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Gamers hold out hope for Wii bit of luck

If the holiday season’s hottest game system is on your shopping list and you’re desperate to find one, a window of opportunity may open a Wii bit this weekend.

Nintendo’s Wii, which is still hard to find a year after its debut, has spawned a cottage industry of Wii spotters such as http://wiitracker.com, http://wiialerts.com/ and http://wii.findnearby.net.

Though retailers won’t confirm what’s in Sunday’s newspaper circulars, the prevailing opinion is that some big retailers will advertise a limited number of Wiis.

“Merchants are going to be leveraging the Wii to bring customers into stores,” says Ben Chui of Wiitracker.com, which posts alerts when online retailers get systems. “If you are one of the first in line on Sunday, you will get one.”

Lines are common when new systems arrive, but nearly unheard of a year later. The Wii has been popular because of its lower price ($250) than other systems and an innovative full-body game control.

More than 5 million were sold as of October. It could become the most successful new system, exceeding the 6.2 million PlayStation 2s Sony sold in its first full year, says Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter.

“Demand was huge last year, but a lot of the people were predisposed to buy the Wii,” says Best Buy’s Brian Lucas. “Throughout the year, the buzz kept building, so people who don’t consider themselves video-game audience members — families and seniors — decided that the Wii is the one they want. So demand is reaching another crescendo.”

Limited supplies have sharply boosted the price. The system is being offered for $400 to up to $2,000 on Amazon.com and eBay auctions.

Wayne Nemath of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., searched three weeks before getting an online alert from Wiitracker.com. He nabbed one at http://www.walmart.com/ for $677, including several games.

“I did, and in a way still do, have a little buyer’s remorse for falling into that trap and pretty much blowing the whole Christmas budget right out of the water,” says the 36-year-old human resources consultant.

Nintendo will continue to ship systems as fast it can make them, continuing after Christmas. “We usually tell customers to try checking weekday mornings. That’s when a lot of shipments arrive,” says Wal-mart’s Melissa O’Brien. “The hunt is pretty strong. Our store managers are being called a lot about the Wii.”