The new fiscal year has begun, and as has been expected, Nintendo will ramp up production to pad their new year numbers. The business year starts in April, which most people don't know. Nintendo did this on purpose, and the availability of the Wii being what it is now, that should be proof. I wouldn't be surpised if you saw 5 Wii's on every store shelf by the end of May.
You have stated the very reasons why the Wii is being rationed. There isn't much to it. When the PS3 came out, it was impossible to find also. The sellthrough on units has come and gone for the PS3, but the Wii is being limited to generate this "its the must have item" hype. There is no reason to have it yet besides virtual console, the game selection is just awful right now.
So if the COO of GameStop, who has inside information, understands that the Wii is being trickled out to the public to keep the hype high, maybe he knows something that you don't?
Gamestop COO Dan DeMatteo said - I don't think it's going to be an issue...and this just my opinion, but I think [Nintendo] intentionally dried up supply because they made their numbers for the year. The new year starts April 1, and I think we're going to see supply flowing. The Fiscal year, that means the day in which taxes start anew for a company, started April 1st. Since then, the Wii's have been coming in much more frequently. If he has been correct all along, and yes, that quote is where this whole thing started, then expect to see Wii's available as wanted within a month or two. Not because they "ramped up production" but because they waited until the new year to pad their sales for investors. They want 2007 to be their best year ever, so they can spin it in their marketing that they've grown. Don't believe the hype. The Wii is neat, but its not the messiah.
Really guys the wii aint about putting graphics foward, thats why the lauch games look like ps2 and gamecubes cause guess what thats what they are . when people say but 360 had good lookin games from ubisoft, blah, blah.. yea i kno but this are two different situations, one being the new controller that thing has a big dev curve so to take 360 build of a game and horrendus controlls wouldnt go well for what the wii is going for. Give it time cause u guys act is if the wii is so weak ,which it aint that it cant compete with the other two, which it can, cause i played gears and its really impressive but when u really look at its not blowing but rather pleasent, like an Re4 but with a bit more textures and bloom and such...JustAGamer01
Nintendo has many employed people to train developers how to think Wii, and develop for the Wiimote. Don't talk like you understand the Dev process, you don't. It is all in Nintendo's hands to educate people, its why they spend millions on conferences and training for the third party companies, its part of what a 3rd party buys into when they pay the fee to develop for a Nintendo system. Training, documentation, and support.
I guess theres no room to be unhappy with the Wii here. God forbid people aren't utter blind fanboys.
When I bought my PS3 (Yes, I am a happy Wii owner also) I was so impressed with the cinematics for Ultimate Alliance. I upgraded the video cable to S-Video and the anti-aliasing (thats when one line of pixels flicker, the PS3 doesn't do that, Wii does) makes the graphics very crisp and clean. I enjoyed the clean attractive visuals. Graphics are impressive.
I think it doesn't say much for this forum, if people with a different opinion are called whores just for thinking graphics are an important aspect of this market. Gameplay is important, but it isn't everything.
Ask yourself how much better Zelda would have been if they'd used quality voice actors, or upped the graphics instead of using cube kits to make a Wii game? It would have been that much better.
Lithium Ion technology is fantastic. I would have prefered that. The trick to Lithium Ion, both in your DS, your Cell Phone, and any device, is only charging it once it has been completely depleted. These batteries work on a memory charge system, so if you charge if for 6 hours 29 times, but on the 30th time only charge it for an hour, you've damaged the battery. Responsibile consumers who only charge a device when they can leave it charging, will prolong the life of their batteries for a long long time. My original iPod 1st Gen died on me because i was careless and plugged it and unplugged it, the more recent iPod and similar devices I have have never given me grief because I only charge an item when I know I can leave it plugged in over night. A Docking station for the Wiimotes to charge them would have not only made a attractive accessory but added value to the Wii, without Lithium Ion Batteries, its just one more quality of the Wii that makes it lesser in comparison to its more powerful brothers. My PS3 controller is very light, the Wii's rumble function is annoying, and there being no option to turn off that or the sound is frustrating. I wouldn't be surprised if the Wii2 had Lithium Ion packs in its controllers. The GBA, the DS, Nintendo is no stranger to Li Ion.
What he means, btw. Is that Nintendo does not provide you with packaging for a return. Microsoft sends a special package to collect its "recently caught fire" XBox's in. Nintendo leaves you to find your own packaging. Its a simple point, but one worth noting. I will never own an XBox, but I have dealt with their Tech Support for friends, and they have always done what we asked them to do. Maybe thats because I am polite and professional and know what to ask for, but I doubt it. I think they are just provide good service, equal to or greater than Nintendo's. (This is coming from someone who has stood in the room, and dealt with the Nintendo support group face to face)
You lost me in your final post here Skull. He is right. You're taking a very small slice of what you yourself see in stores, and claiming it to be representative of the global gamingg market. What you see, even if you did nothing but drove around to game stores watching what people buy, is still only a very small glimpse into the buying habbits in the industry. I would not argue that GameStop sells a lot of Halo. I have made this point before, and I'll make it again, the majority of games are not purchased by the gamer, they are purchased by the parent or another party for the gamer. When Mom goes shopping for Billy, shes not going to pick up Halo at Target, she'll pick up Sonic, she'll pick up Mario or Zelda, but it'll take a visit to GameStop to pick up Halo. Gamers themselves are more likely to shop at GameStop, and buy their Halo there. In a setting like Target or Walmart, the purchasing trends are very different. I was a Nintendo Retail Representative for a long time, we dealt directly in sales trends through different retailers. You treat a GameStop differently than you treat a Toys'R'Us. They host different breeds of customers. If you unplug yourself from Gamers, and go to a college campus ( a real one, not a jc ) and ask people walking down the street who is Mario, vs. who is Master Chief. You'll have a ton of people knowing who Mario is, and retelling stories from their childhood jumping on flying goombas and bashing blocks with their pasta stained italian skulls. For the Halo faithfuls, much in the same way WoW is to someone like me, we have to go get it right away. So sure, you won't see a midnight line up for Mario, but thats not because the demand is not there. Mario doesn't demand you purchase it no more than 12 seconds after release, that is a creation of the hardcore gamer, where we have to be the first one in line, and always be the first to purchase that hot new title. The same can be said about those of us who own Wii's. There was no reason to buy it, yet. Our Hardcore gamer blood boiled and we scratched the itch. We buy these things because we are trained to by hardcore gamer pop culture that we have to upgrade as soon as we can. Must replace, must enhance. Screw reality, I want the new toy! Bottom line. Go hit Google. Do some research about sales figures before you declare one game a winner over another. Sales figures for one week, often tell a different story at the one month mark. I guarantee you that Halo sells more copies week one than Mario, but when that first month closes and you see the burst buys for Halo cease, Mario's sales per day figure will climb and climb, while the Halo sales simmer down. Quoting "week one sales" when its final sales that matter just makes you sound as ignorant as you're accusing our friend here of being. He was right, you were wrong, and rude to boot in your response to him.
Yea, you can dress a console up as a PC, but I'll always prefer my Quake and my UT on a PC vs. a controller. Red Faction, Halo, hell even Dirge of Cerberus. Its so much more intuitive with a keyboard and mouse.
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