Confirmed by TheWiire, it appears that Wii preorders will commence on Friday, October 13th...  Get your camping gear ready!

Retailer GameStop confirmed to The Wiire today that Wii pre-orders for the United States will begin Friday, October 13.

While Wii games have been available for pre-order for a few weeks now, Friday will mark the first time GameStop has opened up pre-orders on the hardware. In order to make a pre-order, gamers will need to go to a local GameStop or EB Games and ask to put down a set amount of money (between $25 and $50) on a Wii. The money placed on a pre-order goes towards the final price of the product.

North America is expected to receive approximately two million Wii units by the end of 2006, with half of that shipment expected at launch, though recent reports of expectation-exceeding Wii production may cause those numbers to change.

The Wiire could not confirm the pre-order status of GameStop/EB stores in territories outside North America, nor of other retailers such as Target, Wal-Mart and Toys 'R Us.

GameStop, which recently merged with EB Games, is a specialty video game retailer, but also sells accessories, movies, action figures and playing cards.