Nintendo cranking on Wii production for the holidays, still making no promises

Hard to believe, nay, mind-boggling, that two full years after Nintendo launched the Wii in America we're still looking at shortages. In the midst of "economic turmoil," no less. Back in April, Reggie Fils-Aime proclaimed that he was "passionately upset" about the difficulty consumers were having in finding Wii consoles, and now that yet another holiday season is upon us, it's clear that he's made some changes. In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, he admitted that Wii production was up from 1.6 million units per month (during this time last year) to 2.4 million units per month (now), though he wouldn't go so far as to say you'd have an easy time finding one. In fact, he stated that "once you see [a Wii console] on the shelf, you ought to buy it." Also of note, those still scouting a Wii Fit may be in luck, as the Big N could decide to ship more units to America rather than Europe now that the greenback is gaining strength versus the euro. Good luck hunting -- we'd recommend you start looking, um, yesterday.

Update: Looks like Ninty's already turning up the burners -- that's a heretofore-unbelievable shot of Wii stock at reader Roberto's local Best Buy in West Paterson, New Jersey.

[Via GameDaily]

Read - Reggie Fils-Aime interview
Read - Analyst's take Wii Fit shipments

[Boarderwoot @ Oct 27th 2008 3:40PM]

I've never actually seen a Wii on the shelf. Usually I just see a line of people in front of TRU fighting for the 15 they just got in.

[RyanTV @ Oct 27th 2008 4:21PM]

I see them all the time. Every other time I'm in Target they have them and I've seen pallets and pallets of them at Costco the past couple of weeks. I've never had an issue tracking one (or 10) down.

[Electromodo @ Oct 27th 2008 7:11PM]

It depends on the area. I've never seen a single Wii on the shelf in Northern VA, until yesterday in BestBuy I saw a stack of about 10 on the shelf. Guess what, they were gone in less than an hour. Some people were getting more than one.

I still believe there will be a shortage this holiday season, considering how many parents are getting Wii for their children.

[Timerider @ Oct 27th 2008 11:52PM]

It's the opposite here. Every store has piles of them. Last time I went to Wal-Mart, there was 11. I'm still surprised that they keep saying there's a shortage. On the other hand, I've only seen Wii Fit in a store once.

[Tarnation @ Oct 28th 2008 9:02AM]

Jacksonville, FL seemed to be a Wii ghost town for the past year and a half. I had people calling me all the time saying this store or that store has em' and I would go in and they haven't had any for weeks. Then two weeks ago I found 1 at a Target the last 1 I might add and bought it. Since then I can't seem to go into a store around here without seeing a few on the shelves. Walmart was offering a buy a Wii and a controller or buy a Wii and a Wii Play get a 10$ discount deal and they had at least 10. I think they just hide them from people who really want them and only jack asses who want to buy it and sell it on e-bay for a $50 mark up are getting them. Personally I got my Wii console and despite the many opportunities to get a few and resale them for quick cash I am not going to cheat someone else out the same way I felt I was cheated.

[giantenemycrab @ Oct 27th 2008 3:42PM]

"once you see [a Wii console] on the shelf, you ought to buy it."

aaaaand that's the line that makes me suspect of this whole "shortage" thing.

[Esteban @ Oct 27th 2008 8:55PM]

Exactly... I firmly believe that Nintendo is creating an artificial shortage. Sure, maybe the Wii services a larger audience than the PS3 and 360, but shortages 2 years after the launch? That can't possibly happen if the company is really focusing as hard on production as they say they are...

[Seanross @ Oct 28th 2008 2:25AM]

It seems crazy, but Nintendo is making as much as they can I believe. Yes it's 2 years after, but think about it.. how can their be an "artificial" shortage if they are still trouncing the PS3/Xbox360 in sales month after month. Nintendo has no way of telling how many PS3/xbox360s are gonna be shipped/sold each month

[why not the LS2LS7? @ Oct 28th 2008 3:03AM]

They're making as many as they want. But if they wanted, they could make more. I've done work in consumer product production, devices more complex than this. With 9 months lead time, you can scale up production to any level you want. If Nintendo can only make 33% more Wiis this year than last, it's because that's how many they wanted to make when they decided 9 months ago on what level to scale to.

[Ridgecity @ Oct 28th 2008 4:32AM]

A ton of people are buying the console. and there are tons more people waiting to get one:

Ps2: 140 million sold and still selling
DS: 82 million sold and still selling
Wii: 43 million sold and still selling.

The shortage is real and will last as long as people want it enough to stand in line before the store opens... and with this economy, most people won't be getting the expensive consoles for their family.

[Aaron Friedman @ Oct 27th 2008 3:43PM]

Now how about some games (beyond the 3 that we have all played out over the past year!!!)

[glucoseboy @ Oct 27th 2008 3:47PM]

This lack of capacity is crazy. There is no benefit to their bottom line by continuing these shortages, ntentional or otherwise. I don't know what business school these Nintendo Execs went to, but they are leaving money on the table, lot's of it.

[Esat Dedezade @ Oct 27th 2008 3:52PM]

I think they have enough money tbh (evidence below):

Exhibit 1: http://maepossojogarvideogame.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/nds-prints-money.gif

Exhibit 2: http://files.for-robots.com/gfr/postimg/it-prints-money-2.gif

I rest my case.

[Ogo @ Oct 27th 2008 4:28PM]

Exchange rate has a lot to do with the US shortage. There wasn't really a shortage in Europe. In Germany a Wii is about $325USD. The executives went after $$$ in other countries.

[Rob @ Oct 27th 2008 3:45PM]

Nintendo has been smart about the Wii. Although it's a low end "next generation" console, thanks to Nintendo's refusal to crank up production, its artificial shortages have remained. I was "lucky", if consider it that, to be at Best Buy when they wheeled this cart with about 30 Wiis a couple of months ago. I made the girl ring it up. But, I stopped her half-way through. I already owned the PS3 and 360. So, there was really no need for me to get this thing. I never thought very highly of it anyway.

[ybd @ Oct 27th 2008 4:12PM]

Nintendo hasn't been smart about the Wii, it's more like its consumers were dumbasses.

And this is coming from an ex-Nintendo fanboy (alright! now my opinion is suddenly valid)

[Ayle @ Oct 27th 2008 5:46PM]

You should hve bought it. Sold it on ebay for twice the price and bought a bunch of games ofr your x360 and ps3 with the money. That would have been smarter...

[Electromodo @ Oct 27th 2008 7:22PM]

I do not agree with any of you. I think the popularity of Wii lies with its unique controller and children-oriented games. Most of the people I know bought Wii for their children "because PS3 and Xbox are too adult-oriented". Plus this fancy controller you can use to wave around.

And that is why many geeks loose interest in their Wii. They want sophisticated games, which Wii does not have. Most of them are also coach-potatoes, and since Wii requires some physical activity... and it's hard to play after having a couple of beers... you know what I mean ;) A good example is one Gizmodo editor ;)

But children are the neverending target audience, so until we have a console with similar functionality, Wii will have shortages.

[htd @ Oct 27th 2008 3:46PM]

I've seen wii on shelves many times, last week I saw it in two places (walmart, target)

[BlissX @ Oct 27th 2008 3:48PM]

I honestly don't see how there is a shortage. Working at retail, I always see stacks of Wii's sitting all week. They usually sell out on Sunday mainly because people think that's when stores will have them in.

Call me skeptical, but I see this as self-gloating PR.

Once it becomes well known that Wii's are always in stock, here comes Reggie with a PR stating it's due to the vamped up production he "promised" and he's happy with the fact that "demand" has been satisfied of the ever so popular Wii. Hate PR, reverse psychology nonsense.

[SteveJ @ Oct 27th 2008 3:49PM]

I recently picked one up at a Gamestop. I asked them if they'd just gotten them in that day and they said they'd had them for several days but had gotten an "unusually large" shipment of them. They were down to a small number, though. So that would seem to be evidence that Nintendo is pumping more of them out.

[Boarderwoot @ Oct 27th 2008 5:22PM]

Theoretically the number of systems that come in a shipment to each retailer is directly related to the number of accesories (games, wiichucks, etc.) a retailer sells. The more accesories they sell, the more systems they get.

[Zinger314 @ Oct 27th 2008 3:49PM]

My girlfriend has never seen a Wii. ;)

[SteveJ @ Oct 27th 2008 3:52PM]

Oh, yes she has.

[Esat Dedezade @ Oct 27th 2008 3:53PM]

That's what Steve sai... oh wait...

[BlissX @ Oct 27th 2008 3:55PM]

Well, because you added that little emoticon, it actually sound like a poor performance on your behalf. Maybe you need to vamp up some "production" eh? ;P

Leave it out next time to keep it ambiguous.

[Esat Dedezade @ Oct 27th 2008 4:47PM]

This is terrible. I don't get my own joke, I forgot what I meant when I posted it and now I don't get it!

This is truly a new low for me.

[phanbouy @ Oct 27th 2008 6:19PM]

no, no, you guys all have it wrong. zinger and his girlfriend are clearly lifelong lesbians

[Corey @ Oct 27th 2008 3:58PM]

its amazing to me that they cant produce GameCubes....I mean Wii's at record paces...

[Reader @ Oct 27th 2008 4:01PM]

The shortage is such bollocks. They've just managed to get the general public to jump on a Wii when they see one. Nice market strategy.

[Miles @ Oct 27th 2008 4:18PM]

They are everywhere in Houston there are like 50 at Fry's.

[Ethan @ Oct 27th 2008 4:19PM]

Wiik.

[Derbeste @ Oct 27th 2008 4:45PM]

2 years later there clearly still no shortage of Wii puns....

[Ethan @ Oct 27th 2008 5:09PM]

Our hope is that if we saturate the language with ii the name will look less stupid. I'm sorry, I meant Wiird.

[kevin @ Oct 27th 2008 4:23PM]

Truly, it's not a natural shortage. People here still scoop them up whenever they see one on a shelf so that they can try to scalp it, but they only get $10-20 above what they paid. The problem here is that as long as there are so many people willing to make a tiny profit on jipping someone else, there will be a lower number sitting on the shelves longer, and the perceived hot demand will continue.

That said, I see them often on shelves during the middle of the week at Target, Best Buy, etc. I still see empty shelves more often than not, but I see them a lot more than I did during Christmas last year.

[Derek @ Oct 27th 2008 4:24PM]

I can't believe people even still care about a shortage. That system is such a disappointment. I got one the first day it came out, more excited for it than just about anything. It was fun for a couple weeks, then just kind of meh, then I spent a bunch of money on games trying to keep it interesting, and then just gave up.

Once you get over the initial thrill of increased interaction with games and start to see that the interactions are sloppy at best, then you need something else to fall back on. No good online interaction, graphics arent anything special, etc etc.

So they keep doing it anyway, just push out more items that have promise, like the Wii itself, but don't do anything with them but get the short term cash flow. Like the Wii fit. A friend of mine got his wife a Wii and Wii Fit because she really wanted it, she got it, played it for two weeks, now the Wii and Fit just collect dust. They never took it any further for her than the Wii Fits bundle. No good online bundling means that once you get tired of the single player, well, too bad.

Its a system with a control scheme that had possibility, but has been very poorly managed. Even my video game-aholic cousin doesn't play his anymore and instead turns to the much more social friendly 360 we got them.

It really is too bad, but at least with the market for them the way it is I was able to sell my Wii for more than I paid for it.

[Ford Mustang @ Oct 27th 2008 4:32PM]

I had to sit in Walmart for two hours at 12am in August just to be sure I got one for my younger brother this Christmas. There were actually a few other people waiting as well. I've looked at the stores near me over the last few weeks and nobody has them in stock so I guess I was right about buying one when I had the chance. AUGUST!

[Ford Mustang @ Oct 27th 2008 4:33PM]

I can't believe people even still care about a shortage.

I assume you aren't a parent. As a parent you will do anything to get what your kids want for Christmas regardless of whether it makes sense or not. I remember a long time ago having to buy a Furby from some dude in a Toys R Us parking lot...LOL

[Esat Dedezade @ Oct 27th 2008 4:40PM]

Are you certain it wasn't full of cocaine?

[Jack H @ Oct 27th 2008 4:50PM]

not my parents

[Silverfrog @ Oct 27th 2008 4:38PM]

The Wii does well for the same reason the Original Gameboy did so well after the [more powerful] Atari Lynx and Sega Gamegear came out--price. The game prices are no more than $50 and the system is pretty cheap at $249. Moms shopping for holiday presents love it because it doesn't kill the bank. Grandmas love it because they don't have to figure out the buttons. Kids love it because it has mario. What's to figure out. The Wii is marketing gold.

[Jack H @ Oct 27th 2008 4:49PM]

i waited 1 1/2 years to find a Wii until when my dad bought a new Sammy plasma from best buyand asked if they had any Wiis and we got one from some reserve for people who bought more than $1000 worth of stuff there
i

[David @ Oct 27th 2008 7:53PM]

There where a whole pallet full of them at Best Buy yesterday... I haven't seen shortages in months.

[Woody @ Oct 27th 2008 5:58PM]

Its all marketing. They've just been able to milk it. But having just the right number sell, they can create an excitement when seeing one in the store, thus making people spontaneously buy one. It happened to me. And I played it for a whole 2 weeks before I got tired of it, and sold it on Ebay.

They are creating artificial supply and demand. I work for a small adverting firm, and we had an RFP for a new product. And this was apart of out marketing campaign too. Start selling late October. Ship just slightly less than what was needed to the stores. Wait 2 weeks after being sold out to ship replacements, and so on. Until mid February, ramp up production and ship to stores.

The majority of gamers probably don't care for the Wii. Its main target audience is kids, women, elderly, and non-gamers. So if the system was readily available, they wouldn't have people like me buying them at first site. I bought into the hype, and was disappointed. And by creating hype, they are now targeting the rest of the gaming population, because we want to see what its all about.

[Ryan @ Oct 27th 2008 6:08PM]

I dunno, I went to my local Wal*Market last week and I saw 10 (yep, I counted 'em) Wii's on the shelf and a pair of copies of Wii Fit. I was wondering whether th shortage was finally over or if I just happened to walk in after a huge shipment got in.

[Electromodo @ Oct 27th 2008 7:20PM]

I do not agree with any of you. I think the popularity of Wii lies with its unique controller and children-oriented games. Most of the people I know bought Wii for their children "because PS3 and Xbox are too adult-oriented". Plus this fancy controller you can use to wave around.

And that is why many geeks loose interest in their Wii. They want sophisticated games, which Wii does not have. Most of them are also coach-potatoes, and since Wii requires some physical activity... and it's hard to play after having a couple of beers... you know what I mean ;) A good example is one Gizmodo editor ;)

But children are the neverending target audience, so until we have a console with similar functionality, Wii will have shortages.

[Electromodo @ Oct 27th 2008 7:24PM]

Well, this post was @Rob and @Ybd

Could not handle Engadget comment system...

[kal326 @ Oct 27th 2008 7:31PM]

"In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, he admitted that Wii production was up from 1.6 million units per month (during this time last year) to 2.4 million units per month (now), "

Great, that just means .8 million more on Ebay.

[Rylog @ Oct 27th 2008 9:32PM]

If the stores would stop allowing people to only buy one! There would be Wii's in store's! People are selling them on EBAY or AMOZON! This needs to stop! There would be Wii's in the store!

[Plothole @ Oct 27th 2008 10:10PM]

My local Walmart has had them in stock every time I've looked for several months now. Where exactly are these shortages still taking place?