'," said Isaiah Johnson, 29, first in line at Times Square.

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