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Why You Can't Find a Wii for Christmas
Nintendo is making Wii consoles at a record pace, some 1.8 million a month. Last week they sold 350,000 units. Yes, just last week. And yet, still, it's going to be almost impossible to find a Wii in a store this Christmas. Wired reports that the problem actually began back in August. Summer being the traditional 'dry' season in gaming usually leads to hardware surpluses, but not with Nintendo's console. The result is a holiday season that Nintendo essentially couldn't prepare for. "Demand for Wii is so high, says analyst Michael Pachter, because of all the different types of consumers competing for the units ... it's not just kids who crave Wii. [It's] an especially big hit at retirement homes ... Hard-core gamers, who initially spurned the Wii's lower graphic power compared to the Xbox and PlayStation 3, have changed their tune on the console, thanks to brilliant software like the first-person shooter Metroid Prime 3. And eBay scalpers? They really want Wii." In fact, the only reliable way to get your hands on a Wii is to go that most dubious of routes. Ebay Wii sales are very brisk indeed this week.
Welcome to last year.
Trust me, I'll be able to find a Wii come Christmas Morning. It'll be exactly where I put it a year ago.
Really, really small. And quite cheap.
If it becomes too hard to find, just go to a friend's house and take his.
Leaving the money where the Wii was, is regarded as a nice touch.
We got one in January last year, its a dream.
You can have it for a couple of thousand dollars. *evil grin*
liqbase
My mom got me a Wii for my birthday, and she has all but come out and said that she wants it back. She threatened to buy her own if I didn't bring mine for Thanksgiving (in retrospect I should have called her bluff). My aunts and uncles went absolutely nuts over Wii Sports Boxing. In 33 years I've never seen them get so worked up over any kind of game, much less heard them yelling and shrieking like they were. So yeah, I'd say that they're going to be hard to find. My mom hates consoles in general, but she'd really like a Wii.
I'm doing the same thing for Duke Nukem Forever - no sign of it yet though.
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
I remember feeling kind of silly waiting in line for a Wii. "There will be lots more" I was thinking... but I got mine on launch and then the demand only increased. My older brother wanted to get one for his family for Christmas, and he spent the next month trying to acquire one, even missing work on several occasions to do it.
The same people saying the demand for the Wii is imaginary are most likely the same people that called the Wii a fad. Aren't fads supposed to fade out? or am I missing something here?
You broke the needle on my 'smug elitist' detector.
Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
Try this on for size :)
I have THREE PS3s.Good stuff...
Well, a quick wiki search says Metroid 10 times, Zelda 14 times and Mario 13 times (counting Donkey Kong, not counting Smash and Kart spin-offs). You know, since you asked and I'm bored at work and all.
The "busiest shopping day" is not a "per store" statistic. I'm sure that at the bikini store, it's probably around Memorial Day. That's irrelevant, particularly at the scale that this discussion is about. Please, please, please: learn to be wary of anecdotal reasoning.
But my friend, the bikini store owner, says....
ZuluPad, the wiki notepad on crack
> The red-to-black has always been the theory explaining why its called Black Friday.
Possibly the most dubious backformation (i.e. "made up shit") I've ever heard. It's called Black Friday because it's a bad day to be in the trenches in retail.
Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005NCEZ/ref%3Dpd_sim_vg_dp_1/202-0904844-5000669
Samsung took back my unlocked bootloader because Google wants me to rent movies. They're both evil.
You're right! Your anecdotal evidence totally trumps that other guy's anecdotal evidence!
Go you!
Yes, the worst ten years of my life were the four years I spent in Ottawa. (apologies to Mark Twain)
What was once true, is no longer so
It's easy to get a Wii for christmas - just do your shopping in Norway!
More people from UK are picking up Wiis here, than Norwegians...
This is blinging