Is the shortage simply to increase demand?

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VIRII said:
The more I play it and the more successful it appears to be the more convinced I am that motion sensitive controllers and games that use them will be common place on all consoles very soon.

Given the extra processing power of the PS3 and 360 and the licences they hold to games like Tiger Woods and Fight Night I will be gobsmacked if we don't have motion versions of these out very soon. Online golf tournaments using motion sensitive controllers with the graphical prowess of the 360 and the wonderful Live service.... it can't NOT happen.

but Sony have stated they are not interested in "Gimmicks" LOL
 
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Sony are already working on a Wii style controller (as well as the existing 6 axis) and microsoft already hold some similar patents from the sidewinder PC pad range quite a few years ago.

The shortage is done on purpose because you cannot have a succesful console launch anymore unless you sell out of all available stock.

It gives the machine a higher percieved value to those folks who end up traipsing around trying to get one and fills the consumer with confidence in the brand i.e "this machine must be amazing because it has sold out everywhere"

Nintendo will start to distribute the stock on monday which means a store arrival of somewhere around midweek by the time it is picked from the warehouse and allocated too stores.

It's a really old trick and one which is a lot cheaper in the long run than paying for target adverts as people trust what they are being told if enough people say it.
 
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The way I see it we only have to wait about 3 weeks for an answer. If the whole shortage is a sales/advertising/hype tactic it only makes sense if they manage to get good supply in the stores before Christmas. Holding stock until after Christmas makes no sense as demand will die down regardless of hype, particularly in the casual/mainstream market they are aiming for.
If they don’t supply decent quantities then they simply don’t have the systems. If they can get stock on shelves (for more than 5 minutes) before Christmas I think it’s safe to say they were holding back.

Personally I don’t think they have the stock and don’t think you will be able to walk into a store and just pick one up until the new year but I would love to be proved wrong.
 
Soldato
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HMMM well I'm not sure that they 'Nintendo' are intentionally holding Wii's just to create demand, however when the PSP first came out I remeber hearing rumours from various sources that sony were keeping 1000's of psp units in warehouses and not shipping to retailers thus creating the illusion that they were in short supply and bobs your uncle HUGE DEMAND!.
Come christmas we (not to our suprise) got 100's of psp's out of nowhere :rolleyes: as for the Wii Nintendo always seem genuine when they have a shortage take DS lite for example at luanch there were plenty of units for people however when it really took off there were some problems with stock but we kept getting a steady flow of machines the whole time and I'm sure it will be the same for the Wii I'm not saying Nintendo are not capable of 'creating' demand but they are normally upfront with retailers about unit allocation etc and I'm pretty sure that those that pre-ordered machines will get them soon enough :)
 
Soldato
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Not really. As far as I know, either Dixons Sales Group/PC World (forget which part) only secured 30 units for the entire chain. They cant even fulfill the 4 units preordered at my store. Because the GC and N64 didnt sell as well as the competition a lot of stores underestimated the demand because 'a nintendo isnt cool'. THATS why we're having shortages - a lot of shops didnt buy enough to meet demand.
 
Soldato
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mcmad said:
I assume the shops will fulfill the pre-orders first.

I did find out that some rather large shops didn't bother ordering many (think the very large supermarket & electrical chains) as they didn't expect much demand & are now scrambling to order as many as they can before christmas..

After ringing at least 5 large stockists.. they have all told me you cant pre-order the enxt batch and they are on afirst come first serve basis. Pre-orders will only be ful-filled at selected stores.
 
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