Nintendo Wii - Christmas Stock

[davethesailor]

Did the manufacturers forget it was Christmas? they seem to be as rare as hens teeth. I spent about an hour on the web today helping my mate trying to find one.

As it happens, I don't really understand what they are. I still miss my Commodre Vic 20!

[Rob McCow]

A Nintendo Wii is a great opportunity to wave your arms about and look tremendously silly. I can't imagine why you'd even think of wanting one Dave - you're far to austere for any of that nonsense!

[davethesailor]

A Nintendo Wii is a great opportunity to wave your arms about and look tremendously silly. I can't imagine why you'd even think of wanting one Dave - you're far to austere for any of that nonsense!

[cullsoft]

A Nintendo Wii is a great opportunity to wave your arms about and look tremendously silly. I can't imagine why you'd even think of wanting one Dave - you're far to austere for any of that nonsense!

Is that an invitation for me to bring mine round at New Years?

Speaking of which, I finally got hold of one yesterday. It pretty much took calling up Gamestation every day to see if they had them in stock, then running in and grabbing one as soon as they said "yes". Thankfully it didn't quite come to that - They knew they were getting some in when I called yesterday, and would put one on hold for me until the end of the day as soon as they arrived, which was very handy. So yesterday evening I was doing my best not to destroy my tiny room whilst swinging my Wiimote around to Wiisports!

I think the two problems that Nintendo are having here are underestimating the demand for the Wii, but also getting enough production lines going for them... demand is high, and they can't get the supply high enough even if they're trying...

[Paul Monk]

Jody and I are convinced that last year the same thing happened with the Nintendo Wii at Christmas but we could both be old and mad and completely wrong. I suspect it was some other new fangled games machine type thing.

Where's me C64?

[Phillip Culley]

It must have been something else (PS3 or XBox 360, probably), as I don't think the Wii was out in the UK last Christmas.

However, I do remember exactly the same thing happening over here this time last year - you'd have thought after a year they would have planned for this!

[Paul Monk]

Didn't the same thing happen when the Wii was initially released earlier in the year?

[cullsoft]

It must have been something else (PS3 or XBox 360, probably), as I don't think the Wii was out in the UK last Christmas.

Having spoken with the folks at work when I got mine, the Wii was out this time last year; IIRC the XBox 360 and Wii came out around the same time near the end of last year, whilst the PS3 took far longer to come out because Sony had to keep getting the hardware sorted out.

[Jeff]

The problem with the Wii supply is the accelerometers in the wii remote itself which allow the 360 degree full motion detection. Apparently whoever they get them from are at full production and that is still only enough for 1.5 million units per month. At least that is the story I have heard.

IIRC the XBox 360 and Wii came out around the same time near the end of last year, whilst the PS3 took far longer to come out because Sony had to keep getting the hardware sorted out.

The 360 came out in Nov. or Dec. of 2005. In the US, the PS3 and the Wii were released at exactly the same time: late November last year. I think the PS3 was delayed longer than the Wii in Europe though.. I think early 2007 for the Wii and 2nd quarter for the PS3 maybe.

In that time, even with the 360 haveing a full years's head start, the Wii has outsold them in worldwide sales.

I think part of the problem too is that stores I think let people buy out their entire stock as soon as they get them. Miranda was talking to someone at gamestop the other day and he said what he has heard is that often the first customer buys all of the units to put on ebay. Currently I find them going on ebay for about 3 times the retail value or more. Miranda saw one ebay idiot with 20 of them for sale at $1000 dollars apeice, and you had to buy all of them. Their auction ended with no bidders. Supposedly they are hoping to have more stock after Christmas when the demand levels off a bit.

I'm still waiting for them to come down in price before I buy one, so maybe spring of 2009 that will happen if 360 lowers their price enough to compete and Nintendo responds in turn, though if the supply/demand problems don't stop that probably won't happen.

[duncan]

WOW!

After only 4 days of trying, I got a Wii bundle from Currys this morning.!

How lucky am I? there are thousands of people that have been looking for one for weeks without success.

[cullsoft]

I've gotten the impression that they've shaped up a bit with their stock levels... since I got hold of mine, of course.

[duncan]

I ended up with 2! Game had them in stock with better games than the one in Currys. So I bought one from Game and ended up cancelling the Curry's order. I wanted to put it on e-bay but decided to lighten the load on my worn out credit card.

[SiHart]

Well, I have to say that despite many doubts on my part, after a couple of hours of playing with our friend Paul's Wii this morning, I've been thoroughly won over. It's great fun- more so than many of the other consoles I've tried in the past and I like the physical aspect of the gameplay. You look like a complete twit, but who cares when you're having a good time.

Tennis is great! Ask Jonno!

Si xx

[enzo1701]

It was the Wii last year too (or should that now be two years ago?). In fact, Nintendo have had problems keeping up with the demand since they first released it. The supply can't keep up with the demand, something Sony never had a problem with as there's been nowhere near the demand for the PS3 (shame... lol)

[Pip Madeley]

I don't think it's that, I just think that they make up these stories of it being in demand and scarce so people will rush to buy them rather than the PS3s.

[enzo1701]

Well... I've been thinking about getting one and the few times I've gone into my local Curry's they've never had any and weren't expecting any.

Asked probably about 8-10 times over the year. I know my mate had problems getting one as well and he works for Comet.

[Jeff]

I don't think it's that, I just think that they make up these stories of it being in demand and scarce so people will rush to buy them rather than the PS3s.

Nah, it's not made up. You can't find them anywhere except ebay over here. My friend stocks shelves for Pepsi Cola, and he asked one of the guys at one of the Wal Mart's he stocks supplies at and the guy told him they don't even get shipments of them, only some stores do, and they sell out right away. At least Wal Mart has a policy of only selling one per customer though, unlike some stores that sell however many someone wants and feeds the ebay sellers that way...

It's a good thing I can't afford one or else I might be disgruntled at not being able to find one.

[Lissa]

It's an old thread but a classic.

Should I get a Wii? Someone said I should get a PS3 but I've played Playstation games in the past and they're too complicated to learn. I want to pick it up, play it and put it down again. I don't want to master a dozen controls and twenty menus so I can do arbitrary things to win pointless medals and get access to lots of new people to kill. I did enjoy knocking my nephew out three times in a row in the UFC game (he didn't know I knew which the best fighters were when he told me I could pick anyone - ha) but it's not worth spending the best part of £300 to slowly learn virtual juijitsu.

I like the idea of the Wii - it looks fun. The games look easy and involving without needing to blister your thumbs killing people and playing the same sections endlessly because the blob at the end can't be killed without the amulet you can't ruddy find.

So is the Wii suitable for someone with no patience, no history of gaming excellence and no desire to join huge virtual worlds with spells and demons and guns and so on? Is it fun?

[Paul Monk]

So is the Wii suitable for someone with no patience, no history of gaming excellence and no desire to join huge virtual worlds with spells and demons and guns and so on? Is it fun?

That descibes me and I love my Wii. Its great fun. The games (provided you buy the good ones) are generally quite intuitive control wise and are great as multiplayer. Even my two kids (who are 3 & 4 ) can get the hang of most of the controls. A lot of the games can lack depth but are ideal for a quick go of here and there. I also download quite a lot of stuff from the Virtual Console site which basically lets you buy games from old systems. The only real problem is that although initially cheap, you do end up buying quite a few add ons.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I've played Playstation games in the past and they're too complicated to learn.

The Playstation 3 is basically the same games as the Playstation One but with much better graphics. Pretty much if you didnt gel well with previous incarnations, it's going to be a waste of money (unless you're also in the market for a Blu Ray).

The PS3 has a lot of things it can do above and beyond a PlayStation, but at it's core it's much the same.

The Wii seems a lot of fun, and I would agree with Paul - as long as you get proper Nintendo games, designed particularly for that platform you're onto a winner. Games Nintendo make for their own platforms are always spectacular, easy to pick up, fun, and showcase their systems to the best effect.