Guess what? Wii console shortages are coming back for the holiday!
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 at 8:50pm by Jack
I’m going to assume everyone reading Infendo probably has a Wii that wants one by now, but think of the children when reading this post, because they’re probably going to be babbling, crying messes come December. That’s right, the Wii shortages are going to return in force for the holiday season. Get your eBay accounts ready to roll!
“…the expansion of the market for potential customers, the number of people who are waiting to purchase Wii, is beyond our expectations right now,” said Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. “So for the time being, I really do not think that the imbalance for supply and demand can be solved immediately.”
There are plans to ramp up production (haven’t we heard that one before?), but even with the increase, Iwata said “there can be no guarantee that U.S. consumers will be able to easily purchase a Wii this coming holiday season.”
“I can’t give you a 100% commitment [that you'll be able to find a Wii this holiday season]. What I can commit myself to is that Nintendo is going to do its best to supply as many Wii hardware units as possible in order to meet demand there,” he said.
Again, we’ve done this dance before, right?
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Coming back? I’m pretty sure they never left in the first place; Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit just joined the shortages team.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:14 pm
I’ve seen plenty of Wiis in my area for a good while now.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Ha, give me a break. Everyone KNOWS that the Wii is nothing more than a fad. All that’s happening is that stores are intentionally hiding their Wii’s in the back, and only releasing them a few at a time, to make it LOOK like there’s a shortage, when in actuality they have more Wii’s then they know what to do with.
This is just another case of Nintendo trying to make it sound like people actually want one of their systems.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Didn’t knew we have conspiracy theorist here.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:41 pm
IF the shortage affected the sales potential, the Wii wouldn’t be outpacing the PS2.
Apparently “console supply issues” become “issues” when Nintendo is breaking records, and this somehow limits their numbers?
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:51 pm
LOL I guess Residential Evil is fulfilling the troll role here, refuting the obvious evidence of High Wii demand outstripping supply with anecdotal evidence from the Falkland Islands or something.
This is why nobody cares about your opinion.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Residential Evil is absolutely SPOT. ON. Wiis are flooding my local area too. In peoples homes. I like to look through their windows and lick my lips as I watch them eat dinner and pretend they are eating baby Iwatas. A man spotted me on my last venture, and asked me if I would like to become a market analyst. I politely declined. Mainly because I was embarrassed, I was wearing no clothes after all. When I got home and put my paper bag on I realised I should have taken the offer. But what can you do?
July 24th, 2008 at 12:42 am
Come on, Nintendo. This is just getting absurd now. You guys should be able to get your shit together after this long.
July 24th, 2008 at 2:39 am
Well, I have a Wii. I’m lucky because when there were shortages, I got one for Christmas!
July 24th, 2008 at 8:17 am
He did not say that there would be shortages. What he did say does have the effect of generating a little more buzz, which is always good for the system. Also, Nintendo does not want to paint themselves into a corner, of course they cant confirm 100% that there will be enough available. They have already proven that there is a huge demand for the Wii and that people will keep buying them, so why claim that everyone who wants one will get one? If you do that you’ll be screwed when Christmas comes and then there is an actual shortage. This is just a good PR move.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Local game stores - including some big ones like EB and Blockbuster - are short on Wii consoles even now where I live. The EB got a shipment of 5 of them while I was shopping and the manager seemed to shit themselves with joy. Weird stuff, they’ve had a long enough time to start cranking them out, haven’t they? I don’t know if this is 100% PR, if it is Nintendo is really, really dedicated to making it look like there’s a perpetual shortage. To me, that doesn’t make a ton of sense.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:34 am
“LOL I guess Residential Evil is fulfilling the troll role here, refuting the obvious evidence of High Wii demand outstripping supply with anecdotal evidence from the Falkland Islands or something.
This is why nobody cares about your opinion.”
A) I could give a shit about whether you care about my opionion. If I did, I’d be acting like a foaming at the mouth fanboy like yourself. And a fanboy you are, obvious from your “HOW DARE YOU REFUTE NINTENDO” bullshit. I didn’t attempt to “refute” anything, all I said was I’ve been plenty of Wiis available for the past 3 months. Which is true; I said nothing about whether there would be shortages come Christmas time or not, you’re the idiot who went there.
B) Try the Nashville area. Feel free to come and look for yourself dickhead. Or will you be too busy thinking up cool comebacks for the internet so you can play tough?
July 24th, 2008 at 10:17 am
maybe you do in fact have tons of wiis on the shelf in your area, ResidentEvil, but they are still scarce in many areas, and I doubt the stores are trying to hide them considering that people are calling trying to buy them. Some people actually do enjoy playing the system and want to buy it, even if apparently you cannot understand or believe that fact.
In NC where I am Wiis are still quite scarce, we got one for my brother a couple months ago only by calling Game Stop every morning for a week to catch their shipment. I have only seen Wiis actually sitting out on the shelves at my local Walmarts and Targets maybe twice since it’s been out.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:53 am
“A) I could give a shit about whether you care about my opionion. If I did, I’d be acting like a foaming at the mouth fanboy like yourself. And a fanboy you are, obvious from your “HOW DARE YOU REFUTE NINTENDO” bullshit. I didn’t attempt to “refute” anything, all I said was I’ve been plenty of Wiis available for the past 3 months. Which is true; I said nothing about whether there would be shortages come Christmas time or not, you’re the idiot who went there.
B) Try the Nashville area. Feel free to come and look for yourself dickhead. Or will you be too busy thinking up cool comebacks for the internet so you can play tough?”
And all of this is unsubstantiated including your personal area. and you obviously DO care what others think of you or otherwise you wouldn’t be seeking reinforcement from internet comments that have little to do with the main story. What does Wii availability in your area have to do with possible Wii console shortages for the holidays? Nothing, so there must be an ulterior motive such as continuing a narrative that the Wii isn’t “sold out” with unsubstantiated anecdotal evidence.
It’s nice that you can use vulgar language and I’m sure it means something to your age, either that you are too young to use them or old enough to know better. The anonymity of the internet is surely an escape from the consequences of being called upon your opinions, as you can just retreat into insult and logging off, cursing the keyboard you pound so vigorously.
But if you really didn’t care about what I or anybody else thought, why did you respond? When you don’t care about something, you are actually supposed to NOT CARE and not respond.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
@ResidentEvil: Leave. Now. You are no longer wanted. We don’t need people like you going up and down and cursing people out.
Anyways,
I live in the heart of video-game land, Redmond, WA, a block away from both Nintendo and Microsoft.
It is absolutely painful to try and find a Wii anywhere in Bellevue, Redmond, and Seattle!
Sometimes you can get lucky at the Costco, but you’ll have to be there on a certain day when they get their shipments in to be able to get your hands on one.
Oh yeah, and Costco is about 30-45 minutes south of Redmond, depending on traffic.
So you gotta be really committed to finding a Wii here in video-game land.
Seems like it’s easier to find in other areas…not sure why.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Hmmm….
Maybe that’s why Nintendo is releasing Wii Music, a product so wretchedly boring, pointless, and unfun that people won’t be dying to by the “new big thing” because they won’t want it, and Wii consoles won’t be flying off shelves.
;D
July 24th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
i think there are a few valid points being made on both sides, but no one seems to realize not everyone will be affected by shortages if that’s even going to occur. where i live we haven’t been affected at all. i can walk into a game stop or target or walmart or you name it and find one right now. but i’m in cali and that might mean something compared to a small town in bum f**k egypt. not every market is saturated with stores like mine. some people still find it hard to locate a Wii, which to me is a bold statement of appreciation towards the big “N” that this many people are still buying and no bubbles are popping. as of now its all speculation so no one needs to get this worked up on something that doesn’t even affect them since everyone here seems to have a Wii. i’m all for controversy and debating ideas, but not on silly issues like this what’s the point it will either happen or it won’t and opinions won’t change it either way.
July 24th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
[...] Guess what? Wii console shortages are coming back for the holiday! If you are thinking about getting a Wii in 2008 or ever I would suggest you get the first system you see on the shelf. [...]
July 24th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
I live in mid-Ohio, and they’re about impossible to find here. I’ve only seen them once or twice at any stores I’ve visited before since I got mine a few months after the Wii was released.
July 24th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
“And all of this is unsubstantiated including your personal area. and you obviously DO care what others think of you or otherwise you wouldn’t be seeking reinforcement from internet comments that have little to do with the main story. What does Wii availability in your area have to do with possible Wii console shortages for the holidays? Nothing, so there must be an ulterior motive such as continuing a narrative that the Wii isn’t “sold out” with unsubstantiated anecdotal evidence.”
Ok….ok…let me get this straight.
YOU respond to my comment that I’ve seen several Wiis available, which in case your reading comprehension is bad was a reply to neko’s first comment. Go ahead…see if you can make that connection.
And by your jumping to conclusions, YOU are the one that magically made my comments “have something to do with” Wii shortages for the holiday. YOU are the one that started something that wasn’t there, and now are whining about my response.
And funny….I could say the same thing to you about caring about my opinion…..you care so little that you just had to respond, twice.That works both ways buddy.
@Joltman
No.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
I don’t see how to read it that way, because your first comment doesn’t have much to do with neko’s comment either. And even if it is, it is still the seeming refutation of shortages with anecdotal evidence. The point still stands against you, unfortunately.
But please, get angrier. It’s funny.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Not as funny as your lack of reading comprehension skills. I’d break it down further but it’s already as basic as it gets. So since you don’t even get the point, you’re in no position to tell me anything is “against me”.
But please, keep reading into my comments thing you wan to and getting your panties in a wad over it. It’s funny.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
On second thought Jeff, ignore that last comment.
I did not mean to come across as a troll. My post really was a reply to neko, and yes I have seen many Wiis available in my area the last few months. I should have qualified my comments a little better.
I mean no disrespect to anyone here, and I sincerely apologize for my langauge. I should not have gone there. I know at times I seem negative to Nintendo, but that’s just my honest opinion at the time. I reply to articles like I was chatting, so many times my posts are a bit off the cuff. In reality I’m a big Nintendo fan and though I don’t like everything about the Wii and some things about where Nintendo is going I don’t particular like, I still have far more Wii titles than PS3 titles and not too many more 360 games.
I don’t know if you’ll read this because the article is quickly being pushed down, but again, I apologize. I shouldn’t have reacted as I did.
July 25th, 2008 at 1:29 am
Don’t worry about this child.Thanks to a friend who used to work at Gamestop reserving a Wii - which is against the rules - I got one last Christmas!
July 25th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
What the hell?
Well uhh… ok Residential Evil. Bygones and such.
The internet is a powerful tool for displaying an opinion, but it is a medium where you must consider how others may view your comments. You are not necessarily “at fault” for misinterpretations, BUT minimizing the possibility of them is something required.
Just look at Nintendo’s E3. They had to apologize for the delusional belief that the E3 is as it was in 2006, for the absence of games only rumored to be there, and the non-evident claim that Nintendo was “abandoning the core.” They aren’t “at fault” for the bad feelings, but felt they must soothe them anyway. It’s the relationship-building part of their business.