The Wii Farce.

Clown · 20 Dec 2007 at 13:17

The more you pay, the better it is. Obviously.
Buy from OcUK!

Cuchulain · 20 Dec 2007 at 13:19

I was in 3 shops that would normally stock Wii's this morning, each of them had plenty of them for sale at the normal retail price.

mcwildcard · 20 Dec 2007 at 13:26

Just in time to satiate the christmas rush!
That was lucky!

Tunney · 20 Dec 2007 at 13:26

Plenty of stock where I live. One shop spammed about 30 "Wii in stock now!" photocopied posters in their window.

mcwildcard · 20 Dec 2007 at 13:42

Do people still believe that this 'shortage' wasn't orchestrated then?

divine` · 20 Dec 2007 at 13:49

mcwildcard said:
Do people still believe that this 'shortage' wasn't orchestrated then?

Does it matter if it was?

All console manufacturers do it if they are in a position of demand strong enough because it generates a lot more sales. You manage to entice more people because of all the people running around proclaiming how you can't get them, makes others think 'wow, that must be good, I want one'.

chimaera · 20 Dec 2007 at 14:18

mcwildcard said:
Do people still believe that this 'shortage' wasn't orchestrated then?

I think Nintendo just totally under-estimated demand, not in the history of gaming has a machine been in such demand over a year after launch.

However if your question was "Do people still believe that the video games industry in general orchestrates demand?" then i'd say yes, and point towards the European PSP launch as a perfect example.

mcwildcard · 20 Dec 2007 at 14:22

divine` said:
Does it matter if it was?

All console manufacturers do it if they are in a position of demand strong enough because it generates a lot more sales. You manage to entice more people because of all the people running around proclaiming how you can't get them, makes others think 'wow, that must be good, I want one'.

I think the most likely scenario is that they had a shortage originally and noticed that it was causing a frenzy in the UK, so they decided to roll with it and deliberately control the volume of systems being shipped to maintain that frenzy. It's a textbook marketing ploy, pulled off to a rather startling degree of success.
It wouldn't bother me so much if the system had been worth buying in the beginning, but people were so caught up in the whirlwind of getting one, that the vast majority of them failed to clock that there was only about 3 good games available for it. Nintendo capitalised on that by theming it's advertising on the family unit, which targets parents who want to enjoy the system together, as some sort of bonding experience. These are exactly the type of customer who is going to buy into the concept of the system, instead of the reality, because they don't know any better.
I'm studying for a qualification in purchasing and supply at the moment and if any of my essays have to cover this type of market strategy, this is the campaign i'm going to write about!
Well done Nintendo for pulling it off, regardless of the fact it's rather cynical.

PiKe · 20 Dec 2007 at 14:33

3 games?

1 Super Mario Galaxy 2007 97
2 Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The 2006 95
3 Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition 2007 91
4 Metroid Prime 3: Corruption 2007 90
5 Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure 2007 87
6 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock 2007 85
7 Super Paper Mario 2007 85
8 MLB Power Pros 2007 83
9 WarioWare: Smooth Moves 2007 83
10 Madden NFL 07 2006 81

Damien. · 20 Dec 2007 at 14:35

How long till OCUK reduce there prices ?!

Paranoid_Robot · 20 Dec 2007 at 14:37

PiKe said:
3 games?

1 Super Mario Galaxy 2007 97
2 Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The 2006 95
3 Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition 2007 91
4 Metroid Prime 3: Corruption 2007 90
5 Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure 2007 87
6 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock 2007 85
7 Super Paper Mario 2007 85
8 MLB Power Pros 2007 83
9 WarioWare: Smooth Moves 2007 83
10 Madden NFL 07 2006 81

He meant exclusives and he meant this year.

Cuchulain · 20 Dec 2007 at 14:37

Damien. said:
How long till OCUK reduce there prices ?!

Even if they are reduced, you're still better off buying in the high street, no postage costs and easier to return.

Damien. · 20 Dec 2007 at 14:39

Cuchulain said:
Even if they are reduced, you're still better off buying in the high street, no postage costs and easier to return.

Wrong answer, lol.

GarethDW · 20 Dec 2007 at 14:40

...and it's in your hands today, so no courier concerns.

Plenty in Swindon town centre today.

Cuchulain · 20 Dec 2007 at 14:40

Damien. said:
Wrong answer, lol.

Why?

Damien. · 20 Dec 2007 at 14:42

Cuchulain said:
Why?

Even if it is true, your on the OCUK forums ! Everyone loves and buys off OCUK !

mcwildcard · 20 Dec 2007 at 15:03

Paranoid_Robot said:
He meant exclusives and he meant this year.

Correct.
I wouldn't even attempt to argue that there aren't enough decent games to warrant owning a Wii now, but for the first 6 to 9 months the games catalogue was pretty barren.

PiKe · 20 Dec 2007 at 15:12

mcwildcard said:
Correct.
I wouldn't even attempt to argue that there aren't enough decent games to warrant owning a Wii now, but for the first 6 to 9 months the games catalogue was pretty barren.

Ok agreed.

Paranoid_Robot · 20 Dec 2007 at 15:13

mcwildcard said:
Correct.
I wouldn't even attempt to argue that there aren't enough decent games to warrant owning a Wii now, but for the first 6 to 9 months the games catalogue was pretty barren.

Even so, for me it's still the Nintendo player. I wouldn't buy it for anything else right now other than SMG. Their third party support is worrying and if that changes then that is what will get me to buy one.

PiKe · 20 Dec 2007 at 15:16

Paranoid_Robot said:
Even so, for me it's still the Nintendo player. I wouldn't buy it for anything else right now other than SMG. Their third party support is worrying and if that changes then that is what will get me to buy one.

Sega have coughed up KNiGHTS...