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DS Pre-Orders Stopped as Sales Soar
GamesIndustry.biz has the story that major retailers Gamestop and EBGames are likely going to stop DS Preorders because they're coming so fast that they won't be able to meet demand when the system launches. From the article: "It appears that six games will be available on day one - Nintendo's Super Mario 64 DS, Sega's Feel The Magic XY/XX, Activision's Spider-Man 2, Ubisoft's Asphalt Urban GT and two from EA - Madden NFL 2005 and The Urbz: Sims in the City." Gamespot also has details on the handheld shortage.
The PSP has been riddled with plausible problems since its inception - a high cost to manufacture, attempting to reach out to a market that's not there (not many older people aside from the hardcore gamers play handheld systems), and low battery life. Now, customers have spoken and they want the DS... I don't think there's much room in the marketplace for both systems, maybe Sony should hold off on the PSP till it becomes a bit more plausible and cost-efficient to develop.
To those talking about the DS shortage as a marketing strategy, I highly doubt it. Two reasons:
1. The system is launching Nov. 21st here and Dec. 2 in Japan. That's the closest international hardware launch Nintendo has ever done. I assume Japan will get unit priority after launch to make sure there are units on the shelf to combat Sony's PSP which launches Dec 12.
2. Hardware was finalized only a few months ago, which means production has only recently begun. Add to this that each unit has 2 LCD screens (one being a touch screen), and you can see a possible kink in the supply chain here.
So while shortages always generate a frenzy, and thus free marketing in a sense, I think the shortage here is genuine.
Also, it is unclear whether or not this will hurt Nintendo. With PSP on the way sometime next year, having an install base of 4-5 million never hurts. Look at the wonders that did for PS2.