Nintendo has refuted claims that it failed to deliver the number of Wii units promised to Virgin Megastores for the console's launch on December 8.
The claims emerged after Virgin began taking pre-orders for PlayStation 3 last week. As GamesIndustry.biz discovered after contacting stores across the country, customers enquiring about the pre-order system are told that they can secure a console for GBP 50 - but are warned that they won't neccessarily receive their machine on March 23.
They're told that they may have to wait days or even weeks for their machine to arrive, with one customer service representative stating, "We can't make a commitment to the 23rd because Sony hasn't made a commitment to us."
All the representatives GI.biz spoke to said that Virgin was keen to avoid a repeat of the situation which occurred with the launch of the Wii, claiming that Nintendo failed to deliver the number of consoles promised for day one.
"It's because there was an issue with the Wii. Some stores didn't get the allocation they were promised until the next day after launch," one representative said.
Another claimed, "The full amount of stock we were promised never turned up," while other representatives said that the total launch allocation wasn't received until several weeks after launch.
Nintendo has disputed the claims with a spokesperson telling GI.biz, "All UK retailers were notified of their initial day one Wii allocations in October 2006, some six to eight weeks before launch.
"Nintendo delivered exactly what we said we would to retailers for day one and in many instances over delivered against the initial numbers retailers were expecting."
In addition, the spokesperson said, "Nintendo made multiple and regular deliveries to retailers across the UK in the days following launch to try and meet the huge demand for Wii as much as possible."
Virgin Megastores has yet to respond to requests for comment.
Companies, particularly public companies like Microsoft, need to grow.
i mean its pretty simple, they spent close to 30 billion in acquiring activision, they thought they'd make it bk no problem, and that didnt happen.
its just shit that because of MS's miscalculation alot of people lost their jobs.
They are going to use AI for a large portion of the game development process. Upper management need bonuses and the shareholders need more money. So, people will lose their jobs.
They shouldn't have bought any studios. Some is okay...but they went on a shopping spree...stupid
The better question is why did Microsoft buy publishers for a service they were subsidizing they knew couldn't support.
And why are so many websites trying to make people feel sorry for Microsoft instead of truly criticizing the fact they are closing studios and killing jobs that would have been fine if Microsoft themselves hadn't gotten involved.
Quit feeling sorry for Microsoft and start feeling sorry for the industry and the all the gamers who are actually losing out.
THIS IS MICROSOFTS FAULT.
The first thing that happens after any major acquisition or merger is a consolidation of the whole new portfolio, which includes cutting any excess, bloat or portfolios that don't fit the larger MO of the big boy. So far, it's been par for the course with Microsoft and that's why gamers have been so against this acquisition. Tango Gameworks is the beginning. You think Microsoft wants to pay to keep small timers like Ninja Theory in business?
There is absolutely zero evidence to suggest that Microsoft will improve any of these studios, but plenty to suggest that they will get rid of what they don't need and hold onto the IP. The real agenda of the acquisition was always to acquire The Elder Scrolls, Diablo, Fallout, Call of Duty, Candy Crush etc. that will create millions in passive revenue stream for Microsoft regardless of where the games release. Microsoft simply wants their cut.
Because of Games Pass Microsoft has no interest in investing in new IP which is risky and requires creative talent they can neither nurture nor manage. Game Pass has also not grown in the way Microsoft expected it to, even post acquisitions. Therefore the logical thing to do, without serious money makers to release, is to cut as much cost as possible.
"They want you to believe the devs under them are super stoked to work generative AI into their processes," continued Gaider, "but I assure you what they took as excitement was really a veiled wail of despair not unlike the time that team was informed of their new 'really cool' live service mandate.".
I think anyone with some common sense knew this, im glad i don't support their games anymore, what a sh!t company.
I said this yesterday. AI isn't what we want when it comes to crafting artistry. Alas, these soulless corporate morons don't care about their work, only about cutting corners as much as possible.
Has the rapid growth of Xbox made the ship too heavy? Following the closures of Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, and Roundhouse, we explore what the future of Xbox could look like.
This ship was never meant to sail, this ship was made from the get go to sink as fast as possible. It almost feels that they want to lower the standards of quality in the industry so that they can fit in
Xbox has no soul and Phil has no confidence, and it's impossible to say either do when they killed Tango and Arkane Austin.
Everything they've said since has only made them look worse to a point that they're actually less competent than Embracer.
Whe you release something like the series S and expect it not to hurt your business model, and developers have to have parity with games. Then you know Microsoft don't care. Series s is the final nail that broke developers,
I don't get nintendo. The wii is like the easiest of the 3 next-gen consoles to build. They should have easily enough to go around. Even if the nunchuck is the problem, its all still easier to make than the ps3 and 360. And whats more, cos its so basic, they should have launched when the 360 did, not when the ps3 did. Idiots. They werent exactly busy with the gamecube. Nintendo could have had a much bigger fanbase, if they got enough units out when the hype was there. Cos the hype will soon die down.
so what you don't think that they are manufactering as many Wii's as possible even though they have said they are in full production and are trying hard as they can to met demands. They are still trying to met demands of the DS let alone the Wii. It's easy to make yes but they already said they can only get about a million made a month and those get bought as soon as they get to the retailers. So yes they do get it! The just can't make 10 million in one month to supply the demand for it.
this artical is about Virgin store getting all crying like because they could sell more Wii's but woa is me for we didn't order as many as we should of but we'll blame Nintendo becuase it'll look better if we don't blame us for not supporting Nintendo products better in the first place.
Seriously they got there stock glad you can sell more you'll get them when they are done