Slashdot Mirror
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.
This is a self-fulfilling scenario where inducing an artificial shortage (by not making enough) creates a huge demand because every kid has to show his/her friends he's managed to get a Wii and every parent is made to feel like a terrible parent because he/she's not managed to get one for the kids.
Yet were there enough Wiis in the stores, it would not be such an "exclusive" item and less people would want it because everyone who wants one can get one.
Sometimes the sheeple (probably the same people that camp outside stores for an iPhone) need to step beyond material possessions some time and think about how they are ultimately just being manipulated by big fat corporations.
And as to the people selling them at twice the price on eBay - good luck to them. They've recognised a market of stupid people and capitalised on it.
Me? I'll wait a couple of months after Xmas and buy a Wii when they're cheaper - at the moment I'm having great fun buying up ultra-cheap Gamecube games from all the trade-ins the Wii frenzy has generated.
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
You'll be able to find a Wii on Christmas, but not for Christmas.
</grammar-nazi>
Sorry, couldn't help it. I'll be able to find my Wii on Christmas as well!
Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
No. For his job, typos are allowed, retards aren't
That was the entire point of my post! I was saying, they DONT sell 350k a week, and stating last week's statistic only was misleading as it implies they do.
I think the why is actually important because otherwise you get into a false comparison, which I think you have. The reason why Galaxy isn't selling as well as Halo 3 is simple. People didn't buy their Wii to play Galaxy. They bought it to play Wii Play. Just like people bought the XBox 360 to play Halo (3, 4, et al).
You do realize this is a discussion (meaning, my post, what I replied to, etc...) as to the Wii as a movers of games right? Please consider that when writing things like "false comparision" and the rest of your reply since it's quite obvious you missed that part.
I confuse ads for DS games with ads for Wii games because the graphics are roughly the same quality. The Wii has circa 2000 era PC graphics, and that's totally unacceptable. The Wii cannot play audio CD's, let alone MP3's over a network. Guitar Hero is available on the PS2, yet will not be available on the Wii because it lacks the necessary horsepower. The New Wii gun is atrocious and anyone who's tried it is appauled by the in-accurate, laggy performance. NES had a better gun (seriously). Games like Metroid Prime are anything but brilliant; the control scheme is so irritating, awkward, and clumsy, that I cannot bear to even watch someone play it.
The Wii's time in the limelight will be short lived. People will grow tired of the "wand", and it will limit game development on the platform.
Wii can suck my balls.