I know that when I was working for Wal-Mart that the amount of Nintendo Wiis that they received was proportional to the additional accessories, games and warranties that were sold on the same transaction as the Wii.
So if we sold more Wiis with all of the accessories then we would receive more Wiis on our next shipments.
And what do you think happens when everyone finally gets one and then Nintendo is like "hey wanna get a new console? No we can't give you one in exchange for your wii but this thing is cool!"
Try going to Walmart on a Saturday->Sunday midnight. (assuming you aren't anti-walmart)
Most people don't know that Walmart supplies (or at least used to supply) around 12 Wiis at that time. It's how I got mine. My sister took me at about 11 o' clock and we were 5th in line out of about 7 people.
:P I went to Toys R us on saturday morning at 6:30 ish
Was 3rd in line. Most people only showed up at around 7:30.
...I'm just glad I had my Music-filled R4 loaded in my (half-busted) DS phat. If I hadn't hand my music to take my mind off my freezing toes... >_< It would not have been funny...
It's funny. Everyone forgets that when the 360 came out the same basic thing happened. Remember when all the retailers had to recind like half of their preorders on the 360 because they weren't getting as much stock as they first thought? And then again in the last few months there have been 360 shortages because MS underestimated demand for the system and didn't make enough.
As for the Wii, the fact that all the old folks' homes, rehabilitation centers, and cruise ships want one isn't helping things either. I'm just glad I work in the games industry so I could order both directly from the manufacturers. 😛
I got my Wii last March from Walmart. They didn't have any out in the display case, so I asked the clerk - it turns out they had them behind the counter.
There was no way I was missing out on Metroid Prime 3, so I got lucky I guess, especially considering how scarce they are now. (or so it seems)
beefster09 wrote:Try going to Walmart on a Saturday->Sunday midnight.
I would actually argue against that. It most likely depends on the store. The one I worked at generally brought them out to the floor as soon as the receivers checked them in, unless they are being held for an event. Most stores operate in that manner. The store I worked at only received them Monday through Friday, because they received it via UPS not from their Distribution Centers.
Old-skool wrote:Hey, I think this guy owns a wii.I'm going to make it very simple what's probably going on: Nintendo is churning out plenty of wiis for everyone. The problem is, people keep buying more and more wiis that should have gone to someone else, and making overpriced monopolies on ebay.
I do, wanna make something of it?
Cloral wrote:It's funny. Everyone forgets that when the 360 came out the same basic thing happened. Remember when all the retailers had to recind like half of their preorders on the 360 because they weren't getting as much stock as they first thought? And then again in the last few months there have been 360 shortages because MS underestimated demand for the system and didn't make enough.As for the Wii, the fact that all the old folks' homes, rehabilitation centers, and cruise ships want one isn't helping things either. I'm just glad I work in the games industry so I could order both directly from the manufacturers. 😛
I remember, but I also remember that it only lasted until March when Microsoft was able to adaquately stock their system. The same thing happened with the PS3, and we all saw how that went 😊 Wonder how many people are stuck with $600 PS3s they couldn't pawn off for $2000 on eBay 😃
I'd say overall those were more of an early stock shortage than anything else. That's understandable. Of course, at this point Nintendo *should* be producing enough stock to meet demand but isn't, so that's crazy 😉
The Wiis are selling like hotcakes. Why are you complaining?
Would you rather the shelves be bursting at the seams because Nintendo can't sell shit?
Dann Woolf wrote:I do, wanna make something of it?
Hahaha I was right. See, why care about if there's enough wiis to go around if you already have one? It won't effect you. That's my point.
Would you rather the shelves be bursting at the seams because Nintendo can't sell shit?
YES
Dann Woolf wrote:The Wiis are selling like hotcakes. Why are you complaining?Would you rather the shelves be bursting at the seams because Nintendo can't sell shit?
You can't claim they are selling like hotcakes when they are being sent in giant shipments of 3. I mean, a local store recently got 3 Wiis. That's how many they get per month.
Selling 3 consoles per month in a store is not selling like hotcakes. It's bad industrial planning.
...When I got my Wii, they had 50 of them in the store.
(I went to toys R us)
Beldaran wrote:You can't claim they are selling like hotcakes when they are being sent in giant shipments of 3. I mean, a local store recently got 3 Wiis. That's how many they get per month.Selling 3 consoles per month in a store is not selling like hotcakes. It's bad industrial planning.
Everyone wants one, and Wiis don't grow on trees y'know. Any company would have difficulty meeting these kind of demands.
And then there's another factor contributing to the shortage: dickwads who buy a metric assload of Wiis so they can sell them on Ebay for a profit. What's more, they can jack up the prices as much as they want, there's plenty of people with more cash than brains, or soccer moms who want their brats to Ess-Tee-Eff-Yew.
Aegix Drakan wrote:...When I got my Wii, they had 50 of them in the store.(I went to toys R us)
Belderan, you said that a "local store" got a whopping 3 units. Would this store be a big name like Toys R Us or the like, or one of the smaller stores that aren't part of a chain?
Yeah you need to consider that maybe for a store in a small town, 3 would be enough for a month. Wheras if you lived closer to a big city a store would need more just for the sake of the population. If you live in a small town you can't blame them for wanting only like 3 or 4 of them. The worst thing for a store is to have products on the shelves. So, as much as we want the store's shelves to be filled with them, the stores would rather have none on their shelves. Especially when it comes to something as expensive as consoles. If a store ordered 50 of them and they sell a bout 30 of them, and the demand in their area is met, they are stuck with 20 systems and no buyers. So by keeping the supply low, they can be assured that their chances of having some left on the shelves is greatly reduced.
If you're interesting in a Wii, you have to either pay a premium or put some effort into being able to buy it. I don't like either option. I'll still wait to buy another Wii. Honestly I believe alot of the issue is perception. I really don't think there is THAT huge demand for the Wii. I think alot of demand is people buying them all up to sell for a markup. So they are choking the market basically. Though honestly I don't care. I'd like to have the Wii, but I can wait 2-3 years. Actually that's a lie, I don't really mind if I never get another one. There are many other gaming options. Better options too.
Dann wrote:The Wiis are selling like hotcakes. Why are you complaining?
Because they are selling like hotcakes.
Wiis don't grow on trees y'know
Something about this contradicts something else but I don't know what.
And then there's another factor contributing to the shortage: dickwads who buy a metric assload of Wiis so they can sell them on Ebay for a profit.
top of the page wrote:I'm going to make it very simple what's probably going on: Nintendo is churning out plenty of wiis for everyone. The problem is, people keep buying more and more wiis that should have gone to someone else, and making overpriced monopolies on ebay.
Oldskool:
1: So you'd rather Nintendo not get buckets of cash that they could use for, oh, I don't know, paying bills, wages, and not going bankrupt? The Wiis selling well is a good thing. Maybe not for you personally, but for everyone-- or everyone who cares about quality.
2:
top of the page wrote:I'm going to make it very simple what's probably going on: Nintendo is churning out plenty of wiis for everyone. The problem is, people keep buying more and more wiis that should have gone to someone else, and making overpriced monopolies on ebay.
Sounded better the way I said it.
Dann Woolf wrote:
Belderan, you said that a "local store" got a whopping 3 units. Would this store be a big name like Toys R Us or the like, or one of the smaller stores that aren't part of a chain?
It was Best Buy. Sears gets the same. They get 3 wiis which get snatched up immediately.
The two Gamestops where I live do too. Its major retail chains. The Wal-Mart here isn't any better either.
Maybe we're just cursed because we live in "small" or rural towns or something.
Waco, Texas may sound small, but there are 120,000 people living here. It's not as small is you might think, it's just spread out thin. Not only that, from what I understand, it's even more difficult to get a wii in larger markets.
Warlock wrote:I'd say overall those were more of an early stock shortage than anything else. That's understandable. Of course, at this point Nintendo *should* be producing enough stock to meet demand but isn't, so that's crazy 😉
I totally agree. I can't remember the last time anything was this hard to find over a year after launch.
Dann Woolf wrote:1: So you'd rather Nintendo not get buckets of cash that they could use for, oh, I don't know, paying bills, wages, and not going bankrupt? The Wiis selling well is a good thing. Maybe not for you personally, but for everyone-- or everyone who cares about quality.
Yeah. They're gonna go bankrupt if the wii doesn't sell like hotcakes.
Cloral wrote:I totally agree. I can't remember the last time anything was this hard to find over a year after launch.
Thank you! Yes, it's weird. I remember the SNES was massively popular too, and they had piles of SNES consoles all over the Target, Fred Meyer, etc. There have been consoles more popular than the Wii. It is not historically, record breakingly popular. The ridiculous shortage after a year and a half is weird and indicative of a corporate and/or industrial failure at some point down the line.
I like waffles better than hotcakes.
Despite what is being said by Nintendo, I think its a control launch of systems to generate hype to sell them. I think if more systems were readily available, the popularity would drop. :shrug: