Saturday, May 31, 2008

Episode 8: In which Wii throw a Fit



So, Thursday morning arrives and I am laying in bed, making a concerted effort to sleep between hitting the snooze on the alarm clock, when Jenn calls out to me from the office across the hall.
"Honey?"
"Hhmm.."
"Honey, I think we need to get a Wii".

Suddenly, I am awake. But a little puzzled. "Isn't this the woman who has ignored my hints and nudges about the Nintendo Wii for months now?" I said to myself. What has happened to bring this about?

Well, Jenn had been reading a lot of posts on one of her favorite forums, BeautyBuzz, about the new Wii Fit game, which is comprised of a game and a sophisticated scale/balance board that encourages physical activity and health. You can do yoga, strength training, aerobics and some nifty balance games as well. Plus it keeps track of your BMI and weight and helps you set fitness goals.

Plus, it was a Wii. I could play Mario on it.

Now our problem consisted of actually finding a Wii and a Wii Fit to purchase. Online prices were outrageously inflated. We decided last night to make an effort to find one in Cedar Rapids and take it home.

First stop, Best Buy. We walked into the store and were there a total of 20 seconds before I noticed the Wii supplies and attachents for sale, but a distinct lack of Wii's themselves. I asked the salesperson nearest us if they had any Wii's for sale. The salesperson had the expression of "oh-no-not-again" as he replied that they did not. However, then he waits an additional five seconds (for the effect of looking cool, perhaps? Do these Best Buy guys not know that they are just working retail?) to say "We do have the Wii Fit in, though." And, as if on cue, a kid comes out of the back, wheeling a shopping cart full of Wii Fits. So seizing one of them, we made for the registers and got out on the trail of the elusive Wii itself.

It was a dismal search. GameStop, K-Mart, Video Games Etc., all three Wal-Marts in CR and Marion and Toys R Us. No dice. It was looking like the Fit was destined to sit on a shelf for a week or so until we could find a console.

But on a whim, I decided to call the Wal-Mart in Anamosa. "What the heck. Maybe, being out of the way, they might have one." I spoke to the Electronics Guy. "Do you have a Nintendo Wii in stock?". "No" he replied. "We have four of them".

Exhausted after our retail adventure, Jenn stayed behind as I drove out to Anamosa. Would they still have any? Was I being a little too concerned over a stupid video-game console? Perhaps...

I arrive in Anamosa to find the Electronics Guy, whose name was Zack, I believe, putting a Wii console on the shelf. In mere moments, the Wii and all the peripherals we would need were in a bag and coming home with me.

I hate to be one to fall for hype, but the Wii is pretty cool. I spent a good chunk of last night and today navigating Mario around a series of weird little asteroids and trying to walk a virtual tightrope by balancing on the Fit board.

Score one for Commercialism. They got me again.

2 comments:

Raven's Path said...

Steve, try Sunday morning really, really early at Wal-mart and Target. It seems that the shipment of Wii come in then and if you are there early you can get one.

Unknown said...

But we did end up getting one, so I'm happy about it. Plus I did 30 minutes on the Fit today, which is really somewhat remarkable for someone who doesn't really excercise at all!

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