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:drool:
For arrow-throwing on the Wii: The nunchuck is the bow and you hold it in front of you, and click two buttons on the remote to load the arrow, then pull it back and click another button to release the arrow. Awesome.

About a week ago, TRU had around 30, and people lining up for it. They sold out that same day.

With your apparent expertise, who am I to argue....

Anyway, before the fanboys unite, I am not saying the Wii is only selling because of this or that it somehow makes it less of a system. However, to discount scarcity as a factor of demand, or to reject out of hand that Nintendo would use it to their advantage, is a bit naive.

Sorry to be flippant and fanboyish...I was just amused by your comment for some reason. Still, I should have elaborated.

Nintendo was beaten last generation...badly...by two of the most powerful corporations in the world. They took perhaps the riskiest possible route into this generation, and their margin for error was pretty much nil if they wanted to remain viable in a cut-throat market.

The merest passing thought that they would be crazy enough to try to manipulate a market this competitive for over a year just seemed...well...silly.

I firmly believe that they are churning Wiis out as quickly as they can before demand subsides...which it very well could. In fact, given the Wii's inherent weaknesses, I'm sort of surprised demand hasn't already subsided a bit. It's remarkable really.

I just had lunch with a friend today that plans to get in an early morning line in the next few weeks so he doesn't get scalped in November.

I wonder whether the guys who open Target, Best Buy, etc even ask what people are waiting for anymore.

Scarcity? Nintendo is consistently pumping out more Wiis each month than MS is producing 360s and Sony producing PS3s... and if I recall correctly, there was a month or so where the number of Wiis sold was equal to the number of 360s and PS3s combined.

Depending upon which website you read, Nintendo has sold more Wiis in 9 months than Microsoft sold 360s in 17 months.

Nintendo is pumping out Wiis as fast as they can. Please explain how Nintendo is using the fact that Wiis are selling out as fast as they hit the shelves. What advantage is Nintendo receiving?

Are you actually suggesting that there are people out there who have no desire to buy a Wii but just happen to to be in the store for the few hours where there is one on the shelf, see it, and think "oh, I don't want one, but I better get one because they are so scarce."??? Is that the "advantage" you are referring to?

They had a special Wii line. Since I was exchanging mine I didn't have to do it. I felt bad with a Wii in my hands in front of all those people waiting to get one.

And I agree that what you laid out is most likely the case, and certainly initial planned production in no way could meet demand for quite some time. I just disagree that now, nearly a year after launch, that the alternative is impossible.

Scarcity is definitely a factor in economics...and no doubt it DOES drive some Wii sales.

I'm just debating the notion that Nintendo is manipulating supply to drive scarcity. All evidence to the contrary...including the numbers you rightly cite.

Free Wiimote Jackets/Silicon Sleeves from Nintendo
 

Go here and request up to 4 silicon sleevs for your Wiimotes. You will need to enter your serial number.

Yes, that's what I mean! :D

Chris

It's not like Nintendo is some small rinky dink company that doesn't have the means (money) to put more production on line. If they really wanted to sell a million units a month, they have the means to get it done. This isn't rocket science! ;)

There's something more to this than meets the eye.

Chris

But, why didn't they have 500 units?

Chris

If Nintendo were pumping out Wii's as fast as they could (be willing), there wouldn't be a lack of supply almost 1 year in.

And you should know human nature by now, wanting something that they cannot have? It all started with Adam & Eve!

Chris

I think you're overestimating the feasible manufacturing capability of any company in existence.

Nintendo has sold 11 million Wiis worldwide (right?), and let's say, for the sake of argument, the following: that they started manufacturing Wiis 500 days ago, that the rate of production has been constant, and that all the factories making Wiis are in operation 24/7.

That'd equate to about fifteen Wiis every minute, or a Wii every four seconds.

Maybe I am just totally clueless about the manufacturing industry, but that sounds to me like Wiis are being churned out at a pretty fast rate, especially given the overly generous assumptions.

And I don't see why Nintendo would spend the resources to create new factories, when demand for Wiis will surely relax, and they'd only be forced to close the new factories in a few months.

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/1425/projectxm3.jpg

Yup... woke up to the blue va-jay-jay this morning and found the same message.

Just waiting for someone to start the Wiimote Condom thread. "Nintendo asks that you protect yourself from accidental slippage of the Wiimote when in vigorous use."

;)

Exactly. They could easily spend a few million on a new factory and labor to get a new plant up and running just to meet demand, but why? They make money on every wii sold, spending all that dough would negate that profit.

I could buy the conspiracy theory last Christmas, but almost a year in? A year in when Nintendo is selling almost a half million Wii's during the normally dead months of summer? They are churning out and selling two to three times the competition and are still manipulating? I doubt it.

They have sold 11 million in 10 months, or 1.1 million a month which is an insane number, especially since Nintendo goes by actual sales, not shipped like the other two companies. The other two companies by comparison do about 200,000 a month.

anyone who enjoys DDR games, try the wii version yet? I saw it at the store, curious about it...

Wii had a cameo on Weeds last night. :D2:

Every played the Wii... on weeeeed man?!?

Is there a way to retrieve your serial number from Nintendo's website? I checked the registration page and it doesn't seem to show it.

You know, I thought I had the MyNintendo account so I could log in and get this. Even though I've entered my S/N on the site, I still have to go get it again and enter it. Sorry, it just bugs when they have something to help things be easy and they don't use it.

I can't get it to work. I had almost checked out this morning and then I got an error page. Now I just get a 404 error when trying to access their store website.

I'm not sure if my order worked or not. It added them to my cart, I entered my info, clicked "Submit Order" and then just received a blank screen. I tried again and saw the same blank screen. Since I never got an order number, I can't verify if it worked or not. I'll just have to wait and see if I get anything (or possibly 2-3 times as many as I need, if each attempt is processed).

It's nice that they're doing this, though. I only have one sleeve at the moment. Hopefully these will make battery replacement easier than the one I have now.

Nintendo is known for making quality products. Quality products come from taking your time and making sure everything is running perfectly at the factory. Do we really want Nintendo to go down the MS route and start opening up factories as quickly as possible? We saw what that did to the quality of the Xbox 360 hardware...