980°

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?

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tech.blorge.com
crazy250005828d ago

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.

ruibing5828d ago

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.

Tsalagi5828d ago

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

http://chattanooga.craigsli...

crazy250005828d ago

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

crck5828d ago

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.

poopsack5828d ago

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. :(

TheExodus5828d ago (Edited 5828d ago )

@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.

Tsalagi5828d ago

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

Megaton5828d ago

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

rogimusprime5828d ago

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.

Lionsguard5828d ago

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..

gaffyh5828d ago

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.

Voiceofreason5827d ago

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.

Voiceofreason5827d ago

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

Tsalagi5827d ago

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$$?

+ Show (11) more repliesLast reply 5827d ago
Jack Bauer5828d ago

i have been starting to see Wiis in stores lately.

Homicide5828d ago

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

Fototherapist5827d ago

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.

gtgcoolkid5827d ago

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

Montrealien5828d ago (Edited 5828d ago )

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

crazy250005828d ago (Edited 5828d ago )

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

Montrealien5828d ago

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

crazy250005828d ago

Youre talking from a Nintendo executive point of view.

Montrealien5828d ago

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.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 5828d ago
Maddens Raiders5828d ago

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

ItisI5828d ago

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

poopsack5828d ago

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.

Voiceofreason5827d ago

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.

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120°

70 percent of devs unsure of live-service games sustainability

With so many games fighting for players' attention and interest losing out over time, time sink games are at risk of eventually losing steam.

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gamedeveloper.com
thorstein12h ago

It was worrisome to begin with.

It's a niche genre with only a handful of hits that can stand the test of time.

CrimsonWing6912h ago

What’s to be unsure of!? Look at the ratio of success to failure!

shinoff218310h ago

Yes. Stop all the live service bs.

jznrpg10h ago

Only a few will catch on. You need a perfect storm to be successful in GaaS and a bit of luck on top of that. But a potential cash cow will keep them trying and some will go out of business because of it.

MIDGETonSTILTS1710h ago

Helldivers 2 manages just fine…

Keep production costs low… don’t just make custscenes until the mechanics and enemies are perfected first.

Make so much content that you can drip extra content for years, and the game already feels complete without them.

Most importantly: make weapons, enemies, levels, and mechanics that will stand the test of 1000 hours. This might require more devs embracing procedurally generated leveled, which I think separates Helldivers 2 from Destiny’s repetitiveness.

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60°

The Battle Pass Is The Worst Thing To Happen To Modern Gaming

Nameer from eXputer: "Some exceptions aside, I don't think the battle pass is a net positive for gaming with how they're implemented in most live service titles."

got_dam14h ago

Battle passes AND meta gaming both.

DivineHand12512h ago(Edited 12h ago)

I like the way Helldivers 2 does battle passes. It allows you to make purchases on each level of the battle pass and gives you the option of choosing which item to unlock first. The more purchases you make using medals the further you progress. There is no timer and you can earn medals towards purchasing stuff via personal orders and Major orders.

I haven't played much live service games that have battle passes but I remember some games that have battle passes where you progress through it linearly using an exp system. What makes it really bad is that the battle pass will have like 50 or more levels with the cooler stuff being closer to the end. They also have an in-game shop that sells exp boosters so you can reach the end of the pass before it refreshes. Everyone ilse will have to grind their way through.

lucian22911h ago

battle pass in fortnite is perfect; buy one and it buys the rest for every other season as it gives you more money than the first cost. so 8.50 and season ends with you getting 13.00, it pays for the next and you have some pocket change to save up for cash shop. All of which is optional

470°

PS5 Pro specs leak video taken down by Sony

Sony is taking actions as video by Moore’s Law is Dead, has been issued with a copyright claim.

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videogameschronicle.com
andy851d 8h ago

And people say it's all fake because Sony haven't said anything 😂 conveniently forget the PS4 Pro was only announced 2 months before release.

BeHunted1d 7h ago

It's fake. There's no factual evidence other than his own made up specs.

Hereandthere1d 7h ago

What were the specks Sony was afraid of showing?

Shikoku1d 6h ago (Edited 1d 6h ago )

Digital foundry put a video out saying what he leaked was exactly what they also knew about the PS5 PRO. So no it's not just stuff he made up

Babadook71d 3h ago (Edited 1d 3h ago )

If it’s fake what copyright does MLID infringe upon?

😂

andy851d 3h ago

Aye because they'd go to the effort of copyright claiming it if it didn't exist 🙃😂 you'd have to be a special kind to be thinking its not a thing by now

Cacabunga1d 3h ago

They need to reveal it with uncharted killzone or a heavy hitter like this

Ironmike1d 2h ago (Edited 1d 2h ago )

U mean the specs that we'll established digital foundry which said these are the actual specs published a video on 2 weeks ago I mean they are only one of most trusted sites for tech information but they just made up a video for the sake of it

Christopher13h ago

I would love for it all to be fake, but lots of people are saying they've seen/heard the same thing. But, man, we 100% don't need mid-gen upgrades when we're failing hard to optimize current hardware.

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Seraphim8h ago(Edited 8h ago)

if I recall Sony lowered sales expectations for PS5 earlier this year. if that is the case we won't hear anything about a Pro until next year or shortly before/when it's dropping. After all, if the Pro was dropping this year/fiscal year they wouldn't have lowered expectations.

As for squashing rumors. Yeah, shit like this prevents potential buyers from adopting now, just like slim rumors in the past. It only makes sense to keep things under wraps from a business perspective. Despite living in a technological age of unfettered access to information we don't need to know whats going on behind closed doors be that at Sony, Nintendo, MS, or amongst any development studios. When the steak is done we shall feast.

JackBNimble8h ago

By the time games are actually made to take advantage of the pro spec's the ps6 will be released or close to it.

jznrpg1d 7h ago (Edited 1d 7h ago )

Just announce it already! I want to preorder one asap. But in reality they don’t want to lessen PS5 sales until Pro is ready to launch so I understand the business part of it. September is probably when they announce it with an early November launch like the PS4 Pro

Ironmike1d 2h ago

Pro won't lessen sales sames ps4 pro never and the ps4 pro was more relevant at the time cos move to 4k this not needed

RaidenBlack20h ago(Edited 20h ago)

Yea, my brother got his PS4 (coz of a good deal) after the PS4 Pro's release.

darthv7216h ago

^^same here. I got a base 4 for only $100 off a guy who bought the Pro. then a few months later I found a guy on craigslist selling a pro for $100 because it was left behind by his former roommate who moved out. That was the beginning of my obsession to buy up the different variants of the PS4 that were released.

As of now I am really only missing the 500m one and the gold slim but otherwise I have pretty much all the other retail ones. https://consolevariations.c...

crazyCoconuts10h ago

Anyone with 4K that appreciates 60fps is gonna disagree about it not being needed.
DLSS is a god send for Nvidia, and there's been nothing like it for AMD...yet ...

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DeadlyFire15h ago

They will announce it around E3 timeframe about May-June whenever they do a showcase for the year.

neutralgamer19921d 6h ago

Just announce it this thing will sell well

Ironmike1d 2h ago (Edited 1d 2h ago )

I don't think it will pll still haven't seen the potential of ps5 yet

Cacabunga13h ago

agreed, but it might sell if they announce some 1st party games to lead the way. if people see the difference with the base version they can move on. for my sake I am still gaming mainly on PS4 (still not finished with RDR2 due to lack of gaming time). I have a huge backlog on PS5 I am hoping to get into.

mark3214uk22h ago

why? game makers havnt even come close to maxing out current spec yet, were getting al lthese new TFlops and game maker are making crappy remakes not worthy of the ps3

Minute Man 72117h ago

The guts of the 5 and X are 5 years old

fr0sty10h ago

People keep saying that, yet we still have games running at near HD resolutions, 30fps, and ray tracing features turned off.

PRIMORDUS1d 3h ago (Edited 1d 3h ago )

I would take that video and upload a torrent of it, fuck that copyright bullshit. If your going to do something that has a chance of being taken down, make a torrent first share it. Then Sony or any other company is helpless and you can laugh in their faces, taunting them to try to take it down 🤣

LoveSpuds21h ago

With kind of analysis and advice, you could be a lawyer for Trump!🤣

tronyx1220h ago

As much as the PS4 Pro didn't represent a major % in the playerbase, announcing a 'better' model will hinder sales from the 'base' model. They are right, business-wise.

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