wii? availability?
 

I have a few hundred dollars sitting on a BestBuy gift card, and thought I'd get a wii.

Um, no. It's not that simple. Apparently you have to blow the assistant general manager of every store in NorCal to even be considered to for wii ownership. Silly me, I thought the console shortage was a Mcrosoft thing that usually happens around Christmas.

So what's the deal? Will there be a day when buying a wii is as easy as picking up a Game Cube? Is this a temporary thing, or is it the new paradigm for game console sales?

Maybe my locality is an anomaly, however, there are several stores around here with wii in stock now. It was bad around the holidays, and for about 2 months after, but i've seen wii's on shelves pretty regularly now at Fred Meyer's and Target. Maybe BBY is just not getting shipments yet?

It's a matter of consumers buying every console Nintendo can possibly produce :) The demand for the thing is massive. They're expecting things to ease by next month.

Still sold out in western Canada. I had to order extra remote and nunchucks online to get them. Not available for store pickup, and capped at 1 each from both futureshop and bestbuy. I did end up ordering a game and a controller from bestbuy online. The local store still has none (of the title or remote) but I had them in hand in about 4 business days. Perhaps there is some online giftcard magic you can try to work. Probably not, but I had already started typing before I realized that I wouldn't be helpful.

...i don't know if this will be of any help to you but:
http://wiitracker.com/
best buy isn't on that list, so i guess this is just general info if you are really out of options. this how i got mine. every so often the more reasonable $250 price comes up, though it is still a bit rare for that to happen, and even then, when it does, they're quickly sold out. check back every now and then and see what pops up. you never know...

I hunted my down by calling every few days to the local stores (target, wal-mart, etc). Found one at a target 25 miles away, they had seven left at 2:00 in the afternoon on a tuesday. When I got there at 2:30, I got the last one.

And yes, we're lovin' every minute of it.

They're back in stock in some places over here online, just have to look around.

no one flames the Wii for being sold out everywhere. But if the PS3 is in short demand - FLAME ON!

All kidding aside (or was I kidding?), I haven't seen one since launch day in any store in this area (eastern NC). but it's ok, Nintendo is awesome. Sony sucks.

I would do what the above people said, and just keep frantically searching around, make phone calls, check online, check everywhere 24/7, and you will get one.

While a large demand has something to do with it, I don't think nintendo is particularly interested in amping up production by constructing more factories to meet that demand. there is somewhat of a lack of games for the wii currently and I think the scarcity helps in maintaining desire for the wii during this "dry phase". Also, factories are expensive.

They're searching for more.

It's stupid to think they want to limit sales - they have a real demand, not an artificial demand, and limiting sales means limiting the profits they get on every console sold.

This concept of keeping up a 'desire' is largely limited to internet message boards - in all cases, it is better to have the product in the hands of those that want it, than keeping it from them and not getting their money.

What really irked me about my Wii search was how badly I was treated by store employees when I asked if they were in stock. I'm sorry it's their job to answer that question, but there is no reason to treat me like I'm an idiot just because I want to spend money at their store.
*end rant*

For what it is worth, there was an ad in the paper today for Fry's Electronics. It said the Sac and Roseville stores would each have at least 100 units in stock today.

Why would you say it's stupid to think so? Enough people have thought that way that a nintendo PR representative had to make a public announcement denying it.

Nintendo would like to have a high attachment rate (games per console sold) for their systems. While there are a few quality games being offered at this time, the selection in various genres is slim to nil. Is it so unreasonable to think that instead of boosting manufacturing for initial demand they thought they'd "let it ride" until there were more games out?

Personally I think this was their plan and demand has outstripped even that expectation so they are looking for another manufacturer to meet this extreme demand. Otherwise they would have sought out and begun construction of another factory a month after the release.

'Enough people' in this case means 'guys on the net who know nothing about business'.

It is unreasonable to think they're trying to increase the attach rate - they don't even tout that figure, they always talk in units sold (and not claiming all shipments are sold, ala Sony and Microsoft). Their console hardware is profitable, and they gain nothing by having less to sell. They don't need a high attach rate.

Lastly, it's not as simple as just 'building another factory'. Business isn't an RTS - constructing a factory would take far longer and be far more expensive than finding another manufacturer. They need someone who can maintain the quality of the hardware and deliver what they promise. Ninty tend not to cut corners.

I haven't played my Wii in two months. :(

While it is part of their job to answer your question, I think that most anyone would get extremely annoyed at having to answer the exact same question multiple times every day, if not multiple times every hour, for months on end. /rantresponse

I was actually able to get my Wii before Christmas from the second shipment my local walmart got. Although I did show up in line for it at midnight and had to wait till 8 am, it was worth it. At that point, even showing up that early, I was 19th in line for the 32 Wiis the store recieved, I couldn't help but laugh at the people who showed up at 7:30 and found out they were SOL.:devious:

I've had a friend that been trying to find one in my area recently with no luck, every where is sold out of them with in hours of their arrival.

As of Sunday 4/22/07 Best Buy stores are supposed to have the Wii in-stock. (Minimum 12 per store.)

This came from This website

I got mine at Nintendo World in NYC, in early January. Showed up at 4 AM, was already number 9 in line. This was the second time I had the done this, the first time they had none.
Both times the same guy was trying so sell me one for 450 bucks. "With the receipt and everything!" he claimed.
It was a cool experience though. But they should find less asshole-ish employees in their flagship store, although I'm sure they all have a reason to hate people who keep pestering them about the same product.

The amount of stock in our area has been improving to the point I'm thinking it may be time to buy.

Target had 5 in stock today. They're not exactly scarce around here.

yeah, supply has been improving a bit since about mid april i think.
if anyone cares, these guys are (currently) selling at a $10 discount.

It's still slim pickins up in the Seattle area. The trick up here seems to be Toys R Us on Sunday morning... some stores even give numbered tickets so you don't have to stand outside in line. Just show up sometime before opening.

WTF? they're selling a 60 gig PS3 on that site, for 350 bucks!?!

I think they're slowly coming around now. I recently saw some merchants (http://www.smartratings.com/review/e...ng_consoles/86) selling Wii's online although their stocks are still very limited though. Everywhere I go I heard people complained there were not just enough Wii in their areas. I hope this will help.

Best Buy is supposed to be holding some for Sunday, June 24.

There is no credibility to the idea of an artificial shortage. It is the fastest selling home console ever. They've sold 8 million in 8 months worldwide, almost completely eliminating the year head start that 360 had on it (10M sold).

While they have increased production slightly, its not useful to over-increase production just to meet short term demand. Demand will become manageable very soon, leaving them with an unwanted surplus in production capacity.