Can't find DS :/

[Michael Fortson]

My wife told me on Friday that our nieces want gameboys for Christmas. Argh... can't find them anywhere now in the Bay area / North Bay. Anyone seen any near S.F. or Toronto? They sure dried up quickly...

Btw, game suggestions for 10 year-old girls? I'm guessing Mario... and animal crossing when it arrives.

[Lunch of Kong]

The 1st shipment of Nintendo DS's to the United States has completely sold out.

From what I heard, Nintendo is supposed to distribute a second batch December 22.

[Jose Liz]

Good... I called launch day to get two more NDS for staff, and they were sold out. Good thing I pre-ordered one in October right after the redesign pictures came out. :D

[Tim]

I got mine via ebay. Premium was about $30 each ($180 total). Keep in mind most games are not so difficult to find locally.

There are TONS being sold there. Some ebay tips:

Search for misspelled items. These should have less traffic. Nitendo and Nintedo had a decent selection when I looked. Heh, heh. Morans! In my watching though, there wasn't a significant misspelling discount. All it takes is 2 bidders who know fair value to set the price.

If you DO want any particular games, look for ones that bundle that. Many other shoppers don't want these games and won't bid on the combined item.

Items that end in off hours can have lower final bids. One I put a 'watch' on but closed after I got the 2 I wanted went for about $160.

Don't get your hopes up on the price if there's >10 minutes left. Prices were skyrocketing in the last few minutes when I was bidding.

At some point ("too late for Christmas"), demand is going to plummet. I guess if you're willing to pay further premiums on shipping, you might be able to stretch this out a few more days.

Many items sold for a good bit more than I paid, but seemed to peak at about $200. If you're patient, you should be able to beat the "going price" for something like this, and if you're willing to pay even an extra $5, you should be able to close on one at just about any time. When I was watching, there were well over 1 per minute, so don't get too attached to any particular auction.

Good luck!

[Dave Long]

Yesterday they had them here.

http://www.pokemoncenter.com

Keep an eye on the site. You might get lucky.

--Dave

[Jolor]

Future Shop Eglington apparently has some according to their web site.

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...id=EN&dept=15#

[Moore]

circuitcity./com actually has been getting them in rnadomly so its worth it to keep checking. Also check local blockbuster videos, noone goes there to buy systems and they sell them, the silverlake/los angeles one has 3 right now, and they sold me mine with no preorder the day BEFORE launch.

[Kevin Grey]

Toys R Us was advertising them in their circular this morning. They was a big "In Stock!" note or something to that effect that lead me to believe they had just received a major resupply. Also noticed that my local Target had two or three units this afternoon.

[Michael Fortson]

Found it at Toys R Us, thanks for the tip :) I bought three (all gifts).

They were selling them *only* as bundle deals (despite having empty single unit boxes with "take me to the register to purchase" stacked all over the DS table). I argued a bit that I didn't *want* Spiderman, let alone THREE spiderman copies, nor that "starter kit" accessory pack they were forcing on buyers, but they were adamant that that's how it had to be sold.. soo.... I said fine.

I then took my three spiderman copies straight from the checkout line to the exchange desk, where I promptly exchanged them for three copies of Mario and $3 in change :P goofy people. Decent discount, especially if I had returned the accessory kits as well (figured may as well keep em, the kids might enjoy having).