Wii's = SC

[AdminAssistant]

I'm about to be in the market for a Wii...I'll try to be as non-sucky as possible! I promise!

Hopefully, living in a relatively decent sized metro area will help with the search.

[Aramika]

Hopefully, living in a relatively decent sized metro area will help with the search.

I live in one and was able to get a Wii so I wish you luck.

I got mine by dumb luck. I was in Walmart and just walked over to the electronics section fully expecting there not to be any in stock and there were five just sitting there in the case. I was surprised there wasn't a swarming mob around them actually. I haven't seen one in that store since.

[lordlundar]

Anyone have any recommendations for how I might find one? Stores more likely to have them for longer? Times to go to said store? How to talk to the employees so I don't come across as a lunatic SC?

Check Australia? I keep hearing they can't get rid of them.

On a more serious note, odds are you aren't going to get a staff member who isn't tired of the question, but if you are polite and don't push too far(like repeated asking if they know when more will be in), and honestly expecting a long wait and relying on luck of the draw will really keep the staff from hating you.

[Boochan]

Check Australia? I keep hearing they can't get rid of them.

We have the same shortage and irritating SCs asking for Wiis like anywhere else in the world, so I don't know where you heard that.
We only sell consoles during the holiday season (We still have leftover cheap Xbox 360s from the holiday season that we keep getting in, and DSes on a permanent base), and we still get questions every single days for people looking for Wiis, Wiimotes or Nunchuks.

[siead_lietrathua]

ok,on topic:
some of my co-workers are horrid when we get in the wiis. we arent really supposed to hold them, but upper management always ends up sticking a few on hold for their freinds, which pisses me right off when i'm the one who has to lie to my regulars about how we dont have any when it's TWO FEET AWAY FROM ME IN A DRAWER!! *heavy angry breathing*
one co-worker alone has had about 5 held, over time, for various people, and has bought most of those herself to take to them. i dont mind if you call your freinds and let them come down for the first-come-first-serve basis(which the rest of staff is allowed to do "within reason", but holding them is so much greif.

semi off-topic:
I remember when for one christmas we got about 10 of the x-box 360's and managed to sell only 7 at full price, had to eventually put the other 3 on clearout just to get them out of the store by march. with the Wii's we can get 10 in a shipment for an ad, and have them gone in a day. one record was 4 hours. and we are a little boondock store in a rural area that gets a shipment maybe once a month at best.
and when it comes to building factories, i know it took my dad almost two years to build his plant, find all the specialized equipment he needed, and it still takes him about a month to hire the 60-ish workers he needs (it's a farming thing, seasonal) so i can guess that it will take nintendo a while to build the 4 or 5 factories they would need to meet demand. my bet is they are waiting out for another company to release their next-gen, which would kill the demand for the wii a bit.
but heck, i still say it was worth picking up just for twilight princess and mario galaxies
... i mean, not a gaming nerd, not at all.

[ebonyknight]

Actually, there's several excuses. Some even reasonable. However, enough time has passed that they really should have upped production by now, you're right. I have to wonder just how many people wanted a Wii, and finally gave up and said "It is NOT worth all this hassle!"

Unfortunately, the most reasonable reason, prevents them from meeting demand.

If they were to build the additional factories, etc needed to meet the high demand, what do they then do with them once the EXTREMELY high demand has been met????

It has been unreasonbly long for this shortage, but if Nintendo wants to make the most money (and not waste resources), then they can't ramp up to meet demand. They are doing what they need to, to get the most "bang for thier buck". Besides, having this type of demand for a long time, ensures their bottom line.

Yeah, as usual, the corporations screw the little guy.

[ebonyknight]

Gravekeeper ... sorry, I'm not going to feel sorry for them. It's simply a matter of lack of willpower on their part. If they wanted to increase production, they would. The sales are there to warrant it.

http://gonintendo.com/?p=34319 ... oh, how kind, they're going to DISCUSS increasing production.

I've said it before, I stand by it, they've known now for long enough that they have a major hit ... production should be higher. Yes, things take longer when talk about mass-market complex items like a Wii. But, not THIS long.

And, honestly, the Wii isn't new tech. It's a new application of older tech.

Then what do they do with all the extra factories and other sundries they aquire to meet this demand?

Suppose you run a catering business. The millennium is coming up and you know that demand is going to be more than ever before. Do you hire a bunch more people, buy more vans, oven's, sign new contracts, etc. in anticipation of the demand, KNOWING that you will not need the overhead after the millennium? Or are you going to be happy knowing that you are maxed out, and make the maximum amount of money you can with what you have???? If you decide the former, what do you do with all those vans, oven, people etc? The demand will NOT be the same in the foreseeable future. Do you really want to go though the trouble of selling all that stuff to go back down to meet your regular demand?

And that is with the foreknowledge (with the millennium case) that there would be shortages. They never even anticipated it would be this popular, further aggravating the situation.

I don't like it (actually I don't care since I don't want one), but they are doing what they need to do to be efficient in the long run.

I understand the frustration, but it just doesn't make financial sense (in the long run) to meet this demand as quickly as possible.

[marasbaras]

And you folks are positive that ramping up to at least meet a HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF DEMAND (please, folks, pay attention to that phrase) would result in market saturation? Given that Nintendo is talking about increasing production, even they aren't so sure that this is the case.

What would they do with the factories once the demand subsided? Use it for their next machine? Sell it to someone else? Groove on the massive profits already made? High-tech assembly factories can be re-tooled to build other things. Demand for Wii lower? Re-tool one of the factories to produce whatever is hot at the time. Lease the factory to someone who'll do that. Sell it outright.

Just because Wii production stopped at the factory does not mean the factory is now a worthless asset.

What Nintendo needs to seriously weigh, and based on a lot of reading I've done while procrastinating doing my taxes, I believe that they are, is the cost of ramping up further against the cost of staying as they are. Each day, they lose more customers. Permanently. Sure, many customers will come back. Some just get really angry and say "never again".

Nintendo has a window here to capture this market. You KNOW there are various manufacturers around the world considering, designing, and perhaps even ramping up now to build competitive systems.

The catering business metaphor is wrong in that this is not a one-shot deal for Nintendo. They build systems. They probably have ideas or even plans for their next system in the works somewhere. Nintendo has resurrected itself and stands to do quite well if they can capture the casual console games market.

At the moment, they have a monopoly in that niche. That won't last forever and whoever goes after them will go after them hard and fast. As it stands now, Nintendo has annoyed a LOT of people who would likely just say "OK, I'm just going to buy the other guy".

There are a lot more issues that simple short-term financial gain here. And, since Nintendo is a primarily Japanese company, I have no doubt that they are considering the long-view. They want and need their market share back. They have lost it forever in the hard-core gamers market. They have a great opportunity here in the casual gamers market.

They must solidify the position, and being undersupplied means that they haven't yet, before someone else comes and steals their new found glory.

[ebonyknight]

Just because Wii production stopped at the factory does not mean the factory is now a worthless asset.

You do realize that just because the factory isn't producing doesn't mean it isn't costing a SUBSTANTIAL amount of money, each day it's idle? You don't retool or sell overnight. Why spend the money???

What Nintendo needs to seriously weigh, and based on a lot of reading I've done while procrastinating doing my taxes, I believe that they are, is the cost of ramping up further against the cost of staying as they are. Each day, they lose more customers. Permanently. Sure, many customers will come back. Some just get really angry and say "never again".

It's been a year and a half since debut. I think they have weighed the pros vs. con, or they would have done something by now. Further still, it is still selling out a year and a half later. I don't think they are worried in the least about losing customers.

Nintendo has a window here to capture this market. You KNOW there are various manufacturers around the world considering, designing, and perhaps even ramping up now to build competitive systems.

The catering business metaphor is wrong in that this is not a one-shot deal for Nintendo. They build systems. They probably have ideas or even plans for their next system in the works somewhere. Nintendo has resurrected itself and stands to do quite well if they can capture the casual console games market.

Uh, they have the market to themselves. There has never been a gaming system that appeals to the mainstream, like this has. Thus the unprecedented demand. All previous gaming systems have only done well in one particular demographic age group. This system has overlapped all of them.

History has always shown that a clone will never outsell the original. There are already several lesser known systems that are interactive like the Wii and they are virtually unknown and came out BEFORE Nintendo thought of it. Xavix is an excellent example.

There are a lot more issues that simple short-term financial gain here. And, since Nintendo is a primarily Japanese company, I have no doubt that they are considering the long-view. They want and need their market share back. They have lost it forever in the hard-core gamers market. They have a great opportunity here in the casual gamers market.

They must solidify the position, and being undersupplied means that they haven't yet, before someone else comes and steals their new found glory.

Okay, then. Simple question. Then why haven't they????

[Nekojin]

What would they do with the factories once the demand subsided? Use it for their next machine? Sell it to someone else? Groove on the massive profits already made? High-tech assembly factories can be re-tooled to build other things. Demand for Wii lower? Re-tool one of the factories to produce whatever is hot at the time. Lease the factory to someone who'll do that. Sell it outright.

Nintendo can't just snap their fingers and buy a factory. All existing factories are owned, many by competitors. They have to either have one built (laughing at that "possibility" right now), or contract with someone to put their product on the other company's production queue. As several people have mentioned already, this isn't something that just happens overnight. It takes months from contract to product rolling off the assembly line. Four to five months is the figure usually quoted.

Further, the idea of, "producing whatever is hot at the time," is laughable. Fads come and go; you're either on it or off it. You can't just churn up another million of a hot product to meet unexpected demand. By the time it's identified as a hot fad, it's too late - usually, by the time production would be online, the fad would have passed.

Check this for a moment. Think about it. Let it settle in. There has never been a single product that was, "THE hot item," for two Christmases in a row before the Wii.

What Nintendo needs to seriously weigh, and based on a lot of reading I've done while procrastinating doing my taxes, I believe that they are, is the cost of ramping up further against the cost of staying as they are. Each day, they lose more customers. Permanently. Sure, many customers will come back. Some just get really angry and say "never again".

<snip>

They have lost it forever in the hard-core gamers market. They have a great opportunity here in the casual gamers market.

Entertainment is a fickle market. While there are a very, very few fringe elements who have the willpower and dedication to permanently boycott all Nintendo products from here until death over not being able to get a Wii now (Seriously... WTF?), most gamers are willing to forgive and forget - and usually pretty quickly, as long as they weren't outright scammed. How many people said, "Never again," after the N64? The GameCube?

If you're a gamer (ignoring the "hard-core" bit for now), you'll want to play what's fun, what you enjoy. There's no point in brand identification; what you'd enjoy could be on any of the existing systems. There are games on all three major consoles right now that I want to play. If I have to wait on a Wii, I'll go get an XBox 360 - and get the Wii when I can.

It's not a race.

[PuckishOne]

Discussions/debates of economics and other related topics to Fratching, please. And please keep this thread civil or it will be closed. Thanks.

[Brightglaive]

Note: This is a description of the SCs and how to avoid being an SC if you are looking for a Wii in answer to kogarashi's question.

Derailing from the Nintento discussion....

Thanks to selling lots of art at a recent convention, I only just procured enough funds to get myself a Wii (which I've been wanting ever since last May when I played one at my former roommate's home), so I am now officially on the prowl. Unfortunately, pickings are nonexistent around here right now.

Anyone have any recommendations for how I might find one? Stores more likely to have them for longer? Times to go to said store? How to talk to the employees so I don't come across as a lunatic SC?

Do what I did. Go to a local retailer (or worst case, walmart) in April, May, and June. When you ask the clerk be gracious (use please and thank you and Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you ), and don't ask them to check the back. If they offer to check another stores stock then take them up on that offer, and most of all be thankful. Thank them profusely and often. Apologize for taking their time if needed. Treat them like they are king of their hill and yours (because technically they are king of the Wii hill). If you are patient, nice, polite, thankful, gracious and kind, regardless of their attitude, they will be more likely to help you the next time you come up and ask. And more likely to bend over backwards to help you. (you never know when someone might be having a bad day. You treating them kindly and graciously and being apologetic may turn that around. It may also stick you in their mind so that the next time they are happy to help you or go the extra mile for you because you were kind and were not an SC.)

[RANT mode =on] Now as far as the SCs and entitlement-whores. The SCs and entitlement-whores are the ones that don't make the effort to get what they want before the demand becomes insane. Christmas is NOT the time to be searching for a Wii!!! SCs go into one retailer, once, and expect to find a Wii. They put no effort, no time and no gas into finding a Wii. They choose the wrong time to find a Wii and then they carp and criticize and whine and say it was the "worst shopping experience of their lives." and they say "never again!!"

The difference is the same as sports or business. In order to be excellent you have to put in consistent effort. This is the same to find a Wii. If you scrimp and save and plan and hit the streets and really make an effort the payoff is actually getting a Wii while others are whining about supply and demand...While you enjoy the fruits of your labor. [rant mode=off]

Plan to spend lots of time and gasoline to find a Wii. (Yes, I know you can call but if you call 2 times a week the staff will quickly get tired and annoyed with you. The best way is to avoid annoying the staff.) If you are really intent on getting a Wii you can visit multiple retailers during the week. You never know what might turn up or when they might take a couple of days to move their Wii consoles out.


I spent 3 months looking for my Wii. I made weekly and sometimes bi-weekly trips. Every trip I took to my retailer I planned to look to see if there were any Wiis. I didn't bother asking after I was told that the stock they had was always in the case. I would just look in the display cases to see if they had any Wiis. One day I had a stroke of luck and they had 3 Wiis available. I quickly bought mine and promptly hid it at home so my wife wouldn't scream about the money I spent. (she was actually ok with it although I didn't know that when I bought my Wii.)

[Andara Bledin]

Anyone have any recommendations for how I might find one? Stores more likely to have them for longer? Times to go to said store? How to talk to the employees so I don't come across as a lunatic SC?

There are a lot of different methods for finding Wiis.

I know that Slashdotters have written scripts to let them know when they show up on Amazon so they can order one. The window at the time of the article I read was about half an hour. This method took one poster approximately 3 weeks.

Other, less techie types, generally visit their local retail establishments and learn when their usual delivery day is. They then go in at opening on that day until they secure a Wii. This method took the person posting about 3 month with only visiting a single store.

Another method is to check the weekend circulars to see when a store has a bundle deal. If a store is advertising a special on bundled Wiis, you know they've received (or will be receiving) a shipment. Arrive at opening, and you should be good to go.

^-.-^

[Brightglaive]

This method took the person posting about 3 month with only visiting a single store.
^-.-^

Well...granted....I wasn't in a hurry.

If I had been I would've visited every Walmart, Fries, Circuit city, Best Buy, Sears, Gamestop, and Video game shop in the area. I'm sure I could've done this a LOT faster. I just didn't have the money at the time (I had enough credit but I wanted to use money I had.) As soon as I had the money the opportunity presented itself. And the point being that I have a Wii while a lot of people still don't because I was persistent and consistent.

The other option (aside from what andara said) of course was to try and buy from someone on E-bay at a horribly inflated price. No thanks!! I 've heard enough E-bay horror stories

*shudder

[Gabrielle Proctor]

Uh-oh...someone better call the whaaaaaaaaaaaaambulance! Seriously, who cries because they can't buy a game system?