Where are Wii?

WirePosted writes "Santa is in trouble, it looks like supplying the Christmas need for a Nintendo Wii game console is in jeopardy as stocks wither under constant and heavy demand. Conspiracy believers suggest this is an orchestrated move on behalf of Nintendo." Since this happens to be what I want for Christmas, I hope they work it out, or my loving wife has already found one.

UK Status

[BarneyL]

Over in the UK supply isn't bad (although so tight that Nintendo are considering dropping all adverts [bbc.co.uk] to keep demand down), don't expect to get one from the first shop you go to (unbundled anyway) but a bit of work to find out which day stock is arriving to which retailers and you can pick one up. E-bay prices are only about £20 over RRP. Supply seems even better over in Europe, many are ordering through Amazon's German wing.
The real shortage over here are certain games, Wii Play and High School Musical currently go for silly money on E-bay and Amazon.

Re:i got mine

[slam_mjg]

There was another story that I read today indicating that Nintendo had to stop running Wii commercials because there is more demand for the system than they can supply.

Funny how a few months ago people were claiming that the Wii bubble was about to burst.
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/12/169203 [slashdot.org]

Re:Couple Thoughts

[stoolpigeon]

Every time the Wii shortage comes up on the dot, there are people who say they are easy to get. And maybe in certain locales that is true. But when even my local paper notices people hanging out at stores [orlandosentinel.com], following the UPS guy and such - I think it is safe to say that these little suckers are difficult to attain in many places. Reggie Fils Aimes has publicly said they wont meet demand through the holidays. [mercurynews.com] And I don't think he'd be saying that if there were any chance of them ramping up production any further.

Nice Product Placement

[Anonymous Coward]

My Compliments to the astroturfer (and all whom voted for this very !news story)

Re:Couple Thoughts

[vux984]

It's not like Wiis are that cheap to begin with, at least not the way most people set them up.

Wii - $250
Wii Play w/Wiimote - $50
Two more Wiimotes - $80
An extra Nunchuk - $20
Component Video Cable - $20

And you're at $420 without buying any meaningful games, at regular retail price.

Sort of.

I am nearly your exact config (just add 2 classic controllers). But it probably took me 6 months before I had 4 Wii Remotes. (Although I actually had my "1st" Wii Remote, component cable, and spare nunchuk a full 4 months before I actually managed to get the Wii.

[At launch even the accessories were impossible to get, so I grabbed what I could, when I could.]

But while that might be how MANY Wii's end up, you can put a $300 box under the tree, if that's your budget, and still have something entertaining. If your buying it for someone over 15 they can accessorize it themselves.

That budget factor important to a lot of people. You can always add the other stuff later. And you definitely don't -need- 4 wii remotes on day one.

I'd say most people spring for a 2nd wii remote via Wii Play pretty quick, but it can take a while before they add more / finish it up. My parents, for example, got a Wii in the summer; and have added a second wii remote (wii play) and nunchuk, but that's it. They haven't bothered with the component cable either (their 32" TV can take component, but its SD, and for them its just not a priority. I doubt they are even really aware that they could upgrade the cable.)

Beyond that, I just don't buy the argument that a 360 or a PS3 is a true competitor to the Wii. People who buy the Wii want it for the innovative game play, and nothing else satisfies that demand.

Yeah, a BIG part of the market for the Wii only is interested in the Wii. For people who ultimately want both a Wii and either an xbox or ps3 (or all three) are going to get one of the other two, but yeah, a big part of the market just has no interest in the other two consoles.

My parents again, haven't got the slightest interest in either the xbox or ps3, at any price.

Tickle Me Elmo

[tepples]

There are few consumer goods, toys if you will, that this applies to.

If by "few" you mean "about one a year that makes headlines on AP/Reuters", you're right. Remember Cabbage Patch Kids? Tickle Me Elmo? Furby?

Re:I have one, thinking about selling it

[Eagle7]

I put mine (6 months old) up on Craigslist a week ago, and I had cash for it within 4 hours. I didn't want to screw anyone, so I put it up there for retail. (On the other hand, recouping 100% of your money on a product that you used for 6 months is not anything to sneeze at.)

Re:Couple Thoughts

[rizzo420]

i don't think most people are buying all of that. there's just not a need. not to mention, the wii comes with a game and the other consoles just come with 1 controller and no games. the price is already better than buying an xbox or ps3. the other thing is that those who are making those purchases aren't doing it all up front. they might go and get wiiplay to get the second remote and pick up a second nunchuck, making the price $320, but they're not going to buy 2 extra remotes right up front.

the component cable isn't necessary to really enjoy the wii either. heck, i play it on a 20" flat tube CRT.

the xbox wireless controller is $50 and the wired one is $40, the same price as the wii remote. the ps3 wireless controller is also $50. the games for the xbox and ps3 are also about $10 more than wii games. so people with any console are going to be putting in more than just the price of the console, but at least the standard wii package comes with a game.

the wii is a competitor to the xbox or ps3 solely for the fact that they're gaming consoles (or at least sony and microsoft see it that way, especially sony). that being said, the reality might be that people purchase a wii in addition to another console rather than instead of one simply because it is so different than the others.

Re:Couple Thoughts

[0100010001010011]

Craig's list!

Set up their RSS feeds and watch it. I got 2 Wiis for UNDER cost. One was from a kid bored with it selling it for a new BMX bike. No box, but everything was there plus 3-4 extra games $250 cash. Cheaper than if taxed in Illinois.

The second one... was an amazing find.
Wii
2 Full controllers (Not 4 controllers!!!! 2 nunchucks + 2 controllers as advertised everywhere else)
5 games
Rechargeable battery packs AND charger.
Component video.

All for $300. Foreign student moving back to his homeland. I e-mailed him with in 10 minutes of it being listed. I haven't added everything up but it looks like $450 worth of stuff no tax for $300.
One's going to my brother one I'm keeping.

This in the same are that I can't find one at any walmart anywhere. Where I've seen people selling them on Craig's list for
$600 with
4 controllers [sic] (2 controllers 2 nunchucks]
10 games [Wii sports + Wii Play added together]
etc.

For kicks I setup an auction exactly like the one I bought, in downtown chicago, same price.

5 e-mails in 6 hours.

The thing driving up prices is everyone seeing the prices being driven up which when they get their, they list it for $10 more...

Re:Couple Thoughts

[billcopc]

I'd suggest these stores instate a "no returns" policy on gaming consoles, or tack on a fat restocking fee (like 30%), at least during the holiday season - anything to deter the bottom-feeders who are openly abusing the store's (supposed) goodwill return policy.

I tried a little experiment last week, I posted a (fake) Wii for sale on a local board. Within minutes I had a dozen replies offering $400-450 (retail price is ~$300 Canadian tax-in). Using their email addys, I looked them up on the sale boards and realized they were all resellers tacking on another $100 and re-flipping Wiis.

At that point I was EXTREMELY tempted to lure them to a remote area and beat them senseless with a Colecovision.

Sure, Christmas is little more than a sales event (sorry, Jesus freaks!), but this is just outright hateful greed.

Re:Couple Thoughts

[BakaHoushi]

As someone who was "lucky" enough to be working at a Toys R Us during its launch last year (I say lucky because while I most certainly would not have been able to find one if I weren't there to make a reservation, it's hard to think of even the best game system being worth getting paid minimum wage to work in that festering shithole), and got one on day one, I hate these people with a passion. Are we really such greedy bastards? I don't even SELL my games. I don't sell books when I'm done with them, even if I'm not likely to read them again. I don't sell movies. These are experiences I've had, and I keep them as at the least a reminder of good times and fantasy worlds I can use for a little needed escapism.

Let's face it. Video games are GAMES. Their only real purpose, in my opinion, is to be fun. Yes, they can improve hand-eye coordination, make us better/worse readers (depending on what games you play. I have a hard time believing RPGs that are 3/4 text make us worse readers than people who guzzle down trashy romance novels), provide an outlet for stress, etc. but they're still just GAMES. Where's the love of playing the game? Where's the FUN? Have we, as a society, lost the ability to just DO something for the sake of doing it, without thinking of ways to make a buck off of it? (The correct answer is: Yes. Yes we have.) I mean, obviously Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft want to make a profit. But that's business. But getting a Wii. That's gaming.

Re:pack mentality

[ECMIM]

Funny, they said that all of last year, too.

Re:Couple Thoughts

[bdjacobson]

Guys its really not a big deal. It's a video game system. I hate it when people say things like this, but if a 15-20% extra cost is enough to keep you from buying a console that only costs perhaps 1% of the average US household income, that you supposedly want so badly, badly enough to fuss on the internet about, then you probably don't need to be buying it in the first place, and don't need to be trolling the internet about it either. The time you saved not standing outside the store when the console launched, the time you chose to spend working or with your family or something, was the price of that Wii you want oh-so-badly. Everything has a price, and the fussers made their decision. But they want to have their cake, and eat it too, and are angry they can't. This is the real sad story, not that people are smart investors.

So the people that didn't want to spend 4 hours outside Gamestop on launch morning could have spent 4 hours investigating a smart stock to purchase, such as an Asian index fund (most of which are making 20+%/year). Take that $250 you stashed away a year ago when you knew the Wii was coming out, that you were planning on spending on a Wii, and stick it in that index fund (as soon as you knew you wanted to buy the Wii), make your 20%, and pay the 20% premium is currently costs to get a Wii off the people who are calling the stores and standing outside to buy Wii's to resell. If you don't like the chance of losing money on the stock market, then honestly you should have come up with a different idea or just gone out to the store and waited a couple hours to buy the darn console. You don't have control over losing money on the stock market, but you do have control over getting yourself a Wii. If that chance is in danger, just plan to show up earlier until that danger goes away.

So basically what I'm saying is everybody that wanted a Wii had a chance to get one, and the people that want one still and don't have one made their opportunity cost decision to spend time at work/asleep when they could have been out to get the Wii, and now that they're unhappy the only real person/thing they can legitimately be angry with/about is themselves for not making the right decision that they knew they should have. Besides, there are much more important things in life to spend time contemplating about than not having a Wii, such as what you could be doing differently at home so that you don't have the headache again this year you got last year on December 25 when your child found out he doesn't have his Wii; or why an extra $30 is so out of your budget that you suddenly can't afford a Wii. Seriously, just go do some manual labor or work at McD for 8hr * $5.15 to make up the premium to having a Wii! Yes, working at McD sucks, much more than standing in line with some friends at 4am to buy a console. Yes, I worked at McD for a year a worked manual labor for several months, so I'm not just saying it; I'm just giving an example of a very simple, no commitment way of making up the extra $30 that I saw Wii's cost on ebay just a few weeks ago.

Re:Are the underwear gnomes in charge?

[Kjella]

I think they can do both but there are more practical issues. The short version, 1.8mio = 450k/week is a lot going forward, normally the game market is ok in Q1, Q2, drops in summer Q3, explodes in christmas Q4. We've already heard that it takes them about 6 months to expand production all the way down the pipeline, so a change now won't go into effect until just before summer, when they're looking at the smallest demand. Nintendo will make their fall production orders around end of Q1, christmas volume at end of Q2. Right now they'd be foolish to increase production just to have it hit during dry season. During summer they will certainly build up stock, then hopefully they'll have made some better estimates for second half next year. In fact, I will be very impressed if they can sell 10mio+ consoles (6*1.8mio) in the first half that's already committed. Remember that they've "only" sold 15mio and change consoles so far and just keeping production at 1.8mio/month they'll need to sell 35mio+ to sell out.

Re:Couple Thoughts

[whereiswaldo]

I bought the Wii for innovative game play but unfortunately I found that (a) there weren't many games targetted at adults and (b) not all games really took advantage of the Wii controller in a way that couldn't be easily accomplished on any other console. Now that I've sold my Wii, I may be looking to buy a 360 or a PS3. With that said, I'm really disappointed by the quality of games out there and the price you have to pay for these often mediocre games. Very, very games are worth $70. Even Halo 3 doesn't seem worth it.

Re:Couple Thoughts

[Plaid Phantom]

(it can be argued that it is just a Gamecube 1.5 with a new controller)

Owning Super Mario Galaxy and having seen Metroid Prime: Corruption, I have a hard time believing that. It's like saying that the 360 is an XBox 1.5 with HD.

Re:Couple Thoughts

[Torvaun]

Wait, the PS3 is an exciting purchase? The PS2 was awesome right out of the starting gate. The PS3 wasn't. The PS2 console is still enjoyable for the same reasons it was enjoyable when it started: you could still play PS1 games, so you could have a reasonably large game library right from the start, it had a DVD player (not quite as exciting now, but it really helped the PS2), and it had a reasonable price point. The Wii has and had the best price point on the block. The DVD player is a moot point these days, and no one cares enough about HD-DVD or Blu-ray yet. The Wiimote is fun, and allows new styles of video game (video game bowling has never before been even remotely enjoyable). And with the online shop, you can buy those old games you used to love.

I was a huge PS2 fanboy. I wrote essays on it in high school when it was the hot new thing. I still play it. But, I do not see myself getting a PS3. Ever.

Re:Couple Thoughts

[AvitarX]

What good has capitalism brought to the world ? Show me! I don't see it, so please open my eyes to the truth you speak of.


I imagine you are joking, but the first thing that comes to my mind is a way to get someone to do something that doesn't rely on pure domination.

I mean slavery worked out really well for the masters during the first 7900 years of civilization, but after a few hundred years of capitalism it is becoming quite rare. Could you imagine telling someone from the classical world that less than 50% of the population would be slaves? They would laugh so hard.

When work was no longer done by slaves technology began to work for the people instead of simply as a novelty. Look at all the great research the Greeks had done, laying down the foundation of modern science, but it was simply a rich mans hobby, and very little was done with it. After all, why automate things when you can simply get more slaves to do it for you.