Reggie Fils-Aime, the anti-Wii bundler
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 at 10:21am by Jack
Nintendo of America president Reggie FIls-Aime and I share a nuber of redeeming traits. We both are able to turn coal into diamonds using nothing but brute strength and our fists, for example (related note: Merry Xmas, babe!). We can also affect weather patterns worldwide using nothing but the white hot intensity of our personalities, which burn with the combined heat of a thousand suns. Oh, and we both hate console bundles.
We especially the ones that are ocasionally — OK, incessantly — forced upon us by retailers see consoles like the Wii as the incredibly popular moneymakers that they are.
I’m not going to point any fingers, but this happens on a pretty wide scale across the video game spectrum. However, with the Wii still as popular as ever (November was recently renamed Wiivember 360), it’s been magnified ten-fold to the where some retailers, say the ones that specialize in selling and buying back video games, offer Wii bundles that rival even the PS3’s exhorbitant price tag. It’s not something Nintendo is too fond of, Reggie says.
“Retailers have already been given feedback that we are not big fans of that. We think it masks some of the price advantage we have versus our competition and, frankly, the consumer should decide what they want,” Fils-Aime said.
A pretty pillow-packed threat. It was somewhat veiled, even. Reggie pulled no punches after that quote, however, opting instead to go straight for retailers’ vugulars (i.e., their wallets).
Asked if Nintendo had threatened such retailers with fewer Wii shipments, Fils-Aime said only that the company carried a lot of weight as maker of one of the most highly sought items this holiday season. “We don’t have to remind retailers of the strength we have right now. We are simply making an observation and that reinforces our point quite nicely with retailers,” Fils-Aime said.
Part of me agrees with Reggie, but then again another part of me knows that Nintendo wouldn’t have had to say such things in the first place if they had ironed out these blasted supply chain issues by now.
December 18th, 2007 at 10:53 am
I know it’s easy to say Nintendo should just make more Wii’s to meet demand, but has anyone thought about what this Holiday season would be like if people were buying faulty systems that were made in haste? Imagine unpacking a Wii that overheats and is fried in a matter of hours, or bricks for no reason when you boot up your first game. I think quality plays a big part in Nintendo’s hesitation to overproduce.
December 18th, 2007 at 11:46 am
Since I already have my Wii, I don’t really care. I like discussing with people how difficult it is to find and reminding them of the fact I’ve had mine for a year. Nobody can believe how hard it is to come by. This is like the tickle me elmo craze in that half the reason it’s selling so well is because there is so much hype. I don’t doubt that people are trying to buy it and have no idea what the hell it’s all about.
December 18th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
I completely agree Dustin.
At my work place, everyone knows I play video games and the like and I was even surprised by the amount of people asking me how to get one.
But unlike a lot of the stories I have heard, everyone of the individuals that asked me how to get one, has been able to find one.
Go figure.
December 18th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
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December 18th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Nuber!
December 18th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
As far as threatening goes… You know that sale Gamestop has/had(?) for, “buy-a-dslite-get-20%-off-up-to-three-used-games”? That’s because Nintendo said if GS didn’t sell a certain amount of DS’s they would pull their Wii allotments. No joke. I wish I could supply the email print out corporate sent as proof but I could get fired.
December 19th, 2007 at 1:34 am
it should be well known that nintendo often allots wiis based on DS sales. its been posted around the internet every few months.
December 21st, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Bundles are completely forbidden in France (and maybe some other countries in europe). In my country, it’s illegal to tie quantity, products or services.