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.
350,000 sold x 4 (weeks per month) = 1.4million sold per month
They make 1.8 million a month.
If they're making more than they're selling, why is it so hard to find a console?
UTF-8: There and Back Again
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.
I'm not surprised there's shortages in stores, and large amounts on eBay. The employees in the stores get first dibs on the consoles when they come in, so they buy up most of them and sell them on eBay for big profit. This is at least what my classmate who works at Best Buy during breaks told me.
Even Reggie can't find one: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=9807
I think its because he eats them all. Grinding mens bones to make his bread wasn't enough.
Virginia is for lovers. EVE is for griefers.
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.
I have resisted all "Wii bundle" deals that stores try to offer because I just don't like the idea of being forced to buy other things when all I want is a console. But now that the Wii has been out for an entire year and I have still yet to lay my eyes on an Wii unit in retail stores, I have surrendered myself to the thought. Fortunately my mother works at Costco so next shipment of Wiis they get, she will be buying one of the bundles for me (which I believe isn't too bad: wii unit, 2 controllers, 2 games of my choice, $340). Its nice to have someone close working in retail for times like these. :)
Hero of Allacrost, a FOSS RPG for *NIX/*BSD/OS X/Win
We got one in January last year, its a dream.
You can have it for a couple of thousand dollars. *evil grin*
liqbase
How is this news? It's advertising, a reminder that you should buy a Wii and buy it now, since it's still readily available and presumably won't be in a couple of weeks. That is, it won't be if the hype works like planned.
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.
They aren't exactly just collecting dust on shelves, but they can be easily found. Sure, it takes a bit of research (when is what store going to get a shipment in) and getting up early in the morning so as to be in line to get it when the store opens, but they CAN be gotten. It just takes a bit of effort. My ladyfriend and I camped out overnight about 6 months ago to get ours...grabbed two packs of ciggs, put a bunch of futurama episodes on my PSP's 2 gig memory stick, a couple of folding chairs, a little bit of food/drink, and had a great time. AND we got to go home with a Wii! Granted, winter is coming up so temps are getting a little cold to do that comfortably...but camping out at the store is almost as much fun as owning the console, IMHO. Just a part of the experience :-)
Living With a Nerd
It's still relatively easy to get a Wii here. They sell out, but not at the furious pace they used to.
Last year, they sold out before the store opens (because of more people lining up overnight than the store had). Then it changed early in the new year where it sold out in about 20 minutes. During the summer, it easily took a day to sell out, and now, about a week. (Still brisker than a PS3.)
At least here (Vancouver, BC), if you really wanted one, you can get one if you try. No fancy lining up, just check a bunch of stores during the week. I spot them quite easily - just check all the usual stores over the course of a week. You don't have to check every store daily - just once a week, and you're bound to run into one with one in stock within a week or two. From observations, companies like Best Buy and other big electronic chains typically get big shipments (~30/week or so per store), than game stores like EBGames (maybe 3 a week). Wal-Mart tends to get a few as well. Generalize to other big stores.
Of course, with Christmas approaching, I expect the sellout time to be around a day again, so if you have an electronics store (Best Buy, whatever) along your commute, it may help to stop by. If you ask nicely, they may even tell you when the shipments normally come in, so you can plan to visit that day, the day before (stuff occasionally arrives early), and the next business day (in case it's late). Heck, most stores post signs nowadays, so you don't have to ask, or offer clues (e.g., bundles) that they're in stock.
Its not all in stock at the shops? A lot of it is in warehouses waiting to be ordered/shipped to retailers, in transit etc. Shops order what they expect demands to be, and that will either add up to be less than the stocks shipped by the factories, around the same, or (likely coming up to xmas) more, in which case production rates are increased to meet with demand, which is probably why the amount being made per month has increased in advance, so that when retailers realise they need to have a lot more in stock to cope with the xmas rush they will be able to get those supplies from the manufacturers With less concern over what the manufacturers can provide.
...does anyone else remember all the news stores about the Wii before it release last year? And how every 3rd comment was someone saying "There's no need to wait in line, there are going to be plenty! I plan to walk into a store the day after release and buy one." ...12 hrs in line vs 1+ year of it being incredibly difficult to come across. I'm glad I waited in line. :D
When it comes to popular toys or Hanna Montana tickets, there are two obvious ways to increase fairness:
* Rationing. Nobody gets more than one. Period. All sales go through a central clearinghouse. All units are delivered roughly simultaneously.
* Dutch auction. Speculators welcome. All units delivered roughly simultaneously.
There are several major challenges to these:
* Both can be gamed.
* It's a logistical challenge.
* The toy stores hate it if they don't get a piece of the action or in-store traffic.
* Too bad for the kid who wants it for his early-December birthday if the units aren't delivered until just before Christmas.
* With dutch auctions, the market sets the price and families or retirees who could afford "sticker price" may be locked out.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
I've helped over 2 dozen people find wiis since launch (i got mine at midnight, so I was good), and I'll tell you all the same thing I've told them:
Check the weekly ads for Target and Best Buy on their respective websites on Saturday night/Sunday Morning. If there's a Wii in the Best Buy ad, go there immediately (sunday morning), they'll be there (ask if they're not on shelves, they may have not been stocked yet). If it's in the target ad, go to the store and ask the person working in electronics when they usually get their shipments in (day of the week). You should be good to get one if you get there before 10am that day.
How Jaded Are You?
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.
When I decided to by mine, I just set up a script that checked Amazon every minute or two. I know they have sites that do that already, but there are hundreds of people signed up for the email notifications on those sites. I figured if I had my own script I might get a head start on those people - which paid off. I think I had my script running for only 3 days before I got my Wii. I'm sure many other slashdotters did the same.
People who say "money does not buy happiness" are just people without money trying to make themselves feel better.
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?
Amazon is putting them on the website as they get shipments, as are Best Buy and, I've heard, others. I just had a tab open in my browser and refreshed every little bit. One minute it was $425-$600 on Amazon, the next minute it was $249.xx, no sales tax, no shipping. From what I could tell, the units lasted about 30 minutes, and the word hit the Internet on forums and message boards damn fast.
Of course, it was over $500 on Amazon Resellers this morning.
Same for DDR and Guitar Hero, which are apparently incredibly rare games for no apparent reason that I can see. One minute DDR was $168, the next it was $69.99. What's amusing is seeing how fast the Amazon resellers react and adjust their prices.
Bill
I got my (nephew's) Wii last week.
You can touch me if you want.
Look, 1.8million made 1/3 go to US, so 600 000 in the US, 150 000 A week in the US
350 000 sold last week
Now, think about that, if every week they sold 350 000, and they only made 150 000, how did they find the extra 200 000.
Two answers- either they have a stockpile (not likely considering stores have been empty for almsot a year) - OR - they DIDN'T sell 350 000 units in the previous weeks.
Now, could we in future post articles which aren't based on freak statistics and make out those results are normal.
I bought a Wii at launch and sold it about a month later to my brother-in-law on the cheap because he wanted one. At the time I really don't think I made a mistake, and I still mostly agree with that. Until Mario Galaxy came out, there were absolutely zero games I was interested in. I played through Zelda and put tons of hours into Wii Sports with family and friends, good fun and all, but what has come out since then? Metroid and Mario basically. Maybe Zack and Wiki but I don't really know anything about that. I played the first hour of Metroid and though it was a great deviation from the Metroid-norm, it still didn't do much for me.
But Mario is out now and Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be out in a couple of months. Everyone says Mario is awesome and I put something like 2000 hours into Smash Bros. Melee so all of a sudden I'm thinking maybe it was a mistake? Not sure, but one or two games aren't really enough for me to rebuy a system, so it'll probably be a while until I actually pick up another Wii. I still have tons of last generation games to play though, and my DS, so I'll manage.
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
Try this on for size :)
I have THREE PS3s.Good stuff...
I got one this summer at a FYE store in New England.
My tactic was pretty simple: Ask all of the stores in my area what day of the week they typically get deliveries on. Then call each store on its standard delivery day (and the day after, if the shipment hadn't been unpacked when I called), asking if they had a Wii. It paid off in several months.
I was probably also lucky that I wasn't doing this during the holiday season, otherwise the Wiis probably would have been all snapped up before I got there. But still, my approach may be worth a shot.
P.S. It really is a lot of fun, especially for a casual gamer like me.
I know of people in the UK who have bought Wiis from Amazon in Germany or in France - there doesn't seem to be any problem with shipping to the UK. It's in stock now (ie 17:08 GMT on 29th November 2007) at Amazon.de. "Verfügbarkeit: Auf Lager." Means, "Availability: In Stock". Just at the moment it is out of stock at the French Amazon store.
Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
This method is not guaranteed, but it will help a lot. It helps best if you live in a large urban area with multiple stores around.
This is not guaranteed in the slightest. It may take a few attempts. It's easeir than camping ad days, though, and will eventually get you somewhere. Try not to use the same employee day after day, and keep in mind that stock levels are only updated in the morning, not instantaneously. Don't keep checking back.
Increasing production beyond the current point would require setting up new assembly lines. That's a big investment, especially if you have to worry about sales going down soon (the Wii is already being made at the highest rate a console was made at, going further is risky).
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
Go to Sweden. I was visiting a major household/electronics retailer the other day and Wiis were gathering dust on the shelves. I very nearly bought one myself, despite not owning a TV and generally preferring PC games anyway. Maybe now I'll go buy one and sell it for profit on eBay...
Quality, performance, value; you get only two, and you don't always get to pick.
I bought one a few weeks ago at walmart.com -- showed up in a few days. I tried calling around to all the stores in my area for about a week first, with no luck.
The only downside is its a bundle with about $300 of games and accessories that you were probably going to buy anyway.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5303671
We always here about how it's a different demographics buying the Wii, but are there actually statistics out there to back that up? And I doubt we'll ever see them, but I'd love to see what the actual playing time is for the different age groups.
I managed to get my hands on a Wii back in July. It took some effort: about once or twice a week for 4 or 5 months I would hit up 7 or 8 stores until I found one at a GameStop. It was a great purchase, and I'm really glad I have it. Whenever we have any kind of get-together, the Wii invariably becomes part of the fun. Whether it's tennis or bowling, shooting ducks on Wii Play, or even playing Mario Kart: Double Dash with the GameCube backwards compatibility, the Wii is enjoyed by all sorts of people.
My wife has taken a liking to it, and she isn't much of a gamer at all. She can actually beat me in Wii Play fishing, sometimes laser hockey and billiards, and I have been gaming for over 20 years. I still win with the target shooting and the bubbles, but the difference is narrowing... and we have a blast playing Tennis together as a team.
It blows me away that the Wii is still in short supply. I don't think you can claim that Nintendo is artificially shorting supply, not with 1.8 million being produced monthly. It really makes me wish I had acted on my thought back when the Wii was announced to buy Nintendo stock.
Intelligent responses welcome, flames will be met with marshmallows.
My wife managed to get me one as a present covering Father's Day, our anniversary, and my birthday. This was back in late-May. Now, I play it at least once a week with my four year old son. He loves WiiSports bowling and golf. Ok, he doesn't quite grasp the concept of golf and loves whacking the ball when it is 2 feet away from the hole into the water trap 50 feet away. Still he has fun. When it comes to bowling, though, he's surprisingly good. He has a high score of 121 and learned how to aim the ball to pick up spares simply from observing me doing it. I never tried to teach him it figuring it was too advanced, but I guess the Wii's controls are just that intuitive.
Just for the record, while I like the occasional game, I'm definitely not in the gamer market. The last console that I owned was the original NES and that was back when I was a kid in my parents' house. So I can completely see why they have a supply issue. They have a supply chain geared for the gamer market and a product being purchased by gamers and non-gamers alike. While they are increasing the supply chain as fast as they can, it's probably none too easy to catch up with the demand. (And they definitely don't want to ramp up too much and then be left with an overly huge supply chain and too many Wiis on the shelf.)
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
Given the fact that it's going to take at least another month for supply to meet demand (and that ignores all the people who have been waiting for a Wii), what would give you the idea that Iwata and Co. would want to trim the price of the Wii? I'd be surprised if there was a price cut before summer.
Anyhow there's no point in going beyond material possesions if it's only temporarily. If you're so enlightened, why don't you just stick with your GameCube? There's still plenty of fun games for it and then you won't have to worry about yet another material possesion.
Dude, a record 1.8 million units produced each month. You do realize that there is an upper limit on production quantities for items like this, right? The amount of money Nintendo would have to blow to increase production (and the amount of money their suppliers would have to blow) could very easily outstrip their profits, and it won't be a long-term gain since eventually the market will be saturated and production requirements will decrease.
It isn't like you can just produce twice as many units by spending twice as much on production. Don't work that way, buddy. Building more fabs or increasing fab production can require a simply ginarmous amount of money, and that kind of cash is only spent if the company (which would be Nintendo's chip suppliers, not Nintendo itself) expects to be able to continue using the increased production for 10+ years into the future to pay off the expense. Increasing production volumes for a single product that honestly won't be selling that hot in a few years just isn't worth it.
I don't think this is in any way a problem of "sheeple" (god you're a retard) falling for evil Nintendo sales practices: it's just a simple matter of Nintendo not being able to meet an unbelievable and totally unprecedented demand for a videogame console.
Scene, August 2007, Wii production status meeting: Marketing research assistant: It looks like we'll be selling all the Wii's we can make this Christmas. Any way we can ramp up production?
Production manager: We could retool another line that's not so busy. That will cost us $BIGNUM in retooling costs and downtime.
Marketing research assistant: Yes, I already talked to your assistant about that yesterday. I ran the numbers and if we can increase production 25% it will be worth it.
Marketing director: Now hold on a minute, if we keep capacity as it is it will create a shortage and the free publicity will help future Wii sales and the sales of our future products. No, let's not increase production. What's the next item on our agenda?
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
I remember a Slasdot story about 4 months ago that basically said the Wii had peaked, that all the non-gamers that wanted one had bought it already, and it was sitting unused, while the gamers did not want one.
What crap.
Sony etc. are still caught in the "better chip/video, at any cost" model. Nintendo got it right, the video is more than good enough at the low end. It will take another revolution in video quality to make the best chips worth it again. For now, better games and better controllers are where it is at.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
I found a Wii just last Sunday. That was after a week of calling around and pining down shipping dates at stores. All I had to do after that point was get to the store when it opened, not wait in line all night or anything. Then again, I wasn't getting one "for Christmas". I was getting one because my I found enough lead way in my finances to allow it. Anyone that feels the need to celebrate some charlatan's supposed birthday in a fit of consumerism probably doesn't deserve on anyway...
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
I hate to say it, but Nintendo needs to take Econ 101. If they can't keep them on store shelves, raise the freaking price. If they aren't going to, then everyone else will in the secondary market (i.e. ebay).
Because their attach rate is the lowest again, just like the Gamecube. It seems a lot of people are buying as a Wii Sports machine. There are some great games, but obviously something isn't clicking when you look at the number of Wiis sold and compare the software sales charts.
A lot of people poo-poo the idea of getting a bundle deal (like http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5303671), but that's one of the best (and in some cases the only) way to get a Wii at all. Stand alone Wiis are impossible to locate...and if you do and fail to buy it, you're a moron because it'll be spoken for in about 2 seconds. Save the hassle, buy the bundle, and if you follow the link I posted, you get to choose 6 items to go with the Wii--you're bound to find a game you like in there.) That's how I got mine...one week after the Wii came out.
The Wii is a lie.
"Even for Slashdot, that was a very obscure reference!" - Anonymous Coward
In NYC, and I'll bet this is true in LA, there is a Nintendo World store. They sell 300 Wiis every day to the first 300 people in line. I got one for myself last year this way, and one for my nephews; they're old enough this year to ask for one. The catch, you have to get in line early; 2 hours and rising; even though the store opens at 9am.
This is the only way I know of. I hope this helps.
By the way, the Nintendo World store in Manhattan is in Rockefeller Center.
- Mike
Once you've lost your temper, you've lost the argument - Me
eBay is a terrible idea because you're always spending more for questionable quality. I got my Wii because one weeknight at Wal-Mart they happened to have three. Also, most stores around here get their shipments in on Sundays, so if you just go wait at at Target or something on a Sunday morning you are pretty sure of getting one, because not many people are waiting outside randomly for a Wii (three of my friends did this and all three got them).
am I the only person that thinks the Wii is highly overrated? I mean, it was fun for about 10 minutes. But I can take only so many Mario remakes.
First, check if you have a local ebgames or gamestop. If you don't, sorry I can't help you.
1) Order a Wii bundle from ebgames or gamestop.
2) When the package arrives sort out stuff you want, and stuff you don't want
3) Play wii till you pass out, or get bored (hopefully the wii is one of the items you want)
4) When you wake up, take receipt, and unopened items that you didn't want to your local store
5) Ask clerk at store for a refund.
6) rejoice
alternate path
You can return everything but the wii to the local store, and then scalp the system on ebay. You'd be a total jerk to do this, but I couldn't blame you if you did...
Sears, yes that Sears, sells Wii consoles. None of the hardcore gamers even think to check there. Every time I go to Sears, they have a few in stock, and they rarely sell-out there (That's where older folk buy them from).
If you are looking, call and check your local sears.
FYI YMMV IANAL ARR
Not sure if US gamers can play the games that are destined for the EU or Asia. If you buy it, you will probably have to sell it in the European market.
The Wii is popular not because it's so good but because the competition is not very good. The antique PS2 is probably giving the Wii the most competition due to its huge game selection of (mostly older) games and its relatively low price but anyone who's owned a PS2 knows about 'Disk Read Error.' Maybe Sony has solved that problem...maybe. And then there's the XBOX 360 with its powerful graphics, awesome games such as Halo xx and Rock Band, and the financial backing of the largest 'software' company in the world. Maybe that's why the XBOX 360 'hardware' has problems with disk scratching, red ring of death, and random freezes. Well then, you say, what about the PS3? The PS3 has a powerful processor and great graphics but it's more difficult to develop for, pricey, and the game selection is not as good as the other platforms. So...there's the Wii. Medium power, medium graphics, and not a lot of newer great games (although that's improving with Guitar Hero 3, Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, and Super Smash Brothers Brawl) but the Wii is priced low, can run a huge library of older Ninetendo games for Game Cube, N64, and SNES, and has typically bulletproof Nintendo hardware. It also doesn't hurt that the Wii has a new 3-axis accelerometer wireless controller design but can still use legacy controller designs.
The bottom line is that Wii sales are going to be dominant until one of the other platforms solves enough of their problems to achieve dominance...which will probably be either the Xbox 360 Rev 2.0 with the new 10-year blanket warranty or the $200 PS3-lite with the PS2 compatibility module built-in bundled with "Ratchet and Clank 3rd Generation." Say in 2 years or so...
I don't have a wii, but my brother does and have had lots of fun playing wii sports. Well just golf and bowling, the rest are actually pretty bad. The boxing is so out of sync with what you actually do it's not funny, and tennis is just dumb when you make a swing gesture and the little racket swings with it's canned animation.
From what I've read the wii is capable of true 1:1 movement but has any game shown that yet? Like even golf in wii sports, when it's in putting mode it feels a little off sometimes and you get these mis-swings. I wish they'd make it a true 1:1 movement so even if I want to wallop the ball with the putter, when then just let the user do that.
But about other games, ignoring mario, from some of the other games I've tried, I wasn't impressed. And again there doesn't seem to be a killer game besides mario galaxy.
I know nintendo goes for the the kid/family market but why not have the other deeper games as well? I remember when nintendo got an 'exclusive' for the resident evil series. I was shocked at that deal that sony would let that franchise slip away, and was curious what nintendo was up to in the sense that were they going to make a push and show it can be a more mature gaming box as well? But they didn't really.
Anyway, I think it's a great little system, that's cheap, well built and it's cool with the browser capabilites and all, I'm just not sold on the titles yet.
Not that gamespot is the greatest review site, but just look at the scores for the latest wii games:
http://www.gamespot.com/reviews.html?type=reviews&platform=1031&tag=subnav;reviews
I get excited about the hardware but when I see the titles out there I think, meh not yet.
There's basically one good game for the Wii every six months or so. That game may be really, really good, too. It just may be a while until the next good one.
www.voiceofthehive.com - Beekeeping and Honeybees for those who don't.
Earlier today I went to purchase a Wii at the local Toys"R"Us and they had I think at least 10/15 of them if I believe the number of boxes on the shelves. It's true that I've seen 3 other people purchase one in half an hour though, but there doesn't seem to be any shortage (I live in France).
So is there a problem only in the USA, or is this shortage announce a way for Nintendo to sell even more consoles ?
Votez ecolo : Chiez dans l'urne !
I saw a videogame store selling them (list price console; no bundle) on Black Friday, although they were sold out by afternoon.
I bought mine from the ToysRUs web site, taking advantage of the Wii Tracker web site, where units pop up occasionally.
"Do not try to buy the Wii; that's impossible. Instead only try to realize the truth: There is no Wii."
In Europe the picture is pretty much the same situation everywhere, you can see boatloads of Wii almost everywhere. The only people constantly complaining about a Wii shortage are the people in the UK, and probably only because they simply are too stupid to do some EU boundary mail ordering, because they have not recognized yet that there is the EU.
Seriously, only the UK has a Wii shortage and no one really knows why those guys dont simply order it from within another EU country, but constantly lament on the web about the shortage.
As for the US guys, yes you can see boatloads of Wii here, but there is no use, they are region locked!
Besides that at the current exchange rate you will have to pay around 350 Dollars for one over here!
While I don't doubt Wii's are selling I'd like to propose what I think is a more accurate view. The media keeps telling us that the Wii will most likely be sold out this christmas, because its so popular ALOT of people have been mass buying. A week doesn't go by when a friend/family member doesn't tell me how they know someone who's bought 6/11 Wii's and plan to keep one themselves and sell the rest. As it stands I don't see this massive shortage we are suffering, I used to work in a store its had the same ten Wii's in the stockroom for 5 months now (so a friend told me last week) a work friend bought a Wii off of Amazon on Monday. When I went Freezer shopping last Saturday Comet, Curry's, etc... all had Wii's in stock.
My theory, the shops will be out of Wii's come christmas but Ebay and newspapers will have hundreds of people trying to sell them at markup (which hopefully won't work I don't like people who do that.) I really hope the shops don't sell out and everyone buying them up at the moment ends up having to sell them below cost.
Is because of Super Mario Galaxy. It's quite possibly the best Nintendo has come up with in ages, and it's selling consoles on the double by itself. In the last four weeks (according to vgchartz.com), the Wii has sold 280k, 265k, 435k, 640k units world wide. Add that up for a total of 1620k units in a month. When we know they're producing 1800k units/month, that basicly means there's almost nothing being stockpiled for Christmas. And the console market just explodes by Christmas...
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Last year when the new PS came out THAT was the thing you couldn't find, and the Wii
was the second best. Can you imagine if the Wii could play Bluray disks?
I don't agree with everything you say (I really do love my Wii), but I do agree with the general premise that the other consoles are not as good. Specifically, the PS3 needs to reach a $200 price-point to compete and the 360's hardware has had too many issues. I'm personally boycotting the 360 myself until MS backs down from their patent FUD against Linux and the open-source movement.
I bought a 360 and I'm trying to unload mine. Have the original box, HD Cable, 4 games (Sports, Biggs, Harry potter, WarioWare), 3 controllers and 2 chucks. Need to pay for school. Hoping to get $450 for it.
if you want to buy it feel free to email me at bigdady at gmail dote com
Wheel of Time: Book by Book and Sumview (summary review) Bigdady92 style: http://bigdady92.blogspot.com/
i've had both a Wii and a PS3 since launch. I use the PS3 everyday and I haven't turned on the Wii since April. Primary reasons are this:
1. the wii-mote gimmick gets old.
2. the graphics look like total ass on an HDTV larger than 40ish inches.
I really believe that the only reason they are so popular is because of the artificial scarcity that nintendo has invented. people always want what they can't have.
1.8 million consoles manufactured per month.
350k consoles sold per week.
4(lets be generous).25 weeks per month.
~1.5 million (rounding up) console sales per month.
Over 300,000 unsold units per month.
Theft? Arson? FUD? Loss? Where did they go?
Or is 300k just too small a number to find on the shelves of your local retailers? I'm assuming both figures are world wide. Take it further, manufacturing has been ramping up steadily and demand has either gone up steadily or (more likely) remained somewhat flat over the summer and climbing for Christmas. Assuming this situation has been going on for a few months, shouldn't there be a million or two unsold console somewhere? Or is there some other trend at work (such as misinformation or bad journalism)?
I see them at Walmart, Best Buy, Game Stop, etc. fairly often now. Seems like they each have a few on the shelves each week. Then none for a few days, then back on the shelf again. Took awhile to get to this point though. It was sold out and hard to find for a long time.
Metroid Prime 3 isn't that good, but Super Mario Galaxy is great. Link's Crossbow Training is also a lot of fun for just $20.
/me has been a Wii owner since launch last Novemeber.
Slashdot = -1 Redundant, Asperger, kdawson FUD, Libertarian, and Linux
I wish I had bought one about 2 months ago and kept it boxed. I could make upto 200% profit here in the UK.
There is absolutely no shortage of wii in Europe.
There used to be one one year ago.
It's much more lucrative for Nintendo to sell wii in Europe and maintain shortage in the us...
Price = 249 $ in US
Price = 249 Euro in Europe
1 Euro = 1,47$
That's explain why.
It's the same thing for accessories, games...
I'm fed up with the 1 euro = 1$ conversion thing and the fact that us store will mostly refuse to sell things if you don't pay with a us card and don't ship to a us address...
Yeah, time has proven Nintendo had the best formula for new console sales. Still, I don't like all the attacks I see on the 360 and PS3, relative to it. In my mind, the Wii was so successful because it's such a different product. Sure, all 3 are "game consoles", but the Wii approaches things from a very different angle than the others.
... not just the "authorized" ones Sony or someone else lets you buy for it. Good stuff for a console!
I, for one, had *no* interest in a Wii, and still don't. I'm afraid I'm in the camp of those who wondered if the Wii was "just a novelty that would wear off". To me, buying a Wii has just as little attraction as buying "Dance, Dance Revolution". I want to relax/unwind with a good video game. I don't want a physical "workout" from it.
I really do get why Wii has been such a "smash hit"; it's because it appeals to the majority of the population out there who really didn't want to play traditional console games (or played them so casually, they felt no need to upgrade from whatever older, "outdated" system they still toy around with).
The PS3 and the XBox 360 were console system upgrades for "traditional gamers". Wii was not. The weaker hardware specs to achieve the lower price-point should indicate that. But beyond that, there's the fact that many of us in the "traditional gaming camp" want to be wowed by things like impressive sound f/x, cutting-edge graphics AND an entertaining game. We're not interested in flailing our arms and/or legs around wildly to make the game character move. (Especially when you tend to do your person vs. person gaming over the net, as opposed to socially, with multiple people in your living room - the physical movement stuff quickly loses its appeal.)
I went with a PS3 last year, and despite the slow release of good titles, I'm happy enough. The latest crop of games like Ratchet & Clank are making it look pretty darn good right now. And hey, the latest UT even supports a mouse and keyboard, plus all mods and custom levels out there
I was lucky enough to walk into a Costco one weekend afternoon during September and found that they had about 15 Wii consoles available. They where all gone before the day was over but not before I got my hands on one.
President/CEO Pacy World http://www.pacyworld.com
or Gamestop online.
They all can be bought online and will ship before Xmas if you order now.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
If you are in the NYC area, everyday day the Nintendo World store gets about 100, they seel out by 8:30-9:00, but if you get to work early one day (i.e. 6:30) and lineup outside you will get one.
Gamecube. Most games have better graphics too!
Yep, I'll admit it, we want a Wii too, largely because it's the only console my s.o. has any hope of enjoying. There are none available anywhere, though as the article mentioned, there's no shortage of supply. I think there's an artificial shortage, and we have a bunch of scum-sucking bastards to thank for it.
I strongly believe that one of the main reasons they're sold out is because there are a growing number of hoarders. They did it with the Xbox 360 way back when, and they've been doing it with the Wii since it was released. These past few weeks, I've been seeing more of this behavior. Now the scalpers are on Guitar Hero 3. I'm sure if there are any other popular items, they'll buy them out too.
I remember a while back, a particularly smug jerk posted a picture of about 30 Wiis stacked in his apartment, and was selling them at a hefty premium. Unsurprisingly, I also heard someone broke into his home, beat the shit out of him and made off with the consoles. I derived great enjoyment from the story, but it still meant there was one guy with at least 29 more Wiis than he actually wanted.
Maybe I'm a little too Canadian for my own good, but I consider this sort of behavior quite detestable. Even worse are the people buying from these profiteers, as they're just reinforcing this anti-social behaviour. Take away a scalper's profit, and these jerkoffs will find something else to do like peddling native cigarettes or some other redneck hobby.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
I got it for my kids about 6 months ago. We all played it a bit at first, and we've bought about 10 games for it, but nobody really plays it anymore. I have 2 ps2's, a gamecube, and 2 360's (second 360 came out of the ps3 budget), and 3 DS's, and 3 gamboy advance SPs. I love video games, my kids love video games. They can play just about any game they want whenever they want. Just last week my 5 year old asked me "How come we never play the Wii anymore?" It made me pause and think. The Wii *is* cool. Everyone wants one, lots of people buy one, but beyond those plusses is the horrible truth the games just aren't any good. The Zelda game is the one that's been completed farthest, and the mario one where they spray water out of the hose, and I think we're not even half way. We've all played the various iterations of bowling. When we get a new Wii game it gets played for about 2-3 hours, and then again a week later for another 1-2 hours. This is absolutely nothing compared to how much they play Viva Pinata on the 360. They have mulitple gardens, and I was surprised to see my gamertag had the 100 hours + Viva Pinata award. Not only Viva Pinata, but Lego Star wars. The 5 year old has 100% completed Lego Star wars I & II (one is ps2/one is 360), and he still loves it enough we got the new ultimate Lego Star wars for 360 and he's busy playing that. I'm not trying to be negative about the Wii, or say one platform is better than another. I am very happy with my 360 purchases, and very happy with my ps2 purchases, and the DS and Gameboys. But the Wii was very much a waste of money. I won't be getting rid of it, but if I could get my money back for the Wii + accessories + games I would be very tempted.
My Linux Command of the Day site : LCOD
My son and I managed to snag a Wii last year, so we sold the empty box (before Christmas) on ebay last year. Made it painfully clear that the box was empty; even posted pictures of the box open and empty. Still managed to sell it for $15.
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
What does this have to do with Wiis anyways?
You may not find a Wii at Best Buy or Circuit City.
But K-Mart and Sam's Club have been getting about 10 or so in once a week and selling out that day.
I know three people who went out this week and picked up their Wii systems for X-mas gifts.
Wise men speak because they have something to say, Fools because they have to say something!!!!
I live in my mom's attic.
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.
I just checked both websites (Costco.com and EBGames.com). The Wii is sold out at Costco. EBGames only has bundles, but even then, they don't ship until AFTER Christmas.
:(
Please check your facts before you post! You got my hopes up.
-- jchenx
You RTFA! You don't belong here do you.
.
I live in northern Michigan and just went and picked one up. My Mom heard me talk about how hard they were to get so she went to the store and bought 3 - that's all they would let her have at once. Rural areas (at least around here) seem to have single or even double digit inventory because people just don't realize what it is, or in my area are taking a bit hit financially and can't afford it. They are looking for Jobs, not Wiis.
Today myself and four of my coworkers decided we all wanted to get ourselves, er uh, our "kids", Wiis. I'm in Chicago, and all the stores for miles around are sold out. We did come up with a nice way around this though. We started calling small gaming stores all around the country, picked pretty much at random from web searches. We focused on less populous areas. We eventually found a place that was plenty willing to ship us 5, for about 20$ shipping on each, and tax free.
No smoking sigs indoors.
Enough with this BS Wii crap. Call any damn store in europe and they have thousands all over the market why?? THERE AINT FRIKEN RETURNS THERE!!!! just exchanges. I work in a big retail electronics store Best Buy ( screw it might as well tell the truth).And we have flatly told the rep why Nintendo forced all retailers to be in the NAR ( Nintendo Auto Replen) program,which means NO MORE ORDERING, Nintendo sends what they want. We told the rep it is to slow down returns. Reps dont say anything back PERIOD!!!! they only smile. In our back room we have not had a WII return well over a year. This is what Nintendo had in mind. And then 3 months ago Sony did the same AUTO REPLEN. No more ordering. So again don't be fools. Here is the breakdown on how all retailers got forced into NAR Last year in June Nintendo Approached Best Buy and other retailers and told us : You will go into NAR or you are out. WTF did you think retailers would do? say no and watch Nintendo go to Europe where a sale is a guaranteed sale ( No refunds). So all retailers said yes. But Nintendo did have a request they asked some retailers to change to a NO- Refund policy ,many retailers did not want that. So Nintendo said fine, we will send you a couple units at a time. That was the deal TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT.
Any moron out there thinking there are no Wii's or PS3's are you guys awake? There are MILLIONS available, the problem with is Nintendo and Sony are tired of this North America crap where you can buy-use then refund then go into another retailer and on and on You can go a whole year using product for FREE because before the return date expires you bring it back and get a refund.
So to recap the truth WE DID THIS TO OURSELVES!!! by ordering to much crap in previous years and watching morons using product and never keeping it.
All vendors are doing the same thing 07 is a terrible year for product as Vendors are watching and learning from Nintendo how to do business in North America. F off to the morons who abuse the return policies YOU CAUSED THIS PROBLEM and now you can't do your crap anymore BECAUSE THEIR AIN'T any product available now to keep exchanging then at the end getting your money back..
I am section manager at a Canadian Best Buy and I have had enough of this NonSense. The truth is ugly but it is because in North America you can use product for free then get your money back never needing to keep the product.
Sorry to Rant but enough is enough
Shouldn't be this in the women's self-help section of slashdot?
We have been tracking Wiis online for the last year (http://www.wiisearcher.com/) and have never seen long-term availability, either in the UK (where we are) or US. I know that during the summer they were in retail quite often but selling out very quickly (hand written signs - "wii in stock today" etc.)
The latest gimmick here in the UK is to sell other stuff with a FREE Wii. Going big at the moment is cellphones. Bascially choose a handset and a contract (starting at £35 / $70 per month) and get a free Wii when approved for the phone.
It's an expensive way to get a Wii, sure, but some people REALLY want a Wii, and if they have to commit to a new phone in the mean-time they will do so. We're not seeing big take up on this, but the phone suppliers claim to have 3,000+ Wiis in stock ready to go. That obviously means 3k less in the normal channels...
We haven't yet seen free Wii with a car, horse, house or tractor to incentivize the sale, but then it's not December yet... The panic has yet to really set in.
stuff goes here
Probably, Wii is holding its Wee...
Anyway.. I don't want to see kids gonna punch the santa-clause to check his big bag for the Wii....that's awful
Hi. Just for your UK readers, struggling to buy a Wii for Christmas - we're pleased to announce that we currently have plenty of Wii stock at Carphone Warehouse, and are giving them away for free with contract mobile phones. Please see http://shop.carphonewarehouse.com/?CODE=FREEWII&PORTAL=CONSUMER&URL=pay-monthly/all/?SEARCH=wii&TAG=1 to buy online. To guarantee delivery before Christmas, you will need to order on or before the 6th of December. Thanks, The Carphone Warehouse Online Team
It's like one of those things that happens when you're a kid.
Jimmy next door gets a really shiny toy. All the kids in school look at how shiny it is and think it's the best thing ever, so they cry to mommy and daddy to get them one because it's THE BEST THING EVER!
Then two weeks later Jimmy gets bored of it. By then more kids are showing all their friends how great it is and the toy becomes one of the most popular around, despite everyone getting bored of it real fast.
Wii sports is fantastic. For a while. And I have yet to find a properly compelling game for the Wii otherwise. It sits, like a shiny toy, in the corner. Everyone that comes round wants to play it, has a lot of fun and gets their own. Two weeks later it's doing the same as ours - Nothing.
I've got more use out of the 360 than either the Wii or PS3. I have a feeling that'll switch to the PS3 in the longer term.
Oops, meant to paste this after the first paragraph above:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2006/20061113.jpg
Go to your local GameStop and ask if they're running a waitlist. If so, get on it. They usually don't advertise they're doing it, you have to ask. Last year the regional manager of our local GameStop ran one for Wii's, and sent out weekly emails telling us where we were on the queue, and when we could reasonably expect to get the Wii. 3 weeks later, email comes in saying "Go to the store the day after tomorrow". Went, got Wii, kids happy, no hassles, and GameStop now gets all their business. Win win all around.
It's like I alway tell them - "You don't ask, you don't get"
"World Domination - a fun, family activity"
Supply: 1.8 million / mo
Demand: ~1.4 million / mo (0.35 million / wk)
Even in a 5 week month, supply outpaces demand. Where's the problem? Or are the numbers in the summary pulled out of someone's ass, per usual?
In Edmonton, Zeller's carries Wii. I don't normally think of Zeller's when buying electronics (who does???) but the very first Zeller's I called had three in stock. It was like, 10 AM on a Thursday... I just walked in, they got the Wii from the back for me (they don't keep them out front), I paid, and off I went. Took about 15 minutes.
You don't need more than one to point out that something happens. You need a lot to make an anecdotal case for a universal positive.
It is no longer uncommon to be uncommon.
Er, you need more than "That's possible, but not necessarily true." in order to claim that someone is putting forward the case for a universal positive.
Unless my understanding of English is broken, of course.
That's why I said what I did. The original guy said "That isn't likely to happen", and the other guy said "Here's an example of where it did!"
That's like me saying that it's unlikely that a cop would steal from a donut shop, and someone saying "Oh yeah? Well I know this cop that did!"
So what? Nothing is refuted in either case.
You honestly think that having seen a cop steal a donut doesn't prove that they could? I understand that the claims themselves don't establish anything as proved, but even as anecdotal evidence the claim that you've seen it first hand (brother in retail store) vs the suspicion that it never happens is much much stronger.
I mean to say that offering a counterexample is more than an anecdotal claim. If somebody says "everybody loves blueberries" and you say "I don't" -- that's a complete refutation. Even if they are a bit more distant such as "blueberries are so good that everybody likes them" with a response that "my aunt hates them". Even if both claim aren't proven in any sense, the anecdotal evidence of "my aunt hates them" is devastating to the claim "everybody likes them".
Your problem is obviously that you're equating a counter example with "That's possible, but not necessarily true." It isn't. My store doesn't do that and I'm sure other don't either isn't just "not necessarily true" in light of the brother who does exactly that, it's false. Not likely to happen? Well it clearly does. Those anecdotal claims are not held equal.
It is no longer uncommon to be uncommon.