DSi Pre-launch Report

October 31st, 2008, 21:00 Posted By: Shrygue

via IGN


It's DS Mania all over in Japan! On the eve of the DSi's launch, IGN took a tour of Tokyo's biggest retailers and came to one conclusion: the DSi is going to be pretty much impossible to come by Saturday morning if you haven't already pre-ordered.

The same thing could be said about the DS Lite a couple of years back, of course. But the big difference is the whole "pre-order" bit. While major retailers like Bic Camera and Yodobashi Camera didn't taking pre-orders for the DSLite, most of the Bics and Yodobashis we checked had been taking pre-orders and weren't planning on holding same-day sales.

The key phrase here is "had been taking." We couldn't find a single shop that was still open to pre-orders.

We've also read some reports indicating that DSi pre-orderers went quickly -- in a matter of days at a major Sofmap shop in Shinjuku, and in a matter of minutes at Amazon.com.

So does all this pre-order business mean you won't be able to turn your browsers to Famitsu.com and the like tomorrow to see pictures of Japanese people waiting in line? While many of the shops that are normally featured in the line-up reports at those sites are pre-order only and won't have lines, we did find a couple of shops, including the Asobit City shop in Akihabara, that are line-up only.

The Bic Camera in Yurakucho, which you might remember as the location of some of the uglier scenes during the PS3 launch, is doing both pre-order and same day sales. The pre-orders have already sold out, and we were told to probably expect a line.

A few shops are getting creative. The recently opened Yamada Denki Labi shop in Shibuya has been handing out raffle tickets all week. They'll be closing off later tonight and holding a drawing tomorrow morning. Anyone who gets selected will be able to pick up their system at any point in the day.

The large Bic Camera shop in Shinjuku is probably going to have lines -- only not on Saturday morning. The shop is actually handing out tickets at 9:00PM the night before launch (that's in a couple of hours from when this article is being posted). Those who get a ticket will be able to pick up a system whenever they like.

We'll be going around town Saturday morning in search of lines for photo-ops, but with all the pre-orders, it's possible that there won't be too much material for our cameras. Despite what you end up seeing tomorrow, though, the DSi appears to be off to a great start.


Photographs here

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