Wii production to get bumped up to meet demand

I have yet to see one in stores, and I've looked at GameStops and Virgin Megastores in Boston, NYC, and Orlando over the past month. I wantt one...

Toys R Us and Circuit City both get them in typically every Sunday or every other one. You have to call them the night before and they will let you know then you have to get down there early Sunday morning to get a number.

Wow! What a concept!!

just buy one off the internet and call local stores. i am SURPRISED with wii sales production needs to be busted BIG time

They are still handing out "tickets" for them at retailers where I live. People are STILL waiting in line. Man and people thought I was fool to wait in the cold back on launch day. And to think, me and my girlfriend waited out and collectively we only bought ONE! I could've easily ebay'ed it, but I never thought sales would be going this strong for so long. And all those suckers that got stuck with PS3's!!!

So past production was at 1 million units per month.
At 14 million for the next 12 months, thats 1.2 million per launch. But what about the holidays, when they should have more stock at hand for the holidays?
I mean, I'm just doing the numbers, and I'm not seeing a significant production increase... maybe by a few hundred thousand tops.

But still, a forcast of 20 million total units sold since launch for next year is pretty crazy. If nothing else, I think the Wii will def. outsell the Gamecube and Original Xbox.

I got my daughters on Dec 15th I think. The one big shipment before Christmas. Waited outside of Toys R Us from 9pm-5am then the manager let us come in and get them.

The only problem I had was he forced a bundle package to buy the console. Several people bitched about it, but he wasn't selling anything without an extra game and controller and there wonderfull extended warranty.

I had just bought Zelda and an extra controller from the same place the night before. I showed him the paperwork and he let me slide. I did have to buy the warranty though.

I went back about a week later with the paperwork and they refunded my money for the warranty. I had called there 800# prior to going and they said that it was not there policy as a company to do these "No bundle/No Sale" things.

Luckily I got my money back for the extra crap I didn't need!

Good luck guys! It's a great system!

I lucked out and walkin in to a Games Stop about 3-4 weeks ago to find GTA LCS(2.0) for PSP and they had 9 Wiis sitting on the counter that they had got in an hour before. No line No waiting.

This has, and continues to be such BS. IMHO this "shortage" has been manufactured, and makes me wonder if I will ever consider buying my kid this unit. He wanted one around Christmas time. It's now 5 months later, and this unit is not generally available ANYWHERE.

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This has, and continues to be such BS. IMHO this "shortage" has been manufactured, and makes me wonder if I will ever consider buying my kid this unit. He wanted one around Christmas time. It's now 5 months later, and this unit is not generally available ANYWHERE.

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That's a valid point, except Nintendo and Developers alike don't benefit from a manufactured shortage. Nintendo is a software developer too, so how do they benefit from releasing games to a 5.84 million userbase when they can release a game to a 7 or 8 million userbase? Not to mention they have been looking for a second manufacturing partner, which i'm assuming is the cause of the revamped production.
And yet, I don't see production increasing by more than 2 hundred thousand a month.

Which is why I am so perplexed.

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Hello all,

This will be long but I have to share. I feel your pain on trying to attain a Wii. I refused to do the "Launch Day Line Wait" and even if I had I doubt I would have got one. I had been looking for one ever since launch with no success until about 3 weeks ago.

I travel for my job across the country quite a bit and everywhere I went I checked the usual suspects: Walmart, Target, Best Buy. Circuit City, Game Stop, EB, Sears, Toys R Us...you name it. Everytime I asked about a Wii the response went from "You are kidding, right" to real laughter. Funny thing is, I could have bought all the 360s or PS3 I wanted, they were everywhere! Apparently Sony is beleiving their own white wash about there being "None is stores" and "Selling out as soon as they arrive".

Anyways, I never did find a Wii. Then three weeks ago my wife was burning up the phone (she said finding a Wii was like trying to find the Holy Grail)and she called our local places, Walmart (two of them) Sears and EB, nothing. So she happened to see a number listed for a Walmart semi-close to us and dialed it, it was in a smaller town about 35-40 minutes from us. The lady who answered said "I just got 7 in"...so my wife calls me at work and I actually tell my boss I am out for the day and leave...to go buy a Wii.

I get there and sure enough they have seven units and several accessories in stock, accessories are just about as hard to find as the Wii. So I purchased the Wii, another Wiimote and nuncheck and two classis game controllers with the Cars game for my boy (5 yr old...loves Cars movie). Made it a night out, had dinner with the family, the whole nine yards and then went home to be immersed in Wii-ism. Let me just tell you this...2 hours later I am back from that same Walmart with 2 more Wiimotes, nunchucks and classic controllers. Do yourself a favor, if you get a Wii, just go ahead and buy four controllers...the sports games for 4 people really need it and it is AWESOME. Oh, yea, why the same Walmart? Because besides not having Wiis, no one here locally had ANY accessories for it.

Ok, the fun does not stop there for me. My wife calls me last week while I am on the road traveling and says...get this: "Mom and Dad want to buy a Wii for grandson, can you look for one while you are out?" LOL....sure hon, my track record thus far is SMOKIN'! lol. So i do. I am driving a company vehicle from Oklahoma to Michigan and I have a Nuvi 360 GPS, so i just look up everything on the way and call...mind you...through 6 states...nothing. Several electronic departments at Walmarts, Targets and Best Buys actually answered the phone like this: "Thank you for calling (fill in the store), we are currently sold out of Wiis, this is (fill in employee name), how can I help you" Needless to say, I drew blanks the whole trip.

So I call and tell the wife if she would like for me to pickup Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny, they would be easier to find and I could bring them home. She laughs and that is that. She calls me the next day and says she stopped at the local EB games and the guy there said he had 4 units scheduled to show up on his UPS delivery that afternoon. He said the truck arrives sometime between 11:00 and 2:00. So, her dad goes and gets lunch and camps at the EB store. When the UPS truck arrives it is being followed by several cars...so the UPS guy brings in the box, EB guy opens it and sure enough, 5 Wiis. Dad is in line at the counter so he gets the first one and two other guys who were following the delivery truck snag the next two. She calls me and tells me they got one and I tell her a buddy of mine would like one, get another one. The other two were gone in less than 5 minutes according to the EB guy. Sorry for my buddy.

Bottom line, demand has out-stripped supply, no matter what the numbers are. All I can say is be patient and snag one when you see it, and be sure to get extra controllers. I would recommend buying controllers and accessories if you see them even if you dont have a Wii yet. The searching and waiting is frustrating for something you want, I know, but it is not a corporate conspiracy, they want to make and sell all they can...in fact they want to sell one to all of us if we want it, Nintendo is not holding out on us. A million units of anyhting manufactured in a month is ALOT!!!

The only place I have seen, from time to time, is Wal-Mart online, where they require you to purchase the Wii and several games and accessories.

All I have to say is congrats to Nintendo for the job they are doing. I think the supply they first brought out was good just to test the waters and see how their console weights up in the already huge market, but as we can see they not just have floated, they have blown their competition out of the water and lifted it to another level.

Originally posted by oofRome:

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So past production was at 1 million units per month.
At 14 million for the next 12 months, thats 1.2 million per launch. But what about the holidays, when they should have more stock at hand for the holidays?
I mean, I'm just doing the numbers, and I'm not seeing a significant production increase... maybe by a few hundred thousand tops.

But still, a forcast of 20 million total units sold since launch for next year is pretty crazy. If nothing else, I think the Wii will def. outsell the Gamecube and Original Xbox.

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if they ramp up production anymore they might start losing money on each console sold and frankly I don't think nintendo can afford to bleed money.

you can still get a Wii 1 game + the sports game shipped to you for under 350 if you are a good bidder thats not to bad.

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if they ramp up production anymore they might start losing money on each console sold and frankly I don't think nintendo can afford to bleed money.

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Good point zippy. I never thought about how much overhead Ninty would pay for another manufacturer. The thing is, though, that when they were (reportedly) looking for another manufacturing partner, you'd think that the partner would pitch a deal that wouldn't cost Nintendo more money than they would pay to hire them... Demand is still high for the system, and going into another holiday, I find it unlikely that Nintendo won't sell most of the new manufactured units.
But like I tried to prove earlier, it doesn't look like production has been "revamped" all that much, if anything.

oofRome
you can find the system "somewhere" for less than 30% mark up over MSRP genrealy the markup is 50$.

All in all its not really bad yet,so they dont really need to double time thier production.

I bought a Wii on launch day at midnight (in australia). There is now a shortage here too afaik. What boggles my mind, is that people havent even TESTED the wii and still want one.

IMO, it is the WORST console ive ever played(ive had a console AND decent computer since atari 2600). The Wii is just not worth the effort of finding and spending money on. There exists imo no reasonable game worth attaining a wii for, seeing as u could just as easily buy a 2nd hand gamecube and purchase the lastest zelda on that, with a more apprioate control method.

YES - i HATE the wii's controls. I found in finicky and gimmicky, the controls in fps (i had red steel cod 3 and Far Cry) was dismal. It simply was a hassle to use. Im used to both mouse/keyboard and xbox/ps2/xbox 360 controls and am quite adapt at both, however, the wii just would refuse to respond sometimes.

The Graphics of wii games are atrocious. i know they are concentrating on gameplay, but realistically how much gameplay is involved in a game such as wario ware? 50 sec mini games? I dont consider that gameplay. Wii Sports was unique for 3 or for games of each sport, yet its simplicity is its downfall.

Whenever Wii comes out at parties i attend (usually among my closest group of friends) i go home. I sold my wii on ebay for a profit, and rid of myself of nintendo for the last time. I simply cannot believe i got suckered into ANOTHER one of nintendo's silly products.

BTW i am not affilated with sony or microsoft, i am a 25 yr old australian guy that has been playing video games since i was 4 yrs old. I have not played games constantly for 21 yrs :P i have travelled and studied and partied as well, but continue to use pc/console games as a form of entertainment. i was NOT entertained by Wii.

I would suggest ppl attempt to try one out b4 buying. IMO, its going to be the most returned console in 3-5 yrs. and by that stage you'll get barely any value for it. Thankyou,

Costco sells it in a bundle. I saw one today but only 2 left for about 350. System, 2 remote, 2 nunchuck, and a video game. I think that is right.

Wow...certainly not a Wii fan are we. :) I did not buy the Wii as a replacement or substitute for my PS2, Xbox or my PC gaming Rig. It does what it does well, which is bring a new way to interact with games and make it fun for a group.

You really don't enjoy any of the four player Wii sports with friends?! I know all my friends love to get together for a night of a few cold brews, some bowling or golf and LOTS of smack talk and fun.

YMMV.

Originally posted by SoulRhino:

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I bought a Wii on launch day at midnight (in australia). There is now a shortage here too afaik. What boggles my mind, is that people havent even TESTED the wii and still want one.

IMO, it is the WORST console ive ever played(ive had a console AND decent computer since atari 2600). The Wii is just not worth the effort of finding and spending money on. There exists imo no reasonable game worth attaining a wii for, seeing as u could just as easily buy a 2nd hand gamecube and purchase the lastest zelda on that, with a more apprioate control method.

YES - i HATE the wii's controls. I found in finicky and gimmicky, the controls in fps (i had red steel cod 3 and Far Cry) was dismal. It simply was a hassle to use. Im used to both mouse/keyboard and xbox/ps2/xbox 360 controls and am quite adapt at both, however, the wii just would refuse to respond sometimes.

The Graphics of wii games are atrocious. i know they are concentrating on gameplay, but realistically how much gameplay is involved in a game such as wario ware? 50 sec mini games? I dont consider that gameplay. Wii Sports was unique for 3 or for games of each sport, yet its simplicity is its downfall.

Whenever Wii comes out at parties i attend (usually among my closest group of friends) i go home. I sold my wii on ebay for a profit, and rid of myself of nintendo for the last time. I simply cannot believe i got suckered into ANOTHER one of nintendo's silly products.

BTW i am not affilated with sony or microsoft, i am a 25 yr old australian guy that has been playing video games since i was 4 yrs old. I have not played games constantly for 21 yrs :P i have travelled and studied and partied as well, but continue to use pc/console games as a form of entertainment. i was NOT entertained by Wii.

I would suggest ppl attempt to try one out b4 buying. IMO, its going to be the most returned console in 3-5 yrs. and by that stage you'll get barely any value for it. Thankyou,

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Wow...certainly not a Wii fan are we. :) I did not buy the Wii as a replacement or substitute for my PS2, Xbox or my PC gaming Rig. It does what it does well, which is bring a new way to interact with games and make it fun for a group.

You really don't enjoy any of the four player Wii sports with friends?! I know all my friends love to get together for a night of a few cold brews, some bowling or golf and LOTS of smack talk and fun.

YMMV.

Originally posted by SoulRhino:

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I bought a Wii on launch day at midnight (in australia). There is now a shortage here too afaik. What boggles my mind, is that people havent even TESTED the wii and still want one.

IMO, it is the WORST console ive ever played(ive had a console AND decent computer since atari 2600). The Wii is just not worth the effort of finding and spending money on. There exists imo no reasonable game worth attaining a wii for, seeing as u could just as easily buy a 2nd hand gamecube and purchase the lastest zelda on that, with a more apprioate control method.

YES - i HATE the wii's controls. I found in finicky and gimmicky, the controls in fps (i had red steel cod 3 and Far Cry) was dismal. It simply was a hassle to use. Im used to both mouse/keyboard and xbox/ps2/xbox 360 controls and am quite adapt at both, however, the wii just would refuse to respond sometimes.

The Graphics of wii games are atrocious. i know they are concentrating on gameplay, but realistically how much gameplay is involved in a game such as wario ware? 50 sec mini games? I dont consider that gameplay. Wii Sports was unique for 3 or for games of each sport, yet its simplicity is its downfall.

Whenever Wii comes out at parties i attend (usually among my closest group of friends) i go home. I sold my wii on ebay for a profit, and rid of myself of nintendo for the last time. I simply cannot believe i got suckered into ANOTHER one of nintendo's silly products.

BTW i am not affilated with sony or microsoft, i am a 25 yr old australian guy that has been playing video games since i was 4 yrs old. I have not played games constantly for 21 yrs :P i have travelled and studied and partied as well, but continue to use pc/console games as a form of entertainment. i was NOT entertained by Wii.

I would suggest ppl attempt to try one out b4 buying. IMO, its going to be the most returned console in 3-5 yrs. and by that stage you'll get barely any value for it. Thankyou,

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striping WII sports whoever gets the highest score every 3 rounds has to remove a piece of clothing :X

Originally posted by SoulRhino:

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I bought a Wii on launch day at midnight (in australia). There is now a shortage here too afaik. What boggles my mind, is that people havent even TESTED the wii and still want one.

IMO, it is the WORST console ive ever played(ive had a console AND decent computer since atari 2600). The Wii is just not worth the effort of finding and spending money on. There exists imo no reasonable game worth attaining a wii for, seeing as u could just as easily buy a 2nd hand gamecube and purchase the lastest zelda on that, with a more apprioate control method.

YES - i HATE the wii's controls. I found in finicky and gimmicky, the controls in fps (i had red steel cod 3 and Far Cry) was dismal. It simply was a hassle to use. Im used to both mouse/keyboard and xbox/ps2/xbox 360 controls and am quite adapt at both, however, the wii just would refuse to respond sometimes.

The Graphics of wii games are atrocious. i know they are concentrating on gameplay, but realistically how much gameplay is involved in a game such as wario ware? 50 sec mini games? I dont consider that gameplay. Wii Sports was unique for 3 or for games of each sport, yet its simplicity is its downfall.

Whenever Wii comes out at parties i attend (usually among my closest group of friends) i go home. I sold my wii on ebay for a profit, and rid of myself of nintendo for the last time. I simply cannot believe i got suckered into ANOTHER one of nintendo's silly products.

BTW i am not affilated with sony or microsoft, i am a 25 yr old australian guy that has been playing video games since i was 4 yrs old. I have not played games constantly for 21 yrs :P i have travelled and studied and partied as well, but continue to use pc/console games as a form of entertainment. i was NOT entertained by Wii.

I would suggest ppl attempt to try one out b4 buying. IMO, its going to be the most returned console in 3-5 yrs. and by that stage you'll get barely any value for it. Thankyou,

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And I think all the devs now adays make cash in games and put way to much effort into graphics and physics and only think of game play after the fact,When I was "testing" a wii i noticed some lag about 6+ feet from the bar works better the closer you are to it 2-4 feet being optimal all in all the WII is "no better" than the 360 or PS3 they have manage to reinvent interface but I yet to see a reinvention of game control and game play.

I'm not saying nor would i ever intend to mock anyones choices of consoles. It is reasonably priced - however i fail to see how a new method of input is part of the 'new generation'.

For example, pc games, have ALWAYS been controlled with mice and keyboards. And as far back as i remember theres been little advance in the control aspect of pcs (i got a pc in about 89). The joystick/joypad options were very limited but still always present. Flight sims and fighting games would rely on the input of these devices usually through the sound card port.

IMO its like nintendo have tried to pull the advance of gaming away from increasing the more natural progression of next gen. And thats NOT just prettier graphics(although it IS definitely considered). Its better physics, enemy AI, larger maps that don't need loading, advanced team mate AI, higher quality sound. These are just some of the things more robust consoles offer that the wii simply cant, due to memory and cpu power disadvantages.

IMO, and no one HAS to agree however i hope i've been clear with what i said, the wii is not going to last 3-5 yrs as a console. Infact im not sure consoles themselves (xbox 360 and ps3 included) are even going to be around in the future. The 360 and ps3 now resemble computers much more than previous consoles ever did. What would the xbox 360 be WITH a keyboard/mouse attachement - would it just be a limited pc for games with an affordable HD player? Food for though. Thanks for reading btw.

SoulRhino
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touche,the reinvention of input makes it next gen dual motion hands down is the greatest invention yet in interface it still has bugs but look at the N64 controller or the dual shock 1 all new controllers have their quirks

because devs have been drinking the nosh and uping graphics/physics mindlessly AI is still under devolved and game controller (where you can reconfig the pad/game to how you play the game) has been tossed out the window in favor of short sighted cookie cutter control shcemes.

Believe it or not the WII is "stronger" than the Xbox(not 360) and coding evolves on a Nintendo system a bit faster than most so by mid 08/09 you will see some impressive looking games for it and hopefully "control" well also advance ...but again I am not overly impressed with the WIIs control so far it feels tacted on, even if the 360 didn't have a mega ton of issues I'd get a WII first because I will take a few quality games over a ton of mediocre ones.

WII
Strengths:New interface,Price

Weaknesses:No Hdef,Older graphics,Lack of forethought in understanding game control.

Future:the VC is laughable I understand that the property owners have to jump on board for them to "sell" a game but frankly the prices are to hight and the options are laughable and Square has decided that 30$ a pop for portable ports is more worth their time than paying respect to gamers,another thing I would kill to be able to remap buttons and motion to play N64 and SNES games because game control has been snubed in order to promote cookie cutter gameplay(and yes I am talking abotu WII games as well)

I simply refuse to buy any VC title they hate emlutation so much but they fail to understand its strength lies in better graphics save states and full button mapping not thats its "free" I am rambling a bit so I will close this up and say the WII needs game control in order to to truely make a palce for itself and I see the age old gettin by wif whatever you sling together not creating something for everyone to play...
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the PS3 has lost sight of gaming but the brand power will keep it afloat its truly the same as PC gaming mindless advancement in power alone oh they will have some ok games but is the cost worth it.....frankly if the PS3 was the only console and it was 600 it might be worth it at that price...

the 360 is a complete mess bad launch bad hardware poorly updated hardware(elite) I like some of the games but my god MS get a fing grip stop snorting your meds and take them normally....sheesh

In the end the 360 and PS3 are so close together in games(lack of worthwhile exclusives) they both do basic Hdef(yes I know the PS3 can do better but I dont give a rats arse about Hdef),the WII seems more reserved in its way of doing things well minus the net control my bet for now is on it to revamp itself a bit and be a better system but frankly the whole indutry is not interested in old jaded gamers they much prefer selling crap to shallow tweens(12-20soemthing=no offense) then make games that are worth 50$.

BTW1: the 360 has a basic KB and mouse adapter by XFPS I think,I'll wait till MAx shooter or better makes one tho..I want full customizablity not 4 or 5 cookie cuter layouts

BTW2 I am disabled and find some cookie cutter controls a bit hard/stiff or simply blind.

COMON everyone. This thread is not whether or not the Wii is good. bad, inventive. Let's get back to the thread!

Any help about future production or how to find one reasonably priced.