Nintendo May Pull Wii Ads To Avoid Hype

Due to the lack of product on store shelves and overwhelming demand, Nintendo is considering plans to pull marketing campaigns for the Wii during the holiday season. "The company recently dismissed suggestions that it intentionally engineered shortages to build up hype for the Wii. It claims to be producing 1.8 million of the consoles each month at full capacity. 'The issue of supply management has to be questioned, not least because 2008 is going to be the crunch year for the Wii. It's then that we'll discover whether it's a fad or something with legs,' Screen Digest analyst Piers Harding-Rolls told The Times."

Comments

Its...

[Baylan295]

Its wii-diciulous!

Re:Its...

[gEvil (beta)]

Oh wii-ly?

Re:Its...

[Gabrill]

Ya Wii-ly!

Re:Its...

[Headcase88]

No Plai! (station 3)

oh good

[Anonymous Coward]

Hopefully next year we'll find out if the iPod is just a fad or if it has legs too. How long does something have to be popular to officially not be called a fad?

Re:oh good

[p0tat03]

It's a "fad" so long as a minority group of people can act smug and self-righteous about not going with the flow :)

Re:oh good

[lucabrasi999]

Hopefully next year we'll find out if the iPod is just a fad or if it has legs too. How long does something have to be popular to officially not be called a fad?

In other news, I hear that internet thing is going like gangbusters.

Re:oh good

[pxuongl]

when it's so popular and ubiquitous the originating company loses their trademark.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_genericized_trademarks

Re:oh good

[Pluvius]

The Wii has only been out for a year. Considering the constant supply shortages, that's not been enough time for most of the people trying to get one to figure out if they really like it or if they were just hyped into getting it. Also, the MP3 player was already a proven concept by the time the iPod came out, while waggle wasn't.

Rob

Re:oh good

[poot_rootbeer]

when it's so popular and ubiquitous the originating company loses their trademark.

Which Nintendo will not allow to happen.

Do you remember their "There's no such thing as 'a Nintendo'" ads from the late 1980s?

Re:oh good

[Anonymous Coward]

... therefore macs are a fad

Re:oh good

[kiehlster]

Does that make the iPod a tadPod or polliPod?

Re:oh good

[pxuongl]

nope, i didn't get my first nintendo until the mid 80's. we got one shortly after our atari died... i can still remember it now.... my brothers and i were playing into the late hours of the day... then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, there was nothing but snow on the tv. and no amount of wire jiggling and toggle toggling brought it back.

Re:oh good

[tepples]

Does that make the iPod a tadPod or polliPod? No, it makes it a pollyPocket. The Zune, on the other hand, is just as legless as the Weebles who wobble but don't fall down.

Re:oh good

[stormguard2099]

man, you just pissed off a lot of linux users...

Re:oh good

[edwdig]

I wouldn't say MP3 players were a proven concept when the iPod came out. They existed, but they weren't at all popular. Even among technology geeks they were a "that's cool, but not worth the money" kinda thing. Most MP3 players back then were similar to what you'd get now for $20, but cost ~$200.

Re:oh good

[DerekLyons]

As opposed to the minority who act all smug and self-righteous because they have the latest cool gadget?

Re:oh good

[Oriumpor]

BS I had to wait 4 months in the late 90's for my Rio 500 which was ordered in December. The Rio was not hyped but the demand was there when all that was affordable was a 128mb Player with a crap memory expansion slot. The MP3 player was proven when it was created. Even though it only had a crap display, indexing only by numbers, and shuffle play, it was worlds better than a crap MD that cost 2x as much or a CD player that could only play a single cd at a time and was huge in comparison.

Re:oh good

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

Also, the MP3 player was already a proven concept by the time the iPod came out, while waggle wasn't.

Actually the iPod and the Wii are very analogous in their conception and delivery. When the iPod was released there were other MP3 players and they were selling, but only to a tiny market. Most people used portable CD players instead, simply because the overall experience with MP3 players was not easy enough for the general populace. Apple did not really cut into the market of existing MP3 players, mostly owned by geeks, but opened up the market to the average Joe in the mainstream by making it easy enough to rip CD collections, download songs, buy songs, manage songs, load songs onto the device, and actually work the controls. They sold oodles more than any other manufacturer because of this new market segment.

The market for gaming consoles has traditionally been bigger than the market for MP3 players was, but Nintendo took a page from Apple's book, and rather than try to compete for the same users with MS and Sony, they tried to expand the market by making a console for people who would otherwise not buy any console. They designed a system for young children, older people, and very casual gamers. So far it has worked admirably and the demand for them has kept up, because of the word of mouth reputation. It's not like old folks homes were going to buy gaming consoles because of any TV ad they saw, but after a few folks played with them at their kid's house, suddenly every old folks home in the country is trying to get a few.

If three years ago you'd told me my father would be buying a game console, I would have laughed in your face. This is the guy who last year watched a DVD for the first time, on the DVD player I bought him... and he actually "rewound" the DVD by scanning backwards through the whole thing before ejecting it. He bought Wii two weeks ago for the grandkids, and enjoys Wii Sports.

I don't see there being any real danger that many people were "tricked" into buying the Wii and they're all going to decide it really sucks and they don't want it anymore. I do think some hardcore gamers who bought it because of the reviews will find they spend a lot more time on the 360 or PS3, but that will partially be mitigated by which games are offered on which platform. What confuses the issue is that a lot of the people writing reviews or even with opinions here on Slashdot are hardcore gamers and they assume people buying the Wii are "like them" when in truth the Wii is successful because it appeals to and is selling to an untapped segment of the gaming market, casual gamers.

Re:oh good

[Zero_Independent]

No actually. Can you post it for me?

Re:oh good

[sYkSh0n3]

It's a "fad" so long as a minority group of people can act smug and self-righteous about not going with the flow :)

woo hoo, so Windows is a just a fad! can't wait til that one blows over. Then in 2020, we can all look back, and laugh and say "remember when using Windows was all cool, and all those sheeple ran around using it like it was the greatest thing ever?"

Re:oh good

[Pluvius]

I wouldn't say MP3 players were a proven concept when the iPod came out. They existed, but they weren't at all popular.

Depends on what you mean by "popular." In terms of pure numbers, the iPod itself wasn't all that popular for nearly three years after the first one was released. In terms of sales expectations, however, MP3 players have been commercially successful since the first one was released in 1998. In fact, the second MP3 player, the Diamond Rio PMP300, was considered a smash hit and even spurred the RIAA into suing the company over piracy concerns.

Rob

Re:oh good

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, come on. Video game consoles were a proven concept by the time the Wii came out, too. A better comparison would be the clickwheel, which was just as new on the iPod as pointing is on the Wii, and just about as successful.

Re:oh good

[Jeff DeMaagd]

But Nintendo had had two consoles that struck out before Wii and their WiiMote was not a proven concept. Seriously, Wii was sink-or-swim time for them and it was a bet that has paid off so far.

Re:oh good

[Pluvius]

The problem with the analogy is that we already know that everyone likes to listen to music, so it's hardly surprising that an MP3 player that was more accessible to the general consumer did well. We don't know that everyone likes to play video games, though. And considering the low attachment rate that the Wii has, it's still an open question.

Rob

Re:oh good

[Pluvius]

My point is that the iPod wasn't relying on an unproven concept to do well like the Wii is. The iPod didn't rely on its clickwheel to sell, but the Wii is relying on its remote control.

Rob

Re:oh good

[edwdig]

BS I had to wait 4 months in the late 90's for my Rio 500 which was ordered in December.

That simply means they didn't make enough of them. They could've made 100 of them and had demand for 200. Would mean a long wait to get one, but wouldn't mean there was much demand.

A 128 MB player is going to hold maybe 2 CDs at 128 kbps. When they first came out, they cost several times what a high end portable CD player cost. That's a big difference. If you carry a bag with you to work or are a student with a backpack, the size of a CD player isn't a big deal.

Re:oh good

[LWATCDR]

What two consoles struck out?
The N64? It sold a lot of units and has a lot of really big hit games.
The GC? Well it made more money than the XBox did. It is actually a good console compared to the PS2. Nintendo could have never built a new console by just pushing the GBA and DS. They have made a ton of money with them.
The Wii took the DS to the next level.

Re:oh good

[MagusSlurpy]

Well, then, I consider bathing a fad!

Re:oh good

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

The problem with the analogy is that we already know that everyone likes to listen to music...

Ahh but everyone doesn't like to listen to music, and more specifically, not everyone wants to invest money to have a large selection of music on a portable device.

We don't know that everyone likes to play video games...

To continue the analogy, we do know that a significant portion of the population likes to play games, the question is "will the Wii be easy and fun enough to gain market share among people who normally play bridge or cribbage or hide and seek or racquetball?" Based on sales numbers, it seems that yes it is.

And considering the low attachment rate that the Wii has, it's still an open question.

The "attachment rate" of games is always likely to be low, but that does not really indicate much of anything. You could make the same argument about iPods and the number of songs people put on them relative to other MP3 players. Hardcore Nomad users typically had 20 GB of music on their systems, while the typical iPod only has a "song attachment rate" of about 3 GB. This is not at all surprising or indicative of the imminent failure of the iPod. When you open the market to more casual users, they devote fewer resources to the use of the device, be it an MP3 player or a gaming console. This could be troubling for the viability of the console in the market if Nintendo relied upon game sales to make a proit, but they don't; they actually make money on each console sold so it is not like selling lots of onsoles and few games will hurt them financially as it would Sony or MS.

The only really troubling statistic for Nintendo would be if a large percentage of users bought Wii intending to use it for their own purposes, then resold it without the intention to repurchase a new one in the future. Such numbers, of course, would be hard to come by, but I have seen no such indications. The Wii is dominating in sales and seems to be a winner. Even if sales slow down drastically, it has already succeeded in opening up the market and changing the way the "game" is played.

Re:oh good

[ArsonSmith]

...smash hit and even spurred the RIAA into suing the company over piracy concerns.

And we all know how difficult that is.

Re:oh good

[Anonymous Coward]

In terms of market share the N64 was a distant second to the PS. The GC had an even smaller market share than the N64, coming in third behind the XBox with the PS2 coming out way on top. Basically, Nintendo was in the same position coming into the current generation with the Wii that Sega was coming into the previous generation with the Dreamcast.

Re:oh good

[G Fab]

I don't think many people think windows is cool or fashionable so much as they think they need it to run that cool laptop or program.

MS had some bling factor when Win95 came out, but since then we sort of expect the hype and overlook it as marketing.

Re:oh good

[meringuoid]

Hopefully next year we'll find out if the iPod is just a fad or if it has legs too.

Well, nowadays I hear it does have wireless. And substantially more space than a Nomad. I'd say now it's definitely not a fad.

Re:oh good

[Pluvius]

Ahh but everyone doesn't like to listen to music

Well yeah, there are a few weird people who don't like music, but they're not a significant portion of the population.

more specifically, not everyone wants to invest money to have a large selection of music on a portable device

Considering how well the Walkman did, though, there sure are a lot of people who do.

we do know that a significant portion of the population likes to play games

Games, yes. Video games are substantially different from other types of games, however, and waggle isn't going to change that.

The "attachment rate" of games is always likely to be low

The attachment rates for the other two systems in this generation are quite a bit higher, for the record, especially in terms of third-party games.

When you open the market to more casual users, they devote fewer resources to the use of the device, be it an MP3 player or a gaming console. This could be troubling for the viability of the console in the market if Nintendo relied upon game sales to make a proit, but they don't; they actually make money on each console sold so it is not like selling lots of onsoles and few games will hurt them financially as it would Sony or MS.

No, but it will hurt their reputation with game developers, which is a huge long-term problem. The reason why it's not a problem for the iPod to have a low attachment rate is because an MP3 will work on any MP3 player; music sales won't be affected because hardcore consumers are buying the same commodity as casual ones. A Wii game, on the other hand, will only work on the Wii, so if people don't buy games for it, developers will make games for other systems instead.

The only really troubling statistic for Nintendo would be if a large percentage of users bought Wii intending to use it for their own purposes, then resold it without the intention to repurchase a new one in the future.

That does appear to be happening, if you look on eBay.

Even if sales slow down drastically, it has already succeeded in opening up the market and changing the way the "game" is played.

You can't use sales of video game consoles and say that the market is opening up. Consoles are meaningless; it's the games themselves that are important. Not to mention the fact that the Wii has only sold 15 million units anyway, which is hardly a massive number.

Rob

Re:oh good

[p0tat03]

Oh good :) Then Windows can into the back of my closet, along with my Pogs and my desire to use the word "rad" all the time :P

Re:oh good

[Unoti]

...late 90's... The Rio was not hyped ...

I dunno about that. I was at a tradeshow in the late 90's at a time when the term "mp3 player" wasn't a household word yet. Rio was hyping their product, they had a cast of about a dozen teenage boys and girls wearing hipster clothing, standing on a little stage on their booth, holding the mp3 players and dancing around pretending to listen to them. In my book that counts as hyping, but then, everything was hyped in the late 90's. Perhaps it's just a matter of scale. Although the product was being promoted, it wasn't like on the cover of Happy Meals at McDonalds or anything.

Re:oh good

[AvitarX]

The GC made Nintendo a lot of money.

They were breaking even on sales and sold a lot of their own games, many of which were cheap to develop (Mario Party).

I somehow doubt Sega made tons of money on the Saturn.

It may simply be that I have the wrong friends, but I never in my life have even seen a Saturn at someones house.

Re:oh good

[RpiMatty]

Remember Alf? Hes back, in pog form.

Totally rad.

I want a Wii for christmas

Re:oh good

[edwdig]

Depends on what you mean by "popular." In terms of pure numbers, the iPod itself wasn't all that popular for nearly three years after the first one was released.

Yup. I wouldn't say MP3 players were popular until well after the iPod was released.

In terms of sales expectations, however, MP3 players have been commercially successful since the first one was released in 1998.

Commercially successful does not necessarily mean something is popular. Just means they found a good market niche and hit it well.

In fact, the second MP3 player, the Diamond Rio PMP300, was considered a smash hit and even spurred the RIAA into suing the company over piracy concerns.

The RIAA has also sued senior citizens that don't own computers over piracy concerns.

Re:oh good

[Anonymous Coward]

Look, nobody gives a shit how much money Nintendo makes except Nintendo and their shareholders. Quit parroting that useless trivia around as if it means something to the general gaming public.

Re:oh good

[Actually, I do RTFA]

Hopefully next year we'll find out if the iPod is just a fad or if it has legs too. How long does something have to be popular to officially not be called a fad?

The iPod is a fad. People buy it more for its asthetic instead of functional reasons (or because they are fans of Macs). But let's be honest, it is just an MP3 player, and honestly, one of poor quality besides (admittedly, I gave up on them when an early one failed on me.) A fad can last a few years, but in ten years all the kids will be amazed that iPods were "hip". I mean, that double-tapedeck boombox thing is still going strong, right?

Re:oh good

[Anonymous Coward]

They were breaking even on sales and sold a lot of their own games, many of which were cheap to develop (Mario Party).

You are essentially proving my point. A company relying on software sales needs a large market share if they are limiting themselves to a single console. Nintendo was limited to selling its titles to the smallest share of the market (ignoring the discontinued DC). They were losing market share to Sony and Microsoft. A failure of the current generation console (i.e. Wii) to achieve significant market share would have limited their ability to sell their titles and practically forced them to get out of the console business.

Why would they continue to develop consoles for the next generation when they could follow Sega and become a software only company, but without the costly development of another generation console doomed to failure like the DC was after the Saturn?

Re:oh good

[mqduck]

man, you just pissed off a lot of linux users... ...who are implied to believe that Windows is a fad?

Re:oh good

[IrquiM]

Windows is the longest running fad in the history!

Just you wait!!!!!

Re:oh good

[7Prime]

actually, I'd say the "actively listening" portion of the population (by that I mean those who actually care enough to go out and buy or download a song/album when they hear one they like), is probably about the same as the game playing community, which is, what, around 20% of the population?

MOST PEOPLE don't buy music. With radio, TV, and muzak, it's impossible to avoid music the way one can avoid video games, or even TV, but simply because people are being forced to hear music doesn't mean that they're "music listeners".

Re:oh good

[7Prime]

well, for one thing, the click-wheel wasn't introduced until LONG after the iPod was a hit. I'd say that the iPod became a huge household name with the 3rd generation, one of the longest lasting versions, which didn't yet have a click wheel (it had 4 "touch buttons" above a static wheel).

Secondly, the jog wheel *IS* a defining factor for the iPod, because it's central to the interface, and the interface is probably the #1 reason people started buying them.

Jog wheels have been a no-brainer for video editors for decades, similarly, accellorometers are used in all kinds of applications and input devices. But Apple had the bright idea of applying the jog wheel concept to a menu navigation system, and Nintendo decided to build a console input device out of accellerometers.

I think the analogy, while not perfect, isn't far off base.

Re:oh good

[ShadowsHawk]

"You can't use sales of video game consoles and say that the market is opening up."

I fully agree with you, but I think you're missing a key factor. The next big AAA game will sell 1 million copies. The next 'big' casual pc game (snood, geometry wars, etc) will sell a couple of thousand copies. Maybe a bit more. However, there are a LOT more casual games released than AAA and there are a lot more casual gamers. We're starting to see casual gamers migrating from the PC to the DS and Wii. If publishers examine the PC business model, they stand to make massive profits.

Re:oh good

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

It is changing that. The question is "how much is it changing that?" People who previously spent their time and money elsewhere are now buying video game consoles. The main difference between a video game and a board game has been ease of use and willingness of customers to try them.

The attachment rates for the other two systems in this generation are quite a bit higher, for the record, especially in terms of third-party games.

Yup and the rate of console sales is significantly lower. Why do you suppose that is? Have you heard of many old folks homes or even older people buying Xbox360's in large numbers? Nope, because the other consoles are mostly selling to the traditional "hardcore" market where people are more likely to be buying many games, as opposed to the casual gaming market where people generally buy fewer in a given year. The Wii market is more like the PC gaming market than consoles have traditionally been. Most people who buy games for their PC buy one or two a year and the number one seller for a long time has been "The Sims." That is the casual gaming market. They don't spend a pile of money on titles every year. They don't play every day. Ease of use and the ability to play for 20 minute spurts is more important than the latest graphics.

The point is, the Wii, like the iPod before it is catering to a new market segment and a more mainstream one. Why would buying fewer games be a better indicator of popularity than the number of actual consoles sold?

No, but it will hurt their reputation with game developers, which is a huge long-term problem.

Game developers care about overall sales and that is what they will look at. They will have to adapt somewhat to the different audience on the Wii, but since it has different controls, that is a given anyway. I have little doubt that Wii buyers will tend to buy fewer titles per year, per console than other manufacturers. They will probably be played by more people per console, but for less time per person. The average Wii buyer might play for an hour a couple times a week, but they won't be doing any 48 hour gaming marathons. It is a different market, but sure seems to be a viable and profitable one.

The reason why it's not a problem for the iPod to have a low attachment rate is because an MP3 will work on any MP3 player; music sales won't be affected because hardcore consumers are buying the same commodity as casual ones. A Wii game, on the other hand, will only work on the Wii, so if people don't buy games for it, developers will make games for other systems instead.

Umm, you do know Apple was selling Fairplay encoded AAC files that for a long time only played on iPods, right? Like Apple, Nintendo has not built their business model on blades, but upon razors. They make money on console sales and game sales is just a bonus. Third party developers don't seem too concerned that they're going to lose money developing for the platform, since every major publisher did an about face and announced a commitment to it. I'm sure they ran the numbers first.

That does appear to be happening, if you look on eBay.

I've looked on ebay. Since you can still sell a Wii for more than you can get in a store (average of 53% more), tell me how are you separating out:

• Users who bought a Wii to use, didn't like it, and are selling it to get rid of it
• People who bought the Wii with the intention of reselling at a higher price
• People who bought the Wii with the intention of keeping it, but decided to resell for a profit and buy another in the future when prices come down

It is hard to find good numbers on total ebay sales, but assuming the sale rate of Nintendo systems there has been about constant since their last report, ebay re-sales account for less than 5% of all Wii sold. Subtract out what percentage is profiteering, and anyway you look at it, it still doesn't dent the Wii's lead over othe

Re:oh good

[KDR_11k]

Where does that leave Bob?

Re:oh good

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

I fully agree with you, but I think you're missing a key factor. The next big AAA game will sell 1 million copies. The next 'big' casual pc game (snood, geometry wars, etc) will sell a couple of thousand copies.

I think we're getting terms mixed up here. I've been using the terms "hardcore" and "casual" to separate games into the market segments they target, not to indicate how much money was spent developing them. For very small titles with small budgets, I'd refer to them as "low budget" or "indy" games. Most "indy" games like this tend to target PCs rather than consoles... and this discussion has been about consoles up until now. The big news with regard to the Wii is that they've tapped a new market segment, appealing to and selling to many "casual" gamers who previously have not owned any console. Many of these people are very young children, the elderly, and the busy middle-aged professional who probably has a family and limited free time in which to play games. Many analysts have been referring to this new segment as the "casual" gaming market.

Using the definitions above, there is no reason a "AAA" title (gods what an annoying marketing term) cannot also be a "casual" game. For the PC market, I'd argue "The Sims" exemplifies this. They spent a lot of money making it and it has sold more than probably any other game, but it appeals to people who probably buy one or two games a year and only want to play for a few hours a week.

We're starting to see casual gamers migrating from the PC to the DS and Wii. If publishers examine the PC business model, they stand to make massive profits.

Agreed, but I think it is also pulling in users who are not in the PC market at all (for example the phenomenon of sales to homes for the elderly).

Re:oh good

[IpalindromeI]

The Wii isn't relying only on the remote, but also on the new direction that Nintendo is taking with it compared to past video game consoles. The remote is one facet of the focus on non-hardcore gamers.

Re:oh good

[Pluvius]

I don't think the business model for casual PC games is workable on consoles. PopCap and other companies can spam games because they don't have to pay for specialized development kits, licensing, and distribution agreements on the consoles' online networks*, which are big hurdles for developers that make their money based on volume instead of per-unit profit margins. Consoles allow for big hits like Geometry Wars, but you're not going to see the vast number of games that you do on the PC.

*Though PopCap does choose to distribute on Steam, which seems to be working out for them pretty well.

Rob

Re:oh good

[Pluvius]

Game developers care about overall sales and that is what they will look at.

Game developers care about the overall sales of their games, yes. Sure there will be third parties that see the marketshare of the Wii and decide to make games for it; that's already happening. But what will happen afterwards is that these third parties will see that their games aren't selling very well despite the marketshare, so they'll either withdraw from the Wii market or put out shovelware for it.

Umm, you do know Apple was selling Fairplay encoded AAC files that for a long time only played on iPods, right?

I don't see what that has to do with what I said. iPods were always capable of playing vanilla MP3s, right? People can buy AACs if they want to, but they don't have to.

When the total number of people buying consoles is way up, then the market for consoles has grown.

I don't care about the market for consoles. Consoles are just hunks of silicon and plastic. I care about the market for games. Someone who buys a Wii because of the hype isn't necessarily interested in all of the games that are out for it, and considering the number of people that seem content with Wii Sports, it's not a good assumption to make.

Rob

Re:oh good

[Pluvius]

The Wii isn't relying only on the remote, but also on the new direction that Nintendo is taking with it compared to past video game consoles.

Which is centered around the remote control. Without the Wiimote, the Wii would just be a rehash of the last two generations, and all of the commercials and party games wouldn't make a difference.

Rob

Re:oh good

[Pluvius]

Secondly, the jog wheel *IS* a defining factor for the iPod, because it's central to the interface, and the interface is probably the #1 reason people started buying them.

I think the biggest reasons people started buying the iPod were marketing, aesthetics, and ease-of-use (meaning the simplicity of the iTunes software, not the interface). Kind of like everything else that Apple sells, now that I think about it.

Jog wheels have been a no-brainer for video editors for decades, similarly, accellorometers are used in all kinds of applications and input devices. But Apple had the bright idea of applying the jog wheel concept to a menu navigation system, and Nintendo decided to build a console input device out of accellerometers.

What Nintendo has done is way more complicated than what Apple did. Comparing the two is like comparing the invention of the mouse wheel to the invention of the mouse.

Rob

Re:oh good

[ShadowsHawk]

They could if they chose to allow it. Xbox live, PSN and the Wii store could all house small/indy games. It may not be as profitable, but the day may come where we have a console that we can EASILY use for email, gaming, surfing the web, etc.

Re:oh good

[2nd Post!]

You misspelled majority.

Re:oh good

[2nd Post!]

Why don't you care about consoles? There's good money in hunks of silicon and plastic. Apple and Nintendo both profit handsomely from them.

The market for games will ebb and flow as free time ebbs and flow. The attach rate for games is like the sell rate of CDs. Do you think the sales of music is more important than the sales of iPods?

Both are relevant to different markets.

Re:oh good

[DerekLyons]

No, because once they become a majority... the formerly cool thing is now treated as pedestrian, while they enage in a desperate search for the next cool thing.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Re:oh good

[2nd Post!]

Ah, you mean like how the iPod is desperately losing market share to cooler... oh no, it's not.

The Wii and iPod aren't fads; the Wii introduced the future of gaming with their remote; much like the original mouse changed computing in 1984, and propelled Apple and eventually Microsoft to their current status, the Wii-mote firmly sets the Wii as a contender in the next generation of games.

Re:oh good

[DerekLyons]

You misunderstood my point entirely. (Among other things, I didn't call anything a fad.)

Re:oh good

[Headcase88]

Read the full conversation before posting. When the OP is claiming that this generation is "sink-or-swim" for Nintendo, the fact that they're making tons of money off of their "failures" is a relevant piece of info.

Re:oh good

[Headcase88]

He fell down.

Shut It Down!

[Anonymous Coward]

I heard Nintendo was going to shut down production altogether just to save themselves from the massive demand and large amounts of cash that would be thrown at them.

Talk about fates worse than death!

I don't blame them

[eharvill]

Why waste advertising money on something that is flying off the shelves? Once once sales start slowing down they can redouble their advertising efforts and get the "hype" machine moving again.

Re:I don't blame them

[gfxguy]

Just corporate BS that I would have suspected a company like Nintendo to follow... there's an advertising department, they'd probably already signed some huge contract with an agency, so the money's gotta get spent.

Otherwise, I agree completely.

Re:I don't blame them

[Simon80]

I heard they would spend it on DS ads instead though, which seems plausible..

Re:I don't blame them

[Fex303]

Why waste advertising money on something that is flying off the shelves? Once once sales start slowing down they can redouble their advertising efforts and get the "hype" machine moving again.

Disclaimer: I work in advertising. (You can save yourselves the Bill Hicks quote, I know it.) I would suggest that the main reason to keep advertising when your product is doing well is to make sure that the 'hype machine' keeps moving. Hype/word-of-mouth/top-of-mind awareness/coolness is very difficult to get and even harder to keep. By the time you realize that people don't think you're awesome (which happens before sales slow), it's too late - you've been overtaken and someone else has taken the momentum in the eyes of the public. Now, I would argue that Nintendo could afford to shift their spending somewhat, or possibly change the message that they're getting across, since they seem have managed to get the message that they are fun for everyone into the public perception extremely well. But cutting spending too much when a product is going well is a common mistake that leads to strong brands falling into irrelevance quite swiftly.

Re:what an outrage! i smell class action in the ai

[lucabrasi999]

what an outrage!!! let's all sue nintendo for not having enough wii's are us to buy!

And, while you are at it, get me a couple of Hannah Montana tickets.

Makes sense

[Snowgen]

I don't know if it's so much about avoiding hype as it's good business sense. The primary purpose of advertising is to generate demand for your product. If the demand exceeds the supply, then why pay for more demand?

I often wonder what would happen if Coca Cola would say "We're not going to advertise for one month". Would people really stop drinking Coke? How much money would they save?

Re:Makes sense

[Chris Burke]

I don't know if it's so much about avoiding hype as it's good business sense. The primary purpose of advertising is to generate demand for your product. If the demand exceeds the supply, then why pay for more demand?

Well yeah, that's obvious. Also, if they advertise the heck out of the wii, and people go to try to buy one and can't, they're likely to be pissed. Especially when they learn that Nintendo knew they'd probably be unable to get one, but convinced them to go buy one anyway. Turning someone who could be convinced to buy a wii into someone who's bitter and won't buy your console ever is a bad idea.

The alternative theory, that Nintendo is artificially limiting supply to create "hype" (that, due to the shortage, cannot be converted into sales), would instead require that Nintendo continue to advertise so as to build as much "hype" as possible (again, for unknown benefit). But that theory has always been retarded. This is just more evidence of why.

Re:Makes sense

[EggyToast]

I agree with you, except that Coke is a beverage; their advertising isn't to get people to buy a singular item, but to get people to think "Hey, a Coke, I should drink one."

I see lots of billboards around bus stops with, say, 3 empty cans of coke that say "3 hour meeting" or something witty. Their advertising is trying to get people to drink more of their product. Arguably, those people are already coke drinkers -- they just don't drink enough for Coca-Cola.

People only buy one Wii, though, and if everyone is buying all they can make, they don't need to advertise. Coke, though, there's always coke on the shelf, so there's always more to sell.

Re:Makes sense

[tdelaney]

As far as I'm aware, Coca Cola only advertises 6 months in any year in any market, for precisely this reason. Of course, I have no source to back this up - it's something I read or heard somewhere, and could be complete bullshit.

Re:Makes sense

[porcupine8]

I've wondered the same thing. The only danger I can see is if Pepsi gets wind of the break, and does a mega-blitz of its own right then. But even so, I know people who are pretty hardcore for one or the other already (thanks in part, I'm sure, to marketing), plus campuses and restaurants with exclusive contracts, so they'd never lose all their sales.

Re:Makes sense

[cowscows]

It's a good example of a system that can be analyzed as a "tragedy of the commons." Basically, somewhere along the line, one company started advertising to get ahead of its competitors. So all the competitors started advertising as well. At the end of the day, the advertising benefits balances out across the industry to nothing, except that each company is spending extra money to maintain that status quo. Kind of silly when you think about it, but it's great for people in the advertising business I guess.

Re:Makes sense

[dougisfunny]

In an economics class I took the coke/pepsi and McDonalds/Burger King examples were talked about.

Basically what it amounted to was people already know what they like be it coke or pepsi. As such it doesn't matter which the adds are for, if someone sees an add for pepsi, but prefers coke they'll think (supposedly) "Hey, I should get more coke."

This is also similar to the fact you can go somewhere and order a coke, and get a pepsi or vice versa.

Re:Makes sense

[Jerf]

There's no "tragedy of the commons" unless you can identify a common resource that there is no penalty for exploiting, causing overconsumption unto destruction. (You might be able to argue the resource is "people's attention", but that's a stretch and the pattern doesn't really follow; that's not really a common.)

This is an "arms race", not a "tragedy of the commons". Everybody has to beat everybody else, with all advantages transient, and there is no final "masterstroke" that you can win with, once and for all. See also: Spam vs. anti-spam, crime vs. law enforcement, and of course the Cold War arms race (although that had a catastrophic failure mode many other arms races lack).

Re:Makes sense

[larry bagina]

What if Coke stopped advertising? You don't need to wonder. RC Cola (Cott) doesn't do any advertising. Let's look at the numbers:

Coke (KO)
market cap: 145 billion
revenue (2006): 24 billion
net profit: 5 billion
net profit margin: ~21%

Cott (COT)
market cap: 466 million
revenue (2006): 1.7 billion
net profit: -17.5 million
net profit margin: -1%

Re:Makes sense

[LordVader717]

The alternative theory, that Nintendo is artificially limiting supply to create "hype"

The correct terminology for this is "to pull a Sony"

Re:Makes sense

[pokerdad]

I've wondered the same thing. The only danger I can see is if Pepsi gets wind of the break, and does a mega-blitz of its own right then.

If you accept the premise that everyone knows what Coke is, and will buy it or not buy it regardless of advertising, then a marketing blitz from Pepsi would be irrelevant.

Re:Makes sense

[adavies42]

Pepsi Super Bowl Ad Raises Worldwide Pepsi-Awareness .00000000001 Percent.

Re:Makes sense

[The_mad_linguist]

Moxie tried that. Sugar prices soared, so they switched their advertising budget to buying sugar. You do remember Moxie, don't you?

Re:Makes sense

[knightrdr20]

That's different. Coke has been around for ages and has been advertisting for what? 80 years??

Re:Makes sense

[SirSlud]

Just to expand on that a little. As you point out, everyone knows Coke exists and has probably tried one, so touting competitive advantages Coke has against competing products is marketing dollars not so well spent. So they engage in branding. That is the goal of imprinting some sort of emotional association on somebody, usually targeted towards a particular scenario.

For instance, the "3 Hour Meeting" ad is an attempt to create an associating between the work place and ones enjoyment of a Coke. The goal of branding is generally to influence the ways people relate or associate in a positive manner with a product or brand, with the goal of, as you stated, increasing the consumption of a product or utilization of a service.

Re:Makes sense

[timster]

Not to disparage the little guy, but RC Cola also tastes terrible.

1.8milions

[Bibz]

1.8 milions a wii a month is a lot. It's 41 wii per minute, but still not enough for everyone.

An other interesting number from TFA:
"The Wii has outsold Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 each by more than two-to-one this year."

Re:1.8milions

[marcop]

Check out this site: http://nexgenwars.com/

They say the numbers are estimate, but close. Any one have a better source? It's pretty incredible that Nintendo has shipped more units compared to Microsoft in half the time.

Re:1.8milions

[slim-t]

It's 41 wii per minute

Wiii [weee]
- noun
Pl. of Wii.

Uh... old?

[orclevegam]

Last I saw The Register was running an article that said Nintendo had already pulled the ads.
The Register Article

Re:Uh... old?

[StringBlade]

Perhaps, but Target is still running ads that show people having fun playing the Wii constantly.

Nintendo pulling their ads only solves part of the hype problem. All the resellers that are hyping it also contribute to the problem and I don't see any of them pulling their ads.

Re:Uh... old?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, i'm sorry, we don't currently have any Wii systems available. But since you are here, would you perhaps be interested in a xbox363/ps3/vtech/atari/"insert video game system here"?

Cue the usual

[77Punker]

Why hasn't anyone posted about how Nintendo intends to actually make more money by producing fewer units, thereby allowing them to sell more units that they don't have?

Oh yeah, this isn't Digg!

Re:Cue the usual

[AvitarX]

LSD can have some serious long term effects though.

If I were to rank the safty of doing each of those drugs regularly (weekly - monthly) I would say:

Alcohol, Tobacco (if you truly only did it weekly it would probably be safer than alcohol in the same usage pattern), LSD, Crack.

The real article

[Anonymous Coward]

eurogamer reports from gamesindustry who reports from The Times.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article3018315.ece

Then why not redirect some of those funds...

[Millennium]

Since Nintendo is pulling its hardware ads, why not put some proper marketing on its games? Seriously; the only Nintendo game I've even seen a magazine ad for in over a year was Fire Emblem, and I only saw that one in comic books. If Nintendo wants to reach casual gamers, then it needs to start promoting its ads in places casual gamers go, and hardcore-gaming venues just don't fit that description. Word of mouth alone won't make a million seller.

Re:Then why not redirect some of those funds...

[hardburn]

Nice theory, except that both the Wii and the DS are already multi-million sellers based largely on word of mouth.

Re:Then why not redirect some of those funds...

[porcupine8]

You haven't seen all the Brain Age ads on TV? (Starts with a guy forgetting his high school buddy's name.) Or that new vision-focus-whatever one? True, those are DS, not Wii, but Nintendo *is* marketing some of its games to casual gamers.

Re:Then why not redirect some of those funds...

[orclevegam]

Word of mouth alone won't make a million seller. Seems to have worked out pretty well for Wii Sports.

Re:Then why not redirect some of those funds...

[DreadSpoon]

The problem is that most of Nintendo's games aren't really for casual gamers. Fire Emblem is NOT a casual gamer game. It's a hard-core turn-based strategy game. (Granted, the Wii installment is relatively tame on the difficulty-meter compared to some of the earlier ones.) Metroid Prime 3 is awesome beyond all hell... if you're a hardcore gamer. Twilight Princess is a masterpiece... for people looking for 40+ hour action-intense adventure games.

The Wii has a lot of potential for casual gamers, but the casual game library ain't too big yet. (Heck, the Wii game library in general is still pretty small.. but the DS was the same way, it took a year or two before game developers finally figured out how to use the new capabilities in ways that didn't suck.)

Re:Then why not redirect some of those funds...

[ucblockhead]

It is likely that their sales figures are already high enough that they don't expect the money they get from ad-driven sales would exceed the cost of the ads.

Re:Then why not redirect some of those funds...

[G Fab]

you don't understand. Nintendo would be better advised to market games so that these millions of system owners buy more games.

Once one gets a wii and the cheap throw game in to the extra controller, how many games do they then buy? No where near as many as a 360 owner buys.

and I assure you, the wii is not out there on word of mouth alone. Huge amounts of money were spent advertising this system, some in subtle ways. It's a great system in many respects, and there's nothing wrong with marketing , but nintendo certainly did market very much and very well. You sound as though you think nintendo or the wii is super special in some way.

Re:Then why not redirect some of those funds...

[EmperorKagato]

* Rayman Raving Rabids
* Rayman Raving Rabids 2
* Mario and Sonic at the Games
* Super Mario Galaxy
* "Any game purchasable through the console"
* Wario Ware

Re:Then why not redirect some of those funds...

[Trogre]

Because if they did that, then a horrible truth might be discovered:

The Wii has no games.

Re:Then why not redirect some of those funds...

[Anonymous Coward]

protip: the games sell the machine

Re:Then why not redirect some of those funds...

[Raenex]

You mean the game that comes with the system??

Re:Then why not redirect some of those funds...

[orclevegam]

Yes, it was one of the strong selling points of the Wii. A good deal of the casual gamer market was sold on the Wii after someone showed them Wii sports. Something a lot of people have missed is that a good chunk of the people that have gone out and bought a Wii weren't going "Oooooh Wii!" they were going "Oooooh Wii Sports!". Even if no other game but Wii Sports had been released for the Wii, it still would have sold a few units even though most people would consider the price too steep for a single game.

Re:Then why not redirect some of those funds...

[Raenex]

I agree word of mouth and Wii Sports was a strong selling point, but Wii Sports was also advertised in the Wii commercials (http://youtube.com/watch?v=IEnc_l-jAO0), and it did come with the system. So you can't just point to Wii Sports as a generic model to sell millions of games on word of mouth alone.

Re:Then why not redirect some of those funds...

[orclevegam]

Cool commercials, I had never seen them before. Then again, I don't watch much TV. I'll concede that word of mouth alone may not make a game or system a top seller, but it definitely wouldn't hurt. I also wasn't trying to claim that Wii Sports was a "generic model" to selling millions of games, but rather an example where word of mouth had a major impact on sales. I would be very interested to see very fine grained sales figures for games, as I would bet there's a discernible jump or decline in sales of a game when for instance a major site like Penny Arcade either rates favorably or poorly a particular game. I know it was primarily on the recommendation of Penny Arcade that I bought the original Katamari Damacy, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Re:Then why not redirect some of those funds...

[Raenex]

Cool commercials, I had never seen them before. If you haven't seen it yet, the PS3 commercial that came out at the same time is an interesting contrast :)

And, in even more news...

[Gybrwe666]

The writers at Eurogamer were found to have neither Journalism or Business degrees, and were thereby incapable of understanding business, marketing, or how to ask a really good question of the Nintendo PR flacks on why they might do this...

More at 11:57:32.1pm...

Bill

Flipping Wii's

[Oriumpor]

Bad for Nintendo, bad for consumers, and good for intrepid jackasses.

To Nintendo: Produce more Wiis.
To Consumers: Pay Retail.
To jackasses: Die a fiery death.

Re:Flipping Wii's

[pembo13]

You must have a cloning machine that Nintendo can use to "produce more Wiis", because I am pretty sure they are trying their best without blowing away their income on new factories.

Re:Flipping Wii's

[Oriumpor]

They've been at capacity for a while, and perhaps more factories is a good idea, they're certainly not meeting demand.

Re:Flipping Wii's

[Oriumpor]

What might shoot every flipper in the head, as far as profits go, would be for nintendo to advertise the MSRP of the console in their ads. People would stop paying $600 USD on ebay for something sold for $250.

Re:Flipping Wii's

[EMeta]

EBay Wii resellers are just an inevitable part of the economics of capitalism. If this was a commodity, the price would rise instantly as demand started to approach supply. Here, Demand far exceeds supply, so the MSRP is an artificial price ceiling. If I was in the market for a Wii and didn't have the time to search for one, I would appreciate that there was service charge I could opt to pay for someone else to find one for me. In other words, why the hostility towards the trade?

Re:Flipping Wii's

[Anonymous Coward]

MSRP is in every add and well known. I have flipped over 7 of them making at least 80 bucks a piece. I figure if someone wanted them badly enough they would do the leg work. In fact, most people have thanked me for not making them hunt around for them.
I love capitalism. For more information on economics check out "eat the rich".

Re:Flipping Wii's

[AK Marc]

If I was in the market for a Wii and didn't have the time to search for one, I would appreciate that there was service charge I could opt to pay for someone else to find one for me. In other words, why the hostility towards the trade?

Do you know how scalpers work? They buy tickets, all the tickets to an event. "Fair price" in the free market is the price that maximizes profit with infinite supply. That is, if there were an infinite number of tickets to see the Super Bowl, what price for all tickets would maximize profits? That's the fair market price for an item (not strictly true in this example, however, because every seat has a different value for proximity to the action and such, but we'll overlook that). However, monopolies have different economics. You maximize profit, regardless of the number of units sold. That means that scalpers buy all the tickets, then set the price so that they will maximize profit for the limited total number of tickets. If the Super Bowl has 10 people that would pay $10,000,000 to watch it and past the 1000th person, no one would pay more than $10,000 per ticket, then it would make more sense for scalpers to sell tickets for $10,000,000 each, sell 10, and take a loss on the remaining tickets they bought. Still, charging $10,000 per ticket is better than selling them all at $100. So what happens is that the "service charge" you are talking about is a monopolist surcharge.

The same economics work with anything that has limited supply and the price isn't adjusting to the market. What the free market demands should have happened is that Nintendo should have released it at $300, rather than $250 to get demand down to where supply is. But they set the price low and the demand was high, resulting in sellouts. But one thing that's making the sellouts worse is the unknown inventory of unused Wii. When the scalper buys one, it isn't used. That is one that isn't on the market, reducing supply. The more scalpers there are, the more this becomes an issue. At some point, the number of scalpers will exceed the demand. As such, people will be paying scalper prices for the sole reason that scalpers bought items they didn't intend to use, reducing supply and creating an artificial shortage. That time will come soon, maybe as soon as the Christmas returns hit the stores in early Jan, perhaps not until a little later next year. But there will be a point where the cause of the fee you mention is the same people that are charging it. Regardless of all else you could say about that, "not nice" would apply. That is why people don't like it.

Re:Flipping Wii's

[Chris Burke]

Demand far exceeds supply, so the MSRP is an artificial price ceiling.

In other words, why the hostility towards the trade?

Because if they didn't buy the Wiis for the sole purpose of re-selling them at a higher price, that'd be one more Wii available to someone who actually wants one at MSRP! The Wii-flippers are in part why there's a shortage and you can only buy Wiis from the flippers!

Duh!

Re:Flipping Wii's

[Anonymous Coward]

and thats why we hate capitalism, because some wanker is getting 300% commission for taking an item away from somebody who wants it!
Its the same reason i have about about 10 million pounds in unpaid bills on ebay for festival tickets

Re:Flipping Wii's

[AvitarX]

Do you really think a significant part of the 1,000,000 units/month (30,000/day) are being resold through the secondary market?

A quick glance has 90,000 on ebay in the last 3 weeks (we'll call it 125,000/month) 900 are listed on amazon, and I don't know where else to check.

These 20% or so that are in the reseller market are getting placed, just later than if they were sold in stores, so shouldn't be keeping supply so much more constricted than naturally.

There is a chance that people are sitting on thousands of Wii, but I somehow doubt it. The scalpers have it easy because they can.

1) buy up the good seats, there are not that many
2) buy a small percentage and let other people buy up the bulk at retail.

The second is what lets the Wii resellers succeed, they are not creating the demand, they are riding that wave.

Re:Flipping Wii's

[Oriumpor]

For the reason people like my mother in law are too daft to realize they're being reamed for something that will be much *MUCH* cheaper later. When I told her the retail price of the product she spent $600 dollars on she didn't believe it, when I sent her to Target's link (sold out of course) she was incensed it was sold for so much.

It's the same reason scalpers are derided. They charge a premium because they're sitting on something that was prevented from going in a consumers hands. If the scalper doesn't sell a handful of tickets, they can't enjoy them that evening. Likewise, someone who buys a 100 wii's and sits on them till a busy season can't use them all (barring some notable exceptions.) They take them out of circulation to further increase the after market price by further limiting supply.

That behavior has jackass written all over it... or OPEC, which I guess is the same thing.

Re:Flipping Wii's

[Oriumpor]

Or for a closer analogy:
3. buy up 20% of the seats and hold them till the last minute for one of the last shows that that band will have on that tour...

Re:Flipping Wii's

[Von Helmet]

The thing I really want to know about all the Wii flippers is just how many will be declaring the profits on their tax returns. I'm guessing it'll be round about... none of them.

Re:Flipping Wii's

[AvitarX]

Yes, but that does not drastically distort price.

The vast majority are still sold directly to consumers at the retail price.

The other 20% go to people who really want them. In the end you still would still have a similar number of people not getting Wiis or tickets that wanted them. It's just that you allowed some people (60% we'll say) to get them through dedication (always checking store, waiting in line at 3am), 20% with dumb luck, and 20% paying other people to be dedicated.

The only way it becomes a real problem is if that 20% took demand from satiated to over supply, but I doubt that is the case for the Wii, they have been sold out for a long time, and I really doubt the resellers are sitting on 20% of the summers stock, I would suspect it is more likely 5% of Octobers, 10% of Novembers, and 15% of Decembers. Unless large numbers go un-resold it all evens out in the end. Unless you are bitter against people with a few hundred extra dollors (I am not, only when it comes to vacation kind of money do I get bitter).

And really, as hard as they were to get all summer, $150.00 markup is not too bad if you really want one.
(499 for Wii+Wii Play+extra nunchuck+Alien Syndrome).

Re:Flipping Wii's

[cmorriss]

It comes down to one thing. If you can get your hands on one or more Wiis that you don't need, it's free money. You can think what you want, but I successfully bought two Wiis on Amazon yesterday and I'm going to sell them on Ebay to help pay for Christmas presents. Why not? If you want to make money, it's not that hard.

It's not like I'm stealing bread from a little kid's mouth. It's a freaking GAME CONSOLE! Totally superfluous item. If people want to pay a little extra to take advantage of my buying skills, then so be it.

Advertising...

[insertwackynamehere]

Does anyone else feel that this press release is an advertisement in disguise, in and of itself? "Our product is so popular that we're actually going to cut back advertising because we probably don't have enough and if you aren't one of the people contributing to the problem, then you are clearly the minority and are not 'with it.' Please desire a Wii for Christmas, now that we have informed you of how popular they are in an advertisement masquerading as a press release that claims we are cutting back advertisements for the product."

Re:Advertising...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah. Being honest is truly the most evil and subversive advertising of all.

Re:Advertising...

[Lehk228]

not so much advertising as a calculated cockslap to the face of Sony.

Re:Advertising...

[Kingrames]

Shhh!
They might hear you. Do you want that kind of information getting out?

The motiviation behind this

[techstar25]

It's actually a nice gesture on N's part because with less ads, fewer kids will demand it and then (here's hoping) the ebay black market will cool off a bit.

Re:The motiviation behind this

[moosesocks]

It's actually a nice gesture on N's part because with less ads, fewer kids will demand it and then (here's hoping) the ebay black market will cool off a bit.

No..... they don't want to spend money advertising a product that everybody already wants. I mean.... if you can't produce enough to keep up with demand, additional advertising is profoundly unnecessary until production catches up with demand.

Re:Games?

[kurokaze]

MP3 is pretty linear.. I don't have a clue how you got "lost".

If you want a fun racing game.. pick up Excite Truck. I think I've logged more hours in Excite Truck than any other Wii game I own except maybe Wii Sports.

It's about time they get it...

[JKSN17]

Good, it's about time they get it...I'm glad Nintendo get the picture finally, maybe now they will realize that Sony and Microsoft got it right by keep a semi-constant stock of their consoles on the shelves from release. Nintendo knew what they were getting into, and they have been in the business far too long to cry ignorance. I can tell you that the supply shortages have personally detered me from even wanting to buy a Wii anymore. Getting one of these things has become more of headache then it's worth. I'll get my wii-mote fix at a friends, then I'll get board and go back to my PS2 (which has better graphics imo), and my next gen console whatever it will be, probably PS3. Sony hasn't steared me wrong yet, personally.

Re:It's about time they get it...

[AK Marc]

Nintendo knew what they were getting into, and they have been in the business far too long to cry ignorance.

So, after the raging success of the Gamecube (not a resounding success), they should have predicted that they would outsell the best selling console by a 2:1 margin? I would think that their previous experience with their console would result in a more timid launch.

I can tell you that the supply shortages have personally detered me from even wanting to buy a Wii anymore. Getting one of these things has become more of headache then it's worth.

Over 13,000,000 people disagree with you. It sounds more like you've made up your mind and are trying to justify it, rather than wanting a Wii, trying to buy one, then getting disappointed over and over.

I'll get my wii-mote fix at a friends, then I'll get board and go back to my PS2 (which has better graphics imo), and my next gen console whatever it will be, probably PS3.

Ah yes, bashing the graphics when you can't trash anything else. Yes, the PS3 probably has the best graphics of all of the current generation consoles. But then, it's selling very few of them too. So you want to pay more for the least popular console. I guess the fact that you don't actually own it is an indication of how desired it is.

Re:It's about time they get it...

[scot4875]

Nintendo knew what they were getting into, and they have been in the business far too long to cry ignorance.

Yes, they've got enough experience to expected normal console sales. What they've experienced with the Wii is completely unprecedented. Nobody has *ever* sold 15 million consoles in 1 year. How do you expect them to plan for beating their best estimates by a factor of 2?

And before you say "well, just build more factories!" ... how much does it cost to open a factory? How long does it take to tool it up and get it running? How long does it take your entire supply chain to catch up (maybe IBM can only produce 1.8 million processors per month?)? And then what happens if you get the factory running, and demand slacks off to only 1.1 million per month, now that you've upped your capacity to 2.5 million per month? Yeah, that's right, you just wasted millions (or, more likely, billions) of dollars.

my PS2 (which has better graphics imo)

Ahh, that explains your post. You live in a world where the PS2 doesn't have the weakest hardware of last generation. Well, in your world, everything you posted is probably correct and insightful. So, my apologies.

--Jeremy

Re:It's about time they get it...

[dctoastman]

It's totally easy to keep a "semi-constant" stock when no one wants your product. Right now, Nintendo has sold more Wii consoles than Microsoft has sold 360 consoles. And the 360 had been in stores for about a year before the Wii came out. So divide the number of Wii consoles sold in half (current estimates are saying 13 million) and let's talk about hypothetical.

If only 6.5 million Wii consoles had sold in the same time frame (still more than the PS3) there would be no shortage right now. Or ask this question, if demand for the 360 was the same as for the Wii, would we see 360 consoles on the shelves? (Just double the number sold currently (around 12 million)) Do you think there are 12 million more 360 consoles in stores right now?

Hell, Sony wishes they had Nintendo's problems right about now (not enough stock for overwhelming demand, making cash hand over fist, maintaining top-notch development studios).

So, in most respects there are no shortage of Wii consoles being produced, Nintendo just has the problem of almost everyone wanting one.

Let me get this straight...

[Anonymous Coward]

Just so I understand this, let me make sure I have the facts straight...

- Nintendo has been selling the Wii for 1 year amidst high demand
- Nintendo did not take measures to increase/expand production for this Christmas season
- No one at Nintendo has lost their job for this huge miss????!

Re:Let me get this straight...

[Headcase88]

They did take measures to expand. They have just been continuously underestimating future demand since launch (as everyone except hte most rabid Nintendo fanboys have)

So why were they worried about overestimating demand? Because if the Wii wasn't the success it is, they'd have to tear down a bunch of factories.

Nintendo is a pretty big corporation (and was before the Wii launch). I'm pretty sure they have several people more qualified than you (or I, or most people for that matter) looking over these details.

That's nothing.

[snarfies]

Nintendo may hype pulling their ads to avoid hype to generate more hype!

Translation: In Soviet Russia, ads pull YOU!

Re:what an outrage! i smell class action in the ai

[__aaclcg7560]

...the agony and heartbreak of seeing out little ones not getting what they want this christmas...

Forget the kids! Adults will be crying a freaking river in comparison. Unfortunately, the Grinch has a real good attorney and the legal complaint will be dismissed on a technicality.

$500 package

[SlashdotCrackPot]

Anybody noticed that the 249 package hasn't been around for weeks? The only Wii packages I have seen is the $500 bundle that comes with a limp array of add-ons. I was thinking this was a dirty market play on their behalf, but it may have been in effort to curb sales slightly to help overcome the holiday buying frenzy that will lead to even more problems when it comes to supply/demand. However, I never really seen any company (of Nintendo's stature) regardless of the type of industry to bow down to production limitations, esp in the highest profit season of the year for them. Any company with that kind of resources *should* have the infrastructure in place (even temporarily outsourced if needs be) to meet a year long overwhelming demand. They are leaving money on the table, or they have something up their sleeve.

Re:$500 package

[Anonymous Coward]

1. Look in actual B&M stores. Toys R Us, Best Buy, Gamestop all sell the unit for it's actual price--250.
2. Amazon sells the 250 package when they get it in stock.
3. The packages are not designed or created by Nintendo and are store deals since stores do not make much profit on a console sale, but instead make profit on the game sales.
4. Wiialerts.com can help you find one online
5. Many stores get their shipments in during the week to sell on Sundays. If you want to find a wii at retail price, wake up early on a sunday morning and head to your local toys r us or target.

Re:Games?

[Fez]

MP3 was a little confusing when you had to return to certain areas of certain planets to get upgrades, or reach new areas after you got the previous upgrades. Somehow I managed to finish, though.

As for Excite Truck, I agree. It's especially fun with the "crazy monster truck" (I think it's called) unlocked. It's big, fast, and has a never-ending "POW" that lets you plow through everything and everyone.

I'm currently obsessed with Super Mario Galaxy. I am stuck trying to get through "Luigi's Purple Coins"... That level is one big death trap.

And at the end of the day, I still go back to Wii Sports.

It's the stores.

[LWATCDR]

The stores are doing the bundles not Nintendo.

Wii'll pass

[tyrantking31]

I was going to buy a Wii for my kids this Christmas. I even had $275 burning a whole in my pocket for it. For about two weeks if I had seen one at retail or been notified by iTrackr that there was one available I would have snatched it up. This weekend my kids wrote their letters to Santa. None of the three had a Wii on their lists. I realized that maybe I wanted the Wii more than they did. So I spent the $275 on the stuff they wanted and had money left over. I'm glad I never found a Wii.

Re:Wii'll pass

[Anonymous Coward]

Or.. your kids are smart enought to have noticed how stoked you get about the Wii, and have reckoned that you're getting one yourself so have decided to not wast a "large present" slot on something that going to be got anyway. Kids are a lot more devious than you think...

Re:Games?

[Fez]

Perhaps you'll like Rygar: The Battle of Argus? Not exactly my cup of tea, but I am more of a casual gamer lately. Moreso because of time constraints than anything. Check out the release list, there are a lot of promising titles.

I also recommend Super Mario Galaxy (the best so far), Super Paper Mario, Excite Truck, Zelda (that took me forever to finish!), and you already have Metroid Prime 3.

For some reason...

[master5o1]

For some reason there are NO ADS IN NEW ZEALAND for the Wii. Or atleast, the only ads are ones by the retailers like The Warehouse or Dick Smith. It's strange, never seen a Wii ad from Nintendo (of Australia) ... maybe only one ad, when the Wii was released. But I very rarely see ANY ads from Nintendo.

Maybe they should swap and do more ads in New Zealand and less in the US. hehe

Re:For some reason...

[renegadesx]

Its not like they are really needed here neither, plus you dont really see too many ads specifically for PS3 and 360 neither.

Plus the ads talked about being pulled were for the UK, not the states.

Re:For some reason...

[master5o1]

meh... i didnt rtfa :P

why have a marketing campaign

[Anonymous Coward]

They're pulling the marketing campaign b/c they don't need it in the first place.

If you sell every one of the products you make, why spend the money advertising? Since you're already selling 100% of the products you have, using ad money is just like flushing it down the toilet.

You run ads to increase sales.

Re:Games?

[seebs]

Zack&Wiki. SMG. At least look at Elebits, Trauma Center (both of them), RE4 Wii, Guitar Hero, Geometry Wars, ... there's tons out there. It's hard to say what exactly you'll like best. There's more RPGs coming, supposedly.

Re:Games?

[springbox]

Compared to the earlier Metroid Prime games, it really held your hand the whole way through. Seriously, it's basically always "suggesting" where you should go next after you complete your current goals.

Fusion had the same problem

[Dorceon]

And Prime 1 and 2 and Zero Mission. Basically ever since Super Metroid the game has been asking you to imitate Metroid-like actions, while telling you where to go. The feeling of being alone in a huge hostile world is definitely diminished when your ship is intelligent and gives you hints.

Re:Fusion had the same problem

[VGPowerlord]

You forgot Metroid Fusion, which not only held your hand, but routinely locked you in areas until you got the item you were after.

Re:Fusion had the same problem

[Dorceon]

I didn't forget. It was in the subject line.

Re:Games?

[kurokaze]

Crap, I still haven't unlocked Crazy Monster Truck... I'm still working on completing the Super Excite races.

I freakin' hate the Finland courses! why can't they be all like mexico?? *sigh*

Don't even have time to look at SMG right now.. after Excite truck I've got Ikaruga for the GC to finish, and thats already kicking my butt on level 1!

Re:Games?

[Fez]

I had more trouble with the Canadian courses. For some reason I just couldn't hit all the tree runs just right. I don't remember having much trouble with Finland once I got to know the shortcuts. There are several places where you get lots of air and you can come down in a path going through trees, cuts lots of distance off and you get lots of tree runs there, too.

I still haven't finished all of the skill challenges, though.

I just finished getting 120 stars in SMG, now if I go back and finish off Bowser again I get to play the whole game over as Luigi. Not sure if I'll go all the way through with that one or not...

The BEST Wii advert

[Robmonster]

Topless Wii....

http://snipurl.com/1v3lf

It's not safe for work, unless you work in a topless bar...

And don't forget their free "Social" channels

[Alzheimers]

Keep in mind that part of the Wii's lasting appeal are the social channels that are available, completely free.

It's with timekillers like Everbdoy Votes and Check Mii Out that the Wii appeals to the non-gamers of the family. It doesn't feel like a game when you're taking a silly survey and guessing what everyone else is going to pick, or watching a parade of virtual models (some of which are pretty clever).

Having the news, weather, even the whole World Wide Web available with just a click from the couch is nothing to gloss over.

Not totally accurate - this is brand advertising

[brunes69]

There are two types of advertising. Advertising to get you to buy a specific product, and advertising for a brand.

The types of ads you are talking about here (and 99% of all soda ads) are advertising for the brand. The goal of the ad is not to get you to run out and buy a coke now, or even to encourage you to buy Coke for your next 3 hour meeting. It is to implant more and more of the idea that "Coke is good" in your subconscious.

Building a brand is about getting a larger chunk of the pie from the huge swath of the population that really doesn't care too much about your product vs. your main competition. The sole point of these ads is so that when you are in a situation like in a shopping mall in front of a Coke machine and a Pepsi machine, you will choose the Coke machine. You don't really know why, you like the taste of them both just fine, but you just have always *preferred* Coke.

This is different from the Wii, because it is not an impulse-buy item. People don't go to Walmart with the idea that "I am going to buy a video game system" and pick when they get there - they decide and know beforehand. Advertising for non-impulse buy items is to try to get you to buy that PARTICULAR product. There is a degree of brad advertising as well of course, but mostly, ads for these types of things have to be targeted to elicit that "go buy me now" type of response, rather than the subconscious "we are better than Sony" response.

Uh...impatient much?

[Scudsucker]

Your link has a date of December 10th, and your link has a date of one day after that.

Re:Games?

[foreverdisillusioned]

Buy Dragonball Z Tenkaichi 2 (or 3.) Haven't had a chance to play the third one yet, but the second one is pretty goddamn awesome and it only costs $30 or so.

Mind you, I'm speaking as someone who usually can't STAND to watch the show. It doesn't matter what your opinion of DBZ or anime in general is--this is simply the finest fighting game ever produced, and the Wii controls really draw you into it. Tenkaichi 3 supposedly has more extensive Wiimote-based controls, plus the ability to play online for free.

to clarify

[Headcase88]

By OP I mean Jeff.