The Wii. Microsoft’s latest operating system. The next-generation iPhone.What stirs your passions such that you’d be willing to wait overnight in a long line of likeminded consumers in order to plunk down hundreds of dollars just to say, “I got it first.”

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“That’s the million dollar question,” said DePaul University associate professor Albert Muniz, who studies consumer habits.

Gadget makers and their marketers are forever wracking their brains trying to figure out how to get consumers so excited about a product that its pre-release buzz takes on a life of its own.

Buzz generates lines outside stores. Those lines attract the media. And the media generates free publicity. All of this helps push sales higher.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who seems to have all but formulated this equation, is a master at not only forecasting consumer wants, but also tapping into their innate desire to be a part of an ostensibly innovative and exclusive community.

Consider the gadget enthusiasts, who last year waited for days in sleeping bags and lawn chairs outside Apple’s retail stores to be first in line to buy the iPhone.

“When people start talking about something the frenzy feeds the frenzy,” said Paul Williams, a 22-year-old Englishman who was visiting one of Apple’s New York City stores earlier this week.

If any gadget deserves the hype, it’s the iPhone, said Williams. “I think they’re definitely the future. If you wait about 20 years, I think everyone will have one,” he said.

The release today of the next generation iPhone has prompted less ostentatious frenzy among Apple fans than a year ago. But demand for the snazzy new smart phone, a cheaper and faster version of its year-old parent, is expected to be strong.

Walter S. Mossberg, the Wall Street Journal’s influential personal technology columnist, described the new iPhone 3G as “a more capable version of an already excellent device.”

For Apple, fierce consumer loyalty and pre-release hype are all part of the mystique that has grown up around the company since it was founded in a garage in Silicon Valley in 1976.

The Apple community is so strong, in fact, DePaul University’s Muniz said it’s often compared to a cult.

Strong consumer communities often display similar characteristics, according to Muniz, a dynamic he referred to as “consciousness of kind,” or “a recognition that there is a special ‘weness,’ if you will, something that sets apart people” who use a particular brand or product.

“When you camp out overnight waiting for something like the iPhone, you’re demonstrating you’re level of commitment. It’s almost like a brand pilgrimage. You’re demonstrating how much of a die-hard fan you are,” he said.

Fans of a particular rock band or sports team share a similar experience when they wait all night for concert or game tickets, he said.

All of this parallels the dedication shown by devoted followers of just about any religion.

For gadget geeks, it all dates back to 1984 with the release of (naturally) Apple's Macintosh personal computer. The hype began with an instant classic television ad shown during the Super Bowl that played off themes of individualism and rebellion touched on in George Orwell’s novel “1984.”

Apple was at it again in 1993 with the introduction of the Newton, the first hand-held computer or personal digital assistant. The device didn’t catch on with a wide audience and was eventually discontinued in 1998, but the hype surrounding its introduction was intense.

In 1995, Microsoft tried to outdo Apple in hyping its new operating platform Windows 95. Mimicking the mega-hyped releases of, say, a new Michael Jackson record or the latest Star Wars film, Microsoft opened stores at midnight on Aug. 24., 1995 to accommodate impatient consumers. And the consumers played along, mobs of them lining up hours – even days – before the software went on sale.

Nintendo’s Wii console system can be added to a more contemporary list of “must have” gadgets, as can new versions of the popular video game Grand Theft Auto.

A new ritual that has sprung up among loyal gadget communities is known as   “unboxing.” That is making a video of yourself euphorically taking the product out of its box and then posting the video online.

 “You watch these videos and you think ‘are they serious,’” said Muniz. They are, he assured.

Rob Enderle, principal analyst for the Enderle Group, noted the “us versus them” mentality common among devoted consumer communities, especially those loyal to Apple products.

“To some sense it’s a sense of belonging and it begins with a feeling of exclusivity,” he said, adding that fans of a particular product or brand often act as if, “we’re special and you don’t get it.”

Enderle wondered whether iPhone fanatics might not feel a little burned, though, having waited in line a year ago and paid $600 for their new gadget only to have the price slashed a few months later and a newer and better model introduced a year later.

“I have to think that some of those folks who stood in line for the first iPhone felt like fools because the price dropped pretty quickly. You do that to a group of folks and you have to wonder if they’re not going to be in line next time around,” he said.