Wii Launch

In video game journalism, it's difficult to report on the games without being a gamer yourself. It's impossible to simply be a conscientious observer. In order to report about the games and their respective culture effectively, one needs to be a part of them, to understand their ins and outs. This is reflective of "gonzo journalism" (minus the fiction) and its embedded elements of sociology keep the reader more involved by reading exposition rather than basic words describing a scene. Maybe this sounds all too unnecessary for an article about games but as gamers will tell you, they not only want to hear about the games, they want to know about motivations behind them and the energy that surrounds them.

With that in mind, the following report is a tale about 3 people pursuing Wiis, 3 people with different levels of enthusiasm, and the power of hype and collectivism.

Chris has been a gamer for many years. He's not what you'd call a hardcore gamer but he has his PS2 and plays games with the occasional anticipation over the next hot title. Chris had no original intent to line up for a Wii. Sure, "It looked good," he thought, but it was something he'd get eventually, nothing he needed to have right away.

Simon had no intention of actually owning a Wii. He was more along the lines of what a casual gamer would be. He had his home system and his DS but he played it out of boredom or to get his occasional sports game fix.

I have been a hardcore gamer since the age of 7. My Atari kept me busy for hours on end and spawned what would become and endless addiction. However, even with that background, I wasn't too excited by the PS3 launch. Who needs a system with Blu-ray when you don't have an HDTV or an expensive game machine that lacks what it needs most to function, games? Resistance: Fall of Man? FPSs aren't for me as my gaming tastes coincide more with that of Japanese gamers than those of my American brothers.

The Wii had more to offer. It was to be the "revolutionary" new console. That alone had my interests but Nintendo played its Trump card when they moved Zelda to the new console. Zelda was a game I needed to have. It appealed to the hardcore gamer. But there was something else. The system seemed to contain a universal appeal. Anyone could play. It was to be the system to bring people together for fun and the advertisements, the branding and the marketing were all there to remind us of this on the macro level.

We all saw it. It permeated our cultures. There is no need to explain it as you must have by now, experienced it first hand. What about the influence of this meme on the micro level?

As the launch date approached, I began to get excited. My enthusiasm and anticipation began to spread to those close to me. Chris decided he would accompany me on my quest. Originally, I thought it would be necessary to line up the evening before December 2nd. Chris didn't seem so pressed. If the PS3 launch was any indicator, we would be able to arrive on the first train at 5:30am and still secure our Wiis. Analysts seemed to be agreeing with him. Japanese newspapers reported that with such a large number of Wiis ready to hit the market, one could arrive at a game store at any time before 12pm on the 2nd and procure a Wii. It is my nature to be skeptical, and skeptical I was. But I had a contingency plan.

Akihabara (Akiba) is a heaven for otaku. Yodobashi Camera is one of the largest electronic store chains in Japan. Combine the two and you have a cornacopia of joy for gamers. You can get anything your fetish mind desires in Akiba. So it only made sense that the Akiba Yodobashi be the place to go for your Wii. That's where we set our marks. And to nearly assure my chances, I had my girlfriend (hereafter referred to as our Osakan correspondent) line up at Yodobashi Camera Umeda in Osaka.

Chris suggested seeing a movie to kill time. Simon came along. Roppongi seemed like the perfect place to wait. The theatre there was state of the art and the subway would take us straight to Akiba. The film ended at about 3, giving us 2 more hours before we could catch the first train.

Simon was feeling hungry so we headed to the nearby "Chinese Cafe." It looked more like a restaurant to me but how could one argue against a sign that read, "Enjoy cafe and Chinese time?" I was too full from the massive amounts of caramel popcorn that I had eaten at the theatre to eat any more but the others enjoyed a small meal. At about 4am, a phone mail from our Osakan correspondent made its way to my phone. When she arrived at the scene at 1am, she was given a ticket by the Yodobashi staff securing her a Wii. They were moved to the building's indoor parking lot where, to quote, "(she) felt like a refugee." She was number 1,643 and at 4am, there were over 2000 people waiting. How would this bode for our chances at Yodobashi Akihabara? Did we have a chance? Before we could make it there, we needed to get coffee.

It was getting cold and sleep was trying to take control of us. Roppongi was spilling over with inebriated party-goers. We weren't a part of them tonight, Things looked so different, clearer, We had a goal to reach. We got our coffees and made our way to the subway. It was almost time.

We finally arrive in Akiba, thinking that our true wait had only just begun. We were expecting to be greeted by an immensely large line, instead we were greeted with this:

Now what? We were supposed to see an endless line. We were supposed to feel anxious. We were supposed to be afraid we might miss our chance being too far back in line. But we got none of that. That's when I noticed a change. Simon and Chris had gone from being passive observers to wanting to take control. After all, they had a goal and they weren't settling for failure.

We walked around Akihabara but it was almost a ghost town. A few people waited in lines here and there for nothing more than raffle tickets giving them a chance to get a Wii. This Gamers store had only nine units but there were already over 2o people in line.

I suggested that we make our way to Shinjuku. If everyone has already secured Wiis in Akiba, we might have a chance if the abundance of electronics stores in Shinjuku had been neglected. We had to take action.

On the train ride to Shinjuku, Simon had begun gathering intel using his phone and online blogs. Conditions seemed grim. Akiba was almost sold out completely. Areas in Tokyo that didn't exhaust all of their pre-orders did not have enough capacity to provide all of those in line with a Wii. Shibuya had fallen. Akiba was already gone. And prospects in Shinjuku weren't looking good.

(Photo is sideways for your pleasure)

We were fortunate enough to have our conversation heard by a Gamespy contributor. He gave us even more information on the launch. Perhaps travelling to the outskirts of Tokyo would be safer. After all, it seemed that the Internet community was pointing to the fact that Wiis would be easier to get out away from the major cities. But we were steadfast and stayed our course.

We made our way to the Shinjuku Yodobashi Camera. Things seemed better, well at least there was a line to wait in this time. It was now 6am.

There must have been already a few hundred people ahead of us. Most people lined up in places where they were assured a Wii if they waited early enough in line. This line must have been for the people like us, the ones that got there too late. It sounds unreasonable to wait this long for a lottery but I wasn't surprised. Chris had already gone from not caring too much about having a Wii to overflowing enthusiasm for one. He needed to have it. And Simon was hoping for one as well. He was the real surprise. Before the night began, Simon wasn't even thinking about owning one, but now he too was secretly hoping he could get one too.

I was calm. I knew that I had my Wii out in Osaka. In fact, I may have actually lost some excitement because I knew I wasn't going to be able to go home to play.

At about 6:30, the employees came out to give us our lottery tickets.

That's right I was number 545 in a line for a lottery ticket! This didn't look good. Chris was getting a bit worried. Were they going to have enough supply? We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Wiis being shuffled into Yodobashi but there only seemed to be a few hundred. Was that going to be enough? Were they going to keep the number of raffle winners low?

Collectivism is a large part of Japanese society and this gave us a chance to bond with people of common interests. We even got to make friends with a guy named, Ko. He had just decided to wake up early and get in line for a Wii. It was almost an afterthought for him. He wanted a Wii but it wasn't a top priority. At this point I think Chris was thinking that Ko had made the right decision. We were tired and getting hungry and we didn't even know if we'd win the lottery.

At a little after 7am, the employees came out to announce the winners. This was just chaotic. It didn't seem like the Yodobashi workers were ready for the large amount of people. Their megaphone announcements couldn't reach all of those in line. People soon disbanded from their neat lines and became one huge unorganized crowd.

People began complaining about not being able to hear. They wanted to know where they stood. They wanted to know if they'd get their Wiis.

Then there was a calm. The amplified voices started becoming clear and everyone listened with trepidation. The winning numbers were called. Any number ending with a 1,2, 3, 4, 7, 9, or 0 was a winner. I had lost, but to me it didn't matter. I already had me Wii. But what about Chris and Simon. Chris lost too. He was 546. But Simon had won! He was nice enough to give his ticket to Chris though. He knew Chris needed it now. Simon could go without, but I could sense he too wanted it now.

Now all we needed to do was wait to get in and pay for it. We just had to wait for about 300 people before us. Then from behind, a figure moves close and in English speaks to us. "Hey, you guys want this?" It was another winning ticket. "My friend already got us a Wii somewhere else. I don't need it." And like that, Simon had his wish. From having no desire for one, to going through great lengths and overcoming odds to get his hands on a Wii.

There is no doubt that the Wii launch was a success for Nintendo. We'll get official numbers soon, but all units gone in a flash. We decided to take our new spoils and head for a well deserved breakfast at McDonalds.

There we met a friend of Simon's. He was drunk from a long night out. We were drunk on euphoria and lack of sleep. When Simon's friend caught sight of our Wiis, I could sense the feeling of envy, of being left out. We told him of our night's adventures and he said he'd get his someday. Then we parted.

Moments later, Simon got an email from him. Somehow he had walked into a ma and pa shop and bought a Wii. Maybe those analysts weren't completely wrong after all.