WII U PREORDERS

Wii U Preorders Selling Out? How About a $900 Console on eBay?

And so the great console rush of 2012 began.

Nintendo recently unveiled the release date for the much-anticipated successor to its 2006 Wii console. The Wii U, now rocking a full hybrid-tablet GamePad instead of a small Wii remote and accessory Nunchuk, is set to launch on November 18 in the U.S., November 30 in Europe, and December 8 in Japan. And Nintendo's even splitting the consoles into two separate versions: A $299 model with eight gigabytes of RAM and a $349 model with 32 gigabytes.

Nearly as soon as the words about the Wii U's available passed Nintendo representatives' lips, it seem as if a number of major retailers began taking preorders for both devices. And as quickly as they began taking preorders, they began selling out of preorders. Both versions of the console are completely sold out on Best Buy's online store. Target only appears to have the eight-gigabyte version available, whereas Toys 'R Us only looks like it's stocking the 32-gigabyte version for online shoppers.

Gamestop, which was also offering a $50 trade-in credit for those owning an original Wii console (and looking to sell), has sold out of all of its preorders for the Deluxe (32-gigabyte) version of the Wii U. According to Polygon's Megan Farokhmanesh , it only took a few hours for eager gamers to eat up nearly half of all the available preorders for the Deluxe version of the console.

"We've announced the price and we have a number of retailers taking pre-orders and the feedback that I'm getting from retailers is extremely strong in terms of pre-sales and consumer excitement at the store," said Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Aime in an interview with GamesIndustry .

"In the end, I care about those people. I care about the consumer who's putting money down on a pre-order and whether or not we're presenting a great value to them. Based on some of the reports I'm getting, the answer is yes," he added.

Of course, if you can't find a Wii U preorder anywhere around your town — or online — you can always hit up the online auction sites. According to Kotaku's Owen Good , an eager amateur entrepreneur is already listing the Wii U Deluxe for the low-low price of $900 on eBay, nearly three times the price of the original console.

As of this article's writing, eight people have already submitted an offer for the super-expensive console.

SOURCE:PCMAG