Plenty of Wiis Available at Wii Launch

I walked by the Toys R Us store in Times Square yesterday afternoon and was shocked to see lines around the block for the Nintendo Wii. I figured the store would be sold out, but it turns out that plenty of Wiis were available to those willing to wait in line during the day. The line-standers I spoke with had been waiting two hours when I took these pictures (with the 2-megapixel Helio Drift phone I'm testing out).

Alas, I did not make it to the "Midnight Madness" launch in the same location about 14 hours earlier (Saturday night into Sunday morning) because I actually had to do a TV segment on the same subject. But it looks like Toys R Us didn't sell out the first batch (about 4,000 consoles for 3,500 people in line), according to Engadget, which also has a bunch of pictures from the scene.

All of which adds up to (so far) a peaceful and well-organized Wii launch unmarred by the violence, rowdiness, and shortages of the PS3 launch.

For updates on stores with Wii units in stock, check out WiiSeeker.

Are you still planning on buying a Wii this holiday?

Related links:

Nintendo Wii Versus PlayStation 3

Yahoo! Games: World of Wii