Let’s make this clear: Wii sold a helluva lot of units in North America during December. 2.15 million consoles in a single month is a number Sony and Microsoft can only dream about right now, but there’s no doubt that the figures weren’t as grand as expected. He who is Pachter predicted the console would clear the 3 million mark, only for the platform to fall short by 850,000 units.
Why the lower-than-expected sales? As usual, analysts reckon they have the answer: more of those accursed hardware shortages. EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich and Deutsche Bank analyst Jeetil Patel both believe demand outweighed supply for the third December running, with Divnich stating the Wii would have sold “north of 4 million units” if more consoles had been produced in time.
Phew, panic over! Wii’s not the next N-Gage or anything!
If you’re on the hunt for a Wii this holiday season, then Walmart.com just might have you covered. The retail giant will supposedly be selling “tens of thousands” of Wiis starting now. If you’re looking for just the console, or a bundle package, Walmart will have several different options available to consumers, starting with the console alone ($250) on up to a bundle package featuring Wii Fit ($460). Of course, now that the word is out, there might not be much time for you to nab one of your own. So we suggest you get to it.
Michael Pachter is at it again. This time, of all people, he spoke with a writer for the Dallas News. Now, we’re not experts in this institution that reports real world news, but we do know that video game news tends to usually fall below their radar. But they care about the Wii because, well, everyone and their grandmother bought one.
Regardless, Pachter did, and he is saying that those of us in the U.S. need to blame it on the rain the Brits. You see, his estimation is that due to the weak U.S. dollar and high demand for the console in the UK, Nintendo has been shipping more consoles over there because they profit more from sales in that country. This has supposedly been the reason that store shelves in the U.S. still don’t have the console stocked.
His belief is that the console will be more readily available in the U.S. later on this year, when the dollar is expected to bounce back some. Based on the fact that the console released over a year ago, though, we’re not going to hold our breath.
One year ago, pretty much everyone failed to predict the success of the Wii. It looks like that may be happening on a smaller scale this week, as online retailers appear to already be out of Zapper/Link's Crossbow Training packs. The ones that aren't out of stock have yet to receive their stock, showing a release date of tomorrow.
Basically, it looks like if you want one of these things, you're going to have to go outside. Try (the physical locations of) Wal-Mart, CompUSA or Sears where, if the in-store prices match the online prices, you'll be charged the MSRP rather than the premium $25 price some retailers are sticking on there. Of course, shark guns remain cheap and plentiful.
Nintendo might well be cracking the whip on the Wii production line, but pretty much everybody still seems to be feeling the pinch of shortages. UK shoppers, for example, are becoming increasingly desperate for the console, with online retailers now getting in the region of 100,000 requests a day from panicky, possibly hyperventilating Brits.
Meanwhile, Amazon's UK arm recently sold 1,000 machines in under 10 minutes, while the console on its own is typically going for around £300 ($615) on eBay. In other words, Wii fever is hitting some quite ridiculous heights on this side of the pond, and if Reggie is to be believed, things ain't going to get any better in the immediate future.
Nintendo, the world’s largest maker of handheld game players, plans to keep monthly production at 1.8 million Wii consoles, after boosting the output during the three months ended June 30, 2007. The Wii lured buyers and especially new (casual) gamers with a controller that replicates users’ movements on screen, helping Nintendo’s Wii (priced $250 including Wii Sports) outsell Sony’s PlayStation 3 console (priced $400-$500) by about three to one, according to market researcher Enterbrain. Nintendo has proven to have the fastest-selling console ever with the Wii and is being very public about the 1.8 million new Wii’s being manufactured monthly and how they won’t meet demand this year. To quote Nintendo’s President: “I can’t guarantee that we’re going to meet demand. As a matter of fact, I can tell you on the record that we won’t.” So you might want to buy a Wii early if you want one under the Christmas tree, before it’s sold out everywhere.
Alexis Glick interviews Nintendo President Reggie Fils-Aime on the Fox TV show Money for Breakfast. He discusses the Wii Holiday season and brand new Super Mario Galaxy game.
While the anchor says Super Mario Galaxy will be released for Wii on November 17 in America, it’s officially November 12, and worldwide the same week. (thanks joe)
When two identically worded stories regarding Wii shortages popped up on the internets yesterday, suspicious types dared to suggest that Nintendo's PR department may have had a hand in cynically milking the Wii drought.
The articles in question, located here and here, appeared on the sites of two UK newspapers, national tabloid The Sun and London daily The Evening Standard. Different titles aside, both are indeed exactly the same. So, what's going on? Ninty explained all in an email to the chaps at Maxconsole, which y'all can find after the break. We like to think that the grammatical error early on is simply down to Nintendo being so damn mad that it punched out its response while in a blind, frothy fit of rage.
"We are strongly reject and resent the accusation that we are "PR-ing" stock shortages and no press releases are being distributed. We are doing all we can to ensure that the unprecedented demand for Wii can be met as far as possible in the run up to Christmas. This is being done through regular and multiple deliveries of Wii stock to the UK, globally we are working at maximum capacity, producing 1.8 million units of Wii hardware a month to try and meet this demand as far as possible."
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has some ideas on how things get done in the industry. To him, price is critical to the success of a console, he explained to Reuters. And, while we agree that a lower cost is going to help a console on the shelf, ultimately we believe the console's games and features are what help it stand out the most.
Bobby K (as he's lovingly known here around the offices) said "The Wii at its price point is now setting a standard and an expectation, and people say, well, the Wii is less complex technically. I don't think that really matters as much to the consumer." He went on further to discuss Sony's PS3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 systems, stating "In the next 24 months they all will need to be at that $199 price point, and you can imagine Nintendo will be down to the $129 price point over the next few years."
Now, obviously Nintendo has no reason to cut the price on their system since, well, not even the folks working the assembly lines can seem to find one (we imagine they disappear in a cloud of smoke upon completion at the factory). But, that doesn't mean that we won't entertain opinions on when you think the console will lower itself in price.
Over at the always entertaining UK: Resistance, resident jaded cynic Cmdr_Zorg has a few strong words to say about certain UK retailers, specifically those who refuse to play fair when it comes to the increasingly rare Wii.
The source of Zorg's chagrin? That said merchants are now using the insane popularity of the Wii and crippling shortages to flog desperate consumers bundles which are, to put it charitably, a load of old bumwash. Electronics chain Dixons is one of the culprits in this growing trend, with its cheapest Wii bundle clocking in at £350 ($725). All have sold out, presumably to people who would normally have lol'd heartily at the idea of buying Smarty Pants.
Admittedly, some of the bundles being offered by Dixons contain titles that every one of us should own, but that's not the point: let us make those decisions!
Let’s make this clear: Wii sold a helluva lot of units in North America during December. 2.15 million consoles in a single month is a number Sony and Microsoft can only dream about right now, but there’s no doubt that the figures weren’t as grand as expected. He who is Pachter predicted the console would clear the 3 million mark, only for the platform to fall short by 850,000 units.
