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[VOOK]

We had shortages here in Australia too

http://www.vooks.net/rumour-monster-hunter-3-ultimate-facing-stock-issues-in-australia/

 

[Jindujun]

I'm sure I speak for a lot of Europeans when I say this: I don't care if a game is in the eShop while eshop prices are ridiculous.

Atleast in sweden they're kinda fair to us. only cost about 2 euro more in the eShop than regular store. Granted it should be cheaper than retail but still
Worse with stuff like origin where a digital copy of SimCity would run you 600sek(72euro/92usd)

 

[slaughterking]

Reggie should take pointers from him.

Reggie already undershipped Fire Emblem no problem.

 

[DaBoss]

Reggie already undershipped Fire Emblem no problem.

He didn't apologize for it.

 

[Chû Totoro]

He didn't apologize for it.

Obligatory Not My Problem Reggie

 

[evangd007]

These stocking issues are becoming...too common. I assuming ignorance of demand or lack of faith in sales?

I'd guess lack of demand from retailers. Wii U and 3DS hadn't been selling well in the UK; what indication was there that some incredibly Japanese niche release for those platforms would have high demand?

 

[Vyse The Legend]

Well deserved, if strong sales had anything to do with it.

This has been my first go at the Monster Hunter series, and I'm crazy addicted.

 

[Phife Dawg]

Lots of apologetic Nintendo execs lately.

I'm sure I speak for a lot of Europeans when I say this: I don't care if a game is in the eShop while eshop prices are ridiculous.

While that is absolutely true, if you like MH you will totally get your money's worth and with the constant loading DD makes sense (less noise, dunno about speed but I'd imagine it's better as well). I went DD and have no regrets (I do get the digital deluxe thingie as a premium owner though so it didn't sting THAT bad).

 

[Het_Nkik]

I think more likely than this whole eShop conspiracy is Nintendo is trying to not overship these games and lose a bunch of money when the games end up sitting on shelves and getting heavily discounted. These aren't Mario/Zelda titles as far as popularity goes.

I don't know about in EU, but in the US, the last Fire Emblem and Monster Hunter games ended up in bargain bins because there were so many unsold units. Nintendo is probably just trying to avoid that scenario again, but unpredictably the games are actually selling a lot better this go around.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

Monster Hunter Tri was over shipped, this time they didn't want to commit the same mistake.

I don't see that as a mistake.

 

[Pie and Beans]

High demand my arse.

 

[Ivan A Nguyen]

I see a copy or two at my local Walmart so maybe it wasn't undershipped in the US.

 

[Nosgoroth]

Everytime I see this guys name, I get hungry for some Ciabatta.

Mmm, is that egg or mozzarella?

I don't think it matters, actually.

 

[Devilgunman]

I don't see how this can be considered spin. It's been almost impossible to find - so the sales numbers dropped this week. Where is the spin?

You can't see it spin from the inside.

 

[KillerTravis]

High demand my arse.

Somenone's bitter.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

He should be apologising for the state of the Wii U in Europe.

 

[Boerseun]

I'm getting the eShop versions myself. My Nintendo account's linked (in case of theft or malfunction) and I'm ready to let rip.

 

[grimshawish]

High demand my arse.

Salty. Also - grow up. Some people obviously couldn't get copies. Quiet.

 

[JDSN]

Nintendo apologizing for fucking up is a meme at this point. I think Nintendo is trying to go for those eshop profits.

 

[fastballspecial]

Well deserved, if strong sales had anything to do with it.

This has been my first go at the Monster Hunter series, and I'm crazy addicted.

Same here. I can't get enough. I'm playing it on my 3DS exclusively over any other handheld or console game I have. It is incredibly fun.

 

[Lyonaz]

The game is great, glad they're trying to provide more copies.
Got a 3DS recently, so I will be getting that version too, albeit from the eShop.

 

[Outtrigger888]

a target by me said, at release, they only got TWO whole copies.

 

[Madouu]

So, in the PAL Thread...I WAS FUCKING RIGHT!

I felt bad for you when a few were laughing at you. Especially since you weren't implying that monster hunter is setting the chart on fire, just that it completely disappearing from them might be linked to some shortages here and there.

 

[dmr87]

It's ok Shibby, already have the bundle. Plenty of copies over here in Sweden from the looks of it, hopefully it's selling good overall over here in EU land.

 

[BRocknRolla]

Keep it up Nintendo. At this rate, you'll sink this console by the end of the year.

New desirable game comes out for ailing system? --> Under ship it.

I can't say I saw this being a problem around me in Chicago for Monster Hunter, though it took Target a whopping week and a half to get me my copy (leading me to just buying it on the eShop and returning the shipped copy), so maybe that's related. Then again, Target might just be a ship place to order things too. What I did notice however was a criminally undersupplied Lego City stock at just about any store that might sell it. My fiance went from store to store in Chicago finding empty shelves. After checking a few more times throughout the week and finding still no stock, her interest waned.

That's a lost sale, Nintendo. You can't sell games if you aren't releasing them, and when you do release them, you can't sell games if they aren't on shelves. (To the general public anyway) FIGURE IT OUT NINTENDO.

 

[InsaneZero]

Keep it up Nintendo. At this rate, you'll sink this console by the end of the year.

New desirable game comes out for ailing system? --> Under ship it.

I can't say I saw this being a problem around me in Chicago for Monster Hunter, though it took Target a whopping week and a half to get me my copy (leading me to just buying it on the eShop and returning the shipped copy), so maybe that's related. Then again, Target might just be a ship place to order things too. What I did notice however was a criminally undersupplied Lego City stock at just about any store that might sell it. My fiance went from store to store in Chicago finding empty shelves. After checking a few more times throughout the week and finding still no stock, her interest waned.

That's a lost sale, Nintendo. You can't sell games if you aren't releasing them, and when you do release them, you can't sell games if they aren't on shelves. (To the general public anyway) FIGURE IT OUT NINTENDO.

Nintendo isn't responsible for the store to allocate enough inventory to cover demand.

Nintendo is responsible for giving retailers confidence in their products to stock inventory, but that wouldn't have a significant effect on a niche release like MH3U.

 

[JazzmanZ]

Keep it up Nintendo. At this rate, you'll sink this console by the end of the year.

New desirable game comes out for ailing system? --> Under ship it.

I can't say I saw this being a problem around me in Chicago for Monster Hunter, though it took Target a whopping week and a half to get me my copy (leading me to just buying it on the eShop and returning the shipped copy), so maybe that's related. Then again, Target might just be a ship place to order things too. What I did notice however was a criminally undersupplied Lego City stock at just about any store that might sell it. My fiance went from store to store in Chicago finding empty shelves. After checking a few more times throughout the week and finding still no stock, her interest waned.

That's a lost sale, Nintendo. You can't sell games if you aren't releasing them, and when you do release them, you can't sell games if they aren't on shelves. (To the general public anyway) FIGURE IT OUT NINTENDO.

I like how we're blaming Nintendo now for a game they didn't make that under shipped.

 

[Tenki]

I went DD for both games. I need to have the game always on the consoles.

 

[Somnid]

Nintendo isn't responsible for the store to allocate enough inventory to cover demand.

Nintendo is responsible for giving retailers confidence in their products to stock inventory, but that wouldn't have a significant effect on a niche release like MH3U.

They have to ship the games to retailers. If the retailer ordered more than Nintendo could provide then it is their fault. We don't know if this is the case though.

I like how we're blaming Nintendo now for a game they didn't make that under shipped.

They are publishing which means they are responsible for distribution.

 

[Jinfash]

I wonder who's to blame for this series of shortages: skeptical retailers or pubs with low expectations. Either way, it's getting annoying. Whichever it is, it doesn't reflect a lot of confidence.

 

[beyond_death]

It seems theres a shortage in Australia too. Went to like 3 stores and none of them had it. The one EB Games store only sold the digital download code and I asked if its not possible to buy the physical version anymore and the dude told me they only received limited stock and that Nintendo wants to push digital for the game. Looks like we are getting more anyway.

 

[BRocknRolla]

I like how we're blaming Nintendo now for a game they didn't make that under shipped.

Nintendo was in charge of supply in Europe. Hence why Shibata, President of Nintendo of Europe, is apologizing for the lack of supply. Further, while Nintendo may not have made the game, they secured an exclusivity deal for the title, so they're the ones who ought to be pushing it to both consumers and retailers. If they aren't doing that effectively, it's on them.

Nintendo isn't responsible for the store to allocate enough inventory to cover demand.

Nintendo is responsible for giving retailers confidence in their products to stock inventory, but that wouldn't have a significant effect on a niche release like MH3U.

True. You can't force stores to order more, but as you say, Nintendo needs to be working with retailers so that there is confidence in the products being put out. While Monster Hunter is a niche product no doubt, Lego has been a huge brand in video games over the last few years, and Lego City certainly should have been stocked at the stores we looked in.

It's a catch-22. Nintendo needs to improve retailer relations which might well be a bit burnt given the wide availability and generally languid sales of the Wii U, and it stands to reason software has been similarly slow. However, you can't prove to retailers your titles are in demand if you're not making sure there are enough copies for customers to actually buy. Nintendo needs to flex some PR muscle with the retailers, among plenty of other things, or retailers will have no reason to believe anything is going to change for Wii U sales.

 

[Dalthien]

The fuck is going on with Nintendo shipments?

Nintendo is one of the very few publishers who typically doesn't offer price protection.

The upside to that is whatever Nintendo ships, that's all their money. They don't have to worry about retail slashing the price and coming back to Nintendo for a credit on the price drop. The other upside is that because of this policy, Nintendo's games tend to hold their retail price a lot longer than the industry average.

The downside is that retailers only order what they feel they can comfortably sell, because they know they won't be getting any credit back from Nintendo if they get stuck with a glut of inventory. For something like the WiiU where retailers are already skittish about the platform, they are likely to keep their orders pretty low - and you end up with shortages for games that people actually want.

 

[Call Me Maybe]

At this point, Nintendo executives apologizing shouldn't come as news to anyone.

 

[javac]

Nintendo is one of the very few publishers who typically doesn't offer price protection.

The upside to that is whatever Nintendo ships, that's all their money. They don't have to worry about retail slashing the price and coming back to Nintendo for a credit on the price drop. The other upside is that because of this policy, Nintendo's games tend to hold their retail price a lot longer than the industry average.

The downside is that retailers only order what they feel they can comfortably sell, because they know they won't be getting any credit back from Nintendo if they get stuck with a glut of inventory. For something like the WiiU where retailers are already skittish about the platform, they are likely to keep their orders pretty low - and you end up with shortages for games that people actually want.

I always wondered why Nintendo games hardly devalue in comparison to other games in the market. I'm still not 100% knowledgeable on the matter but thanks for the insightful post!

 

[DragonSworne]

Shibata must be gunning for Iwata's position with all those apologies.


Hopefully he actually follows through with them.

 

[Alcoholikaust]

Again? They undershipped games, again?

People didnt really buy the WiiU, so I understand that shortage, but isnt the 3DS picking up alot of steam? I mean...I got one for Monster Hunter, Fire Emblem and Luigis Mansion...

 

[Tomat]

It's cool dude, I got mine. Fuck the rest.

 

[Bony Manifesto]

Nintendo isn't responsible for the store to allocate enough inventory to cover demand.

They're half of the equation. Generally, publishers will offer incentives to get big chain stores to buy more stock than they'll probably need, usually a promise that they'll buyback any unsold games (or, more likely, offer credit towards future stock and allow the store to sell the games at a discount). If a publisher doesn't offer this, then stores are obviously very cautious about how much stock they're going to buy: it's far better for them to have too few copies of a game than too much.

I presume Nintendo are experimenting with undershipping and seeing if people will choose to download it from the eShop if they can't find it at a store.

Edit: What Dalthien said really!

 

[Grok4Spock]

Shibata: Please Understand..

 

[Alebrije]

Reggie should take pointers from him.

Reggie don´t care

 

[lenovox1]

I wonder who's to blame for this series of shortages: skeptical retailers or pubs with low expectations. Either way, it's getting annoying. Whichever it is, it doesn't reflect a lot of confidence.

For Monster Hunter 3, why would any retailer buy a lot of copies of a game that's (1) a remake of a game that didn't sell all that well in the first place, (2) for platforms that historically don't move software, (3) and had a small ad budget? And why would Nintendo keep a lot of copies of said game on hand?

But you're talking in a more general sense, and you're right. It doesn't seem like there's a lot of confidence in both platforms on either side of the equation.

 

[TreasureHunterG]

Nintendo is becoming a joke.

 

[QaaQer]

Nintendo is one of the very few publishers who typically doesn't offer price protection.

The upside to that is whatever Nintendo ships, that's all their money. They don't have to worry about retail slashing the price and coming back to Nintendo for a credit on the price drop. The other upside is that because of this policy, Nintendo's games tend to hold their retail price a lot longer than the industry average.

The downside is that retailers only order what they feel they can comfortably sell, because they know they won't be getting any credit back from Nintendo if they get stuck with a glut of inventory. For something like the WiiU where retailers are already skittish about the platform, they are likely to keep their orders pretty low - and you end up with shortages for games that people actually want.

makes sense, thanks.

& is Nintendo the cheapest videogame company on the planet or what?

 

[ManeKast]

Nintendo is becoming a joke.

I think this may be a little over the top.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

A shortage is good/bad, I guess it exceeded their expectations. I remember at PAX East a lot of people were going crazy that they couldn't find a copy anywhere in Boston.

They should have just got the digital version like I did. MH is a game you want in your 3DS all the time.

Had a ton of fun multiplayering it up at PAX too. The dedicated MH3U booth was amazing. Got hundreds of guild cards (most of which I had to throw away, lol.)

 

[Bjoern the Smexy]

I really wonder how much copies of this game have been shipped in Europe.
I can oknly guess hat there were more 3DS copies sold than Wii U copies, though.

I bought both versions on their respective eShops, because I need this game on standby and with me all the time.

 

[Blood Diamonds]

Obligatory Not My Problem Reggie

Ugh I hate this motherfucker.

 

[Gianni Merryman]

Good news in a way, MH3U is not underperforming compared to Tri and this's going to show how there's love for the game outside of Japan.

Good call from Capcom and Nintendo, they took some risks bringing both versions to the West but their strategy has already paid off apparently.

 

[The Technomancer]

Man, I really hope this bodes well. I know at least five people in real life who bought it besides myself