Post by: WindyMan on December 14, 2007, 04:58:23 AM
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=14985
In a conference call this morning, Nintendo President Reggie Fils-Aime explained what Nintendo was doing about the tight supply issues of the Wii, as well as detailing a new program aimed at making sure prospective Wii owners having difficulty finding the elusive console will have “something to put under the tree" this holiday.
During the call, Reggie explained why the Wii was so hard to find, and what Nintendo is doing about it. To that end, Reggie said that major retailers, including Sears, Kmart, Target, Circuit City, and Best Buy, will be releasing a big supply of Wii consoles to coincide with this Sunday's newspaper ad circulars. Wal-Mart will also have a "massive" supply of systems available throughout next week. Rumors have been flying about retailers hording Wiis, and now that Nintendo has confirmed there's a big wave of them ready to be unleashed, it seems as if those rumors are true.
To help meet the holiday demand, Nintendo has tripled its distribution workforce. However, Nintendo is only still outputting 1.8 million Wiis a month (more than half of that figure was sold in the U.S. during November), so that means the Wii consoles available are just getting to store shelves more quickly. Although the production level is double what it was when the console launched last year, the demand for the Wii hasn't let up at all since then. Nintendo has no plans to increase its current rate of production.
Reggie said Nintendo is not shipping in consoles via air freight to help cut down on transit time from Nintendo's Asian production centers to North America, like Sony has been known to do. Instead, he said that Nintendo is doing "unique things" to move consoles to the States. "We are expediting product to the Americas," he said. Reggie was also asked whether or not there were any plans to manufacture the console in the United States, to which he said there were not.
As a part of Nintendo's efforts to make sure people can give the gift of Wii in time for Christmas, Nintendo announced a partnership with games retailer GameStop called the Wii Rain Check program. The program will let consumers pre-purchase an out-of-stock Wii at full price and receive a rain check for the console guaranteed for delivery in January. Rain checks will be limited in supply, although Reggie noted there will be "many tens of thousands of rain checks available," divvied up among the retail chain's 3,000+ stores. The program begins December 20th.
The talk with Reggie touched on the success and supply line of the Nintendo DS. Even with its massive 1.53 million unit sell-through last month, the DS should not see any significant supply problems, according to Reggie. "We do not have reported shortages of DS," he said. "As we get to the 24th of December, inventory will be quite tight. There may be spot shortages at some retailers, but consumers should be able to find them."
Though the conference call focused on supply issues, Reggie did field some questions about some of Nintendo's other perceived shortcomings—namely, third party support and Wii online functionality. The lack of third party success is really on the publishers themselves, if Reggie's words are to be believed. He said that every system has "a range of quality" in its game library, and publishers are working on best using the Wii. "Those publishers who do a great job enjoy fantastic sales," he said.
Nintendo insists that things will get better. "As publishers understand how to take advantage of the unique aspects of the remote you will see better and better games," Reggie said. "Nintendo is working hand in glove with publishers to share with them our level of expertise with the technology."
Finally, Reggie was asked about Wii's online functionality—or lack thereof in certain areas. Particularly, will there ever be online multiplayer functionality in Virtual Console games? Probably not, as Reggie said Nintendo "does not anticipate" there being this functionality in the future. Online voice chat is another thorn in Nintendo's side, and to that, Reggie responded, "our system has the capability for online voice chat. What it comes down to is finalizing the peripheral."
Wii owners looking for this feature in their online games may have reason to be optimistic. Reggie finished answering the question saying, "I would not be surprised to see that capability come to this system."
Post by: Kairon on December 14, 2007, 05:15:18 AM
Post by: Pale on December 14, 2007, 05:36:02 AM
Seeing as this is officially sponsored by Nintendo in a way, I see no reason to doubt the guarantee.
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on December 14, 2007, 05:39:07 AM
Post by: Crimm on December 14, 2007, 05:45:49 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: GoldenPhoenix
::predicts a Crimm post::
jerk.
Might as well say it: It should have never come to this
Post by: NeoThunder on December 14, 2007, 06:00:29 AM
It's going to be april or may before the supply can meet demand
Post by: Kairon on December 14, 2007, 06:03:16 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: NeoThunder
demand will still not be met.
It's going to be april or may before the supply can meet demand
That's what we said last year...
Post by: Smash_Brother on December 14, 2007, 06:18:03 AM
Har har har...
Post by: Kairon on December 14, 2007, 06:19:24 AM
Post by: MaryJane on December 14, 2007, 06:48:53 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Crimm
Might as well say it: It should have never come to this
y not? how is this not a good thing from a business perspective? the mere fact that the Wii constantly sells out will intrigue more people to buy it. Also who in the hell couldv'e predicted this kind of demand? Would the PS3 shipments be able to keep up with the Wii's demand? I don't know how you'd figure that out, but I doubt it.
Post by: Plugabugz on December 14, 2007, 07:15:13 AM
You know things are tight here when people are going to France to get one.
Post by: that Baby guy on December 14, 2007, 07:33:28 AM
I certainly think this deal should have been made with a less disgusting company, and I hate to have received that promotion email, as well.
Post by: Crimm on December 14, 2007, 07:37:04 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
"Preordering is stupid, SB and GP! You can walk into a Wal-mart the next day at noon and get a Wii!"
Har har har...
How long till tha quote becomes unfunny?
Post by: UncleBob on December 14, 2007, 07:45:45 AM
Post by: Crimm on December 14, 2007, 07:55:08 AM
"Some analysts put the ballpark figure at around USD$1 billion. And that's just on hardware, and that's just for the holiday season. Other analysts, like James Lin from MDB Capital Group, put it even higher, somewhere around $1.3 billion. So, Nintendo, you worried?"
Quote
Originally said by: George Harrison
It's a good problem to have... [but we] do worry about not satisfying consumers and that they will drift to a competitor's system.
Nintendo needs to sell the Wii systems now. They need to have powerful lead in console sales and force the continued investment of third parties. In the end it is games drive hardware, not hype. This hype will fade, so its better to sell the systems NOW rather than say "hype will sell them later."
Post by: Smash_Brother on December 14, 2007, 08:30:10 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Crimm
How long till tha quote becomes unfunny?
Never?
In all seriousness, I never blamed the staff, since even I didn't predict the amount of demand the Wii would see. I personally preordered just because I had the store credit kicking around, not because I feared calling dibs would be necessary.
Post by: Crimm on December 14, 2007, 08:33:07 AM
Also...I was out of town on launch day morning.
Post by: Enner on December 14, 2007, 09:50:59 AM
Oh well, no rush. It's a certain purchase since I'll need my Smash fix.
Post by: MaryJane on December 14, 2007, 09:59:45 AM
I think of 3 kinds of ppl who buy a Wii (casual gamers, nintendo fanboys(using it loosely i don't just mean petards who buy with no regard just cuz nintendo said to), and hardcore gamers who played a Wii and were convinced it was real) aren't going to be deterred by the fact that they can't find one, and not for nothing, but almost 1million people mananged to find one. I see that as, as long as the demand has been there for a solid year without wavering, has there been any proof whatsoever that selling out has caused Nintendo to miss one sale? NOPE!
And uh, guess what, the games are going to sell the consoles when the "hype" runs out. I don't think hype has ever driven Wii sales, it's been word of mouth, and experience, as long as those two things are around (like until the imminent Nuclear Holocaust) I think the Wii will do just fine.
Again I ask, who could have predicted this type of success for a company that was laughed at for the GC which was a good system in itself, just without much support. I mean hell, didn't the 64 outsell the GC? Was Nintendo really going to throw huge amounts of money into production with such a radical product? What if it hadn't been so well recieved, granted the DS has made so much money it might not have mattered too much, but it's not smart business to rely on one product to push another one that's sinking. (hem hem Sony hem hem)
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on December 14, 2007, 10:04:42 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Smash_BrotherQuote
Originally posted by: Crimm
How long till tha quote becomes unfunny?
Never?
In all seriousness, I never blamed the staff, since even I didn't predict the amount of demand the Wii would see. I personally preordered just because I had the store credit kicking around, not because I feared calling dibs would be necessary.
I knew all along!
Post by: Crimm on December 14, 2007, 10:48:56 AM
Post by: Kairon on December 14, 2007, 10:58:09 AM
In other words... why it's selling right now is less of a problem than how much it's selling.
Now... software... that deserves an examination of why it's selling (or not...).
Post by: Mario on December 14, 2007, 11:32:58 AM
Post by: pyrokamileon on December 14, 2007, 11:33:19 AM
You know, these rainchecks basically ARE preorders... I wonder if Nintendo is the first company to have to reissue preorders a year after release?
Post by: Morari on December 14, 2007, 11:39:56 AM
Post by: UncleBob on December 14, 2007, 11:49:22 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Mario
And then Smash Bros and Mario Kart will come out. LOL
And WiiFit.
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on December 14, 2007, 11:52:30 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: UncleBobQuote
Originally posted by: Mario
And then Smash Bros and Mario Kart will come out. LOL
And WiiFit.
And Endless Ocean.
Post by: ShyGuy on December 14, 2007, 12:44:06 PM
Post by: Caliban on December 14, 2007, 02:43:44 PM
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 14, 2007, 03:04:47 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Caliban
*joins bandwagon* And Pikmin 3. Wishful thinking, I know.
Wow, that's weird, I nearly posted the same thing but decided not to in case it would jinx it. If we don't get it now I'm holding you personally responsible.
Post by: Kairon on December 14, 2007, 06:03:24 PM
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 14, 2007, 06:13:11 PM
Post by: KDR_11k on December 14, 2007, 09:47:18 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: GoldenPhoenix
And Endless Ocean.
But that's out already!
Post by: UncleBob on December 15, 2007, 01:23:52 AM
Listen to Reggie!
Post by: TheYoungerPlumber on December 15, 2007, 05:37:13 AM
Post by: Caliban on December 15, 2007, 01:25:50 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: insanolordQuote
Originally posted by: Caliban
*joins bandwagon* And Pikmin 3. Wishful thinking, I know.
Wow, that's weird, I nearly posted the same thing but decided not to in case it would jinx it. If we don't get it now I'm holding you personally responsible.
Jinx is for loosers.
Post by: Dirk Temporo on December 16, 2007, 05:50:23 PM
Quote
our system has the capability for online voice chat
THEN WHERE THE HELL IS IT?
Post by: Stogi on December 17, 2007, 01:39:42 AM
