Will history repeat itself?

Last week we produced a Wii U pre-order guide, as a starting point for those interested in securing the new system before launch. Unfortunately, if you've been hesitating for too long it looks like you may miss out, with online orders at least.

The story that GameStop was sold out of Deluxe bundles started at the weekend, but it seems that it's a trend now happening at other retailers. At the time of writing GameStop's website only has the Basic Set available to buy, while Best Buy, Toys R Us, Target, Sears and K-Mart websites aren't currently taking orders on any models. A browse of Walmart's website, meanwhile, shows that the retailer is happy to use the situation to earn more cash, by only offering Wii U pre-orders as part of a bundle deal for $409.00. At this stage we don't know whether pre-order sales are very high, whether guaranteed stock is low, or indeed whether these retailers are simply waiting for confirmation of extra inventory from Nintendo. We also don't know for sure how many of these pre-orders are from genuine gamers, or simply those keen to snap one up and flog it on eBay.

Whatever the reasons, it's certainly no bad thing from Nintendo's perspective to see pre-orders selling out in the United States. We'll keep an eye out for updates, but there's one important question: have you got your pre-order in?

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[source g4tv.com, via multiplayerblog.mtv.com]