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Wii Shortages 'Could Last Months' - 6.5 million units sold already

I am really starting to think that this shortage is not completely unwanted by Nintendo.

Considering the Wii must be relatively easy to manufacture I can't believe they aren't able to ship more units. How many PS2's were sold in its biggest years? Surely more than 13 - 15 million. I would expect Nintendo to be able to ship at least as many units as Sony did.

I still can't buy the bloody thing and I am starting to get pissed off and slightly disinterested in it. Luckily I'm not missing out on too many games at the moment, but it's still annoying the **** out of me.
 
squicken said:
Srsly. It should be like one of those episodes where the Super Friends and the Legion of Doom reluctantly joined forces to combat a common foe. The xbots and sdf must fight together to save real games!

MS is doing great, SNY is seeing red.
 
hadareud said:
I am really starting to think that this shortage is not completely unwanted by Nintendo.

Considering the Wii must be relatively easy to manufacture I can't believe they aren't able to ship more units. How many PS2's were sold in its biggest years? Surely more than 13 - 15 million. I would expect Nintendo to be able to ship at least as many units as Sony did.

I still can't buy the bloody thing and I am starting to get pissed off and slightly disinterested in it. Luckily I'm not missing out on too many games at the moment, but it's still annoying the **** out of me.

It's not the Wii itself (or at least, the ATI/IBM chips), the Wii remote/nunchuk and its accelerometers are also causing problems with manufacturing. With all that said, Nintendo set a goal of 6m, and they pretty much exceeded it. What's with the conspiracy theories? The factories can only put so many systems together in a set timeframe, and Nintendo has to manage between insane Wii demand and insane DS demand with their production lines.

Stevie, that last one can be given to 1Up Yours. You can't leave them out.

Edited to include 1up, can't forget that wonderful bunch! :lol

MS is doing great, SNY is seeing red.
I don't know if MS' gaming division has even broken even yet - but if they have, it doesn't change the fact that they still seem destined to sell pretty much exactly as much as the original XBox, give or take a few million. Sony, well that's another story. They've barely sold 3mill PS3s, and they've sold half the portables that Nintendo has too. They're not feeling so good right now, and I'm sure neither is the SDF.
 
StevieP said:
Don't worry... you're forgetting the talking points:

1) [Dark10x]HD adoption rates will go up astronomically over the next 4 years, driving sales of HD-capable consoles[/Dark10x]
2) [MostofGAF]people will look at their newfound purchase's graphics, in comparison to the 360/PS3, laugh, and never play again, dooming the Wii[/MostofGAF]
3) [LukeSmith]non-games will ruin the industry, and make the total library crap - just like the DS[/LukeSmith]
4) [Sony]the Wii audience is too young to attract any of teh matureness[/Sony]
5) [MS]waggle is a fad, like the macarena[/MS]

58741511_a5232aa643.jpg


I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but those should suffice for awhile!

Funny how I agree with all those points ;). Actually I am really happy for Nintendo and while I think it sucks for me personally that they decided to ditch graphics/computational power I hope it continues to work well for them.
 
When I picked up the Wii without reservation on launch day here in the Netherlands, I couldn't have imagined how rare the system would be for so long. I was extremely happy then (and a bit sentimental even - blame it on waiting outside for over 10 hours), but if I knew how difficult it would have been to get it after launch, I would have been breathless.
 
hadareud said:
I am really starting to think that this shortage is not completely unwanted by Nintendo.

Considering the Wii must be relatively easy to manufacture I can't believe they aren't able to ship more units. How many PS2's were sold in its biggest years? Surely more than 13 - 15 million. I would expect Nintendo to be able to ship at least as many units as Sony did.

I still can't buy the bloody thing and I am starting to get pissed off and slightly disinterested in it. Luckily I'm not missing out on too many games at the moment, but it's still annoying the **** out of me.
Hence why the BIG games aint coming out (SPM aside!!) until late this year.
They need to get units out there to ensure the likes of Mario and Metroid sell to as many as possible, selling Mario Galaxy to an installed base of 6m sucks hard. Selling Mario Galaxy to possibly 15m makes Mario sales HUGE!
 
hadareud said:
I am really starting to think that this shortage is not completely unwanted by Nintendo.

Considering the Wii must be relatively easy to manufacture I can't believe they aren't able to ship more units. How many PS2's were sold in its biggest years? Surely more than 13 - 15 million. I would expect Nintendo to be able to ship at least as many units as Sony did.

I still can't buy the bloody thing and I am starting to get pissed off and slightly disinterested in it. Luckily I'm not missing out on too many games at the moment, but it's still annoying the **** out of me.

ps2 was on sale since 2000, and has sold ~120 million units. Around 16million per year on average for 7 yrs (I know that figure is really wonky)

This is only wii's first year as well, and developing any new tech will take time. If they can put out 15million in their first year thats damned impressive, cause the only way to go from there is up, perhaps 25 in the next year? Who knows

Moz La Punk said:
I'm not just happy because I was a Nintendo fanboy in the N64 days (and god knows it was hard to be a Nintendo fanboy back then), but it makes the videogame industry so alive... so fresh. So good to discuss @ NeoGAF (and other forums, of course).

Plus, I want developers to do truly great, original stuff with the Wiimote. That will only happen if there's enough money to be made.

So true. The the industry was going there was becoming less and less players as the big boys snapped up all the new studios. With Wii there's the possibility of making much cheaper games, and that makes for a very healthy industry.
 
StevieP said:
Don't worry... you're forgetting the talking points:

1) [Dark10x]HD adoption rates will go up astronomically over the next 4 years, driving sales of HD-capable consoles[/Dark10x]
2) [MostofGAF]people will look at their newfound purchase's graphics, in comparison to the 360/PS3, laugh, and never play again, dooming the Wii[/MostofGAF]
3) [LukeSmith]non-games will ruin the industry, and make the total library crap - just like the DS[/LukeSmith]
4) [Sony]the Wii audience is too young to attract any of teh matureness[/Sony]
5) [MS]waggle is a fad, like the macarena[/MS]

I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but those should suffice for awhile!

Yes you forgot this gem:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=150343

6) [GamesRadar]Wii is one of Nintendo's biggest mistakes[/GamesRadar]
 
DefectiveReject said:
Hence why the BIG games aint coming out (SPM aside!!) until late this year.
They need to get units out there to ensure the likes of Mario and Metroid sell to as many as possible, selling Mario Galaxy to an installed base of 6m sucks hard. Selling Mario Galaxy to possibly 15m makes Mario sales HUGE!

The same can be said for the 3rd parties. But many are only now starting to get dev kits / or working on games from the ground up.
 
Of course, the added bonus with news like this is you realise just how irrelevant and bitter the usual Nintendo trolls must be :lol

I predict even more greatness in the future :D
 
The reason you don't see a whole slew of new games being announced by major publishers, and probably never will, is because of who the Wii is selling to. You've got Nintendo fans buying the thing, which traditionally have always only bought Nintendo games reliably, and casual people who, at the most, will buy 2-3 games per year since the game system isn't the major source of entertainment for them.

It's genius by Nintendo to come out with this thing at $249 to really make a ton of money on the system itself, and then sell their traditional games to their traditional fanbase. It's like money x 2.

I'd give it a year before the Wii is swamped in kids, licenesed, and random casual games or even crap like those "Over 3000 games!" discs you see on bargain PC shelves. Nintendo fans, however, won't be upset because they'll still get the same 10 franchises they've always gotten.
 
The delusional anti-Nintendo fanboys are in for a surprise.

Anybody else see similarities between the NES strategy and the Wii?

Nevertheless, the Wii is the future and gamers everywhere are happy :)

It's not implausible to think the Wii getting PS/PS2 size userbases.
 
Schlep said:
I'd give it a year before the Wii is swamped in kids, licenesed, and random casual games or even crap like those "Over 3000 games!" discs you see on bargain PC shelves. Nintendo fans, however, won't be upset because they'll still get the same 10 franchises they've always gotten.
Lee_Evans460.jpg
 
Schlep said:
The reason you don't see a whole slew of new games being announced by major publishers, and probably never will, is because of who the Wii is selling to. You've got Nintendo fans buying the thing, which traditionally have always only bought Nintendo games reliably, and casual people who, at the most, will buy 2-3 games per year since the game system isn't the major source of entertainment for them.

It's genius by Nintendo to come out with this thing at $249 to really make a ton of money on the system itself, and then sell their traditional games to their traditional fanbase. It's like money x 2.

I'd give it a year before the Wii is swamped in kids, licenesed, and random casual games or even crap like those "Over 3000 games!" discs you see on bargain PC shelves. Nintendo fans, however, won't be upset because they'll still get the same 10 franchises they've always gotten.

Just like on the DS right?
 
ziran said:
That's the amazing thing. Nintendo has always struggled in Europe with their home consoles, to have sold so many already is remarkable! 2 million is quite a bit more than I expected, I thought Europe was getting the shaft.

Only games wise (Super Paper Mario and Trauma Center, I'm looking at you). =(

Though if the European user base grows enough, maybe they'll start releasing games while people are still hyped for the...

Nah, that's crazy talk. :lol
 
Schlep said:
I'd give it a year before the PS2 is swamped in kids, licenesed, and random casual games or even crap like those "Over 3000 games!" discs you see on bargain PC shelves.
I fixed that for you.

And, if I recall correctly, despite being the king of shovelware, the PS2 had a few good games that somehow managed to get noticed in the sea of Madden and Barbie Horse adventures. Strangely enough, games like Gran Turismo and GTA were able to achieve massive sales in spite of being shelved among masses of crap.
 
Yeah, because that's what hardcore gamers bought and that was the main system of the gen. Do you really think that hardcore gamers are going to still be playing Wii games in 2010? Apparently the 3rd parties don't even think they'll be playing in 2007 outside of Nintendo games.
 
In other news, I am going to collect one after work!

Wiiiiiiiiiii!~~~


Freaking finally even the import Wiis in my country are totally snapped up!
 
bananabread said:
Just like on the DS right?

The DS is in a totally different scenario. The PSP hit a game drought, coupled with it's high price, which hurt it quite a bit.

But now you have the 360 which offers a lot more, at a price that is getting more affordable. It could be very competitively priced against the Wii this Fall.
 
Epiphyte said:
I fixed that for you.

And, if I recall correctly, despite being the king of shovelware, the PS2 had a few good games that somehow managed to get noticed in the sea of Madden and Barbie Horse adventures. Strangely enough, games like Gran Turismo and GTA were able to achieve massive sales in spite of being shelved among masses of crap.
isn't it a little early to compare the wii to the ps2?

Also, 3rd party games haven't sold too great on Nintendo consoles in the past, so it will take some convincing for Nintendo to secure big exclusives. At the moment the trend of big 3rd party games not appearing on the Wii but on 360 and PS3 seems to continue.

Not that it matters, I'll buy my wii for Nintendo games anyway.
 
Fight for Freeform said:
The DS is in a totally different scenario. The PSP hit a game drought, coupled with it's high price, which hurt it quite a bit.

But now you have the 360 which offers a lot more, at a price that is getting more affordable. It could be very competitively priced against the Wii this Fall.
It already is (The 360) in the UK
You can buy a core pack with a game for less than a Wii and a game in most places.
You can buy a premium pack with 2-3 games for £299 (GoW, Crackdown and A.N.Other)
Or you can buy a Wii and 2-3 games for around the same price. Yet the Wii continues to sell VERY Well!
 
RubberJohnny said:
Wow, Amazing Sales. Imagine how high they'll be when there's something worth buying for it.
Stealth troll? Nice attempt junior.
Seriously, what's the deal with these recent junior trolls?
 
DefectiveReject said:
It already is (The 360) in the UK
You can buy a core pack with a game for less than a Wii and a game in most places.
You can buy a premium pack with 2-3 games for £299 (GoW, Crackdown and A.N.Other)
Or you can buy a Wii and 2-3 games for around the same price. Yet the Wii continues to kick it in the ass and outsell it by a huge margin
Fixed.
 
W...T...F...

Wii was in stock at Amazon Japan two minutes ago. I even managed to add one to my cart for shits and giggles. One refresh and it was sold out.
 
xabre said:
The SNES sold 50 million in its lifetime...I think that's the lower end of what is attainable with Wii over the course of its lifetime.

Ah, stop it.
Im a Nintendo-fan, so not trolling, but im not used anymore to Nintendo consoles selling more than 25 mio. ^^
 
cvxfreak said:
W...T...F...

Wii was in stock at Amazon Japan two minutes ago. I even managed to add one to my cart for shits and giggles. One refresh and it was sold out.

6.5001 million, someone edit the thread title.
 
cvxfreak said:
W...T...F...

Wii was in stock at Amazon Japan two minutes ago. I even managed to add one to my cart for shits and giggles. One refresh and it was sold out.
W...T...F.... really.
 
My God, people are still using the "because it's cheaper" and "Nintards don't care about 3rd parties" arguments? Nevermind the idiocy of the "do you really thing gamers will still play the Wii in 2010?" argument presented... I mean shit people, get some new material already!
 
The Wii is still a hot commodity! Wow! Even the 360 wasn't this popular this long after it launched!!!! Nintendo has got a real winner on its hands! w00t!!
 
Battersea Power Station said:
Questions:

1) What do all these people see in it?

Seriously, it's a social hit. People play it at parties or get togethers and race out and buy their own. Packing in Wii Sports is quite possibly the best decision Nintendo has ever made in the western market. No one would have bought the game if it wasn't packed in. Wii Sports? Remember how we laughed? Look who's laughing now.

squicken said:
It should be like one of those episodes where the Super Friends and the Legion of Doom reluctantly joined forces to combat a common foe. The xbots and sdf must fight together to save real games!

Or when the Care Bears teamed up with the Madballs?
 
StevieP said:
Don't worry... you're forgetting the talking points:

1) [Dark10x]HD adoption rates will go up astronomically over the next 4 years, driving sales of HD-capable consoles[/Dark10x]
2) [MostofGAF]people will look at their newfound purchase's graphics, in comparison to the 360/PS3, laugh, and never play again, dooming the Wii[/MostofGAF]
3) [LukeSmith]non-games will ruin the industry, and make the total library crap - just like the DS[/LukeSmith]
4) [Sony]the Wii audience is too young to attract any of teh matureness[/Sony]
5) [MS]waggle is a fad, like the macarena[/MS]

58741511_a5232aa643.jpg


I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but those should suffice for awhile!

So true!
 
Mar_ said:
Seriously, it's a social hit. People play it at parties or get togethers and race out and buy their own. Packing in Wii Sports is quite possibly the best decision Nintendo has ever made in the western market. No one would have bought the game if it wasn't packed in. Wii Sports? Remember how we laughed? Look who's laughing now.

To add to what you noted.


Consoles are trojan horses in that once people own the machine, barriers to entry for everything else in the catalog drops significantly. When considering a game purchase, Instead of ($250 + $50)*tax the cost analysis to the user becomes ($50)*tax. This point is usually understood but often selectively. Killer apps aren't to merely sell a lot of copies of that game, that isn't the end. The goals is to sell a lot of consoles too. Once the platform is in homes, people will demand more software.

You still see people writing articles asking retarded questions like 'What happens to Wii once Wiisports wears off?' The answer is, they'll go out and buy more games, like Super Paper Mario.
 
DefectiveReject said:
It already is (The 360) in the UK
You can buy a core pack with a game for less than a Wii and a game in most places.
You can buy a premium pack with 2-3 games for £299 (GoW, Crackdown and A.N.Other)
Or you can buy a Wii and 2-3 games for around the same price. Yet the Wii continues to sell VERY Well!

But is it outselling the 360? That's the issue Nintendo should be concerned with.
 
Fight for Freeform said:
But is it outselling the 360? That's the issue Nintendo should be concerned with.
Yes it is.
to sell 2m in Europe is a big achievement in a short space of time.
UK normally accounts for 30% share of the Euro market so thats a lot of Wii's in the UK in 5mths. I somehow don't feel the 360 is shifting this volume due to the MASS of incentives here to sell the hardware.
 
DefectiveReject said:
Yes it is.
to sell 2m in Europe is a big achievement in a short space of time.
UK normally accounts for 30% share of the Euro market so thats a lot of Wii's in the UK in 5mths. I somehow don't feel the 360 is shifting this volume due to the MASS of incentives here to sell the hardware.

I'm not talking about it's launch, I'm talking about the recent price drop in the 360.

How have the sales compared since then? That's what Nintendo has to be concerned with.

And that is why, as I originally said and you contended, that this is no longer the DS vs. PSP.

The sales difference between the Wii and 360 is going to be a lot closer.
 
DefectiveReject said:
Yes it is.
to sell 2m in Europe is a big achievement in a short space of time.
UK normally accounts for 30% share of the Euro market so thats a lot of Wii's in the UK in 5mths. I somehow don't feel the 360 is shifting this volume due to the MASS of incentives here to sell the hardware.

All I know is, MS declared they shipped 10m units after the holidays but the actual sold through figure was a lot less (8-9 million?). Assuming they've sold the difference since then (and that's a big assumption), that would still mean they still got beat by the Wii on the four months where both platforms were on sale side by side.
 
DefectiveReject said:
Yes it is.
to sell 2m in Europe is a big achievement in a short space of time.
UK normally accounts for 30% share of the Euro market so thats a lot of Wii's in the UK in 5mths. I somehow don't feel the 360 is shifting this volume due to the MASS of incentives here to sell the hardware.


So you feel but you don't really know yet you pass it on as fact?

Thanks for clearing that up. For a second there I thought you actually had factual data that I would have liked to see.
 
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