GH III is in stock in stores everywhere....but of course the game don't mean nuthin' without the console!

I've been searching these last two weeks for a Wii for my nephew's Xmas; considering the insane demand for it, I don't realistically expect to find one at the $249 list price...

...but dang it: the ONLY places I've seen it actually available are Walmart & GameStop's online stores.

Price (for a "bundle"): $589. 589 frickin' bucks! And for game packages included that I/nephew really are not interested in.

Anyone out there know a vendor (online or brick & mortar) selling the Wii by itself....or at least more reasonably bundled price-wise? AND it is in stock or maybe can ship within 2-3 weeks?

^^^^^^^

Good grief - I used to laugh at parents/relatives hustling to get a Tickle Me Elmo in time for Dec. 25th. Now that I'm desperately Wii-hunting, I feel their pain...=(

P.S. - GH2 rawkked, and with player face-offs with Slash & Tom Morrello, etc. featured on GHIII, I think it's gonna blow Halo right outta the water. No question about it!

they will play guitar hero. Soon we will play games about characters who read books instead of reading books. Oh wait we do that now. Never mind.

You can get it on eBay for as low as $350, sans shipping. http://tinyurl.com/2pdlm6

"In the future no one will play guitar

they will play guitar hero."

Perhaps in the future, no one will put bullets in the heads of other people. They'll just play Unreal Tournament or Halo.

It's a trade off I'm willing to make. And Guitar Hero is a gas to play, FWIW.

Thanks for the link, Farhad!

I knew that many Wiis were up for sale on eBay, but I didn't know some could be bought for only ~$350. Huzzah!

Good jorb hippies.

So you play a guitar and dance around? Or....what? And it's fun?

Never played it.

As for the Wii, I just played it for the first time a couple days ago. Fun fun fun. I worked up a sweat playing the tennis game. Baseball was fun, bowling was enjoyable and got everybody involved (the ladies kicked our asses), and even golf was enjoyable. Didn't try boxing....maybe next time.

From what I understand if you buy a Wii, you can't just buy the console and controller. You've got to get a 2nd controller, and a controller recharger. There are a few other things you have to get....a memory chip I think. (This is true of the Playstations as well -- be prepared to shell out another $30 for memory.)

Then there are the games. It comes with the bowling/tennis/baseball/golf/boxing stuff. If you want anything else the games run $30-$50, usually in the higher end of that spectrum.

Ever get the feeling they're purposely keeping the supply low to create consumer demand and buzz right before the holidays? This certainly was the case last year, and now look -- it's the holidays and supplies are low! What do you know? They had a whole year to get their manufacturing/distribution shit together, and gee whiz, they're only now movin' those units to those retailers.

I picked up the PS3 version of Guitar Hero III, and after having problems with it (keys didn't work, tilting didn't work which activates the Star Power), I returned it and found the last Wii version available - and it's been perfect. Using the Wiimote to supply the electronics made everything work perfectly.

The only problem is that you can't download new songs. OK - I can live with that for now. But I am hoping for three things:

1. Guitar Hero Classic for the Wii - all of the songs from Guitar Hero I and II in a $30 package. Would be sweet, and I'd pick it up.

2. Rock Band for the Wii. I don't know why we haven't seen an announcement for it. I can only assume it's because of the online component, and Harmonix trying to figure out how to get more money from downloadable songs on the Wii.

3. Where's the "buy a guitar only" option for the Wii version? I want to play this with my son and daughter, and I can't do that with only one guitar!

That said, congrats to Activision and Nintendo both for their successes.

-- I've had a Wii since August, played four games on it and have yet to need a memory card. I bought my second controller with a game (WiiPlay), and it was well worth the combined money. (Plus, IIRC, none of the third-gen consoles come with a second controller anyway.)

-- BUY GAMES USED. Seriously, you'll save a ton.

-- We stalked our local GameStop to get our Wii; they do get some in stores, and if you talk to the manager some will even call you if something's in (no, I am not a shill for GameStop, promise).

--I disagree that game sales are unimportant-- maybe it's just the rankings you're referring to?-- but sales ultimately effect what kinds of games get developed and offered.

Without those gimmicks, we never would have gotten this classic Reuters headline when the remade Dawn of the Dead surpassed The Passion of the Christ in weekly sales: "Zombies Push Jesus from Top of North American Box Office."