Nintendo Wii U may have a 'bricking' glitch

Remember the frenzy over the original Nintendo Wii a few years ago? Shoppers fought each other in the aisles for one.

Well, now the race is on again to find the new Nintendo Wii U.

May Not Find One For Christmas

Nate Engels' 2-year-old daughter is already into tablets, gadgets, and video games.

But this shopping expert -- who has appeared on TLC' s Extreme Couponing show -- says even he is stumped when it comes to finding Nintendo's Wii U.

"It is a really, really hot item, and I don't know if you will get it this year," he said.

The first 400,000 units shipped to North America sold out by Black Friday, and pre-sales are all closed.

If you want one, and don't want to have to pay inflated eBay prices , you're going to have to go to the store in the morning and hope for the best, according to a Walmart regional manager.

Walmart's David Gose told us to check stores around 8 or 9 a.m. "If you stop in or call," he said, "we may get a shipment overnight, and we have direct to store deliveries from UPS and FedEx."

Potential "Bricking" if you get one

If you are lucky enough to find one, though, you may suddenly face another problem.

To get the Wii U onto the network, where you can face other players, you need to download a firmware update that can take from 1 to 3 hours , depending on your Internet speed.

But gaming magazines and Wii blogs are now warning about a potential problem:  If you accidentally turn off the Wii during the update, or your internet service is cut off for a few minutes, it can "brick" -- or lock up -- requiring lengthy calls to customer service, and possibly even a replacement unit.

Versions sold after Christmas are expected to have the firmware update built in and this glitch fixed, which is just another reason waiting might be the best idea right now.

So if someone in your family has their heart set on one, you may just have to give them a personal rain check, telling them Santa will buy them a Wii U as soon as he can find one.
    
That way you don't waste your money.
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