Wii

[southerngale]

The Wii sure is a hot item! Nobody can keep them in stock. If you're looking for a Wii and can't find one, you can purchase a rain check at Gamestop and you'll be guaranteed to get one when they do come in. Nintendo just can't produce them fast enough for consumers.

GameStop to sell Wii rain checks

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer Fri Dec 14, 12:41 PM ET

NEW YORK - To deal with frustration among holiday shoppers hunting for its Wii game console, Nintendo Co. and retailer GameStop Corp. are launching a rain check program.

"We expect this to be a great way for consumers who desperately want a Wii to have something to put under the tree," Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said Friday.

The rain checks will be available at the regular Wii system price, $249.99, on Dec. 20 and 21, and will entitle buyers to get the Nintendo console before Jan. 29. Fils-Aime said "many tens of thousands of rain checks" would be available.

GameStop regularly takes deposits on hot software titles before they launch, which means it has the infrastructure to deal with rain check program, Fils-Aime said. The company is working with other retailers, like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Best Buy Co., to push out inventory from the supply chain to shelves as quickly as possible before Christmas, he added.

The Wii has been a startling success for the Japanese company, selling more than 6 million units in the U.S. since it was launched a little over a year ago. In November alone, 981,000 were sold in the U.S., according to NPD Group. That compares to 770,000 Microsoft Xbox 360s sold, and 466,000 Sony PlayStation 3s.

However, Wii sales have been constrained by supply, with units selling out minutes after going on store shelves. Nintendo has repeatedly denied rumors that it's creating an artificial shortage by not increasing production to match demand.

"I get personal calls from people wanting to know why we don't just manufacture more. Believe me, if it were that easy, we would," Fils-Aime told reporters and analysts on a conference call Friday.

"Production depends on components from a wide array of suppliers. If only one can't increase their capacity, then we can't increase ours," the executive said.

After Nintendo raised production twice since April, production for the worldwide market is now at 1.8 million Wiis a month. Fils-Aime held out no hope of an imminent increase.

"We'll keep producing at that level for quite a while," he said. "When will we finally meet demand? There is no way to answer that question until we finally meet it."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071214/ap_on_hi_te/nintendo_wii

[Yankeegirl]

I got one last February.... I was lucky!!!

[TexasStooge]

Seems the Wii consoles are flying off the shelves like "Wheeeeeeeee!"

[vbhoutex]

Got ours on November 10th. We love it!!! WWWHHHHEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

[CajunMama]

I picked up 2 at walmart last july. One for my daughter and one for my son. I'm such a good mom

[BreinLa]

Walked into Walmart in November and asked if they had any they said 5 had just come in, now I had been trying to get one since last November, got lucky.... we love it

[Opal storm]

Seems the Wii consoles are flying off the shelves like "Wheeeeeeeee!"

And I have yet to figure out why. My friend has one and I've played it and was not impressed at all. I guess the Wii is aimed for the more casual gamers. Xbox/PS has a much better selection of greater games.

[southerngale]

Seems the Wii consoles are flying off the shelves like "Wheeeeeeeee!"

And I have yet to figure out why. My friend has one and I've played it and was not impressed at all. I guess the Wii is aimed for the more casual gamers. Xbox/PS has a much better selection of greater games.

I haven't played it yet, but everyone who I know who has played it, loves it. We have Gamecube and we love that. We have a wide range of games, from more casual racing games (Need for Speed, Mario Kart, etc.) to Zelda, Sonic, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings type games, etc. A gazillion of them. I like Nintendo brand best because if I'm going to play a video game (which isn't that often), I gotta have my Mario games!
I hope to have a Wii here soon.

[vbhoutex]

Seems the Wii consoles are flying off the shelves like "Wheeeeeeeee!"

And I have yet to figure out why. My friend has one and I've played it and was not impressed at all. I guess the Wii is aimed for the more casual gamers. Xbox/PS has a much better selection of greater games.

That would be a good guess at this point. I know my son-in-law who is an avid gamer, enjoys the Wii, but really doesn't find it challenging to him or so it seems. Maybe as they bring out more games that will change.

The reason they are so scarce is because it is simply an obvious marketing strategy. The harder they are to get the more people want them. As far as the games go I think it is along the same lines. You know they have the capacity and the knowledge to Kick a all over the world, they just choose not to at this time.

[AussieMark]

apparently Nintendo can only Produce 1.8 Million of them a month. And its not just US where they are hard to get its also places like the UK. The fact is Nintendo underestimated the impact the wii had after the Gamecube debacle.

The sales in November were the best of its life so far to date also

Wii Dominates as PS3 Numbers Rise
Jennifer LeClaire, newsfactor.com

With the holiday shopping season in full swing, the battle between Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft over which company will win the end-of-year sales crown is heating up.

Sony's PlayStation 3 sales nearly quadrupled in November at the expense of Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360. The launch of a new 40-GB model along with price reductions buoyed the PS3, shuttling it beyond the Wii to earn top consoles sales in Japan for the first time.

"The Wii will be the big winner in 2007, but does anybody think Sony is going to be an also-ran player in this market?" asked Mike Goodman, a video game analyst at Yankee Group. "When all is said and done, it's going to be a very close race and different products that are going to dominate in different marketplaces."

Games by the Numbers
Nintendo, however, is still king of the next-generation consoles in the U.S. Nintendo sold 981,000 Wii consoles in November, according to the NPD Group. That marks the Wii's highest tally since the console first launched in November 2006. Nintendo could have sold more, if there weren't Wii shortages across the nation. Microsoft's Xbox 360, meanwhile, sold 770,000 units.

For its part, Sony sold 466,000 PS3 units, NPD reported. That's nearly four times the number it sold just a month earlier. Sony slashed the price of its PS3 by $100 in October, peddling the units for $499. The company also launched a new $399 40-GB model last month.

"In the end, it will be a race of percentage points. We won't have a market completely dominated by Sony like we saw in the last generation where the PS2 had 60-plus percent market share," Goodman said. "But in the long run, it's still Sony's market to lose and there's an installed base of 140 million units that says why."

Long Battle Ahead
Sony figures it will sell more than 11 million PS3 units globally by the end of 2007. Analysts said those who are dooming the PS3 are failing to look at the product lifecycle for Sony consoles. Sony's consoles tend to have a 10-year lifespan. In fact, Sony sold 10 million units of the PlayStation 2 in 2007 and projects it will sell another 10 million next year.

"When the Wii and Xbox 360 are gone, Sony is still going to be selling 10 million PS3s a year," Goodman predicted. "For now, they are still making a killing on the PS2." Indeed, the profit margins on the PS2 are healthy, the game royalties are strong, and new software is still being introduced for the platform, Goodman said.

"Sony wanted to sell 20 million units like it did with the PS3 launch. Sony didn't intend to be in third place, but when you look at it in the long run, it's not a bad story for Sony. In some ways, the PS3 is a console that's built for 2010, not necessarily for 2007," Goodman concluded.

Source

[Ptarmigan]

Wii is more popular than Nintendo could imagine.

[Cyclone1]

Seems the Wii consoles are flying off the shelves like "Wheeeeeeeee!"

Booooo...

:P

[southerngale]

We got a Wii for Christmas and we love it!! It is more fun than I ever imagined... much different from other video games.
Today I downloaded the Internet channel, which is an Internet browser. I was already online through my wireless setup for Wii shopping, Mii stuff, etc. but I now have full access to browse the internet on my big screen TV! I've been on Storm2k, YouTube, KFDM, etc. Watching a YouTube video on a 50 inch monitor... priceless!

[Category 5]

It's awesome.

Super Smash Brothers Brawl FTW!

BTW SG, what kind of wireless router do you use for yours?

[vbhoutex]

I think I am going to have to break down and buy guitar Hero 3!!! Us old hippies just can't get away from that music!!!!

[Category 5]

I think I am going to have to break down and buy guitar Hero 3!!!

I'm with you there.

[southerngale]

It's awesome.

Super Smash Brothers Brawl FTW!

BTW SG, what kind of wireless router do you use for yours?

I already had a Netgear wireless router for my computers and laptops. The Wii works off that. It's great!


David, I played Rock Band for the first time several months ago. They had Guitar Hero as well and we used one of the guitars from Guitar Hero.... it was so much fun!! I'm still trying to de-clutter my house and get it ready to go on the market, so it's going to have to wait, but when I move and have that large living room I want, I definitely plan on getting Rock Band or Guitar Hero. We like to sing, so it will probably be Rock Band.

[Cyclone1]

I got my Wii the Friday before Brawl came out.

We went to 6 stores before trying (the second) GameStop. They initially said they didn't have one, then one guy said that they actually had one, that someone had reserved, but cancelled.

I was LUCKY. I got Brawl that Sunday (opening day) and It's the best multiplayer game I've ever played.

The Wii is awesome.

[Category 5]

I got my Wii the Friday before Brawl came out.

We went to 6 stores before trying (the second) GameStop. They initially said they didn't have one, then one guy said that they actually had one, that someone had reserved, but cancelled.

I was LUCKY. I got Brawl that Sunday (opening day) and It's the best multiplayer game I've ever played.

The Wii is awesome.

You're STILL unlocking basic items too.

[senorpepr]

Brawl and Guitar Hero 3 are awesome.

My wife never played video games too much growing up. We bought our Wii in June (while my wife was pregnant), and she loved playing Wii Sports. She would really get into tennis and boxing.

When I bought Guitar Hero 3, she thought it was stupid--until she broke down after a week and played the game for herself. Then I couldn't get her away from the Wii.

It only took a couple of days after we bought Brawl before she commandeered the Wii for herself.


I can't wait for Rock Band to come out for the Wii later this year...