“NEW YORK —  To deal with frustration among holiday shoppers hunting for its Wii game console, Nintendo Co. and retailer GameStop Corp. are launching a rain check program.“We expect this to be a great way for consumers who desperately want a Wii to have something to put under the tree,” Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said Friday.” (Link)

The concept of this is a fairly decent idea.  A store does not have enough in stock, but they continue to sell them.  When you pay for the Wii, you get a I.O.U saying that you can come pick up a Wii any time before a certain date.

Something like this would have been great for when the 360 came out.  My parents had two on pre-order, but did not know when they would come into the store.  This way — something be given as a present.  The only problem is that the stores may not have enough Wii’s at any one time for people to redeem their I.O.Us.  Having to go back to the store, or having toe continuously call to see if a Wii is in stock could be an issue.

-Justin