Topic: What's the FRIGGIN' hold up!?

[Smash_Brother]

So...Xmas has come and gone and many anxious Nintendo fans and newfound Wii enthusiasts have gone Wiiless.

With significantly weaker hardware, many speculated that the Wii would be vastly more plentiful due to cheap and easy manufacturing.

I know the DSL demand caught Nintendo off guard, but I can't believe they're letting it happen yet AGAIN.

I'm still in the market for at least 2 more Wiis, and looking at the continuing post-Xmas prices on ebay, I don't think I'll be able to fill those orders before February at this rate.

So what's the hold up? Has anyone seen any news, rumors, info, etc. which would explain why there's such an insane Wii drought?  

[matt oz]

because people like it?

On Christmas, I showed the Wii to my cousins, one of whom is a 15-year old idiot, who has known nothing but Sony consoles, and thinks everything else sucks or has bad graphics, and whatnot.  Now, he's using all the giftcards he got for Christmas to try and find one this week.

The more people see it, the more people want it.  The early adopters have shown it to people who wouldn't ordinarily want one, and they're all out there trying to get one, in addition to the people who have already tried and failed.

[NWR_pap64]

Well, it is just a few days after Christmas. I'm sure many stores are restocking every merchandise sold on Christmas and Christmas eve, Wiis included.

If Nintendo is planning on sending more shipments, I suspect they might send them at the end of the week or the first week of January.

[WalkingTheCow]

From my retail perspective I'm already looking at a system that we probobly got about 100 or so into my store since launch. Meanwhile we got 6 PS3s TOTAL and around the same time last year we got about 30-40 360s.

I'd say they're pumpin them out but it was the holiday season and it was something like THE hot item. The onlt way it would be easy to get would be if it were selling poorly. Give it two or three months and I think you'll find that it'll be a lot easier to find. Even the 360 was getting easy to find by late winter.

[TrueNerd]

Should have preordered.  

[Smash_Brother]

Quote
Originally posted by: TrueNerd Should have preordered.

Funny you mention that: I almost preordered an extra 1-2 Wiis but opted against it because I wasn't sure if I could get rid of them.

Hindsight...

[NWR_pap64]

Quote
Originally posted by: Smash_Brother

Quote
Originally posted by: TrueNerd Should have preordered.

Funny you mention that: I almost preordered an extra 1-2 Wiis but opted against it because I wasn't sure if I could get rid of them.

Hindsight...

Also, even if we expected shortages we believed, and even Nintendo, that they would be able to supply them with no problem.

Even Nintendo underestimated the power of the Wii.

[TrueNerd]

Yeah, the thought of eBaying my Wii or purchasing additional Wii's to sell NEVER crossed my mind. Everyone was saying how bountiful they were going to be. Now they're fetching more (percentage wise) then PS3's on eBay. Go figure.

Oh well. I'm just happy I have one.  

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Just because it's weaker hardware and older tech doesn't mean it's using old parts that were lying around from the previous generation.

It's still a new board design, new LOW-POWER chip design, tech that's new to controllers (controllers are a part of each unit, duh), and these all still have to be fabbed.  Old GameCube parts wouldn't even FIT the new form factor.

So what's the hold up?

Wii had a WOLDWIDE FREAKING LAUNCH.  This wasn't like GameCube's tiny 1million units between Japan and USA in 2001 (with NOTHING everywhere else for several months, not to mention slooooow restocks in the USA).

NORTH AMERICA - BOOM
JAPAN - BOOM
EURO/AUSTRALIA - BOOM

IT'S OUT IN ALL THE MAJOR TERRITORIES, WITHIN A 30 DAY LAUNCH WINDOW.  AND IT'S STILL IN DEMAND.

THAT IS UNHEARD OF.  GameCube was never fortunate to have so many willing customers in such a short time.

It's not "what's the hold up?", it's "DAMN, you people are NUTS for waiting in line all the time!"

[Smash_Brother]

I've been making phonecalls to all the local stores daily and still wind up missing most of them when they arrive (which aren't usually many to start with).

Did we ever decide if the 4 mil estimate was a misquote or did they actually miss their shipping target?

[RickPowers]

My wife got in line with me at the last minute at launch, and offered to buy a second one we could put on eBay.  I turned her down, because I didn't want to screw someone who was waiting in line all night by taking two after they counted out people.  Karma works.

[cbeer]

Quote

Wii had a WOLDWIDE FREAKING LAUNCH.  This wasn't like GameCube's tiny 1million units between Japan and USA in 2001 (with NOTHING everywhere else for several months, not to mention slooooow restocks in the USA).

NORTH AMERICA - BOOM
JAPAN - BOOM
EURO/AUSTRALIA - BOOM

IT'S OUT IN ALL THE MAJOR TERRITORIES, WITHIN A 30 DAY LAUNCH WINDOW.  AND IT'S STILL IN DEMAND.

THAT IS UNHEARD OF.  GameCube was never fortunate to have so many willing customers in such a short time.

It's not "what's the hold up?", it's "DAMN, you people are NUTS for waiting in line all the time!"

No, it's why did we believe Nintendo when they said they'd have four million units worldwide, and two million in the US.  The shortages are ENTIRELY the result of Nintendo failing miserably to deliver on THEIR PROMISE.

It has nothing to do with people being crazy for the system.  It has barely outsold the GameCube in the US.  It has everything to do with Nintendo lying about how many would be available.  It's a purely artificial shortage.  THEY ARE THE ONES WHO SAID IT WOULD BE PLENTIFUL.  And it should be easy to manufacture, it doesn't have half the parts of a PS3 or 360.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Again it was still a worldwide launch and I wouldn't be surprised if they have sold around 1 million in NA alone by January (only 400,000 more since launch). Where are you guys getting the 2 million number? I swear I'm seeing numbers fly around with nothing to back it up amongst all the whining and complaining. For those that say how easy the Wii is produce, any facts to back up your claim? Yes we know it has "outdated" graphics but it still is an extremely condensed system with new technology within it (as stated before). About target numbers and Nintendo lieing, I'm sorry but for a company to intentionally lie about availability is one of the stupidest things you can do not only financially but in regards to your stock.

Besides they are TARGET numbers and if you know anything about the business world you do miss your target numbers quite frequently for one reason or another. You guys really need to take a step back and realize that Nintendo has done something pretty amazing. It has not only done a truly worldwide launch but has done it with tons of success, so please lay off of them because North America is having shortages with a system that has been one of the hottest in recent years which can be shown through the amount of games being picked up with each system and the lack of systems on ebay in comparison to others like PS3.

P.S. How many GCs sold between launch and christmas?

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

"shortages are ENTIRELY the result of Nintendo failing miserably to deliver on THEIR PROMISE"

Are they dedicating 50% of their 2006 stock to the US?  Heck no, they won't botch their WORLDWIDE LAUNCH.

According to you, it's outsold the GameCube launch in the US (HEY THAT'S A LOT).  But not only that, it launched in freaking Euroland a couple weeks after the USA launch, not to be confused with SIX MONTHS.  I SEE WHERE THE OTHER UNITS WENT.

Since when was it a promise?  Since when was a shipping target a guarantee?  So what are people gonna do now since Nintendo borked their promise?  NOT BUY IT when they see it in stock?

[GoldenPhoenix]

Quote
Originally posted by: Professional 666
"shortages are ENTIRELY the result of Nintendo failing miserably to deliver on THEIR PROMISE"

Are they dedicating 50% of their 2006 stock to the US?  Heck no, they won't botch their WORLDWIDE LAUNCH.

According to you, it's outsold the GameCube launch in the US (HEY THAT'S A LOT).  But not only that, it launched in freaking Euroland a couple weeks after the USA launch, not to be confused with SIX MONTHS.  I SEE WHERE THE OTHER UNITS WENT.

Since when was it a promise?  Since when was a shipping target a guarantee?  So what are people gonna do now since Nintendo borked their promise?  NOT BUY IT when they see it in stock?

I think people really do forget how hard it is to launch a product worldwide, especially a game console. Really I wouldn't be surprised if many of those target Wii hardware numbers for NA weren't spread out a bit over other territories after seeing demand.

[NWR_pap64]

I KNEW cbeer would rear his head and make his "Nintendo phailed to keep their promise!" bit :p

As for the thread, I think that even Nintendo underestimated the power of the Wii. I mean, they knew the system would be a hit, but they never expected people to be so quick to accept it and buy it in mass quantities. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't expect it to do great WORLDWIDE as well.

EVERYONE was caught off guard by the release of the Wii. And like I said earlier, give Nintendo TIME. Christmas just ENDED, SB. You seriously didn't expect Wiis to turn out after Christmas, did you?

I personally don't expect any new shipments till the end of the year or till after the first week of January. Holiday hype should've died down by then.

I say we should really worry if February or Spring rolls around and there are STILL no Wiis to be found. Then we need to smack Nintendo in the head because something is off.

[jasonditz]

It's not surprising that the Wii sold out of its early run during the holiday season, anything less would be an absolute disaster.

Hopefully Nintendo will get supply to where it needs to be in short order. I'd hold off any complaints about their supply chain for a few more months. If it's Easter and Circuit City still can't even stock the controllers, let alone the console, then something major is wrong.  

[Kairon]

Well... it's looking like Japan is on track to have gotten 1 million Wiis before the end of the year.

America launched earlier and is a bigger market, therefore it follows that America has more than a million units out in the wild by now. Europe launched with numbers a little lower than Japan and around the same time...

If you add that all up you come to realize that supply may actually not be the driving force of this supposed crisis... and that we'll need comprehensive 2006 data and the benefit of 20/20 hindsight to point any fingers with any validity.

So where should all that energy be channeled? There IS a debacle here, but the debacle is NOT in how many Wii units got pumped out... the question is WHAT'S THE FRIGGIN' HOLD UP WITH WIIMOTES AND NUNCHUCKS?!?!?! 485,000 WIIS AT LAUNCH BUT ONLY ~180k WIIMOTES AND NUNCHUCKS?!?!?! ARE YOU CRAZY NINTENDO?!?!?1 ARE YOU OFF YOUR ROYAL ROCKER??!?!?! DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO PLAY TOGETHER OR WHAT?!?!?! DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO PLAY AT ALL?!?!?!

...*ahem* ...

Goes back to playing with friends, and his 4 wiimotes and 4 nunchucks and 1 classic controller... and thinks warmly of his brother's 4 wiimotes and 4 nunchucks as well sitting relatively unused at home.

~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[Mario]

Not only did it launch in Europe and Australia to make the first worldwide launch ever, it became the fastest selling system of all time in both regions, and its STILL sold out worldwide.

[Luigi Dude]

Well there's the fact that over 80% of people bought Zelda at launch so they haven't really had much of a reason to buy a second Wiimote yet.  Plus the best game on Wii Sports, Bowling can be played by alot of people with only one Wiimote so people just haven't had the need to go out and buy a second one yet.

My guess is when Mario Party 8 is released we'll see a huge increase in Wiimote sales since that will be the Wii's first Killer App Multiplayer game.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Just a few minutes ago I was at my local Target store (MADISON AVE, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA).

Before my very eyes, THE STORE CLERK STOCKED (3) Wii UNITS BEHIND THE GLASS CASE.

PLENTIFUL-GET!

THESE SHORTAGES ARE COMPLETELY UNFOUNDED.  MORE LIKE THE COMPLAINERS HAVE TERRIBLE TIMING.

Then about FIVE minutes later someone came buy and bought one unit along with Zelda.  ZELDA-GET!

That means ONLY 2 UNITS WERE AVAILABLE BY THE TIME I LEFT THE STORE.

SHORTAGE-GET!

NINTENDOWHINEREPORT.COM THIS IS

PHAIL REPORT-GET!

[Mario]

Wii is a FLOP!  

[BlkPaladin]

Yeah with the Circuit City of with the demand for the Wii. If they are still having demand problems (as in too much demand) six months after the launch they will more than likely not have any trouble keeping the third parties around because of the user base.

[Djunknown]

 "Just a few minutes ago I was at my local Target store (MADISON AVE, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA).

Before my very eyes, THE STORE CLERK STOCKED (3) Wii UNITS BEHIND THE GLASS CASE"

Duh, West coasters get an edge since its they're the closest to NOA home base. No need to gloat, I've seen countless other threads on the interweb where getting a wii is nigh impossible without figuring out where the planets align and crap...  Even NWR had their misadventures. The Wii-less are the clear majority.

I've been calling every big retailer the moment they open and most are clueless when they're getting their next shipment. The EB/Gamestop stores have been getting inconsistent shipments. One store had a shipment yesterday early afternoon. Sold out in 5 minutes What are we supposed to do, camp out near the stores, harrass every employee, store manager, all day?

I'm going to indulge my inner conspiracist and say that Nintendo wants this panic to happen. I remember getting the 'Cube 5 years to the day I'm typing this at a best buy in the evening. (For those who forgot, I'm in the metro-detroit area MI). In one of NWR's past podcasts, they point out that Nintendo probably doesn't any product sitting on the shelves/stockroom for a long time. And of course there's the global launch which in comparison Sony's or MS's, beats them both. But we're still feeling the sting

There's some hope...for Canadians and any metro-Detroiters( If you didn't' know, Detroit is one area where Canada is to the south of it. Anyone who's kicked it Windsor for gambling or drinking at the age of 19 knows what I'm talking about). Best Buy is holding some for this Friday, which is the best answer I've gotten in the past few days. Everyone else is simply saying either 'We don't know' or some vauge time like next week or 2nd week of January. I'm tempted to cross the border, even though customs/border patrol are pricks nowadays.

There's been a rough figure that they'll be 200k's worth of Wii's in the next 5 week in the U.S. Its a stretch but let's indulge that. 200,000 divided by 5 nets us 40k wii. For arguments sake, let's say they're equally distributed across 48 states (Apologies to anyone in Alaska or Hawaii or U.S territories). That's 4166.67 Wii's per state over a five week period. 4,000 wii's for 48 states. I really hope that 200k figure is wrong or this is going to be one hell of a hunt.

They're some rumblings around my area that many retailers are holding it for New Years Eve. Any word if this is a pattern?

I propose this: Any info, no matter how small that can aid us the Wii-less (short of buying it from Ebay scum) put it here. I put my bit. Anything else I get, I'll put it up later.

[IceCold]

DJ, man I feel your pain. I live in Calgary, and it's just madness here. Superstore is sold out and won't be getting any until next year. Zellers gets such few units that it's not even worth bothering. Walmart doesn't give any information, so whenever they get a (usually small) shipment, it gets snapped up within minutes by the people in the store. Toys R Us is the most inconsistent; once they told me that they would be getting some the next day. I showed up and the salesman there told me he hadn't heard of anything in regards to the Wii.

Although, once Toys R Us hoarded a few shipments, and announced to everyone who called that they would have at least 20 systems one Sunday. I called on Saturday night at 8, and they said that there were already 15 (FIFTEEN!!) people lined up. They would be waiting for 14 hours or so.

EBgames hasn't been too helpful either, which leaves us with Future Shop/Best Buy. Just a few days ago, both told me that they wouldn't be getting any more Wiis until 2007, and they sounded quite convincing. Then I saw that Best Buy online thing that Djunknown linked to - I'm definitely going to check that out.

I wholeheartedly second DJ; any morsels of information about availability will be greatly appreciated.

Quote
No, it's why did we believe Nintendo when they said they'd have four million units worldwide, and two million in the US. The shortages are ENTIRELY the result of Nintendo failing miserably to deliver on THEIR PROMISE.

It has nothing to do with people being crazy for the system. It has barely outsold the GameCube in the US. It has everything to do with Nintendo lying about how many would be available. It's a purely artificial shortage. THEY ARE THE ONES WHO SAID IT WOULD BE PLENTIFUL. And it should be easy to manufacture, it doesn't have half the parts of a PS3 or 360

Thanks; I just had a good laugh. First off, Nintendo never said it would be plentiful. Weeks before the launch they said they expected shortages due to high demand. With the worldwide launch, they've sold over 3 million consoles. That's a damn good launch, and they'll easily make their 6 million target for the end of the fiscal year.

[Rancid Planet]

Granted I actually have a Wii (thank you my family for recognizing that the ebay pricing was not unjust to satisfy my Christmas wishlist) but I really think it's good to just appreciate this.

The Wii launch has been a smashing success. Look at all these folks just dying to get their hands on one. Screw sales. It's the rabid DEMAND here that is so impressive. Pat yourselves on the back Nintendo...and then get back to work on Mario Galaxy!

[IceCold]

WHOA?! LOOK WHO IT IS! Nice to see you, man..

I expect you to do your regular raid of the forums, then not show up for a year.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Long time no see.

[Rancid Planet]

Quote
Originally posted by: IceCold
WHOA?! LOOK WHO IT IS! Nice to see you, man..

I expect you to do your regular raid of the forums, then not show up for a year.

Well I'll try to make sure it isn't a WHOLE year. heh

Anyway thanks. I decided to make a comeback and I brought my dancing pill with me. I just can't stand not to be in on some Wii discussion with you guys now that I actually have one.

[Requiem]

Hahahaha.....look at him go!

[Smash_Brother]

Quote
Originally posted by: Djunknown The Wii-less are the clear majority.

That's why I'm venting here, really.

Although I managed to snag one at Wal-Mart for my GF for xmas (again, luck), I have a friend who was searching for one for his sister and her fiancé for xmas and never wound up getting one and I've always felt awful about the fact that Wal-Mart wouldn't sell me an additional Wii due to the 1 per customer rule.

Also, yes, I do think the launch was more successful than Nintendo thought, but weren't Wiis supposedly being manufactured as early as June/July? That's what I recall hearing back around E3...

[Kairon]

In fanboi dreams maybe. Heck, fanboys were even thinking that Wii's were being produced back in April. *shakes head*

~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Santa's elves were doing crunch time in the North Pole since Halloween.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Kairon is right, really most of what we have been going off of in regards to Wii were uncomfirmed reports of super high production (which may be the case, just that it is spread out more around the world) and a hefty stock of Wii units.

[Smash_Brother]

I think it was the 4 million estimate plus rumors of production already happening which gave people hope that it could actually happen.

Like I said, I haven't ended my Wii hunt yet, hence why the frustration has been mounting, resulting in angry rants like this...

[NWR_pap64]

Quote
Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
I think it was the 4 million estimate plus rumors of production already happening which gave people hope that it could actually happen.

Like I said, I haven't ended my Wii hunt yet, hence why the frustration has been mounting, resulting in angry rants like this...

Now you understand why I was so bitter and frustrated last week when I was hunting down a Wii for my nephew.

[Ceric]

I'm sooo Glad I freaked out about it before the launch and spent a day waiting.

[NWR_pap64]

Go Nintendo says that Amazon will have Wiis for sale tomorrow from 7 AM to 11:00AM.

[MarioAllStar]

They'll be sold out in minutes. I'm sure the "hardcore" Amazon users have automation scripts for events like this. I know eBay has its fair share of automatic bidding software.

[UERD]

I know I will be on Amazon at 6:50 AM tomorrow morning frantically hitting 'reload', and probably doing so for the rest of the morning. They claimed they sold out 'in less than one minute' on the 19th. I'd be willing to spend 48 hours in the cold, if I knew where the damn things were. Right now, (at least in my area) it seems like finding a needle in a haystack blindfolded: you either get really lucky or you don't.

I'm also sick of salespeople giving me misinformation. I went to Toys R' Us earlier this month and was told by the sales rep at the electronics section that 'we're done for the season, and definitely not getting more in until next year'. Then I call back on the 22th, and someone else tells me that they had them earlier in the day, but they were all sold out. Go figure.  

(Oh, one more thing: it's 'between' those times, PST: "at some point between 7am and 11am PST")

[Smash_Brother]

Any luck on Amazon?

[Rancid Planet]

Yeah don't keep it a secret Mysterio.  

[Djunknown]

For those that care here's what happened in a nutshell:

Target: Stores way to dealing with customers, let alone field questions. Bust
Circuit City: Sign at the door saying 'Out of Wii'.
Toys R Us: Missed it by luck. Next shipment 1st week in Jan
Micro Center: Sales Rep laughed and said 2nd week in Jan
Comp USA:  Got "That's not my Department." No one knew what was happening in the Video Games section. Left in fustration
Meijer: They had some PS3's just chillin' but no Wii.

Various Gamestops/EB: Most were uncertain. However at one store, the manager clued me in saying wait for the UPS trucks to come in, since they've been getting small, but consistent amounts. He told me to come during 12-2:00 and see wait what happens. This guy was on the level, so I waited on Thursday. No avail. I figure since the manager bothered to have a conversation with me that lasted more than 30 seconds, I came back today. Sure enough, Some wii's came in, got mine and have been messing with it ever since. Once again, a store is only as good as the people working in it.

So to Recap:
If they say they don't know, ask when their UPS/DHL/Fedex comes.They're the ones who have the keys to the kingdom so to speak. Come a few minutes before, and just make your presence known.  Now if there was a way to get UPS inventory and delivery routes...
For me personally, I staked out one particular store instead of after getting frustrated running around town. That way the staff would be more sympathetic to my cause and know I'm the real deal.

Word on the web (this site) Sunday might be a good day. Camp out, do what what you have to do within the law, and you'll be fine.

To be honest, its equal parts perseverance and luck. Stay smart and ask the right questions.

[Rancid Planet]

Quote
Originally posted by: Djunknown


Various Gamestops/EB: Most were uncertain. However at one store, the manager clued me in saying wait for the UPS trucks to come in, since they've been getting small, but consistent amounts. He told me to come during 12-2:00 and see wait what happens. This guy was on the level, so I waited on Thursday. No avail. I figure since the manager bothered to have a conversation with me that lasted more than 30 seconds, I came back today. Sure enough, Some wii's came in, got mine and have been messing with it ever since. Once again, a store is only as good as the people working in it.

An encouraging tale. Thumbs up. Nice to see all of your efforts paid off with a tell from a guy who was "in the know". Glad to see he wasn't just dicking you around either. I was in sales once and I used to do that stuff all the time.  

[LunaticFringe]

I got my back over thanksgiving break while I was home (Black Friday).


I spent like 15 minutes calling the Gamestops in my area (there are 6 within 5 miles of my house).  Anyways, my brother an I went and camped out an hour early at two different gamestops.  I was the 8th person in line and he was the 5th person in line.  Luckily, my store got 9 consoles and his got 6.  So we both ended up walking away with Wiis.  Sold the other one to our younger cousin whose parents wouldnt take him to camp out.  Karma ^^.  I know arround here (the DC/maryland suburbs), you can find Wiis you just have to show a little initiative.  Call the Gamestops by you like twice a day at different times for like 3 days, you will find out when the shipments are coming trust me.

The Danger in getting info from only one person is that they can be BSing you.  On Launch, my Walmart by school told me they weren't open for launch.  I showed up the next morning early (was the only one), I'm thinkin' this can't be right.  Get in, go to electronics, the lady laughs at me and says they sold out last night.  Moral of the story, don't listen to just one person.

My suggestion would just be to show initiative and then go early before they open.

[Rancid Planet]

Yeah, aren't all Wal-Marts open 24 hours?

[Chiller]

There are a couple of WalMart stores in the suburbs around here that close at 12.

I, too, agree with not taking the word of a single employee, alone.  One of my co-workers called several stores multiple times, and on a couple of occasions, was given erronious information.