by Dan Gayle
Contributing Writer

So you want a Wii, eh? Good luck.

If you’re like many people in the area, you’re going
to run up against a huge problem. Demand that has
outstripped Supply. If you’ve ever taken an econo-
mics class, you know that means one of two things:

“I didn’t even bother coming around the campus for
parking,” said current SCC student Jackie Foss.
Her attitude has been strongly reflected among both
students and staff at the college this quarter.

Either you pay an exorbitant markup at one of the few available merchants who just so happens to carry one of your prized Nintendo Wii consoles, or you go home crying without one. Alone and lonely.

Ah, yes. That sucks.

My friend’s wife decided that she needed a Wii. No problem, right? Just head over to Best Buy and pick one up.

Oops! Sold out!

Her devoted husband has an Excel spreadsheet that lists most of the electronics retailers in the Greater Seattle area, with nice little notes that say “N/A” or “On Order.”

Not a single one of the retailers he has called has the little-big console in stock. The demand is so great that most stores simply won’t have one available no matter how hard a person searches.

Trying online, you find many merchants, merchants that you certainly have never heard of, that say they have the console available. Of course, you’ll also have to pay this mysterious unknown merchant about $200 more than list price, but hey, convenience like this doesn’t come cheap, buddy.

But not to worry. I have found a possible way to purchase a Wii, but it is not for the faint of heart. You have your pen and paper ready?

First, you need to have a friend who is an editor for a technology/geek culture website. Second, that friend has to have a friend who just so happens to work at Nintendo. Third, the console has to be purchased at the employee-only Nintendo store, sold to your editor friend as a favor, with the console then to be handed over from your friend for cold, hard cash.

Hey, I never said it was going to be easy.

The moral of the story? Start shopping now for the holidays by making friends with editors at geek culture websites that are frequented by employees at Nintendo.

You can almost smell that Wii, can’t you?