I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving holiday. As the winter season begins, so does a brand new show at Fox Reality!
We've got a new show called: CORKSCREWED: The Wrath of Grapes.
The show follows "American Idol" producers Nigel Lythgoe (who was also a judge on "So You Think You Can Dance") and Ken Warwick as they invest in a vineyard in Paso Robles, California. Sure they can make Idols, but can they make wine?
Over the next several weeks, the show will feature appearances by Simon Cowell, Ryan Seacrest, Randy Jackson, Regis Philbin, and David Hasselhoff.
The big premiere is TONIGHT (Wednesday, November 29th) at 8:30 PM Eastern/5:30 PM Pacific on Fox Reality. The show airs again at 12:30 AM Eastern/9:30 PM Pacific. You can get Fox Reality on DirecTV at Channel 250 or DishNetwork at Channel 190.
And if you don't get Fox Reality, you can get the show via iTunes later this week!
I've been a bit blase about video games over the past couple of years. It seems like lately, it's been nothing but testosterone-charged games that involve lots of first-person shooting, crashing cars, or overly complex role-playing realms that I just don't have time to deal with.
Then came the reports about this brand new console from Nintendo...one that would change how video games are played. Upon first look at the pictures of this console, I thought, "that's pretty odd...it looks like a remote control with a control stick dangling from it...this couldn't possible make for a good gaming experience."
Soon after, the E3 reports came touting how the controls for the Nintendo Wii were unlike any other. Wave your Wii remote control like a tennis racket and see your player onscreen do the same motion. Grab the Wii remote with two hands and steer it like a steering wheel to maneuever your car in a racing game. Again, I reacted to this with a bit of skepticism...until I saw the video demonstrations.
Then, I was VERY intrigued when the prices were released (especially compared to the Playstation 3.
With all of these factors thrown in together, I decided that this was a must-buy for me and that I would get it when it came out.
I knew it wouldn't be easy. Tales of friends' woes trying to get the XBox 360 last holiday season prompted me to be ready for the Wii's launch. And after seeing the chaos of the PS3 launch just days ago, I was REALLY determined to be prepared with as much information as possible so that I wouldn't be shut out of getting one on launch.
After weeks of researching, I decided to plot some strategy with my friends Ted and Larry to get a Wii for them and me on launch date. We realized that this was going to take some camping out. This was something that NONE of us had done...ever...The closest I did to this was getting up at 6 AM in the morning to wait in line outside the Harvard Square Tower Records for Rolling Stones tickets. (That proved to be successful.)
While we knew we had to camp out, the question was...Where? Toys 'R Us was ruled out because they only had enough for those people that pre-ordered. Same with EB Games. Kmart didn't know if they were getting any. Circuit City had some but they didn't divulge what they were getting. Best Buy...HA! You all know my issues with them.
That narrowed it down to the big department stores...Wal-Mart and Target. At first, we decided to find stores that weren't in big central locations...ones where we definitely knew the masses wouldn't turn out. This ruled out West Hollywood's Target as well as the Burbank and Sherman Oaks Target stores. We also found out that all Targets would have a ticket system, where tickets would be distributed an hour before opening on a first-come, first-serve basis. It sounded quite nice and organized.
We decided that we'd go to Valencia. It's far enough away from the greater L.A. area and the Target and Walmart there are within miles of each other. Thanks to a tip from my friend Peter, I found a link to a site that had inventory listings for Targets and Gamestops around the area. The Valencia Target had over 100 stock. While we couldn't verify any of this information as being 100% accurate, it was still comforting. So, the plan...camp out at Target in Valencia late night on Saturday and hope that we get a ticket the following morning.
The plan seemed set in stone until...News came out about a MIDNIGHT launch for the Wii at Citywalk. Midnight launch! Cut out the hassle of sleeping overnight outside a store? I'm in! But then again...it's Citywalk...but then again...it's the official L.A. launch site, so there must be a lot in stock...but then again...it's Citywalk and EVERYBODY will be there. My latter instincts proved to be true because by 4 PM...there were four HUNDRED people waiting for a Wii at Citywalk. Back to the original plan...
...or so we thought. You see...Ted and Larry were seeing a show in Pasadena Saturday night. We got to thinking...why lose time (and potential good spots in line) by adding an hour-long drive to Valencia? There have got to be some Targets around Pasadena.
And sure enough there were...in fact, there was one just blocks away from the theater where Ted and Larry were seeing their show. So, the new plan...meet at the Pasadena Target with Ted and Larry after they're done with their show.
I scouted the area around 8 PM to get a feel of what to expect. There were already about 20-something people camped out for the Wii at that Pasadena Target. Based on the inventory figures I found on the website, there were going to be 81 Wiis at the Target, so I was still feeling ok about the situation.
I drove off and met up my friend Rob who lives in the area. We grabbed some dinner while Ted and Larry were seeing the show.
At around 11-ish, I headed back to the Target to stake a spot. The line snaked around the patio area outside the store. I did a rough count and determined that there were about 40 - 50 people there. I set down my chair and blanket and prepare for the long night. I called Ted and Larry to let them know where I am. While setting up, a guy named Jason walked up to me with a piece of paper...it was a list of names. He was organizing a sign-in sheet so people wouldn't have any question about what spot they had in line. Brilliant! I put my name on the list and discovered that I was #55. Yikes. But not to worry...he told me that somebody from the store confirmed that they had 81 in stock. That website was correct after all!!
Ted and Larry arrive shortly after and sign in as well. And so the long night began. Over the next several hours, we entertained ourselves by playing card games, hangman, and Lingo. I also had a DS and iPod to keep me occupied. Ted brought some reading material back with him from a snack run at the nearby Ralph's. I think somewhere during that evening, we all took some form of catnapping.
In the midst of all this, the nighttime security head at Target checked on all of us to make sure we were ok and had very clear and precise instructions as to what to expect that morning when the store opened. That along with the sign-in list and a crowd consisting mostly of well-mannered USC and Caltech students led to a very calm atmosphere.
Around 5-ish, our friend Mike came by with some breakfast.
And around 6:30-ish, we all organized ourselves into a single-file line and eagerly awaited to get our tickets. Finally around 7:30-ish, we got our tickets...and there it was #55!!
And there was special bonus if you got three games!
I was VERY excited! We were all given checklists as to what we were planning to buy so that they could process our requests in an orderly manner...(Did I mention how MUCH I loved the organization Target put into this??)...I decided to pick Zelda, Super Monkey Ball, and Excite Truck.
They let us in groups of about 10 - 15. As we waited to walk into the store, random people arrived at the store and attempted to join us in line only to discover that there were no Wii tickets left. :-(
At around 9-ish, I got into the store. I was able to get everything on my check list with the exception of the new Zelda game. I got Rampage instead.
And given everything that COULD have happened...I was still very happy. This was MUCH more pleasant that anything I expected.
MANY MANY KUDOS to Gladys and her team at the Pasadena Target (the one closest to CalTech!). They were kind, courteous, and organized...They turned something that could have been chaotic and miserable into a controlled, calm experience.
Given my past greivances with customer service people (*cough*BESTBUY*cough)...I can't tell you how happy I am to blog about a WONDERFUL experience being assisted by customer service people. Everybody else...take note of this when another big launch happens!
I took video throughout the night. The video of our 10-hour experience has been distilled to about 8 minutes. You can download the 22 MB video by clicking here. Or you can see it in streaming form by clicking below:
And the important question...Was it worth it? The answer is a resounding YES. The controls are so intuitive. And the games are fun. I'm not a big sports game fan, but the Wiisports Tennis game can be quite addiciting especially when playing with a group of people. I Wii-ly recommend buying one!
Today, we taped an "Remix" segment with reality legend Reichen Lemkuhl ("The Amazing Race").
It was a fantastic interview...one of our best and Reichen's such a nice guy. He talked about his book. It sounds like I've found something to read for my flight home for Thanksgiving!
It will air this Friday on "Reality Remix" on Fox Reality. And if you don't get the channel, you can watch it online!
So, I was watching "Show Me the Money" tonight. Watching the Shat-tastic dancing, I couldn't help but be reminded of one of my favorite old Spanish game shows...
It's almost here!!! It's just five days away until the release of the...
I might just be a little excited about it! :-)
I've already got my battleplan laid out as to how I can try to snag one on release day...hopefully I'll have the same luck I had when I got the Nintendo Gamecube on release day!
Watch
Thursdays nights 10 on
Fox Reality Channel! on Channel 250 on DirecTV and Channel 190 on Dish Network or call your local cable operator for more info.
