With Wii's runaway success and the extreme difficulty most shoppers have had getting a system at retail, especially with the holidays, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime announced today that NOA would run a raincheck program so gift-givers would have "something to put under the tree".

The program, run exclusively with retailer GameStop, allows consumers to prepay for a Wii in its entirety and guarantees them a system in January. GameStop was selected, Fils-Aime says, because "a certificate needs to be matched to a specific Wii which needs to be matched to a specific store. Only this retailer has the ability to pull off such a program."

Fils-Aime also noted that more shipments would be available and advertised at the usual retail suspects like Best Buy, Circuit City, and the like.

Nintendo Announces 'Wii Raincheck' Program (Wired)