Shoppers across the country have similar stories. With the Wii, Nintendo has created a phenomenon that recalls crazes of Christmases past: Cabbage Patch dolls, Furby, Tickle Me Elmo. But in this case it is happening for a second consecutive holiday season. Nintendo has been unable to keep up with demand, costing it hundreds of millions of dollars in potential sales.

The Wii, with an unusual remote control that players wave to manipulate action on the screen, has attracted a broad, unconventional following - from young children to mothers and even the elderly. It has put to shame the frenzy over another much-hyped gadget, the iPhone, which prompted long lines at its debut in June but was readily available on store shelves the next day.

The demand for the console has prompted creative buying strategies, early-morning camp outs and recrimination against Nintendo for failing to produce enough machines a full year after the product's release.

Jim Silver, editor in chief of Toy Wishes magazine and an industry analyst for 24 years, said it was unusual for an in-demand product to remain so hard to find for so long. The must-have toys of other holiday seasons, like Furby, stayed popular into a second year but became easily available.

"It's pretty amazing," Mr. Silver said. "By a year later with hot items, inventory usually catches up."

The Wii is more expensive than those other toys - $250 - and is attracting not just eager-to-please parents but also adults like Ms. Beattie who want it just for themselves. "I know 6-year-olds that love it and 50-year-olds that love it," Mr. Silver said.

According to Fils-Aime, Wiis will be available next week at all major retailers. If past patterns are any indication, however, that "availability" will be limited to shoppers willing to camp out before stores open on Sunday or Monday morning. Since Christmas is just two weeks away, you're probably still going to have some difficulty finding a Wii.

While that seems to be the biggest hope for Christmas Wiis, Reggie also announced a raincheck program in conjunction with GamesStop to get more Wiis out to shoppers in January. Even if Wiis are out of stock, on December 20 and 21, consumers will be able to purchase them for January.

On those two days, if you put down the full retail price of the Wii at a GameStop, you'll receive a raincheck guaranteeing you a Wii in January. The rainchecks will be available only as supplies last, but Fils-Aime said GameStop has "many tens of thousands" of rainchecks available across its 3,000+ stores. Perhaps the Wii-hungry will be camping out next week to get a raincheck for a Wii next month. We'll find out by next Friday.

The Halo series, set in a future when humanity is battling a hostile alien race, has sold more than 14.8 million copies since its debut in 2001, making it one of the most successful game franchises. The last major game in the series, Halo 2, set a record in 2004 for first-day sales of any entertainment product, generating more than $125 million in the United States in its first 24 hours. Microsoft and major game retailers expect to surpass that mark beginning at midnight tomorrow, when more than 10,000 stores across the country will open to sell Halo 3. In London, authorities have banned official "midnight madness" events amid fears of unruly crowds.

As early as July more than 1 million consumers had ordered the game, which will be available in three versions, costing $60, $70 and $130. (The top version comes with a space helmet inspired by Halo 3.) The game will ship in 17 languages. "There is no question the Halo 3 launch is the biggest event of the year in video games, and for a lot of people it will be the biggest entertainment event of the year, period," said Andy McNamara, editor in chief of the magazine Game Informer. "Halo just has its tendrils into the imagination of a whole generation. Frankly, I don't know if Microsoft would even be in the game business today if it weren't for Halo."

Halo 3 is widely expected to be the top-selling game of the year for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, the sole machine on which the game can be run. Halo 3 is also expected to drive users toward the company's Xbox Live Internet service. The only other release that had been expected to compete with Halo 3 this coming holiday season was Take-Two's Grand Theft Auto IV, often called G.T.A., but that game was recently delayed until next year. "Halo 3 is the drive title for Xbox 360 to bring it to the next level, and given the fact that G.T.A. slipped into next year, Halo 3 is really in a league of its own this year," said Ben Schachter, an Internet and video-game analyst at UBS Securities. "Certain games, like Halo, have a special place, and they can help drive the entire industry forward."

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"People have been talking about video games becoming a bona fide mainstream entertainment medium, and you really see that playing out with Halo," said Neal Tiles, president of G4, which will begin its coverage in New Zealand, where the game will first arrive. "They're looking at $150 million in the first day, which is bigger than any movie has done. Culturally, it's at least as big as any film opening or TV premiere or book or Broadway opening, and probably bigger."

1. Sophisticated word filters to keep chat secure, prevent the exchange of personal information (e.g. phone numbers, names, etc.) and block inappropriate, hurtful or offensive language.
2. Easy-to-use safety features that give a girl the ability to lock or open her room to other characters, the ability to block users and prevent them from contacting her on the site, and the ability to report other users for inappropriate behavior.
   
   
3. Robust moderation tools that provide BarbieGirls.com administrators with the ability to monitor chat that occurs in the environment, track and monitor reported users and ban users who attempt objectionable behavior.

eBay spokesman Hani Durzy told CNET News.com Monday that that exemption stems from the auction giant's interpretation of what Second Life is.

"If someone participates in Second Life and wants to sell something they own, we are not at this point proactively pulling those listings off the site," said Durzy. "We think there is an open question about whether Second Life should be regarded as a game."

That statement should make Second Life publisher Linden Lab very happy, as it has tried for years to hammer home the point that its virtual world is not a game. But to have that position supported by as august an institution as eBay should definitely bolster Linden Lab's argument, regardless of what other observers think.

Providing customers with the best possible shopping experience is very important for the company and it is always looking for new and exciting ways to present products and services, says Sears Holdings' senior vice president for direct commerce, Paul Miller.

'The Sears Virtual Home combines the best of virtual worlds and 3D environments so customers can experience Sears' products in a way that is closer to real life,' he said. 'Sears.com already provides innovative design functionality and this work with IBM in a virtual world is a logical extension of those initiatives.'

Eventually, the customers entering the store using a virtual in-game avatar will be able to see mock-ups of rooms, allowing them to experiment with furniture colours, sizes and layouts.

We reported earlier that bids for Sony PS3s had reached $9,000 this morning. By Friday afternoon bidding on eBay had jumped over $10,000 for a new, unopened 60GB unit. (Thanks to Evan J. for the tip.)

One entrepreneurial young man, asking $16,000, pleads on his seller's page, "FREE OVERNIGHT!!!! Help fund my college education!" The accompanying grainy photo of him holding his receipt and PS3 is slightly reminiscent of those ransom videos where a kidnap victim is forced to hold that day's newspaper to prove he or she is still alive. But despite the creepiness factor, we can't fault "discounts-from-philly"'s desperation for higher education. But we can if he just uses the money to get bigger tires and a paint job for his truck.

With shortages resulting from production problems, many had camped out for days without knowing if they'd be going home empty-handed. At some stores, the crowds got rowdy and stampeded for the shelves, injuring a man in Wisconsin and forcing authorities to shut down a Wal-Mart store in California.

In Connecticut, two armed thugs who got wise to the PS3's high price and tried to rob a line of people waiting outside a Putnam Wal-Mart store at 3 a.m. One person who refused to give up the money was shot, state police said. In Lexington, Kentucky, four people waiting outside a Best Buy were hit by BB pellets, though none was seriously injured, according to television station WKYT, whose own reporter was hit as she interviewed buyers.

*****

With Sony promising only 400,000 systems for the nationwide launch, the chance of disappointment was high. While retailers tried to keep expectations low, lines snaked around the block at many stores -- even those that weren't going to begin sales until later Friday. Saby Madrigal, an 18-year-old college student who worked for a month at a liquor store to save for a PS3, waited in line outside the Circuit City for 24 hours without success. Still, she vowed to keep looking. "For the work we had to do to get all the money to get the stupid system, I'm going to search every single store in town," she said. "I don't care, I'm going to get it." Some who saw long lines at the midnight launches simply went to another location, with later openings and smaller crowds. Nonetheless, about 50 people were in front of Ahmad Mustafa, 24, outside a New York Best Buy with only 34 units available.

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Nathaniel Lord, who camped out for three nights at a Best Buy in West Hollywood, California, spent more than $700 on a console and game. "I thought about going home to shower first because I haven't showered in three days, but I think I'm just going to get another energy drink, log on and get started," said Lord, a recent graduate of California Institute of the Arts. Sony, which has contended with laptop battery recalls and trails rivals in key products such as music players and liquid crystal displays, is counting on the PS3 to maintain and build its market lead in consoles. Some customers were buying PS3 machines for themselves or as gifts, but many were hoping to resell them at a profit. Units were fetching several thousand dollars early Friday at the eBay Inc. auction site.

Over the years, it's become quite common for shoppers to purchase new consoles at launch not to play them, but specifically for the purpose of reselling them for a profit on eBay or other sites. These people are probably best likened to scalpers at the ballpark who will sell you a ticket for three times the price. Some would say it's a despicable practice, but when consumers are desperate for the latest console at launch they'll apparently pay almost anything.

"With limited supplies expected this holiday for both Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii consoles, we expect that many gamers will turn to eBay (and other online marketplaces) to locate new hardware. Already, our survey of completed auctions on ebay.com indicates that nearly 2,000 pre-ordered PS3 and Wii consoles have been resold on the marketplace to-date," commented Sebastian.

He continued, "In addition, the consoles are selling on eBay for approximately two and one half times the suggested retail price of console hardware, on average $1,500 for Sony's PS3 vs. $599 and $550 vs. $249 for Nintendo's Wii. We continue to believe that initial demand for the new hardware platforms will exceed supplies."

Only one of each console can be listed per eBay account prior to the launch of the console (PS3 is expected to be available on 11/17/06, Wii on 11/19/06).

The seller must only accept payment through PayPal, and have at least 50 feedback with a 98% or greater positive rating so that they qualify for PayPal Buyer Protection.

The pre-sale item must be listed in the 3, 5, 7 or 10-day formats, and cannot use Buy It Now.

The listing must include a photo of your pre-order receipt in the description.

What you get now:

1. Battle of the Gods t-shirt and stickers.
2. Animated 3d model of YOU made by our art team.
3. Commemorative plaque featuring your 3d model, your chosen location (choose between 3 pre-selected high visibility game locations) and you in our storyboards.
   
   What you get later:
   
4. Be the first to play the game in its early unreleased, unfinished stages. (after signing a non-disclosure and non-release form, of course).
5. Be the first viewable thing in the opening to chosen level, animated for worldwide release.
6. 2 free copies of the game signed by the whole team. This will be a special edition only for you with you added to the cover.

Many stores quickly sold out. Internet retailer Amazon.com Inc. and the Web sites for Circuit City Stores Inc., Best Buy Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. all listed the consoles as being sold out Tuesday.

A crowd of gamers at a Best Buy in Manhattan clapped and cheered when the first purchases were made just after midnight Tuesday, but shortages dampened the mood even there. 19-year-old Peter Gonzalez, the first in line, said he felt "amazing," and that his nearly 30-hour wait was worth it. The college student planned to stay up all night playing games before heading to classes in the morning.

But 90 of the 200 people in line at the store were disappointed to learn they had to buy the $300 "Core" system because the more expensive model was sold out. "It's like buying a car without the engine," said Eddie Buist, 29, from the Bronx.

Various accessories, like a 20-gigabyte detachable hard drive and wireless controller that will come standard with the premium version, will be sold separately and can be added to the less expensive "core" console.

Other features that can be added to that console include a wireless controller and TV remote, a headset for the Xbox Live online service, and an Ethernet cable for high-speed Internet connections. Microsoft said it remains on target to ship the new Xbox to stores in North America, Europe and Japan this holiday season, ahead of Sony’s PlayStation 3, which is slated to replace the market-leading PlayStation 2 sometime next spring.

Robbie Bach, senior vice president for Microsoft’s home and entertainment division, said the company is breaking new ground by offering consumers a choice. "Historically, there’s been one price point and one configuration. You got it whether you wanted it or not," Bach said.

The Gizmondo is a work in progress, and feels like it was pushed onto the High Street before it was ready. The body of the device looks good but nothing works properly besides the games, and even those were partly to blame for the device 'crashing' more a dozen times during the test.