Gaming Limited availability

[Strider]

Ok, now here's what I think.

Seeing how there is no Wii to be found anywhere in Germany since 5 minutes after the release I am really disappointed in Nintendo limiting supply so much.

People either beat themselves up to get one or even more crazy people grab many greedily to sell them expensive over ebay. I don't even know what disgusts me more.

And all this because some marketing people think this is a good method.

What do you think?

I still want a Wii... but I didn't sink so low as to struggle against other customers to get one...

 

[acky]

I managed to grab one about 5 days after the Australian launch at K-Mart. It was the last one though. I called up a few places beforehand and there were a few, so I guess it's not that bad here.

 

[OrR]

I think Nintendo is producing as many as they can... They went with the worldwide launch, which is good, and they had to get it out in time for christmas. I don't think it's doing Nintendo any good that they can't deliver as many consoles as could be sold. Everyone wants a Wii already, they won't want it more because it's hard to get. That might kind of work for high end expensive consoles like the PS3 but I don't think it'll work for a console that sells 1.3 million in 3 weeks and is still sold out everywhere.

 

[Hadrian]

What's disgusting is that a lot of stores promised that if you pre-ordered a Wii before Xmas, you'll get it before Xmas, and then NOT keeping that promise. My friends kid won't get a Wii because Woolworths of Southend sold his Wii despite having paid full amount a month ago.

That's another downside to limiting supply.

 

[[M]artin]

Compared to the PS3, the Wii is selling perfectly.

I also think that Nintendo is using sales strategy here. They are most likely to supply certain countries with more units sooner then other countries that are smaller and are probably calculated to have less sales/gaming industry profit.

 

[Veho]

I think they are making as many consoles as they can, but they are distributing them among the countries based on how many games and accessories the proud Wii owners will buy. American and Japanese buyers will also buy several games, Wii point cards, extra Wiimotes, and related merchandise, European too, but here in Croatia people will buy one game at the most (besides Wii Sports), maybe buy some extras (abroad, because they're cheaper there), and then wait for a modchip (at $85 per game, it's not surprising). So sending very few consoles to Croatia is no great loss, while witholding consoles from the American or European market would be a considerable loss. I'm sure they are shipping as fast as they can, and not playing any marketing tricks.

 

[Strider]

@OrR, veho

I'd love to believe that. It might be that way, and I hope Nintendo is in that situation.

The industry has spoiled me, I just don't believe anyone anymore

 

[Sevael]

I'd love to believe that. It might be that way, and I hope Nintendo is in that situation.

The industry has spoiled me, I just don't believe anyone anymoreÂ

Well, believe what you want, but Nintendo is shipping out the Wii consoles as fast as they can make them.

Nintendo is paying a lot more money in shipping costs than they need to, as they are sending out small shipments nearly every single day, rather than sitting on a bunch of them for weeks at a time and sending out much larger shipments all at once. Such a thing would be much easier to follow from a marketing perspective, and would immensely cut down on shipping costs. However, what we are actually witnessing are very small and very frequent shipments, something that is costing Nintendo a lot more than they need to be spending. They wouldn't be doing such a thing unless they are just trying to get them all out to the customers ASAP.

Now, that said, it is definitely true that they are sending the few units they have each shipment strategically to the countries where the most demand (and the most potential for immediate sales) exists. Why would you ship 30% of your product to a region where they won't all sell out and they will sit on shelves, when you could ship 100% of your product to a region where it will be gone within a day? That, unfortunately, is the nature of business. Nintendo is a business, first and foremost. But they are not "sitting on stock" and "waiting for a strategic release period". The systems (and accessories) are shipping as fast as they can make them.

I've gone into dozens of stores in my city. I know a lot of game store managers quite well. Hell, I used to be one in the late 90's. I know how things work. My mother is also a city-wide merchandiser for a certain set of electronic products. She knows the managers of the electronics departments of every major department store in the city. She gets all the info, even that which isn't given out to customers. These places are all receiving multiple shipments of Wii systems every week, sometimes even on Saturdays (which never usually happens outside of a situation like this). Some days a certain store might receive five systems, then two days later they will get another three systems, etc. The shipments are very small and very frequent, which is definitely not "strategic planning to create demand".

You can blame Nintendo all you want. You can think whatever you like to justify your anger over not being able to get a Wii. But the truth is, they are coming out as fast as they can make them. Just be glad that some are available now, rather than the entire release being delayed several months altogether, like PS3.

 

[Raziell]

Honestly, I don't care. Call it a marketing ploy, however, in my honest opinion I believe it to simply be Nintendo getting whatever they can out, as fast as they can get them out. Either way, it happens at EVERY. SINGLE. LAUNCH of a console, why whine about it every single time, instead of doing the sensible thing and waiting 5 or 6 months (hopefully not longer) after its launch to get one without hassle.

 

[Moneo]

Jesus, you have a really short memory.

Remember xbox360 shortages around the launch date? And wait, what's that, people are reselling ps3's on ebay for how much, $2500?

Game consoles are not made by magic, you know. And there's only so much that a factory can produce in a given period of time. Hence, shortages on launch date can be eliminated by

a) pushing the launch date further in time or

b) building exactly one zillion factories, so that you can produce as much as you need in the short time available to you before the launch.

First is bad profit-wise (storing all that consoles isn't free, not to mention that you have, basically, an enormous amount of money just sitting there doing nothing), and as a bonus it doesn't only piss off the customers, it also puts you behind the competition.

Second is just stupid, because once the initial demand has been satisfied, you're making consoles that nobody's going to buy. So what do you do then, shut your newly built factories down? Nevermind the fact that this initial demand is bloody hard to predict, and you have good chances to be sitting on a surplus from day 1.

Thus, welcome to the real world. Want to get your Wii early? Preorder. Want to get it on the launch date? Preorder on the day it's been announced or camp in front of the store (well, robbing one of the campers on his way back home could work... but I don't really recommend that).

 

[Strider]

@Sevael

At first I wanted to respond to say you're being overdefensive for Nintendo. Big deal on a Nintendo forum though, eh

.

Then I thought I'm too old for these stupid arguments anyway, but some things you said about me might seem true if you don't know my true motivation - so here I go.

I started this thread to find out what people think about the shortage; I hardly see anything here about this here in Germany, and also wondered if it was just me.

So there you go - no offense.

@Moneo

I remember.

XBox(360) are the only consoles I never even considered owning, though.

The things you are saying about preordering are not applying to all countries, too. More like "welcome to the US"...

 

[OrR]

Huh? I am in Germany, I preordered as soon as I discovered there was a new game store in town. Most people who did not preorder still don't have a console. Seems like what Moneo says is very true for Germany. Camping is uncommon but that is mainly because we still got the Wii weeks after the US so everyone who wanted one THAT bad could import it and get it earlier. And it also seems that preordering is more common here than in the US though that is just a vague general impression I got in the past days.