PixlBit

How did things go for a certain Jason Ross looking to buy a 3DS at a midnight launch?

As with the Kinect launch I decided I'd check out a few different areas close to midnight for the big event. This time though, I preordered from GameStop earlier in the week. I had a plan – or so I thought.

As many of you know, Toys 'R' Us decided to run a special for 3DS games this first week which is continuing even now. The deal is phrased as “Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off All 3DS Games, 39.99 each.” Nearly every major video game site out there got wind of this deal before the flyer went out, and the deal was slated to begin March 27th, the official launch date of the 3DS. Normally, this wouldn't be relevant to a midnight launch story since TRU doesn't traditionally do any midnight openings for video game machines (at least not in this area). Lucky for us consumer-types, Wal*Mart has a wonderful ad-matching policy, as can be viewed here. Rather than requiring customers to carry around a copy of the ad themselves, Wal*Mart retains copies of competitors' advertisements.

The plan: finalize the 3DS sale at GameStop and walk over to Wal*Mart, just a few stores down, to iron out any kinks I might face to match Toys 'R' Us's great 3DS game deal. Things began very smoothly. I waltzed over to GameStop, paid off the rest of my 3DS preorder between 8 and 9 PM, and triple-checked that they did in fact have an Aqua Blue 3DS unit waiting for me without any doubt. The process was simple and easy.

From there, I strolled into Wal*Mart's customer service desk to verify their ad-matching policy would work for the 3DS games after midnight. All I had to go on was a picture on my phone someone over at CAG had found and posted. It was a tiny, little jpeg of a thing that only showed the relevant part of the TRU circular. I knew nothing about the fine details of Wal*Mart's ad-match policy at the time, but I did know someone who was in the position to help, as I've had family work in Wal*Mart before, and from it made some solid connections with a higher-up here and there.

After a brief wait in line, Customer Service told me I'd be best off asking someone in Electronics about the deal, or even that I should head to the back of the store to look for a manager in the online pick-up section. The online pick-up section was barren, so I asked a cashier in electronics about matching the deal. He initially said Wal*Mart couldn't accept the deal without a real flyer to verify it existed, so they'd know I wasn't scamming them. Understandable. I asked where the 3DS line was, too. Apparently there wasn't a 3DS line in Wal*Mart yet. Grudgingly I texted my inside guy and left, figuring I'd just go to TRU the following day for my games.

I gave up for a brief amount of time, went back outside, and walked back over to GameStop to see how things were going. It was 9:30-9:45 at this point in time, and I spotted GameStop locking up. Typically, GS does close their store for a brief time when it comes to midnight launches so they can organize themselves before opening back up. There was a piece of paper on the door, saying GameStop would be opening back up at 10:30 PM, contrary to the mass text GS sent out earlier in the week, asking 3DS preorderers to show up at 10:00. It was no big deal, I just went and sat in my car and listened to the radio for a while.

The sign posted at GameStop

At this point, my Wal*Mart contact sent me a link to the Wal*Mart ad-match policy I showed above. The guy was definitely interested in having me see success with the deal, and pointed out that it wasn't my responsibility to prove the TRU deal is real and that Wal*Mart was meant to have all circular ads that are in effect. Eventually I communicated this to the electronics cashier, who seemed genuinely passionate about matching the ad. Unsurprisingly enough, he informed me that management hadn't provided any direction for handling the 3DS's launch while we conversed about the ad-match policy.

We walked to the area of the store that's meant to hold this type of circular for ad-matching, but as of that time, TRU's circular was unavailable. Alas, my deal still couldn't be verified by Wal*Mart. This same electronics cashier brought me to a manager to see if anything could be worked out. Simon, the manager in question, said they couldn't honor the deal even after I mentioned it was their responsibility to carry the advertisement. Normally they'd call the store in question to verify, but at this hour, TRU was obviously closed. Additionally, he said Wal*Mart didn't match “Buy One Get One” types of ads, so even if I had the flyer in question, the ad-match wouldn't be applicable.

Once again, I gave up for a short while. I texted my contact to let him know my misfortune. I went back over to GameStop to pass some time, where there was a small line outside the store and a variety of people inside, many finalizing their 3DS preorder as I did earlier. After a brief amount of time, my contact suggested trying 1-800-WALMART, which turned out to be a bust: Customer Service wasn't in operation at that hour. The next move was a little more bold. My contact gave me the cell phone number of the area's “Market Manager,” which is something similar to a district or regional manager. My contact suggested speaking to my store's manager one more time to ask for the market manager's number, to see if that would encourage this store's manager to budge.

And so I did.

This time, I met with the electronics department manager.

“I want you to match the Toys 'R' Us deal so I can buy one 3DS game for 39.99 and get a second one for half off the same price.”

“I don't even know if we're going to receive any 3DS games for sale tonight,” he said.

I gestured to the games cabinet. “You already have some 3DS games on display; several were released earlier this week.”

“We don't honor 'Buy One Get One' deals with our price match policy.”

“I just saw your policy online, and it clearly states 'Buy One Get Ones' with a price listed in the ad should be matched. Can I have the number of your market manager?”

“Let me go read the store policy, I'll be back in a moment.” He quickly shuffled away, into the back of the store for a few minutes.

It was now around 11:30, about half an hour away from the 3DS launch over at GameStop, and likely at this particular Wal*Mart. GameStop already had a line forming outside, full of individuals about to pick up their preordered 3DS units. Wal*Mart had no line, but many curious customers trying to determine what they needed to do to get a 3DS and its games. At this point, I'd seen at least four or five groups of customers curious about the handheld who had no idea where to go to form a line, and likely had been told Wal*Mart might not even have the 3DS that night. My contact informed me that this Wal*Mart was supposed to already have 12 3DSs of each color in stock, ready to go.

The manager returned. Turns out the policy listed online is correct, and he was wrong. This time, he decided Toys 'R' Us's sale would only be valid upon receiving the newspaper in the morning, at which time the circular would be available. He said even though the flyers often list dates and not times, the deal wouldn't begin until Toys 'R' Us was actually open. I texted my contact once more with the new info, and he pushed me to call the local area's market manager and see if she could resolve the issue.

Of course, since it was nearly midnight, I woke her from sleeping. Regardless, she did provide me with an answer I was happy with: because they couldn't get the ad, and there was no way to verify the pricing, I couldn't buy 3DS games from Wal*Mart with the TRU deal. However, if I bought games tonight and came back the following morning, if the deal was legitimate, I could do a quick sort of exchange to receive a refund. That worked for me. I didn't mind returning to the store the next day, but I did want to go ahead and get a few games that night. Success at last!

With that, I skedaddled over to GameStop, my Wal*Mart woes behind me, and joined the line. I was about #35, believe it or not, and a guy who jumped in line a few spots behind me counted to 40. In a few moments, we were allowed inside the store, where a few towers of 3DS units could be seen near the back. Shortly after midnight, the GameStop began giving people numbered 3DS boxes that matched receipts, and that was that.

Images of the 40+ person line.

I finally had my 3DS. So did about 40 happy other people or more. GameStop employees suggested they had received over 80 units for launch, a staggering number from my perspective, as I recall most stores receiving much smaller amounts of Wiis (at least in my area) back in 2006.

The mountains of 3DSs.

Now I just needed the games. I ventured back into Wal*Mart, hoping for the process to be simple and easy: join the back of their 3DS line (which hadn't existed at the time I left the store earlier, around 11:40, but I imagined would after midnight.) Bad news: The cashier wasn't at the register. It seemed she had to step away to assist with the purchase of a TV. Fair enough. Other bad news: there was still no 3DS line. Apparently, contradicting my contact's number, the store had 8 total 3DSs in stock, and at 12:15, not a single one had been purchased. After some time, the cashier returned and asserted that I was the first in line for 3DS purchases. I was a little shocked, as I'd arrived after some of the people in the store who were clearly interested in buying the device, but I suppose never had the courage to ask, “Where are your 3DSs?”

Overcoming my stupor, I was able to rattle off a list of about six games I was looking to buy. The cashier was able to find two: Super Monkey Ball 3D and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars. What couldn't she find? Super Street Fighter IV 3D or any first party Nintendo title. I was shocked, and finally I realized why the manager had said he wasn't sure if they'd even have 3DS games for the launch: they had lost (or less likely, never had) Nintendo's first party games for the system! Reluctantly, I purchased the two games and made my way home, arriving at about 12:40 am that morning.

The next day, I went to customer service and did the exchange for the discounted offer without any issues. I didn't check and see if the other games were in stock, and instead just bought four more titles at Toys 'R' Us. It was pretty simple, and things were done quickly. Oh, and the Toys 'R' Us had six visible 3DSs remaining, apparently all were there for preorders. The cashier in their R-Zone department wouldn't let me know how many total 3DSs they had received.

A phone call to the Wal*Mart made today revealed that the missing launch games are now in stock.

And there you have it. GameStop's launch was very smooth, and they had 3DSs to spare. Wal*Mart's was rocky, with no official line, understaffing, and lots of policy confusion. Toys 'R' Us's launch, according to the cashier, was very smooth, with a ton of interest in their BOGO deal.

Anyone else have an interesting launch experience with the 3DS?