Wii shortage...you kiddin me??

zyonuf79

Gawd
Joined
May 30, 2006
Messages
870
My apologies if there is a thread about this already....I did a search and did not see one. For a third time now, I get advance warning that a particular store is going to have Wii's in stock however that stock will sell out as fast as people can buy them. How on earth can this still be the case three months after the holidays? Also, to have this also be the case on reatial websites as well! Real shortage or not, I really think Nintendo is shooting themselves in the foot.

Everyone else seeing this?
 
People who want to buy brawl? We had 75 Wiis and they sold out in about 20-30 minutes. ALL best buys had wiis on hold just for the brawl week. So you picked a really bad time to buy a wii.
 
you serious? when has there NOT been a wii shortage? this damn thing has been out for near 1.5 years and it's STILL out of stock everywhere. There's a reason why people say Nintendo prints money.. But yeah.. cannot believe this thing is still not available to anyone who walks in at any time of day to a store to pick up a wii since nov 2006.
 
I'm with you guys on this. I can't believe that Wii's are not readily available in the retail outlet chain. Most times I do see them, they are bundled with a ridiculous amount of games that makes the purchase price $500+
 
ds-prints-money.jpg
 
The Wii train missed me completely. I guess i just don't like Mario all that much. And even if i did, would i really want him to be in almost every single game? I mean, Mario has to be in the basketball game?
 
I don't know why, but one of the Walmart store in my town has absolutely nothing Wii related on their game shelves anymore. No games, no accessories,no consoles, nothing. They still have GameCube and DS stuff up. It's really weird.
 
My apologies if there is a thread about this already....I did a search and did not see one. For a third time now, I get advance warning that a particular store is going to have Wii's in stock however that stock will sell out as fast as people can buy them. How on earth can this still be the case three months after the holidays? Also, to have this also be the case on reatial websites as well! Real shortage or not, I really think Nintendo is shooting themselves in the foot.

Everyone else seeing this who is in the market for a Wii right now?

Wow, have you been living in a cave or what? Wii has been in short supply since it launched. Since launch day, I have only seen Wiis on the shelf maybe two or three times, its usually sold out everywhere (I live in the Northeast).

I will say its not terribly hard to get one though, you just gotta call around and find out when stores are getting in shipments, then be there to buy it. Everyone I know that wanted a Wii was able to get one with a little be of effort on their end. I got one by waiting outside a Target at 3AM :D
 
Wow, have you been living in a cave or what? Wii has been in short supply since it launched. Since launch day, I have only seen Wiis on the shelf maybe two or three times, its usually sold out everywhere (I live in the Northeast).

I will say its not terribly hard to get one though, you just gotta call around and find out when stores are getting in shipments, then be there to buy it. Everyone I know that wanted a Wii was able to get one with a little be of effort on their end. I got one by waiting outside a Target at 3AM :D

I found mine completely on accident. I was going around to checking out different stores for a laptop and I happened to walk by the Wii section at Walmart (before they cleared them out) and they had three sitting there so I nabbed one. My wife went back to there a couple hourse later and they were out.
 
The Wii train missed me completely. I guess i just don't like Mario all that much. And even if i did, would i really want him to be in almost every single game? I mean, Mario has to be in the basketball game?

When hes your mascot, you want him EVERYWHERE. When you think Zelda/Link, you might think Nintendo, but you're more likely thinking an awesome adventure game (or not, depending on your reference) but when you think Mario, it'll more or less make you think Nintendo.
 
I have seen Wii in-store three times. The first time was last summer, must have been the day of a shipment. The second time was in a store up in New Hampshire. The reason why that guy had a few of them was that he was charging $400 per (mom-and-pop store). The third time was when I got one, two Sundays ago. Didn't have to stand in line, showed up at opening time and got the 29th of 46.

It's easier to find if you live out in the sticks, I hear. I live near Boston which I assume means there is a lot of people wanting one.

Surreal part: I was one of the youngest people of the 46 that day buying a Wii, and it's not like everyone there was buying it for children, these were older adults who were pretty much making it clear that they were buying it for themselves.
 
The Wii train missed me completely. I guess i just don't like Mario all that much. And even if i did, would i really want him to be in almost every single game? I mean, Mario has to be in the basketball game?

Mario is after all the best selling game franchise. The first Super Mario Bros. sold over 40 million copies; best selling video game ever.
 
Nintendo prints money is an understatement, how much R&D went into the Wii? It's a souped up gamecube. There's one thing that it delivers on though. Fun. Especially with friends around, no one can put the damn thing down. At my cousin's the other day, her son had a Wii. All the kids were fighting over getting some play time in. Some of the little ones were crying when I said I had to take MY preoder copy back home with me. I had picked it up that day, but since was on my way to visit, didn't drop it off at home. I told my cousin to buy her kids that game quick before they tear each other apart heh

adults love the system as well, even they want to get in on some of the games, especially wii sports.
 
Mario is after all the best selling game franchise. The first Super Mario Bros. sold over 40 million copies; best selling video game ever.

I owned and enjoyed Super Mario brothers too. It was a great game. But i don't know. It's just gotten completely ridiculous. Seems like every big game for the Wii or DS somehow incorporates Mario. Like they aren't even trying anymore. Ever see that South park episode where the writers for Family guy were idea ball fetching Manatees? That's how i see Nintendo execs getting ideas for new games, except including Mario at the front of every idea string is just implicit. Mario. Car Racing. Forest. Future. Done, print it!
 
I was in my local ShopKo to get a copy of Brawl (it's close to my house) and they had advertised they were getting 15 Wiis in for that Sunday. When I showed up about 8:30am they had actually gotten 48, and had 15 left.

I had to wait there about 5 minutes because they hadnt brought Brawl out yet and had to get me one from the back of the store, and in that short time I was there, they sold 5 more.
 
Nintendo prints money is an understatement, how much R&D went into the Wii? It's a souped up gamecube. There's one thing that it delivers on though. Fun.

Also amazing is that Nintendo was making money on Gamecubes from the day they launched too. I gotta think that the profit margin on the Wii hardware is extremely high now. Nintendo execs probably bathe in money and send Microsoft thank you letter for not lowering the cost of the 360. Even though they could keep selling Wiis at $250, I think you would find that Nintendo wants to maintain its position as the most inexpensive console. Not sure when the last time Nintendo sold hardware at a loss (if ever).
 
Nintendo makes gobs of $$$ off the accessories too, how many have shelled out for 4 wiimotes, the classic controllers, the nunchuks, the wii blaster, the gamecube controllers!

Then virtual console, plenty have bought into that as well and then the licensing for all the third party add ons from stickers to rubber pads to what not.

With all that cash, they could develop a next gen system have ALL of the features of the WII, all of the graphics capability of the PS3 and still have cash left over to say we're gonna sell this for $300 (or current 360/PS3 pricing) because MS and Sony over engineered their next gen to the moon and expect $1k per console...
 
I went to bb at 750 sunday morning and waited in line till 10. I was 4th in a line of 500 by 830. They got 59 in total which is all the wii's they gotten since xmas at bb in my town.

Not sure i wanted to wait in the 20 degree weather but it was for my kids and my birthday.
 
Yeah I am glad that I got mine the weekend after they released. With the shortages that are STILL going on I get to go home and have fun with mine. I actually have 7 games for it now and have to say that it still gets quite a bit of play, even without the party games. Since then I have only seen them in the wild a few times, one of which I picked one up for a friends son. Crazy but it is a great, no frills system.
 
Its not hard to pick one up, or that shocking that they are still out of stock, supply ability vs demand, right now so many people want one and only so many can be made. The time that you need to show up prior to opening though is going down in places that are recieving more supply. I got mine the second shipment after launch, and a few months later I had two more for two of my brothers.

Just pay attention to when they are coming in and talk to the people in the store to guage how early their lines are still forming and the usual shipment size.
 
is it nintendo's fault people love this system and everyone wants one, they can only make so many so fast and distribute them around the world, north america isnt the only place that sells them.
 
I think Nintendo had a good model for the Wii in that they concentrated on gaming instead of adding extras like a dvd player or blueray and super hardware like Sony and Microsoft did. Nintendo does have to continue to keep making simple and fun consoles or else they will die out in terms of making systems like Sega did. Sony and Microsoft are way too huge.
 
I went to BB yesterday to pick up a Wii and brawl, they had 4 left after I got mine.
 
Its all about fun when it comes to nintendo and thats what sells a game/system at the end of the day lol ;)
 
At this point (at least down here in DFW), it definitely looks like people aren't buying Wiis for themselves. They're buying them almost explicitly to resell them and make a profit; I haven't seen an actual Wii on a store shelf since the middle of last year. (I think.)
 
All I can say for sure is that my Wii gets the most of use out of my home consoles (though 360 is a close second the last few months), though I play my DS far more than any of the home consoles. I can also tell you that I've had my Wii sine launch day, and without exception everybody who I've introduced to my Wii has bought one of their own within a few months (usually waiting in line late at night/early morning, LOL)

I've seen exactly 3 on store shelves since launch, one of those I bought as a gift for a friend who couldn't afford her own.
 
At this point (at least down here in DFW), it definitely looks like people aren't buying Wiis for themselves. They're buying them almost explicitly to resell them and make a profit; I haven't seen an actual Wii on a store shelf since the middle of last year. (I think.)

I completely believe most of the Wii's that get purchased off the selves now are just being resold so the person can profit.
 
I think Nintendo had a good model for the Wii in that they concentrated on gaming instead of adding extras like a dvd player or blueray and super hardware like Sony and Microsoft did. Nintendo does have to continue to keep making simple and fun consoles or else they will die out in terms of making systems like Sega did. Sony and Microsoft are way too huge.

No, that is a common misconception... Nintendo is worth more than ALL of sony, including their movie, music, and electronics divisions, and is worth a lot more than Microsoft's games division (which is essentially worth nothing to begin with since its been in the red since the original xbox and is stealing money from other profitable divisions).

I completely believe most of the Wii's that get purchased off the selves now are just being resold so the person can profit.

That is also not true, check ebay, they go for at or near retail now and have been since about 2 months after launch (I would know, I tried profiting off of the first one I bought, and couldn't, so I kept it)
 
I know that all Dallas Area Sam's Clubs recieved 33 Wiis and around 50 SSB Brawl games for the Saturday Midnight Launch (I guess its really Sunday then =P). Anyhow, all the Wiis were gone by Sunday afternoon everywhere. Nintendo has made a good system for sure and they deserve a little limelight after the last couple of decent but lackluster systems.
 
its a fucking disgrace that you can't go into a store and buy a wii. Total failure on nintendo's part. A year after release? Semi-understandable....this long? fail.
 
its a fucking disgrace that you can't go into a store and buy a wii. Total failure on nintendo's part. A year after release? Semi-understandable....this long? fail.

Lets see, theres how many people in N.A.? How many of them want a Wii (young old teen etc..) Now how many people in the rest of the world? Its rather hard for ONE company to manufacture enough of these things for everyone on earth to get one when they want it.

If you remember the Xbox 360 also had shortage issues in its first year, and it was not nearly as popular as this one.

:rolleyes:
 
its a fucking disgrace that you can't go into a store and buy a wii. Total failure on nintendo's part. A year after release? Semi-understandable....this long? fail.

These things aren't made of wood, string, and fairy dust... you can't assemble them with a hammer and nails and child labor :rolleyes:

They have sold more Wii's than Microsoft has sold 360's in HALF the timeframe... doesn't sound like fail to me, sounds like unbelievable demand outpacing supply capabilities... but you would need to be semi-intelligent to understand that
 
I think Nintendo had a good model for the Wii in that they concentrated on gaming instead of adding extras like a dvd player or blueray and super hardware like Sony and Microsoft did. Nintendo does have to continue to keep making simple and fun consoles or else they will die out in terms of making systems like Sega did. Sony and Microsoft are way too huge.

Every time I turn the Wii on I cringe a little at the pixelated graphics. I for one would have preferred the Wii was $349 and had full HD graphics and a regular controller.

Playing Mario Galaxy and having to flick that stupid remote every 5 seconds was the first time in a long time a game has given me carpal tunnel symptoms. The only exception to the "ewww 480p" graphics thing was the brief intro level to Mario Galaxy... I still wonder what they did with regards to anti-aliasing and HDR there that made such a big difference.

The Wii is far more enjoyable when it has a gamecube controller sticking out of it and a gamecube disc inside it. :)

The first thing I remember whenever someone talks about a Wii shortage though is every time I waited on a Nintendo game as a kid. Zelda 2 in particular sticks in my craw... how long was that thing delayed? I think the big N is playing us all.
 
Every time I turn the Wii on I cringe a little at the pixelated graphics. I for one would have preferred the Wii was $349 and had full HD graphics and a regular controller.
.

You effectively have there nothing more than an Xbox360 with no harddrive? You ask for nothing else other than your "standard" console which is what the Wii exactly IS NOT.:rolleyes:
 
I saw Wii's in stock once. Believe it or not, it was at a circuit city and it was the day before the Wii officially went on sale. There were about 5 or 6 of them. I'm not a nintendo fan, so i hadn't even realized they weren't supposed to be there yet. I thought they had gone on sale earlier in the week. I remember thinking, huh; guess there wasn't the rush on those things like there was supposed to be. Then 2 days later when all hell actually did break loose and i saw Wii's on ebay selling for $500+ i was kicking myself.
 
I have yet to see a Wii in any significant supply, they won't even stock them on shelves, that's how quick they go. Walk through a BB and listen in while in the game section of how many people inquire about buying a Wii.

They sell them as fast as they make them. Even if only 1/10 of the planet wanted and was capable of buying a Wii, that's still 600 million. Doubtful one company could produce that many in 2 years... console companies are lucky to make a few million units in a year.
 
Lets see, theres how many people in N.A.? How many of them want a Wii (young old teen etc..) Now how many people in the rest of the world? Its rather hard for ONE company to manufacture enough of these things for everyone on earth to get one when they want it.

If you remember the Xbox 360 also had shortage issues in its first year, and it was not nearly as popular as this one.

:rolleyes:

this just in: companies which make popular products tend to historically meet the demand. Nintendo hasn't, thereofre they fail.
 
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