Room 34 Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 I will admit that I have not been relentless in my pursuit of the Wii. But in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, they seem nowhere to be found. These days it's pretty common to see signs practically screaming "WE HAVE THE PS3 IN STOCK!!!!!!!!!" (but with more exclamation points) at many places. Just today I saw PS3's in stock at both EB Games and Toys 'R' Us. But I still have never once, anywhere, ever, seen a Wii except the ones in the display cases. Is this unusual? Am I living in a Wii black hole and didn't realize it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 I think what you're seeing is pretty common. I've yet to see a single report anywhere of people seeing Wii's on the shelves, yet PS3's are everywhere to be found. That mirrors my experiences here in Austin. PS3's at every store, and not a Wii or Wii controller to be found. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 (edited) I think it's obvious at this point that *Nintendo* is having serious production problems while Sony is making basically as many PS3's as they feel like. The Wii is outselling the PS3 in both the US and Japan but not by much - only about 20%. Not nearly enough to explain why you can find PS3's in most stores but no Wiis. They certainly are nowhere near the 4 million unit target they set for themselves for the end of the year - they're only a bit over 1 million worldwide, and only about 700,000 in the United States. So the fact that you can't find them in stores is not so much a reflection of how well it's selling, but the fact that Nintendo just can't figure out how to make enough of them. Remember that there were DS Lite shortages in Japan that went on for about six months - and that wasn't even a new system, nor was it really selling at a ridiculous pace. Nintendo's production capacity seems very small. They've probably gotten lean over the past decade or so as their sales dwindled, so they're unprepared for any sort of spike in demand. Edited January 13, 2007 by spacecadet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 No Wiis, but some places have controllers. No PS3s for that matter either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n8littlefield Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 They had 3 at the EB yesterday that I frequent. I ALMOST bought one, but I really need to wait until I get some more cash in hand before I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Room 34 Posted January 13, 2007 Author Share Posted January 13, 2007 What's the source for that 20% difference? I was reading an article today that painted a different picture of the relative sales between Wii and PS3. This isn't the one, but the numbers in it are pretty much consistent: According to NPD, Nintendo Wii managed to sell 604,200 consoles in December bringing its total to 1.1 million in the States, while Sony shifted 490,700 PlayStation 3s raising its US install base to an ample 687,300. Microsoft, meanwhile managed to get rid of an impressive 1.1 million Xbox 360s, making its US total 4.5 million. So that's about a 20% difference in sales for the month of December, but overall sales in the U.S. (excluding certain retailers, apparently including Best Buy) are 1.1 million for Wii and under 700,000 for PS3. My hunch is that it's not a matter of the number they're producing, as much as it is that they're just selling out right away, whereas no one really seems to be scrambling to snatch up the PS3s. At least that's my experience. The first time I saw one of the big "WE HAVE THE PS3 IN STOCK!" signs was at one of Best Buy's busiest stores, the one a few blocks from their corporate HQ... in the late afternoon of the Friday before Christmas. The situation has largely remained the same. Now granted, I don't know if those stores have had ANY Wii's come in at all. But the fact that they can sit on PS3's in that kind of scenario and not sell out has to be saying something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 But the fact that they can sit on PS3's in that kind of scenario and not sell out has to be saying something. Well yeah, it's saying it's friggin expensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Room 34 Posted January 13, 2007 Author Share Posted January 13, 2007 Heh, good point. That reminds me, when I saw those numbers (1.1 million vs. 700,000), it occurred to me that the DOLLARS involved in the two were roughly the same! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xenomorpher Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 I haven't seen a Wii ever. I saw two PS3s at K-Mart and one at Wal-Mart. I bought mine at EBGames of all places. I want to play Twilight Princess on the Wii real bad as well as some other games. Does anyone know if the GC version of T.P. has two discs? And is it a very big game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avid Fan Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 I havent seen a wii or controllers at all for sale. Best Buy in Pittsburg, Ca. had ps3s in stock yesterday. I was there for an hour, and nobody bought one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockman_x_2002 Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 Well, I reported last week in another thread that, outside of my own Wii, which I more or less lucked into, I have seen one other Wii sitting on the store shelf at my local Wal-Mart. I don't know how long it had been sitting there before I got into the store, but I made a loop around through the PC software and hardware, and when I came back around, the Wii was gone. Probably in about the span of 10 minutes I would guess. So yes, they're still selling quite well down here. That, or the stores just aren't getting them in. I vote for the former. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Ragan Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 If you really want to buy a Wii from a retail store, it helps to have connections... and it REALLY helps to have racked up a bunch of prior purchases! I know the guys from the local GameStop pretty well, and one of 'em was kind enough to hold a Wii and sell it to me when the store opened the next day. Although I'm not really thrilled with the system so far, I nevertheless appreciated the gesture! And things could turn around for the Wii in a big way after I start playing the latest Zelda. JR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Room 34 Posted January 14, 2007 Author Share Posted January 14, 2007 Another PS3 sighting yesterday. Target had several PS3s in the case... at least 3 or 4. No Wii's though. Just the usual sign stating "Due to high demand, we do not have Wii hardware in stock" or something to that effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_Username Posted January 14, 2007 Share Posted January 14, 2007 Everything's gone in SE South Dakota except slim PS2's and like four 360's. What's sad, is that the PS3 demo kiosk doesn't have a screen around here and the wii demo kiosk is empty. And the xbox 360 demo unit is in a N64 demo kiosk housing. I don't think many companys give a #$%^* about South Dakota. -DDD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Room 34 Posted January 14, 2007 Author Share Posted January 14, 2007 What's a South Dakota? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic George 2K3 Posted January 14, 2007 Share Posted January 14, 2007 My local Best Buy seems to be carrying a few Wii units when I went up to the Holyoke Mall this past Thursday, but then I wasn't there to get a Wii -- I was looking for a Nintendo DS, which they managed to have the Lite version of in black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spongebue Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 From what I've heard, Target and Best Buy are holding all Wiis they get until the 21st. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 From what I've heard, Target and Best Buy are holding all Wiis they get until the 21st. Yknow.. what exactly is the strategy to "holding" them? I guess I don't understand what that accomplishes.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 From what I've heard, Target and Best Buy are holding all Wiis they get until the 21st. Yknow.. what exactly is the strategy to "holding" them? I guess I don't understand what that accomplishes.... Embargoed from release by Nintendo in order to build up buzz, and to make it slightly easier for fans to get them, maybe? It's working on me ... I have a coupon and am somewhat interested in picking one up. Not sure why, since I have a Cube I hardly ever play nowadays, and don't really need the Virtual Console because of my massive retro collection. WTF am I thinking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malc74 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 From what I've heard, Target and Best Buy are holding all Wiis they get until the 21st. Yknow.. what exactly is the strategy to "holding" them? I guess I don't understand what that accomplishes.... Well, I'm the receiver for a large store (not electronics though) and I know that when I'm told to hold stuff back from the floor it's usually because it features in an upcoming promotion or flyer. The general belief is that if you put the goods out early and they sell out, you'll have a bunch of pissed off people waving flyers in your faces a week or two later. I admit it's kind of bizarre - in my store it usually happens either with a one-time-only shipment of a SKU or with a regularly replenished item that only arrives in small amounts (kind of like the Wii, really). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emehr Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Looks like I'll be hitting Target before they open Sunday. We're supposed to get a bunch of snow Saturday night. Should be interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Monkey Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 The store flyers are set and printed in advance - they know when they are going to need the inventory - If you get the flyer and the Wii is featured in it - be at the store early on the day the flyer starts - and by early I mean a couple of hours before they open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 The store flyers are set and printed in advance - they know when they are going to need the inventory - If you get the flyer and the Wii is featured in it - be at the store early on the day the flyer starts - and by early I mean a couple of hours before they open. The Super Target by me was sold out in 10 minutes and had people waiting at 4:00 AM. I saw it in the Circuit City and Best Buy flyers too but haven't looked. Honestly, I'm not so bent on getting a Wii to go through hell trying to find one. By March, I'll likely be able to walk into any store I want and get one when I want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bivotar Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 I GOT ONE!!!! The long wait is over. My dear sweet wife had to go in to work at 4AM and got off at 7AM. She stopped by Targe on her way home and there was a line outside the store. She hopped in line and found out they had 30 systems coming in. She was about #20 in line. We had about 5-6 inches of snow last night, so it was a pretty cold wait. I have been setting it up and just loving it. The wife and I played some Wii Sports and she is hooked. I had a bit of a time getting the Wii on the Internet, but it was mainly because of my DSL modem. I upgraded the firmware and bingo, was on. I had really thought it was going to be later in to February or March before I had one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 It's friggin amazing to me that it's still scarce and wanted enough to have people lining up for it. Crazy..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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