Nintendo is staging Wii shortage to feed popularity hype and inflate stock

There comes a point in a console's lifespan at which it is simply ludicrous that it is not available on a day to day basis to whatever consumers should so choose to venture to their local Best Buy or Gamestop to pick one up. Such is the case of the little Nintendo Wii; it just isn't available like it should be in the U.S. That begs the question: why is Nintendo, the company behind the supposedly hysterically popular Wii console, not distributing enough consoles to satisfy U.S. demand?

[crazy25000]

Ive felt the same way about the Wii. People just fall for the hype. Out of 8 Wii owners that I know, only one of them actually still plays it.

Im glad I didnt fall for the hype.

[ruibing]

Out of three Wii owners I know, one sold his already for a PSP and the rest haven't bought anything beyond Wii Sports. If there is going to be another Atari crash, the Wii and EA will be responsible.

[Tsalagi]

That seems to be the case around where i live too.

http://chattanooga.craigsli...

[crazy25000]

wow, that is pretty bad....I just feel bad for those people who wasted money. Especially since we're going into a recession now.

[crck]

Nintendo is cheap. They have always been cheap and tight fisted with money and I hope it hurts them here. They didn't want to start up new lines of productions for fear that they would be stuck with a bunch of unsold Wiis.

[poopsack]

Same here, me being one of them, I waited for Smash Bros to, but Sonic being in there wasnt all the blast I expected it to be. :(

[TheExodus]

@Tsalagi: 2 listings are at or below retail, the rest are $100+ over retail which indicates strong demand for Wii which I suspect is the exact opposite of what you were hoping to imply.

[Tsalagi]

85-90% of those Wii's for sale are used so my point still stands.

[Megaton]

I only know one person who still uses their Wii as well. The others have all sold them off.

[rogimusprime]

is this news? we all know nintendo is leaving money on the table with this crap. Think about it, when was the last system nintendo made that people had TROUBLE getting their hands on? DS, NES, SNES, N64, Gameboy, Gamecube...you could even find that crappy virtual boy if you wanted it.

The funny thing is that there doesn't seem to be a shortage of software and peripherals available (yes, i know they aren't made the same way) My point is that they sell all these games and controllers and such and there are no systems to play it on.

It's been a year and a half...its pathetic.

[Lionsguard]

Same here only one other friend has a pS3 and we play it religiously while I have 5 friends who have just the Wii and only one of them has anything else than Wii Sports (He has brawl) and he doesn't even play that..In fact they've been coming over to play GTA lately..

[gaffyh]

The Wii is a great concept, but Nintendo has completely messed it up. I mean can you imagine a Wii with the graphical capability of the PS3, that would be amazing. It is obvious that Nintendo is withholding stock, remember during christmas the stock of Wii's jumped by hundreds of thousands in a day.

[Voiceofreason]

Good post Tsalga.. Too bad most of those Wii are above th retail price... Odd how nobody wants a Wii yet people manage to sale them for 50 -100 above retail price.. Epic failure on your part but i am sure you will continue to act like you have a valid point.

[Voiceofreason]

Yeah nobody plays the Wii at all. I dont even know how it sales th most software every month when not a single Wii owner plays anything on it..If ignorance is bliss, you must be the happiest man alive.. Oh wait you cant be too busy crying over the Wii and how its killing your PS3..If nobody plays the Wii at all then the same can be said for th PS3. After all the Wii has a 2 game attach rate over the PS3. I am not sure what world you live in where more game sales means less play time but it might be time to get professional help for your hate and come back toreality

[Tsalagi]

I didn't say nobody wanted one. I was implying that some people who bought them in my area have gotten tired of them and are trying to get rid of them (even provided proof). The high demand from people who don't have one is why those people who are selling their's are selling them for more than retail. Now what was YOUR point other than being an a$$?

[Jack Bauer]

i have been starting to see Wiis in stores lately.

[Homicide]

Nintendo has been shipping lots of Wii as of late for WiiFit. That is gonna sell millions, and I'm going to hate it.

[Fototherapist]

actually had a few in the display case the other day. I also saw one yesterday. Either Nintendo is starting to ramp up production or the market is getting so saturated that demand is starting to wane. Either way, I haven't played mine in a couple of months. I play my PS3 regularly. Points to ponder.

[gtgcoolkid]

I saw couple in target, one in best buy too.

[Montrealien]

700 000+ last month alone in NA warrants a shortage, people are buying them. Tin foil hat conspiracies are just that, tin foil hat wearing conspiracies.

Out of eight people I know 8 still play it. so? lol

[crazy25000]

It doesnt matter how many of them are sold, its the consumer that will suffer in the end.....just wasted money.

[Montrealien]

says you with the crazy name...geez you talk like what you say is fact.

[crazy25000]

Youre talking from a Nintendo executive point of view.

[Montrealien]

I'm just saying, there is no secret meeting of nintendo executives somewhere deep beneath the Nintendo Headgate planning this shortage.

You would be surprised how much bowling is done one the Wii my grandparents have in their living room, they also use it for photos. And Mario kart rocked my house last night with my 25 year old younger sister and a few of our friends, and beer.

This is my personal experience and I'm sticking to it, I am not a Nintendo executive.

[Maddens Raiders]

the Wii is the greatest console of this generation and b3yond.

[Xiru]

Nice sarcasm. But funny. :)

[Fototherapist]

you're hurting my eyes.

[tweaker]

That's a first.

[ItisI]

If most Wii players aren't playing their wiis anymore they wouldn't be selling games by the truckload. But they are so.....

[poopsack]

right... first party games that is, take No More Heroes for example, third part game, No More Copies sold. Anything on a nintendo console with mario on the cover will sell. Thats why they stick a mario in anything now.

[Voiceofreason]

Wrong half of the 25 games that sold over 1 million on Wii are 3rd party games.. Time to go get some kind of clue then come back.

[bootsielon]

Nintendo can eat my shorts

[ChickeyCantor]

They are eating your shorts with a special butter called MONEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

=D XD

[nevelo07]

knew this my buddy dale whos a mangager asid he noticed that they were doing that, but he says it seems like the hype is dying down cause he said hes got 7 in stock and they been there for about a week now

[pcz]

rubbish article. just another excuse to be negative about the wiis success. i got mine, anybody in the world could get one tomorrow, this article was just silly

[Denzelio]

Shortages easily create hype, something is never available then it has to be good, makes people willing to pay even more for one. also Nintendo does make more profit selling consoles outside of NA.

"direct profit per Wii sold may vary from $13 in Japan to $49 in the United States and $79 in Europe."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

One thing is for certain the 3 consoles are selling more per week then they were last year, and consoles have never been in such high demand before and Nintendo was already at it's limits of production last year. Without any more big name 1st party games coming expect demand to die down a bit.

[DailyAddict]

I don't recall which developer said the Wii is like a virus, but I remember his comment and I agree wholeheartedly. It's got so much hype that one person buys it, loves it so much right away, recommends it to a friend and then they buy it. But, in between the second friend buying it, the first friend got bored and stopped playing it.

I own a wii and besides SSMB, my Wii started collecting dust pretty fast, but not before I recommended some friends to get it and they followed the same trend. I don't know anyone that bought it who still actively plays it. Most played Wii Sports, tried out a few other things and then just forgot about it until SSMB came out.

It's definitely a fun machine to play, but it's biggest flaw is that it simply doesn't have the kind of games I want to play. I wish more devs would support Nintendo, but I think Nintendo fried a lot of their relationships back with N64 and ever since then it just hasn't been the same.

Sidenote: as of right now, none of my friends that own the Wii still actively play. However, their younger siblings, kids, etc. plays. Go go kid power.

[tgh machines]

That was one of the guys from Epic. Mark Reign maybe?

[ItisI]

the Wii is the fastest selling console in history. They are about to bump up volume to 2.5m a month.

http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunc...

It is killing everything in its path and Nintendo is struggling to keep up with demand

[Denzelio]

Is actually a pity they are selling so damn fast, as I'd love to buy a version with a HDD to then buy a truck load of VC games, however they obviously want to capitalize on the situation so until demand heavily dies down they won't release the Colored Wii's with the rumored HDD and with/without DVD support (DVD support not important anyway).
Aslong as they keep selling this fast we will see no new Wii models(colors) and no price cuts.
I do hope they use all their new found Wii money wisely and create a console equal to Sony and M$ offerings in the next Gen, can't imagine Nintendo would last forever based on 3rd party games available to them.

[LegendKillar]

i see them in stock all the time now....

[ReBurn]

They must be generating hella hype, then. Because people are still buying them as fast as they can make them.

[ElementX]

I'll admit, there are some fun games for Wii. The console, however, won't be around much longer. Nintendo will come out with a high-def system in a couple years, probably after the next Zelda comes out

[BrotherNick]

I pray that's true...but I don't think so :\

[OoOLeafsOoO]

I went over to a friend's house today to play some games and he told me he hasn't touched his Wii in over 2 weeks. Instead he's been playing Halo 3 on his 360...I also have other friends that have either a Wii60 or a PSWii combo and the Wii is barely touched.

[BrotherNick]

I bet your friends are hardcore gamers...I would say most hardcore gamers play the other systems more. :)

[factory]

just sold mine while i could get great value for it.after i finished galaxy it sat there and the family has more fun with rockband.im not a ssbm kind of guy and i dont want to play the billionth upgrade to mario kart.

[Xiru]

Its a smart tactic. And we've known Nintendo was holding back Wii's since a few months after launch. Its working beautifully and making everyone think its the hottest item ever made, when in reality its a gamecube 1.5 with worse graphics than some ps2 games. And its selling point, the motion control, is hardly even used in the biggest Nintendo games. Nintendo was tired of losing, so they used some smarts and basic economics to create a false supply issue, and a year later, they are sitting in the #1 spot every week for hardware sold. Kudos, Nintendo.

On a side note, I haven't touched my Wii since Brawl came out and I found out the online was horrible. Shattered any hope I had of playing a good game on the Wii against other people. So as a result, there is no point to play it.

[RecSpec]

18 months later, and I still see people asking at Wal-Mart or GameStop if they have any Wii's. Only to get turned away.

I'm actually kinda glad there never was one available when I wanted one, I probably wouldn't own my PSP if I had a Wii.

[wow4u]

I concur, there is no reason Nintendo cant supply this demand. Sure, its a good demand -- but if they were interested, they could have supplied the market by now.

This is BS.

[Voiceofreason]

You dont have a clue how business works at all.. Yes Nintendo can just snap their fingers and have a brand new production facility up and running in a weeks time.. I am amazed at how limited some people are on this site.. You guys act like being the fastest selling console of all time is nothing...

[mistertwoturbo]

I think a lot of people are missing the reason why the Wii is such a success. It's because of kids. There are a LOT of parents out there. Yes, believe it or not. There are more parents than "hardcore gamers." And guess what, majority of those parents kids wants a Wii. And guess what, most of those parents will fork out $250-$500 to make they're kids happy.

And then there are the senior citizens. They play the Wii because it's something they could have never dreamed of when they were kids. So playing on the Wii recharges they're energy and they actually have fun doing so.

To be honest, as much as I think Nintendo is also building up hype on purpose, if you think of the bigger picture. It's making a lot of people happy. If I was to ever create such a product that makes millions of people happy around the world, it's definitely something to feel good about. Nintendo just need to stop feeling good about it's price though. The Wii should have been $200 by now.

The Wii seems like the most mixed opinionated console ever created though. A lot of people hate it. A lot of people love it. A lot of people think it's pushing the gaming industry foward. A lot of people think it's holding it back.

[Vizion26]

Nintendo is not holding back to build up hype. That is completely ridiculous. How could they when the Wii is the fastest selling console EVER? For virtually every month since the Wii was released it has been outselling the PS3 and 360 combined every month. Nintendo has bumped up production twice and they are planning to bump it up again to 2.5 million a month. Yet irrational haters still think Nintendo is holding back to build up hype? Unbelivable how some people can be so ignorant.

If you don't like the Wii then don't play it. If you have it then you should sell it. Simple as that. I don't see why haters on this site have to keep posting the same repetitive thing that it sucks and it collects dust and I have so and so friends who don't play it. Get a life people!

So Boo-hoo I am sorry the Wii is more popular and that not every person is like a male age 12-29 who is into big budget violent HD video games. Get out of your little box to see there is more to your narrow hardcore video game world. Nintendo saw the big picture and that's a big reason why they are so successful and why PS3 and 360 are lagging behind sales every month.

[wow4u]

After all these years, you dont think Nintendo can manage after more than a year to increase productivity?

I dont care *what* the demand is, Nintendo has the experience, the partners and the resources to make the production sky-rocket to meet the demand.

They arent doing that on purpose. There is nothing about the Wii that could cause a shortage, the Wii is all very mundane technology -- the damn thing isnt exactly high-tech.

[ItisI]

Well said. This site is a haven for Wii haters and PS3 lovers.

[jessupj]

Can you really blame us for hating on the wii?

[KeiZka]

Can you really, honestly say you hate something that is made of plastic and some circuitry? I mean, at least it hasn't doublecrossed you, cheated on you, been a complete f.cktard to you... So why the hate? Because it happens to sell a bit more than rest of the competition?

Fanatics, zealots, idiots. Rejoice. Thine Kingdom on Earth has arrived in form of N4G.

[sevanig]

Yer!
My grandma loves wii

[Picnico]

Having the headline 'Nintendo is staging Wii shortage to feed popularity hype and inflate stock' is a mere opinion parading as a fact.

A more appropriate headline would be: 'Is Nintendo staging Wii shortage to feed popularity hype and inflate stock?'

It makes the error of presenting a possible reason for low Wii stocks as the actual reason for low Wii stocks.

I expect nothing more, though, from a site that accused Radiohead of selling out in a recent article because they they reasonably want to sell their albums at an RRP price again instead of letting fans pay what they want for them.

My question is 'Are N4G just providing links to articles without questioning the integrity of them?'

[wow4u]

While I agree, this is pretty tame for what passes on this site. There isnt remotely enough editorial or administrative QC.

The site owners probably find that conflict and hysteria generates traffic. That said, the premise of the article "that Nintnedo isnt meeting demand on purpose" I believe is true.

I can see no other reason after all this time from launch.

[sleepbox]

Yea, outside of a handfull of games, the Wii is completely terrible. I completely agree that the "shortage" is bogus and manufactured for pure hype.

[codeazrael]

Alright, for the people who dismiss the fact that Nintendo is intentionally withholding Wiis to feed media hype and people's mystique about the console, listen up!

You ask the question of why would Nintendo miss out on so much money by not shipping consoles, and you say how stupid that would be, right?

Well, actually it's genius because if the Wii was widely available on every store's shelves, there would be no more mystique about the console. You wouldnt jump to grab the console if you seen a whole stack of them in a best buy or gamestop on a normal basis. So if Nintendo did just start shipping a crapload of Wii consoles all of a sudden to fill store shelves, these incredible sales will vanish, and the Wii would take its rightful place, in third place of this generation's console war. And you seen how long it took to get a Mario game, a real mario game, a couple of consoles, so do you really think you will see another Mario game anytime soon? So with Nintendo's first party heavy hitters out of the way, and with 3rd party games sucking the big one, the only thing you will get, and continue to get are fad games that suck and get terrible reviews. And all of a sudden there WILL be an influx of so called fitness games aimed to attract people besides gamers, like moms and fatasses who are the first ones to buy any fatloss wonderpill they see on TV.........and Nintendo is going to capitalize off of it. But the bigger question is, what is nintendo going to do AFTER this generation? Alot of people say build a next gen Wii with 360/PS3 graphics, or better.......................b ut don't hold your breath, those games utilizing a Wii type interface while keeping superior graphics would take a long while to properly intergrate. Face it, we've been had by Nintendo, a company that should have thrown in the towel after the gamecube. And now the only thing that the company have now is this shortage, and the hype it has created. Hell, even the psp is turning the tide against the DS slowly but surely!

[AngryTypingGuy]

The Wii is great for parties, but to satisfy the hardcore gamer, we all know it offers very little. It doesn't help that the third party titles feel like they're just thrown together. Off the top of my head, the only third party title I can think of that's worth getting is Resident Evil 4, possibly my favorite game ever.

[TheExodus]

Nintendo isn't responsible for the Wii shortage, Sony is! If Sony hadn't brought the PS3 to market at nearly 2.5 times what the market would bear there would be no Wii shortage. Nintendo is trying to meet excess demand for their console because MS & Sony both opted to price their consoles beyond the reach of the console market.

Nintendo is currently producing nearly twice as many Wiis per year as PS3 has sold since launch. This summer they're going to ramp up production to 2.4 million units per month which means they'll be making as many Wiis per year as 360 & PS3 have sold COMBINED since launch. Nintendo is trying they're best to manage a gift from MS & Sony that just keeps on giving, but to say they're engineering a shortage is beyond absurd.

[BrotherNick]

I think if the other systems were only 50 dollars more I may have bought them before the wii, but I bet it wouldn't have the graphics you guys love. :)

[XB-T]

How true, 2 years on the market and they still can't meet the demand? Ninty erns big time on Wii and they can't ramp up the production? Pfff what a joke

[TheExodus]

Nintendo has ramped up production twice in the last year, first to 1 million per month & then to 1.8 million per month. Now they're ramping up production again to 2.4 million units per month.

I guess Nintendo is going about meeting demand the wrong way in the eyes of 360/PS3 owners. Maybe Nintendo could introduce a 33+ percent failure rate to temper demand like MS did with the 360, or maybe they could goose the price up $300 by including a proprietary HD media format that 90-percent of console gamers aren't going to notice a difference with given that they're console is connected to a sub 30-inch TV in the basement of their parents' house.

[zerolinkgannon]

I have a friend who haven't touched his ps3 in 3 months. Oh wait..I have a friend who sold his 360 for a ps2!! I laugh at all the people who are quick to use that whole "I haven't" excuse. But anyways, wii is nearing the 25 million mark. Yea..some shortage alright.

[TheExodus]

Technically it is a shortage because if Nintendo had been able to make more of them they could very well be sitting on an install base between 50 & 75 million by now.

There's no question that demand for Wii far outstrips supply, but I just don't believe Nintendo is engineering a shortage given that they've ramped up production by a half a million units per month three times now & still aren't able to meet demand. Now with Wii Fit launching stateside in a few weeks I doubt they'll even be able to meet demand at 2.4 million units per month.

[Voiceofreason]

You talk about NMH like you actually have any kind of clue about it.. Little info for you. NMH is Suda51's best selling game to date. No it isnt a million seller but no game will ever reach that mark when it is not advertised at all.Should I bring up all the PS3 games that have failed to sale 1 million as a point that its a failure? I wont because that really proves nothing. I just wanted to point out how little you know about what you are talking about.

[Boink]

"Nintendo is staging Wii shortage to feed popularity hype and inflate stock"

well d'uuuuuuhhhhhhh...

[Knightofelemia]

nintendo should ship a steady stock of the system its hard to find. Beacuse of them The Ps2 nd the 360 are doing better in sales. I know I am getting impatience trying to find a system.

[razorbladelight]

all those people that 'know' other people that don't touch... why r games selling so well for the console... even compared to the refridgerator that is a ps3. numbers clearly show that while ps3 is starting to seel more consoles, the games still aren't. and the people in this website have been saying for more than six months "wait till MGS4" but that's just one freaking game as opposed to the wii that has at least four games up there in the top sellers. people are buying the system and buying the games. does it really matter if they play them or not, the transactions been made.

[DomUltra]

While this might be Nintendo strategy, seem shady, slow production, it's working, they almost move a million units per month, to be honest I just really genuinely believe they are unstoppable right now.

[killtheaquitted]

I am supposed to believe some joker who didn't interview anyone who would have actual information, who only cited 2nd hand sources, and basically just concocted a theory and presented as fact? Yeah...ok. Internet bloggers FTW!

[Perverted]

How are opinionated conspiracy fanboy articles getting on this s...oh wait...never mind....

The Wii is selling more than the other two losers(of which I own) and it's withholding stock? I doubt that.
And buying into the hype? I done that with COD4 traded it in a week later...doesn't mean everyone will do the same....

To each their own, just because the least hardcore is winning doesn't mean you should bash it, lets spread the love and just play games and have fun like we used to :)

[budbundystyles]

The Wii is for toddlers and old people. One of my good friends is always trying to get me away from my ps3 to play some 1st party Nintendo rehash I've already played 200 times. Wii sucks. SHOVELWARE AHOY!

[599 US Dollars]

"What? Wii is STILL sold out everywhere? It must be good! I gotta get one NOW!!! Take all my money, Nintendo!!!"

[JasonX43]

This is what I've been saying for awhile now! There's no freakin' way the Wii can be this popular when the PSP is outselling everything in Japan! Face it, the novelty of the Wiimote and Wii Sports is starting to ware off and the Wii will soon become one of the best selling worst consoles in history unless Nintendo stops with the party games, stops letting third party devs release shovelware, and gets back to being the NES/SNES era Nintendo!

[miganda]

Wii will soon become one of the best selling worst consoles in history.

[hokageof2009]

its only fun if u have people over and a game worth playin which right now are only the nintendo based games lke brawl and mario games and the wii sports so until the wii learns that its not really a system for the older gamers then they need should jus stick to the e rating for all theyre games until they find out how to create a game for the older gamers too bc i'm tired of playing star wars w/my 6 yr old cousin

[hokageof2009]

its not for the adult gamers (16-and up)

[hokageof2009]

its not for the gamers older than 16 and who r still waitting for a good wii game to really come out

[ChickeyCantor]

16 year old is not an adult......so therefor you lose =)!!!!

[KeiZka]

"Adult" gamers. When someone brings up that point, I can't help feeling like someone is trying to be older than he/she actually is. The "Age card" is probably the lousiest to be played, tbh.

[KeiZka]

Here we go again.. A negative Nintendo article, that implies YET AGAIN that Nintendo is staging the shortage. And from tech.blorge.com. Did they transfer the writer from gaming.blorge to tech? Apparently... Also, what's the sudden need to come and spout utter crap "I TOLD YA SO, NOW IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN, THE DOWNFALL OF NINTENDO & WII!", while that statement remains still quite untrue. Oh well, idiocy runs rampant here anyway...

EDIT: Also, I must question the objectivity of the writer. His post (blog one) is made of pure fail and lose.

[f789790]

and there are still shortages. Look at their stock. This is the reason. It just keeps going up.

[danger_ranger95]

I think NG4 only lets 2 or 3 Wii owners create an account in a months time.

The Wii is selling millions, and the fan boys seem to be growing by the millions on here as well!!!!!!

I bet there are more "Wii hate" articles in NG4's back catalog compared to Nintendo's monthly Wii numbers.

That's the real supply/demand issue around here.

[Trekster_Gamer]

Oh yah I remember, it's that little box that a few games and a wierd controller and has games that look worse than the original Xbox and PS2...

Yah that's the Wii

[game-over]

Ok, noobs. The Wii has been out about 530 days. It has sold about 24,770,000 units to date. If the factory operated 24 hrs a day and 365 days a year that would be about 32.45 Wiis produced/sold a minute which is more than one Wii produced/sold every 2 seconds. How much could they possibly be holding back at that rate. Plus the only time it could possibly benefit to hold back supply is to have more units available around the Christmas shopping season. Holding back supply all the time would lead to exponential losses. For one thing, It would have horrible effects on their days in inventory, ( longer days in inventory = lost money because it costs money to keep things in the inventory/warehouse because you have to heat/cool a warehouse, electric/water/gas bills for the warehouse, pay people to stock the warehouse/ etc.etc. ) Keeping items in the warehouse longer than you have to is like lighting your money on fire. You want less days in inventory. Less days in inventory = smaller warehouse/smaller staff/smaller utility bills. It also takes longer to ship things from a massive warehouse than it does from the end of an assembly line or a smaller warehouse. Having a high average days in inventory makes your supply chain opperations look inefficient to investors and this information is available to the public and I know where to get it if I cared to put anymore effort into this than I already have ) If you have any professional education about business, you know you want your days in inventory as low as possible with JIT ( just in time inventory ) being ideal. Nintendo would also be punishing themselves based on the time value of money. ( Wiis sitting in a warehouse are wiis not being sold and you have to also figure the interest lost on the money lost. Plus Nintendo can make more money off that money than the current interest rate so that is another reason not to hold back supply.(I can explain further but I dont feel like it, this is getting to long) Basically, I am a business graduate from an accredited University. You can disagree till you are all blue in the face, but I will still know more about this situation than you. The above is just a dumbed down version for all the noobs around here that think they know business. I have to admit that I am often laughing at most of your comments when I am on here. "Well, Nintendo is holding back supply because my Neighbor doesn't play his Wii." I wish you could all witness how dumb you look to me. I welcome any of you to try to actually reject my notions because I have more in the canon ready to fire and I will probably just make you look stupid.

[kn]

Nintendo is exceptionally conservative. They fear cranking up production and having a significant slowdown as they will end up losing a boatload of cash. They aren't like sony and MS. This is their only business and they have to be extremely conservative. They've not ramped up production anywhere near what they need and probably won't. That said, the idea that Nintendo would intentionally hold back systems to keep it in shortage is grade A retarded. They are a corporation out to make money and are shipping everything they make. They may move them from region to region to support key game launches like Wii Fit, but they aren't holding back with the exception of inventory build to try to satisfy demand over the holidays. Get over it. A lot of casuals want a Wii and it isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

[game-over]

I agree. I am a Business graduate and I will also tell everyone that it makes no sense what so ever to hold back supply to "create hype" with the exception of holding back a small part of stock to have more units available during the holiday season just as any video game company would do. I really have to laugh at some of the people on here. "Nintendo is holding back supply because my Neighbor isn't playing his Wii." "Nintendo is holding back supply to keep the hype going." <---- I wish you could all see how dumb you sound to me. If you don't have any professional business knowledge about days in inventory, scientific management and warehousing dynamics don't even bother responding to me.

[nightmareluffy1]

Is it possible to have FUN on all 3 systems or just on the PS3 and 360.
I like all 3 personally... had FUN on them also.
I just cant understand the whole "stand by your system come hell or high water" thing.(no i do not own all 3, my friend does)
It seems the hardcore gamers are afraid of something...they hate that the wii sells so well and for the life me i cant understand why it would matter to them. They play all the technological superior games from Sony and Microsoft b/c those are the only systems that can do realistic graphics and physics in games. obviously FUN is not a factor, the wii CANT be FUN b/c it just cant do those things. It just doesn't have real games.(sorry pac-man you're just not a real game anymore b/c your graphics suck and your physics suck.) (contra same for you to... you just cant be FUN unless you're realistic).
all I'm getting from these posts is the wii cant be FUN because it does not have the capabilities of the other two. No I guess no one plays xbox360 or PS3 games cause they're FUN. Also i have a wii( BIG SURPRISE) but play on other consoles because they all have something FUN on them. (GTA4 MGS4 COD4... ... A LOT OF 4'S?!) I WILL NOT limit myself for graphics and physics, hell i still play PS2 AND old XBOX U
KNOW WHY...BECAUSE THEY ARE FUN. THEY HAVE FUN GAMES.
FUN IS WHAT MATTERS.
Thats why wii sells, it appeals gamers and non gamers alike. Its not that hard to understand really.

P.S. Did anybody else notice all those game i mentioned involve killing people... goddamn whats the world coming too.

[Spydiggity]

I've been saying that for over a year now. people are such sheep. i've owned every nintendo including virtual boy and still refuse to buy Wii. Wii is the same as anything else mainstream. people get it cuz it's "cool." not cuz they are at all informed about the product or because they have any vested interest. the population is composed of 99% followers who will do anything to stay in line.

[Rhyan]

Its almost smart on there behalf because if the Wii still has a shortage issue in the states that keeps the hype up on WII/Nintendo's part, that way when they do release the 4 on every shelf of the selected stores that they decide to give them to, *pooof* they are gone... soccer moms and the goth non conformist kids alike are battleing in the stores like mario and luigi on who gets the princess first... while over in the uk and japan they are laughing at us (like they need another reason to) because they are looking at stacks of them like you see of xbox 360's at your local best buy... the reason why there is more over seas is because if you look at the profit margins, nintendo makes more money for every one they sell in the uk and japan... over in the states not so much... so they will keep the shelves up in select countries with the highest dollar... in the end its just good business... but also in the end the emo non conformist just cut himself again because he got beat up by a soccer mom that took the last wii off the shelf