Just a quick post with a number of photos (and commentary) from the recent final leg of the Red Bull Air Race here in Perth last Sunday.
Keep reading for more photos.
Just a quick post with a number of photos (and commentary) from the recent final leg of the Red Bull Air Race here in Perth last Sunday.
Keep reading for more photos.
I decided to preorder my Wii with Game Traders Carillion City. They don’t have advertised preorder packages, but are happy to put together a deal for anyone who asks. I knew exactly what I wanted and have looked around on the web (mostly using Vooks Wii preorder guide and the PALGN forums) trying to determine the cheapest way to get it.
The problem with a lot of preorder deals is that they offer all this crap that I don’t want. Toy ‘R Us gives you Open Season for free. Do I care? Myer gives you GT Pro Series if you are a member of their (information collecting) loyalty scheme and a bunch of coupons that probably only apply to games I don’t want. JB Hifi offers poor service and novelty sports gear (no thanks). The list goes on.
Anyhow, I worked out the full price that I would be paying for what I was after and Myer looked to be the best deal if the coupons applied. Here’s a snippet from the notes I have been keeping:
MYERS
$399.95 Wii Console (with Wii Sports)
$ 0.00 GT Pro Series with Wheel (for Myer One members *if* I sign up)
$159.92 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess + Red Steel (20% off *if* coupon applies)
$ 64.95 Wii Play Bundle (with Wii remote, $15 off *if* coupon applies)
$ 14.95 Nunchuk Controller ($15 off *if* coupon applies)
-------
$639.80
FULL PRICE
$399.00 Wii Console (with Wii Sports)
$ 79.95 Wii Play Bundle (with Wii remote)
$ 29.95 Wii Nunchuk Controller
$ 99.95 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
$ 99.95 Red Steel
-------
$708.80
This is the deal that I got from Gametraders (and all I had to do was ask):
That’s a total price of $549.8! It’s not the same order as I was planning, but after reading some bad reviews for Red Steel I tentatively removed if from my “must buy” list. However, even with Red Steel included Gametraders would be $10.05 less than Myers (assuming that the Myers coupons would apply). Bottom line: it’s a good deal.
I’m just glad knowing that everything I want will be ready and waiting for me on launch day!
Today I talked to Dharmesh at new Gametraders store in Carillon City Arcade about the possibility of them supporting the MASSIVE by providing a Playstation 3 and Wii. It looks like it will be going ahead, but I’ll wait for more formal confirmation.
While there I took the opportunity to take a few photos. As many of you might know I’m fairly opposed to the (price gouging) retail practises of Electronics Boutique (EB), but I do sometimes pine for a specialty video game store (rather than just the games section of my local Target or JB Hifi). Game Traders seems to fit that niche.
Gametraders seems to be more for the rounded gaming enthusiast than EB. Case in point, EB won’t deal in US or Japan region games, but Game Traders routinely imports games for general sale. Check out this photo of their DS games:
Just looking at this section of the shelf, we see Elite Beat Agents (US version), Gyakuten Saiban 2 aka. Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All (Japanese version), and Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 (US version). Also catering to the more serious game collector, Gametrader stores deal in:
all formats from Atari to the latest systems, buying, selling, trading and renting
So, check them out. Tell them Nick sent you! 😛
Note: If you want to check out the PS3, visit Gametraders Garden City of Carillon City. They both have one on display!
The Wii just launched in the US and there are heaps of videos online from various launch locations throughout the US. Here are a couple of video clips that I particularly liked. I’m sure more mass-media coverage will be online (or on television) soon.
The general vibe seems to be very different to the Playstation 3 launch, which seemed to mostly consist of people waiting in line to buy a console to sell on eBay. In contrast, the people who lined up to buy a Wii seemed to mostly be gamers and long-term Nintendo fans. As evident in the video clips below.
The first clip is Joystiq’s coverage of the Los Angeles launch at Universal Citywalk. It’s a very professional video and includes interviews with a number of fans waiting in line. At the very front of the line is Jonathan Mann (aka GameJew, who I’ve talked about before). After buying his Wii, he sung “Wii Means You And Me” from his own “The Mario Opera“.
The second video comes via bits bytes pixels & sprites and is from the main New York City launch. It shows Triforce (clearly a huge Zelda fan), the first person to buy a Nintendo Wii fielding questions with Reggie (Nintendo of America President). He is very articulate about what Nintendo means to him personally and why he appreciates the Nintendo philosophy. (Actually, the video below is a better quality version of the same interview on bits bytes pixels & sprites; I found it by searching on YouTube).
Here’s one of Triforce’s responses from the video above:
The say Nintendo is about children. Actually, the very first Nintendo system was called Famicom; that means Family Computer. Nintendo has always been about the family. You know, they’ve always made games for everybody to play and enjoy, and I like that about Nintendo. They don’t alienate any particular gender, you know, or age, or demographic. It’s about getting everyone to play, and I hope you guys continue to work.
Overally, I was touched by how these people where. Clearly, I don’t know them personally, but I feel that we share a common philosophy that pines for gaming to be fun, friendly, inclusive, and universal. I’m looking forward to the Australian launch.