Although I remember a lot from camping out, and I’ve tried to write a blog entry describing the event, I find it useless to get descriptive, so I will put it into a nutshell:

- Read an Internet rumor: Best Buy stocking 40-80 units per store

- Called up Best Buy Friday night, learned there were already people camping out.

- I head over with all sort of stuff yet no tent

- The tent next to me is the dude’s last minute purchase of a 5ft x 5ft children’s tent. And yet he brings with him a laptop and a small satellite receiver and from what I overheard him say and eventually smelled, marijuana that he claimed was “enough to hold me over until Sunday morningâ€?.

- I call up several people, no tent

- Disappointed, I head over to Wal-Mart

- I get there and find that those waiting allowed in the store, provided with a TV and air-conditioning in the Garden Section.

- As a group we’ve mutually agreed to form an organized line according to a waiting list than to act like fools running after all the time we’ll spend camping out.

- Saturday morning comes – One buys doughnuts, coffee and newspapers for all.

- Saturday went by spend playing too much UNO and chess with other people camping out, and watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy among other movies.

- Spent an hour watching other people who were camping out play Wal-Mart’s Guitar Hero display. I got some playing time in. The game is harder than I thought.

- 30 hrs eventually pass since I came to Wal-Mart originally, only 1hr of sleep (concrete doesn’t provide for good bedding)

- When the line is finally formed, everyone has been up so long that we act as if we are stoned. Time is slowing down, conversations growing more imaginative.

- We spend an hour in line waiting for Wal-Mart to direct us to the layaway dept.

- In the meanwhile, we spend out time talking of stupid thoughts and whatnot, we grow more tired and drunk in nature.

- Finally, at 11:30PM we’re told to march in single file to the layaway dept. (apparently Wal-Mart didn’t want to repeat any mistakes they had with the rowdier PS3 crowd)

- 12:20AM – Being 13th in line, I finally get my Wii.

I have only a few pictures of that day, yet here’s one I took with my cellphone of the line behind me…

And here’s one of the Wiis as they set them up…

If anyone has pictures that want to show other on the internet, a site I found in an EDGE article would be www.consolecamp.com

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While reading an article at EDGE magazine's site, it made mention of the blog, www.wiihaveaproblem.com. The site provides stories sent in about personal injuries and property damage related to use of the Wii, which reminds me of a comic from EDGE magazine (E162)

http://www.crashlander.com/images/strips/E162.jpg

While the problems are typically a result of excessive or improper use, I doubt most people would stop playing a Wii game due to some sort of personal injury (although damaging you TV certainly would).

I would remember the conversations I had with friends, and the sort of destruction we’ve put ourselves, or our consoles through. For example, my N64 got a heavy dose of water onto it while I was playing it (Lesson: Keep large glasses of water next to you, not the machine). In panic, I turned it off immediately. After the three days of leaving it to dry upside down as suggested by one of my friends, I found that although the console had video output, there was no audio. I eventually sent it to Nintendo for repairs.

Concerning my Wii, there have been several close calls, for instance, as I played Wii Sports, I swung my arm up too fast and high, and the controller hit the hanging light from my living room’s ceiling, while my brother on a separate occasion neglected the importance of the wrist strap and lost the controller while playing baseball, thankfully only to end up in the couch.