It seduced all of France, beating the craving desire for an XBOX360 or a PS3. Everyone wanted one, everyone wanted to shake it and say wiiiiiiiiiiiii,ouiiiiiii(yesssssssssssssss) : the Wii.
December 2007
For the previous Christmas, it was out of stock everywhere throughout France. When I went hunting for one : games stores, large department stores or anyone selling games kept telling :
No, currently we don’t have the Wii and we won’t have it for sure before Christmas : come again at the end of January!
At the end of January : no way! 
After much determined struggles and check ups of every stores that could possibly be selling video game consoles, I finally laid my hand on one. And I will tell you first how I got it(even if indeed I shouldn’t have one until late January) and then tell you more about the Wii, the gaming console you should be having if you are seeking for real fun while playing.
20 December 2007:
The week before Christmas, every Wii was wiped out of every store one could possible find in France and the only ones that were left were those that were reserved beforehand. So if you can’t lay your hands on something because it is out of stock in stores, try finding whether people reserved the product in those stores. I finally found several stores that were doing it : they had the Wii but didn’t put it on shelves because it was already reserved. No need to fight with the store manager to get one that’s tagged “reserved” : instead take the store’s phone number and ask them when those reserved Wii would be delivered and whether you could get it if the person who reserved it didn’t come pick it. That’s what I did and the most probable hit was the one at Auchan.
28 December 2007 at Auchan:
A salesguy told me that some supposed 5 reserved Wii were to be delivered that night. So the following day, before the store opened, I phoned them : inquired about those reserved Wii and asked them whether they were available. By God’s grace, among, there were still some undelivered. Not a second wasted, we rushed to Auchan and picked it up. Finally, we had the Wii just some days after Christmas when supposedly we shouldn’t be having one until end of January.
What ’s so special about the Wii?
A large part of the French gaming community had enough of solitary console like the Playstation and XBOX. Indeed, they did offer multiplayer games and even online gaming party but the real fun, that of playing a game irrespective of one’s age group was not much present. In fact the games on the Wii, the way they are played and how the console was designed put it in front as a gaming console that could be enjoyed by anyone, from the kids to the grannies. Yup, my grandma plays the Wii too as does my little cousin of just 5. The learning curve is greatly reduced allowing the player to concentrate more on the fun side of the game.
People had enough of too much sophistication, they wanted plain and sensational gaming experience.
Unlike the boring experience of other video game consoles where you sit there with your gaming pad for hours in front of that freezing tv set playing some games, the Wii captivates the player’s attention all along the game. You move, you jump, you do gym : it’s all your body that moves along the game. You don’t feel bored.
The XBOX360 and PS3 were tearing themselves apart,fighting their way out of which one wins with the most amazing features and graphic effects instead of focusing on ‘the way a game is played’. The Wii looked elsewhere, at the right place : the people and the interaction with the game, bridging the gap that was left from those 2 main consoles with a mouthwatering price too : €279. A lot of people had enough of the major gaming console offering just blasting graphic effects with mind blowing prices ; XBOX360 and PS3 prices greater that €400.
The Wii provided what the French was looking for a long time : cheap and ‘real’ entertainment. How about you? Have you tried out the Wii? Did you enjoy it? Please do share with us your gaming experience with your favourite video game console.