7 months later...the lines continue for the Wii!

[Primal]

Unbelievable. :buttrock:

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/06/29/ap3872523.html

[Spatial.Archite]

Nintendo truly is the juggernaut of the industry again. It's a hard point to argue, before long they'll be the leader in worldwide console sales for this generation, long since been the leader in the handheld market, and I'd assume (don't know any numbers on this) that they're one of the biggest publishers of video games as well.

Seriously wish I would had the foresight to purchase Nintendo stock as it's been fantastic. I figured the Wii would be very popular, but this is insane.

[snappahead]

I still have alot of doubts about the Wii. It's going to have the same problem the 64 and the Gamecube had. Third party support. Nintendo makes great games, but when they're the only guys making the cool games, it makes for a slow system lineup. So far, the third party games have been weak and that'll probably stay that way. Once supply meets demand, it'll hard for Nintendo to maintain the interest in their system. Just my opinion.

[Nightcrawler777]

Thats cause the Wii's awesome...
Ive been playing mine like crazy since day one..
Its just Fun...

It seems alot of game makers have forgot that games are supposed to be fun..

[Spatial.Archite]

I still have alot of doubts about the Wii. It's going to have the same problem the 64 and the Gamecube had. Third party support. Nintendo makes great games, but when they're the only guys making the cool games, it makes for a slow system lineup. So far, the third party games have been weak and that'll probably stay that way. Once supply meets demand, it'll hard for Nintendo to maintain the interest in their system. Just my opinion.

3rd parties are clamoring to get Wii games out, many companies have even stated they overestimated the popularity of the PS3 and underestimated the Wii. There's even quite a few 3rd-party Wii exclusive titles with all kinds of rumblings of PS3 games getting shelved in favor of Wii development. Most 3rd party games have been week because they were basically quick offerings to cash in on the popularity. Not to mention, it's a slow time of the year for video-gamers. Most big releases are pushed back until the holiday season.

The problem the 64 and GameCube had were limited hardware sales. So, 3rd-parties went with the generation leader; larger audience means more possible sales. It won't be long before Nintendo's easily the console market leader; if Nintendo could have produced enough consoles, they'd easily be the current market leader.

IGN lists over 130 Wii games scheduled for release before the end of the year, then there's the WiiWare which allows companies to create original titles for download through the Virtual Console service. I think 3rd party support won't be much of a problem for the Wii.

[Justin]

Thats cause the Wii's awesome...
Ive been playing mine like crazy since day one..
Its just Fun...

It seems alot of game makers have forgot that games are supposed to be fun..

Could not agree more!

[Black Cat]

Unbelievable. :buttrock:

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/06/29/ap3872523.html

I have no clue why that is like that cause it's not even popular around here or even close to here. The local walmart is always stocked and has wii's all the time.

[Brru]

Ya I dont see this article being all that much about demand as it is supply. Companies purposely lower supply to raise the demand. I know I can go get one down the block without any issues and thats within walking distance. In new york or New Jersey that may be another story though. So I don't see more people wanting it. I just think Nintendo isnt trying to overproduce the market with them.

[Spatial.Archite]

Ya I dont see this article being all that much about demand as it is supply. Companies purposely lower supply to raise the demand. I know I can go get one down the block without any issues and thats within walking distance. In new york or New Jersey that may be another story though. So I don't see more people wanting it. I just think Nintendo isnt trying to overproduce the market with them.

I wouldn't say that, producing close to 10 million Wiis in a period of 7 months isn't even remotely close to lowering supply. Demand in this case has so far exceeded the supply that Nintendo's considering more factories to up production. If Nintendo was capable of manufacturing twice as many consoles as they have I'd assume they'd have done it without question... 'cause they'd probably just about all be sold by now.

Look at it this way, by the end of the year the Wii will, most likely, have sold more systems than the Xbox 360 and the PS3 combined, and analysts are predicting the Wii shortages could last until mid-2008. If true, that's most likely unprecedented, don't know the numbers, but I can't think of any console that the demand was so high that it was hard to find one 20 months after release.

I work in Electronics in Wal-Mart in a tiny town in Michigan. And I can honestly say we can't keep them in stock at all. We get in fairly regular shipments, and they're pretty much gone instantly. Whenever there's a Wii in our circular there's people waiting in line for hours to get one.

[Vince-Vell]

I frogot the whole explaintion my one friend told me who works at Game stop. Most retail stores have lots of Wiis in wearhouse, but they are limiting 3-5 a week for sale a week. They do this for a year and then when x-mass time hit, they then can release truck loads of them and have guaranteed sales.

Wether thats true or not, would be a good way to create a demand for a item all year long.


Ill get one one day, but not going to go crazy for it.

[Brru]

Well I definately didn't know the numbers. I think its interesting that the small areas seem to be having trouble keeping it stocked while the big areas don't have any issue. Maybe it has more to do with the individual companies. Wal-mart being the case they've decided the small town can't support 50 of them? Thats pretty screwed up if its true. I just don't understand the diversity. Why does it seem like everyone in a small town wants one, but nobody in a big city does. Is your wal-mart the only supplier of the wii in your area? Cause honestly I have 5 that I can think of within a few miles of me. Not sure if that may be the case.

In all I really don't believe its a popularity issue. I hate to make anyone that loves it mad, but thats the way I feel. Nintendo may be cranking them out, but somewhere its getting bottlenecked bad if this is an issue.

[Spatial.Archite]

I doubt retailers are holding them in their warehouses; Nintendo ships them to the stores directly. With PS3s or Xbox 360s they first go to the distribution centers, then are dispersed to individual stores. The Wiis come directly through Fed Ex or UPS like new release games. Basically Nintendo's cutting out the middle-man and shipping them directly to stores... I honestly believe they're trying to get as many units out as quickly as possible.

As I said, we're a small area store, we have a local population of around 7,000 in this town and none of the surrounding areas are any larger. We'll get a shipment of 20 Wiis in, and they'll be gone in minutes. As for our area, we're not the only supplier, there's a few others, but we're by far the largest. I can tell you it's the same all around here; Battle Creek, Ft. Wayne, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids... all larger cities and you'd be hard pressed to find one anywhere.

Though I do believe that Nintendo has to find a way to either hold some back, or stock up for Christmas. Most likely they'll release more colors this Christmas and with some of the heavy hitting games coming out before the end of the year, demand is going to rise.

[cougartrace]

If the Wii doesn't start having some more and better games being made then it will fizzle fast.

Plus the graphics just suck.

[metalsquid]

If the Wii doesn't start having some more and better games being made then it will fizzle fast.

Plus the graphics just suck.

yeah, coz graphics alone are what makes games 'fun' :rolleyes:

[thecallahan]

yeah, coz graphics alone are what makes games 'fun' :rolleyes:

I agree, I mean, my most played games on the 360 right now are the Live games: Catan, motherfracking PAC-MAN!! (awesome game), Geometry War and occasionally Assault Heroes.. All without the brightest and most up-to date graphics. I'm a little burned out on FPS's also..

Man I can't wait to get the Wii this weekand!

[snappahead]

I agree, I mean, my most played games on the 360 right now are the Live games: Catan, motherfracking PAC-MAN!! (awesome game), Geometry War and occasionally Assault Heroes.. All without the brightest and most up-to date graphics. I'm a little burned out on FPS's also..

Man I can't wait to get the Wii this weekand!

What makes you think you'll get a Wii this weekend? I just finished doing my usual town sweep for a Wii and came up empty again. I'm really getting tired of seeing that empty shelf next to the Wii games.

[Justin]

It really sucks that you guys who want a Wii cant get one.

Your going to have a ball when you finally get your hands on one! :thumbs2:

[Relic Reaper]

Well I definately didn't know the numbers. I think its interesting that the small areas seem to be having trouble keeping it stocked while the big areas don't have any issue.


I don't know about that. I can tell you that here in Miami (and South Florida in general), it's still a bear to try and snag one. I got one for Christmas and my sister-in-law had been looking for one feverishly since then and was finally able to find a little over a month ago. The TRU's around here have told me they get about 20 per shipment (roughly every other week) and there are lines before the store opens every time.