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Wal-Mart Wii preorders sell out

Megaretailer briefly offers "Nintendo Wii Customer Choice's Bundle" before running out of stock.

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Cash-flush gamers who got up early this morning and perused the Wal-Mart Web site got lucky. For several hours today, the megaretailer's online store offered a so-called "Nintendo Wii Customer Choice's Bundle," which offered the next-gen console packed in with a series of accoutrements for $533.56.

Normally, the basic Wii package costs $249.99, but Wal-Mart's atypical pricing scheme lists it as $249.82 solo. It includes the Wii console, "Wiimote controller," a Nunchuk attachment, Wiimote wrist strap, power cord, standard A/V cable, sensor bar, two AA batteries, and stands for the console and sensor bar.

The Nintendo Wii Customer Choice's Bundle comes with the aforementioned package and appears to add a second Wiimote, and Nunchuk, as well as 2,000 Wii points to buy online games. It also comes with the choice of four games from the list below:

Ant Bully
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Barnyard
Call of Duty 3
Cars
Chicken Little: Ace in Action
Elebits
Excite Truck
Far Cry Vengeance
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Madden NFL 07
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Need for Speed Carbon
Open Season
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Red Steel
SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature From the Krusty Krab
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
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Though Wii games have not been officially priced, most retailers list both first- and third-party titles for the console as having a suggested retail price of $49.99 each--but Wal-Mart has them at $49.82 a pop. By that calculus, four games (4 x $49.82 = $199.28 at Wal-Mart), a console package ($249.82), an extra Wiimote ($39.82 at Wal-Mart) and Nunchuk ($19.82 at Wal-Mart) cost a total of $508.74.

[UPDATE] At its Wii press event in New York City, Nintendo announced that Wii points would costs $0.01 cent each. By that calculus, a 2,000 point card should cost $20, meaning the Wal-Mart Wii bundle is at a $4.82 mark-up. Because Wal-Mart is selling the 2,000-point card for $24.82, the total rises to $533.56.

At the end of the day, though, the cost of the Wii Customer Choice's Bundle was irrelevant. By early afternoon, it was sold out.

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