Despite the fact that the PlayStation 3 launch lineup is kind of anemic, I still want to get my hands on the latest Sony console when it releases next month, being the foolish early adopter that I am. So it wasn't without a bit of disappointment that I failed to get my hands on a PS3 preorder at my local EB Games earlier in the week. I read the story about the company's preorder plans on Monday afternoon, and made plans to stop by the next morning immediately before they opened in order to get my hands on one of the 8-14 machines that were allocated to each location. Unfortunately, 9-15 people had beaten me to the punch, leaving me PlayStation 3-less.

So when EB announced their Wii preorder plans a few days later, I made sure to wake up extra early the following morning so as not to strike out twice. I got to the store in the Howard Hughes Promenade around 8:10am, some two hours before it was scheduled to open. By that time, there were already about a dozen people already camped out in front. The first person there had set up his own sign in sheet, and as people trickled in throughout the morning, they wrote their names down on the numbered list. It was quite civilized -- I was number 16.

The store's manager finally arrived about an hour and a half later and announced that he would be receiving 25 Wiis on November 19 -- there were about 30 people waiting by now. Impressed by the unofficial list, the manager used it to hand out official tickets to the first 25, while the remaining (and dejected) five left to a local mall in the hopes of finding a less crowded wait. A few minutes later, the store opened and the manager called people in three at a time. Being 16th in line, I had to wait about half an hour before my number was finally called in. I paid for my Wii preorder and put money down for a Wii Classic Controller and, of course, The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess. Since I was already there, I figured that I might as well preorder Gears of War and Rainbow Six: Vegas for the Xbox 360. I normally don't preorder games, but it's gotten all but impossible to walk into an EB and ask for a triple-A calibur game on its launch day without being asked if i had preordered it by the sales clerk.

So there you have it -- I'm the proud new owner-to-be of a Wii at launch...maybe. While I doubt most people will have a tough time finding a Wii at or around launch time, the early adopter in me had to make damn sure. As for the lack of a PS3 at launch, I have one more avenue I'm exploring that doesn't involving camping out in front of a Best Buy the night before. Let's just say that it better work out pronto, or I will level Toronto.

I'm looking at you, RoninKengo.