Nintendo Wii leads this season's demand list for Christmas shoppers

December 20th, 2006, 05:17 Posted By: gunntims0103

news via maysville

Around 9 p.m. the night before the popular Nintendo Wii was to go on sale at Wal-Mart, Victor Hamm of Aberdeen arrived at the Maysville location to wait for the release.

In the lawn and garden portion of the store, Hamm said, were nine chairs -- the same number of game systems which were to go on sale the next day. The first nine people in those chairs would be the lucky recipients of the Wii.

"They did it fair and square," said Hamm about the way Wal-Mart handled the demand for the game. "There was a lot of people upset with them, coming in and cussing them."

Hamm said those in the chairs were given tickets, which they could then trade in to purchase the system.

Hamm purchased the system for his two sons, despite their requests that he not spend his night at the store. Still, Hamm said his sons were "pretty thrilled about it" once he actually had the system.

"It does everything," he said about the Wii. "It's pretty neat."

Hamm said he paid $250 for the system, but as soon as he walked out of the store, someone made him an offer to purchase the console.

"It's one of the hottest things, that and the PlayStation 3," he said. "As soon as I walked out of Wal-Mart I had someone offer me $400 for it."

Still, Hamm did not sell, adding that he did not spend the night in Wal-Mart only to sell the item he waited for so long.

The Nintendo Wii is simply one of the items high on the demand list for Christmas shoppers. Electronics in general seem to be popular, with the PlayStation 3 as popular, if not more so, than the Wii.

"As soon as we get any of those, they're sold out," said Daniel Forsythe, an associate in the electronics department at Wal-Mart, regarding the Wii and PS3.

The first time the PS3 was available, Forsythe said people waited two full days for the system. They waited overnight for the Wii.

A similar demand was seen at Kmart. However, according to Nancy Frodge, the electronics manager at Kmart, the Nintendo DS, a handheld game, has joined the ranks of the Wii and PS3, in demand, but not available.

"Availability is just limited," she said.

Looking for the items online is nearly as frustrating, with many of the Wii systems for sale on eBay for $400, or more, and the PS3 ranging around $800.

Also popular this year are televisions, DVDs such as "Over the Hedge," CDs, MP3 players, and other items.

Aside from electronics, hot items in the toy department include TMX Elmo, Baby Alive dolls, Disney "Cars" characters and Fur Real pets.

"That stuff we just can't keep in," said Daniel Sammons, who works in the toy department.

Sammons said the store not only gets requests from customers in-store, but also receives calls about the items daily.

One item the local Wal-Mart never received, but was requested, was a $300 Fur Real pet pony called Butterscotch.

"We just couldn't get it," he said.

At Kmart, Frodge said popular items also included Dora the Explorer items and the Fly Pen, which assists students as they work on homework.

Out shopping Tuesday afternoon was Beverly Appleman who was nearly finished with her Christmas shopping.

"I haven't wanted anything that has not been available," she said.

On her Christmas shopping list were items ranging from Barbies, tractors, wagons and "Cars" items to "practical things like socks or sweatshirts." Appleman said she was shopping for an age range of 7 to 75 years old.

Rebecca Sweeney of May's Lick was also out Tuesday, purchasing a Josh Groban CD for her mother. She was also shopping for items such as UK apparel for her brother, a senior who plans to begin school at UK next year, and tools for her father. Sweeney said her brother would also like video games, as he was one of the lucky people to manage to purchase a Wii.

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