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Wii Shortages Could Last For Months
Next Generation is reporting that, apparently, the Wii shortages could continue for some time yet. This is news from Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan, Nintendo's VP of marketing and corporate affairs, speaking to the Game Theory Podcast. Says Kaplan, "There is a lot going on behind the scenes in terms of working on what we are producing and the numbers continue to rise but the product is so very popular that we may see a supply / demand situation last for some time. We are at absolute maximum production and doing everything we can. The number of units that we have been able to produce has far exceeded our hardware production in the past and the production levels of a lot of our competitors but demand continues to be really high."
I know a guy who knows a guy who says that his sisters boyfriends roommate has seen one at a party.
"I'VE NEVER SEEN THE WII"
Then you need to lose some weight, dude. You should just be able to look down and there it is.
Thats funny, I haven't used the 360 for anything other than a means of watching HD movies since I got the Wii.
I see Zelda, Paper Mario, Wii Sports, Wario Ware, Elebits - and even "crappy" wii games like Rampage are fun on the Wii. And I see nothing really worth owning on the 360 (I guess Gears of War is alright, I'll pick it up when its cheaper though..)
To me, the 360 and PS3 don't offer anything that I haven't played before - they're the exact same games I've played since the PSX era, with the exact same controller. The games are just shinier. But, the Wii offers something new.
I've played Far Cry for both, both are supposedly "crappy" titles, relative to what's out there. But the wii-mote actually works, and I found the Wii version engaging because of it.
What does that prove? Nothing. Just that different people have different tastes.
But the numbers seem to show there's more of me than you.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Hate for MS? Are you joking? The average consumer vaguely knows MS is a cool technology company and might know they make Windows. The reason the Wii is in such demand is a series of well planned moves from Nintendo. They aimed at the casual gamer market instead of the traditional game console market. They continued their support for the younger children market. Maybe you are not understanding the demand because you are not the average buyer. The average buyer has an old console and is looking for one from this generation. They do not have two xbox 360's. The average buyer cares about price and the Wii is killing MS on price. The average consumer has seen the TV ads and the occasional article or news program commentary and what they took away from it is that the Wii is new and different with different controls and new types of games, while the Sony and MS systems are the same thing with slightly better graphics and a big price tag.
Nintendo took a big gamble in abandoning the traditional controller and focusing on a new type of gameplay. They took a big gamble in aiming at a nontraditional market. Those gambles paid off. Most of the big game developers expected them to fail and ignored the Wii as being too different from the others, figuring it likely either Sony or MS would win and they could make a quick port if they backed the wrong player. Those developers are all trying to reverse course and announcing Wii titles in the works.
I think you're right for the most part that the Wii only has a few good titles right now. That doesn't much matter to the average buyer though, because the average buyer only buys two games a year. I also think the strategic buyer on a budget, looking to the future will probably conclude that the Wii's popularity will result in it getting many of the best games a year from now. The only people it does matter to are people like you, who are going to buy several consoles and pick up a Wii anyway. You did buy one, right?
In summary, if you're looking to think hatred for MS is the cause, I only wish people were that conscious of MS's actions and that ethical and meticulous in their purchasing decisions. The Wii is winning on its merits, which are merits that don't apply to unusual buyers and hardcore gamers like yourself. Note, I am not a fanboy for any game console. I have a PS2 and an old dreamcast somewhere. I probably will not buy any current console for a year or more, or not at all. Right now, If someone gave me $600 on the condition I bought one, I'd get a Wii and a couple games and pocket the rest of the cash.
I think that's the point: PS3s are prettier than the XBox or PS2, but they aren't any more fun. So far, it seems like they're offering the same sorts of games with better graphics. For a lot of people, the Wii is more fun than these other systems because of its novel control scheme. Yeah, yeah, it's a bit gimmicky, but it makes certain sorts of games easier and more fun. It makes people get up, move around, and make silly movements.
And so the question in some people's minds has been, "what's going to have a greater demand: pretty graphics or fun gameplay?" It's not that the Wii can't have pretty graphics or that the PS3 can't have fun gameplay, but which one sells more depends on which feature people are more interested in.
Clearly you're a gamer, so you don't understand how real people game. You've got a game maintenance cycle. If you can't buy a new game every month, you don't care about the console.
Real people are not buying the Wii to play a game every month. They're spending $300 to play WiiSports. That's it! If the console never does anything else, they still got to play WiiSports for a couple of months. The entertainment cost is comparable to going to the movies once a week.
Keep in mind that first, real people don't sit down and game for hours every day. Bringing the Wii out on Saturday afternoon is a treat. It's like Monopoly or Scrabble. This keeps it fun longer.
Real people also don't have a whole set of consoles. When they're playing the Wii, they're getting the full enjoyment of "I'm playing a videogame!" on top of "I'm playing WiiSports." You no longer have fun just because you're playing a videogame. For you it has to be either a GREAT videogame or a NEW videogame.
So all these real people are going out and buying the Wii, and guess what? There are about four times as many of them as there are people like you. The whole videogame hardware production pipeline was geared towards the forty million people who buy videogames regularly, divided among three console brands and the PC. When the wider population taps in the pipeline hits capacity fast. I guess you don't remember Pac-man. Same thing happened.
Each Wii owned by a real person will probably only run four to eight games in the next five years. Shocking, isn't it? Nintendo isn't scared of this because that's where they already were... I know I only played about eight games on my Cube, and only six on my N64. They were all great, and I haven't had time for more than that. A game or two a year is my console limit as an adult, even though I work in the field.
So think Scrabble, not Halo, and you'll get it.
"Normal" in what sense? Keep in mind that the entire idea of a controller with a thumbpad on one side and buttons on the other didn't exist until Nintendo came along. I'm sure people then were also skeptical on how "normal" games would be played. ;)
The Wii-mote can be turned sideways, and in that respect can function a lot like a "normal" Nintendo controller. Super Paper Mario is one game I own that does this. Plus it also occasionally makes use of the pointing and motion abilities, too, in a very intuitive and easy to play by manner.
There's also the Wii Classic Controller, which is (as its name implies) a classically-shaped controller. While intended for the Virtual Console, I wouldn't be surprised if new games start requiring it, too. Plus, as you say, you can just use the Gamecube controllers.
While I'll admit that needing to buy a Wii-mote, and then also buy additional controller parts (classic controller and nun-chuk controller) is irritating, and rather expensive, in the end it's probably a smooth idea, as it increases the number of game styles the system can support. And it's not like consumers aren't already used to buying unique controllers, such as the Guitar Hero controller or DDR mats and the like.
Hummm... Let's see...
"I know"
That makes one.
"a guy"
Two.
"who knows a guy"
Three.
"who says that his sisters"
Four.
"boyfriends"
Five.
roomate"
And six!
I know who's the roomate of the boyfriend of the sister of the guy who knows a guy you know: It's Kevin Bacon!