Wii Fit could be as scarce as, well, the Wii

Online retailers have stopped taking preorders for the much-hyped Wii Fit—sound familiar?—while shoppers scratch their heads over the exact launch date.

I just did a quick survey of the bigger online shopping sites, and no one's taking preorders for Nintendo's $90 balance-board-packing exercise game (read all about it here). Amazon, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, GameStop, even Sears-all sold out.

And if you're thinking of just walking into your local big-box retailer to grab a Wii Fit off the shelves, well ... you'll have to wait until Wednesday, May 21.

Strange, considering Nintendo held a New York launch event on Monday, with some lucky shoppers carting away white-and-green Wii Fit boxes in the process.

Indeed, it looks like there was some confusion among retailers, shoppers, and even Nintendo itself over the exact U.S. launch date for Wii Fit.

Last month, Nintendo announced Wii Fit would land on store shelves May 19. Then the Wii Fit ads came out, and they all said May 21. GameSpot reported that it checked with Nintendo of America just last week, and reps said May 19 was still the big day. Guess they were wrong.

Anyway, it's looking like Wii Fit will be a hot ticket-maybe as hot as the Wii console itself, which even now remains in short supply.

We'll have to wait until Wednesday to see just how many-or how few-Wii Fit units ship to stores nationwide.

But if you're hoping for guaranteed time on Nintento's wireless balance board this week, consider staking out your local GameStop, Best Buy, or other electronics retailer early Wednesday morning. Either that, or prepare to pay double on eBay.

Update (5/21/08): I just paid a visit to my local GameStop; apparently, there was a line around the block for Wii Fit this morning, and the game quickly sold out. 

Related:
Wii Fit coming to U.S. in May [Yahoo! Tech]
Confusion, shortages hobble US Wii Fit kickoff [GameSpot]