Gamer.Blorge: Wii shortages may force consumers to buy PS3 or 360 instead

Gamer.Blorge aka Tech.Blorge reports that "the Nintendo Wii may soon be facing two huge problems: massive hardware shortages, with demand far outstripping supply; and a distinct lack of Triple A titles on the horizon." Gamer.Blorge uses selected quotes from Nintendo President Reggie Fils-Aime and Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg to support its prediction.

Gamer.Blorge again reminds readers that "Wii is underpowered compared to it's bigger, bolder rivals; with Nintendo relying on innovation over graphics this time around, but is that an ultimately short lived strategy?"

Gamer.Blorge further alleges that Nintendo could have a widespread problem with the company's "bury your head in the sand" attitude, as (allegedly) demonstrated by Managing Director of Nintendo Australia Rose Lappin's choice to "stay quiet about these issues, refusing to return journalists calls." [Notes: This allegation is unverified.]

[socomnick]

Thats exactly what happened to my aunt last Christmas he couldn't find a wii for my little cousin and instead got him a ps3. Lol my little cousin was pissed hes a big halo fan little guy's been bugging his mom for a 360 for this holiday now.

[the worst]

after warhawk
next is socom

[AngryTypingGuy]

Socomnick just told a story of what happened to his cousin last Christmas. How can people disagree with what he said? It wasn't an opinion. Oh wait, I get it. You're mad because his cousin wanted a 360 instead of a PS3, so you disagreed with him. Babies.

[Omegasyde]

@Angry

If you mention the words PS3 or 360 its a 50/50 chance you will get a disagree.

You mention the Wii however and you start losing bubbles.

[PimpHandHappy]

they can wait till the Wii is available!

Hey socomnick

Tell ur little cousin Socom is cooler then Halo! I think so

peace

[BIG49]

Socom? Are you serious, that game is a pile of steamin crap

[Ju]

Hey, if they like glossy shooters, wait for Haze and tell 'em they just misspelled the name.

[Kokoro]

there is little chance that they will come back for it, unless it;s a novelty item. adults are busy, and a game box, is a game box. they dont care which one they prefer, because they still can play games on it. and if they cant have it now, they might never have nothing at all

[ATLRoAcH]

I got nintendo Wiis all sold out in stores.Wiis people Wiis only $600.

[Evildoomnerd]

I never thought that was possible...Nintendo is a victim of its own success?

[Ri0tSquad]

its so garbage

[DJ]

What do you think is wrong with the system?

[Jdash24]

thats a good thing

[razer]

and I was suprised for the first time to see Wii's stacked up. They had about 10 of them at least. Also saw that the 360 was completely sold out, all Halo Editions, Elites, Pro's and Core's. PS3 they had 3 60gig and 4 80gig special editions. Of course it means nothing in the grand scheme of things, but Wii's are not that hard to find like they used to be.

[barom]

I was out at Target the other day. Saw about 5 behind the glass. Could be they just got them in or something though. But Wii is not as hard to find as they used to be.

Still need a bit more effort than the other platforms though.

[Ju]

I don't get this "Wii shortage" thing either. I would have had the opportunity at least several times recently to get one. All in stock everywhere. But maybe they want to keep up the hype despite the fact that Wii sales dropped pretty badly in the last couple of month.

[DJ]

Building additional manufacturing plants just to assist sales for 1/12th of the year goes against proper business management. They are operating at full capacity, and thus every piece of equipment and every employee is used to their full capabilities. Too bad most American businesses aren't this smart.

[Blasphemy]

I have actually said this myself.

[ironflag555]

every begining has an ending !

[mikeslemonade]

I've too been saying this all along. Wii has to sell as much as it can before people who own HDTVs don't need the Wii anymore.

[Rooftrellen]

What about owning an HD TV allows me to play Mario Galaxy, Brawl, Trauma Center, or No More Heroes without a Wii?

Nothing? Looks like I'll still need it then.

[BlazeXXL]

Every electronics store here has em in stock (bout 20), and it seems it's selling way slower than a few months ago. I think Nintendo's wii is either catching a break, or is slowly dieing off.

(hint: Look how the Japanese sales have declined)

[texism]

Japanese sales haven't declined dude. On the other hand, they just picked up. Wii is back to outselling PS3 4 to 1 in Japan...and we shall not mention the 360 in Japan.

I'm gonna be getting the core 360 this holiday for Ninja Gaiden 2.

[Ju]

What are you talking about. Japanese sales haven't declined ? Are you serious ? They sold 80 to 100k a week! Now they are down to 23k. That's almost a 4th as before.

[unsunghero28]

You are right in that Japanese sales have gone down, but that had nothing to do with the attractiveness of the Wii to consumers. Nintendo shifted a whole lot of units from Japan to the US. Not sure if you remember, but in the week following that announcement Wii sales went down to about 1/3 of what they were previously. That's no coincidence.

And I can't speak for the Netherlands, but it sure is hard to get a Wii over here.

[Ju]

BS. Wii sales in the US are pretty stable. Actually they lost about 25K in weekly sales from beginning of Sept to end of Sept. So if what you are saying is true, where are this 70k of additional sales in the US ? No, Wii is cooling down. Accept it.

[Rooftrellen]

Wii sales aren't really cooling down, but supply has finally met demand, more or less.

If this is a bad sign, the PS3 and 360 were dead after a week.

When demand is too high for supply, and, finally, supply meets demand, sales will drop. Most companies would love to go though a sales drop like that, but most never have the problem of demand being too high.

Expect sales to go way up again for the holidays, and another major drop afterwards, since demand will once again be too high, followed by it dropping to more normal levels after the holidays, so that supply can again catch up.

[resistance100]

Where's this wii shortage?

In the UK you've been able to pick one up almost everywhere since Feb/March

[AngryTypingGuy]

"Wii shortages may force consumers to buy PS3 or 360 instead"...and they'll be better off for it. The Wii isn't exactly impressing anyone with all of the stellar games coming out for it.

[ChickeyCantor]

if its not impressing anyone then it wouldn't be on high demand.

you should have said : The Wii isn't exactly impressing "me" with all the stellar games coming out for it.

and why would they be better off? haven't you learned anything from the simplicity of the controller?

[AngryTypingGuy]

Most people that buy the Wii are casual gamers that do little to no research as to what games it offers before they buy it. They just see the Wiimote and become excited because it's a new way to play. All you have to do is look at the selection and read the game reviews to realize that many games that are coming out for the Wii aren't very good. There's even an article in the latest EGM about how Nintendo doesn't have very high standards regarding what makes it onto their systems.

The reason why I said that people will be better off if they buy a PS3 or 360 is because they will be around longer than the Wii, most likely. The 360 and PS3 are high def. and offer much better games, at least according to most reviewers out there.

But hey, then again, most young children and older people want games that are very simple. I realize that sometimes simple games are the most fun, and the Wii is no doubt fun to play, but how many simple, yet shallow games can you play before you become bored?

[Rooftrellen]

In the long list of Wii hate comes this.

Mario and Zelda are the biggest icons of the gaming world, and Nintendo is attracting the people who started gaming with them so long ago. As someone who is 21, I find the Wii much more attractive than the other consoles because it's cheaper (adults have other responsabilities, and most people who have to work don't have $500 sitting around), it has a great variety of good games out or comming, and the controls are much better than the old button mashing.

Believe it or not, the Wii is actially a very desirable system for many reasons, not just because it has great specs. I wouldn't want to trade it for a 360 AND PS3, let alone one or the other.

However, I wouldn't bank too much on the site that sites "unnamed insider sources" and spews anti-Wii propaganda more than Sony and MS combined. After all, they also reported that a Wii with bluray was comming, and I think this is more true than that, but not many people are willing to settle for less just because they'll have to come back later.

[Kholinar]

Ironically this could boost the wii.

If parents think they won't get one at christmas they'll buy one now. Then supply can be better at christmas and parents can buy them then as well.

Presto... boosted wii sales over the entire 4 month period.

[KeiZka]

What the hell is gamer.blorge? Nevahöördof.

EDIT: Slight modification, plus an added note which goes as follows:
Shame. I might approve of that site IF it were to be objective in their opinions, but as it is, they (or so I feel) seem to be licking either MS (Popsil) or PS3 (Mendez).

How these "news" get into n4g, that I do not understand.

[feejo]

Lol right.

[ChickeyCantor]

@AngryTypingGuy
"Most people that buy the Wii are casual gamers that do little to no research as to what games it offers before they buy it."

what make them do research if they own a PS3 or a 360?.
if they are going to buy just one game or what ever then why spend between 400 and 600 dollars?

"The 360 and PS3 are high def. and offer much better games, at least according to most reviewers out there."

why would a " braintraining" lover care about those " core " games?
reviews wont matter then anyway.
and if its the controller that appeals to the non-gamers why care about Hi-def and such.

i agree allot of games have been sh/t untill now but in 2008 there will be way better games.

and dont know if you noticed, allot of games on the PS3 and 360 are really short.

[Grinchy]

Although I own ps3, imagine this for a second:

Hubby: I am just going to get the wii
Mrs: ok, only get ONE game
Hubby: of course

half hour later, comes in with ps3 or 360
Hubby: Honest love, I was FORCED into buying this £350 console, and then they made me purchase all these games!

Might try that one for the 360

[unsunghero28]

Whoa now, last time I checked the Wii had 3 9+ rated games why the PS3 had only one- and that un's multiplatform Oblivion.

I know- it's not really that simple. But to the average consumer I don't think it seems like the Wii is short at all on games, especially because it only costs $250.

Plus there are a couple games coming out this year- not sure if you've heard of them- Super Smash Bros Brawl and Super Mario Galaxy.

Ring any bells?

[cooke15]

Wii is unstoppable. Once a system has momentum the only way it stops is if the manufacturer stops making the console.

[IntelligentAj]

Nintendo is not stupid. I think their success stunned them a tiny bit but they have a plan for this. I don't like the Wii but I will admit it's cool. They need to focus on keeping that innovation coming because if it stops the Wii loses it mass market appeal.

[batman2million]

Man, I can't wait for Smash brother Brawl!
I haven't checked lately, but can you still find a Wii? I remember the wal marts having 360 shortages around my area around the halo 3 days.