wraggster
February 2nd, 2007, 17:58
via kotaku (http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/japan-still-lining-up-for-ds-lites-yes-still-233420.php)
It's absolutely ridiculous to think that a person living in Japan still has to go through the following if he wants to get his hands on a stinkin' Nintendo DS lite — that's over 2 years after the initial DS launch, and close to a year for the DS lite — but this is what I had to go through today in order to score a Crystal White Nintendo DS lite (and let it be known that I have an original DS, which I got at launch).
My wife had heard that you needed to call the stores to find out if they were getting some stock, and then rush there to wait in line, and she'd also been told by some friends that Bic Camera got their shipments in on Friday (they also sometimes get some on Mondays and Wednesdays, but Friday are for the big orders). So she called this morning, and sure enough, they had gotten a shipment, but wouldn't reveal when they would go on sale, or where they would make people line up. The wife had gone through the same thing 2 weeks ago — when she scored a pink DS lite — so she told me to head there around noon, and to try and find out what would be happening.
I got there at 12, asked some staff behind the counter in the games section (insisting I had called, because they were just about to say that they didn't know anything before that — the filthy liars), and was told that I had to "hang out" for a while, as they didn't know when they were going to go on sale. Maybe 40 minutes later, two staff with bright green Bic vests ran out from behind the counter with signs that said that DS lites were about to go on sale, and then started forming a line along the staircases (the game section at the main Bic Camera store in Ikebukuro is on the 3rd floor). I was the fifth in line — some guys got there quicker than me — and a few minutes later they started handing out tickets for the color you wanted (I was the first to ask for a Crystal White). Then, 10 minutes later, they started guiding us to the sales counter, and... DS lite GET!
It's absolutely ridiculous to think that a person living in Japan still has to go through the following if he wants to get his hands on a stinkin' Nintendo DS lite — that's over 2 years after the initial DS launch, and close to a year for the DS lite — but this is what I had to go through today in order to score a Crystal White Nintendo DS lite (and let it be known that I have an original DS, which I got at launch).
My wife had heard that you needed to call the stores to find out if they were getting some stock, and then rush there to wait in line, and she'd also been told by some friends that Bic Camera got their shipments in on Friday (they also sometimes get some on Mondays and Wednesdays, but Friday are for the big orders). So she called this morning, and sure enough, they had gotten a shipment, but wouldn't reveal when they would go on sale, or where they would make people line up. The wife had gone through the same thing 2 weeks ago — when she scored a pink DS lite — so she told me to head there around noon, and to try and find out what would be happening.
I got there at 12, asked some staff behind the counter in the games section (insisting I had called, because they were just about to say that they didn't know anything before that — the filthy liars), and was told that I had to "hang out" for a while, as they didn't know when they were going to go on sale. Maybe 40 minutes later, two staff with bright green Bic vests ran out from behind the counter with signs that said that DS lites were about to go on sale, and then started forming a line along the staircases (the game section at the main Bic Camera store in Ikebukuro is on the 3rd floor). I was the fifth in line — some guys got there quicker than me — and a few minutes later they started handing out tickets for the color you wanted (I was the first to ask for a Crystal White). Then, 10 minutes later, they started guiding us to the sales counter, and... DS lite GET!