HMV frustrated by Wii allocation

Entertainment retailer HMV has acknowledged the Nintendo Wii was one of its hottest products this Christmas - but the lack of stock available to sell has left the chain frustrated.

The company was chosen as the official UK launch partner for the Wii, and its flagship Oxford Street store hosted a midnight event attended by Nintendo UK boss David Yarnton along with several celebrities.

While game software and hardware helped the retailer perform well in the competitive Christmas period, pre-ordered stock quickly sold out - and HMV could have shifted many more units had there been enough to go around.

"Games products, particularly from the new Wii range, proved to be among our strongest performing titles - which only served to underline our sense of frustration that we did not have more units of the Wii console to sell," a HMV spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz.

Despite the lack of stock, the entertainment specialist did reveal it enjoyed a successful Christmas in a market that saw heavy discounting of products even before the advent of the January sales.

"In what was a highly competitive market and despite very challenging retail conditions, HMV more than held its own - instore and online," the spokesperson confirmed.