Nintendo already boxing Wii units?

by Blake Snow on Sep 12th 2006 11:30AM

From the most reliable of sources (message boards!) come rumors that Nintendo is seeking 150 temp workers to begin boxing Wii units readying them for shipment as early as next Tuesday. This comes from reports that several work agencies have been requesting positions for Nintendo's North Bend office that packages and ships product.

IGN points to a job opening posted to Nintendo's employee page on June 26, 2006. It reads: "As a Production Agent Trainee, you'll be on the front-lines--working tirelessly to ensure they don't leave stores empty handed this holiday season." Production Agent Trainee is also known as Assistant Packaging Engineer at some companies.

You mean to tell me that Nintendo is hiring people to package and ship their new console? Get out of here! Still, a Tuesday shipping (a week from today) seems a tad early, even if the game publisher announces a launch date and price this Thursday as expected.

Source

Tags: Wii

Reader Comments (47)

If Nintendo is anything like the company I work for, it will take them at least 2 months to hire someone for the job, lose that person, and take another 2 weeks to find a replacement.

If it is anything like the Government hiring... expect March 2008 release.
This news though makes an october launch seem so much more plausible.

zOMG!!11! boxes!

I hope they don't do a rush job. Like a lot of people, I buy things only based on the packaging. I kind of wanted to get the Game Cube but took one look at the box and said "No way, Jose!" Flimsy construction, shoddy and thin cardboard, and sub-par aesthetics really doomed Nintendo's last generation so let's cross our fingers and hope they don't make the same mistake twice! Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Actually, North Bend is a completely separate facility from Nintendo's Redmond headquarters (I believe that Nintendo does have a small warehouse facility in Redmond, but their main one is in North Bend, roughly 20 miles away.)

This goes along with my theory that Nintendo will release the Wii in America first. It makes alot of sense, the DS is still killing in Japan, why release there first and compete with the DS when they can milk that for a couple more months. Release the Wii in the US first where the DS isn't as potent and flood the market before the PS3 hits in Nov. Box em up and ship em out! Mid-Oct launch here we come!

A surprise launch would surprise everyone! I doubt we would have time to pre-order. We'll know by Friday evening! :D

A friend of mine works late night stock at Toys r Us and says they were told a release window of Oct. 8th-10th.

But hey, that could be as reliable as a message board.

Next Tuesday? Fuck that, I need a little preperation to afford this stuff, which was actually going to start next week. First time I've ever hoped something like this was false.

Um... yeah, that would be the whole point behind a "surprise launch," to surprise everyone.

I'm beginning to think that this is how all hardware should launch, without tons of hype about launch dates. Just think about how much Sony got burned by their announcements about the PS3 launch. Microsoft managed to come pretty close to all their 360 announcements overall, and they still got ripped a bit for the 360 launch.

Meanwhile, Nintendo doesn't give any unit promises, and they don't give a specific date so they can't be slammed unless they miss the fourth quarter (which looks highly unlikely). They've pretty much guaranteed all the coverage of the Wii launch will be positive. Not too shabby.

Also, as a side note, it's a shame that the standard "This news is so old!" post is now being combined with the "So you should fire the blogger!" idea. Still, if you sow the winds, you have to be ready to reap the hurricane.

From the producers of "Early Edition" hit CBS drama, comes the new show "Late Edition". Yesterday's news, TODAY!

something like this isnt exactly unheard of. apple has done it a number of times. they call everyone in for their press conferences and say, "this is our new product. by the way, you can go buy it as of right now."

if you think about it, perhaps Nintendo could be announcing that review units will be sent to the major publications as early as October, or they could be sent to retailers early as well. We had 360's in the back room at EB when I worked there for 2 weeks before we could sell them. We know nothing about the Wii launch. As far as we know Nintendo could announce on Thursday that the Wii will be launching a month from now in October...who knows. I have a feeling that it will launch earlier than expected. Definately before PS3.

This is news to me, I have yet to here this story.

They usually ship consoles to stores about 2-4 weeks before a launch, so this isn't surprising.

I'm tired of telling the story of how I worked at Nintendo during the Gamecube launch. For full story, please refer to the comments on rest of the blogs that posted this story earlier this week.

Damn Nintendo is already packaging its console and Sony has just begun manufacturing. This Nov is gonna be interesting.

"9. Next Tuesday? Fuck that, I need a little preperation to afford this stuff, which was actually going to start next week. First time I've ever hoped something like this was false.

Posted at 11:50AM on Sep 12th 2006 by Ultimatallica 0 stars"

DONT WORRY!!! I Just called Nintendo, They said they will hold their launch until you have enough money. You are the only one that matters!!! They asked me to tell you to give them a call when you are ready to buy one!!!

Oh, and Someone please have them delay the launch of PS3 until 2008, that way I have enough time to save up for it!!!

Please, please Billy Bob, buy the Wii. I promise to do better on the box next time.

That Dr.Who, he's a silly bitch.

Anyway, Blake's (the blogger we should fire and then destroy Joystiq because of) said November launch in the past, and I'm in the same ring. I just don't think Nintendo is going to pull an Apple-like announce/launch combination where they release the thing the same day or soon after a major press event.

Early November, late, late Oct. is the window.

@ #3 (aka flamebaiter)

If all your purchases are based purely on the aesthetics of the packaging then I should let you know that I've got the new true video IPOD box here. Its gorgeous and I'm only charging $500.....yeah its full of sweaty, half-chewed testicles but you don't seem to mind.

Fcuktard.

My girlfriend was just offered a job fitting the Spanish Wii roadshow trucks with all the AV equipment, and this thing should start sometime around October. She sent in her CV yesterday, I'll see if I can do the same. I guess this means most of the hardware is pretty much done by the time the tours starts, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if these job openings are true.

even if they start shipping to where ever they are shipping to (holding cell) they need millions(2?4?6?10?) before they ship to Walmart BestBuy etc...

You think nintendy has millions of Wii's, no
pubs and testers would have retial verisons for testing and well they dont...

Production started not too long along Some time in Aug,

Wii is not coming any sooner than Nov1 (11/01), Nov11(11/11) if the like the 1111 , OCT2 would be badass... but no

Nintendy doesn't want a shortage, not as bad as the 360 at least

BestBuys in miami(big city) had (big stores)80-50(small stores) Xbox 360s

My Point it is going to take time to make a stockpile of Millions Wiis.

it's the whole Saturnday thing all over again. I'm fully expecting that when I go to the store tonight I'll discover the Wii has already been on sale for like two days.

"You mean to tell me that Nintendo is hiring people to package and ship their new console? Get out of here!"

Are you kidding me? A week ago "You mean to tell me IBM had made chips for their new console? Get out of here!" was a story Joystiq was keeping these kids up past their bedtime for.

Well, if they're planning on an advertising blitz, 11/11 would be the easy number to remember ... plus, it's easy to make a Wii out of it :P

October 31 would be the other good day ...

It's going to be November 6th. That's all I have to say.

Still, these past few days, I have to admit, especially with this information, if Wii will actually be out on October 2. I know the VV + II in Roman numerals has been tossed around but... Who knows, right?

Also, consider, they're looking for people at one specific production facility... Who's to say that other factories aren't already hard at work packaging the Wii for the above date...and beyond?

It will launch November 7th and will cost $229.99.

At least that's what the bus boy at Denny's said.

lol @14, exactly what I was thinking.

I highly doubt Nintendo would pull a surprise launch with the Wii... you know, because that worked out so great for the Dreamcast. And like others have said, it wouldn't be a surprise anyway when everyone and their mom is going "OMG SURPRISE LAUNCH????????" over something as trivial as Nintendo hiring for people to package the systems.

but 10 in roman numerals is X not VV, silly.

Correction: Saturn, not Dreamcast. My apologies.

Won't launch until November...MAYBE late October at the earliest. All this "IT'S OUT IN A FEW WEEKS!" people are in for a letdown.

Still hoping (although not expecting) the $200 price.

I like that picture Joystiq. 'Ah, just throw them in the truck. GO GO GO!' *horror*

I'm going to throw in pointless date speculation too! I looked at my calendar and noticed under the W (for Wednesday) column was 11. W-11, W-ii....maybe.... Anyways...can't wait for Thursday.

Not going to happen.

If the Wii launches early then say goodbye to Nintendos home console business.

Think Sega Saturn. Many publishers are already wary of working with Nintendo for a number of reasons. If Nintendo put out their hardware early, a few months before the third parties were ready, expect a mass exodus of publishers and all trust to be lost.

It doesn't seem that feasible that Nintendo would mount a surprise launch, although an announcement of a close shipping date seems likely.

Retailers have to have enough time to receive inventory, prepare space, and setup promotional materials. Plus you have print and TV ads to make consumers aware that it's available. This is not something that happens immediately after an announcement. It would have to be stagged weeks in advance.

Once the staging begins, there's bound to be leaks.

I'm sure retailers have an idea of when the release will be, and I'm sure we'll hear as soon as anyone starts receiving initial stock.

My forecast, and this is just an educated guess, would be that Wii is arriving for sale in October.

If for some reason it arrives in September, I'll be impressed.

Art Guy - what are you talking about?

The publishers and developers would know the release date - it would only be a surprise to the consumer. To quote a 90's catchphrase - d'uh.

Sorry, to clarify, in my rather pointless comment, I meant to mention that Wed. the 11th is in October. Sorry for any confusion.

I don't think a surprise launch is possible due to the fact that all of the game publishers planning to have games available at launch will need time to produce/package their products. Tthis rules out the possibility that they already know when to ship and launch date).

On the other hand, game studios and publishers have known about this big "announcement" on the 14th and may have anticipated a launch date so they may have jumped the gun. Hell, they might have started production for GC in Germany. It would have been smart if their game was finished.

Even if that wasn't the case, I believe that three weeks would be enough time. Ocotber 2nd sounds great to me!

"Think Sega Saturn."

True, although people passing the Saturn waited for a -$100 ps2. Now they would have to skip a Wii for a +$300(around) ps3.

Yeah.. ps1 not ps2.

ARRGGH! I can't take it anymore! I don't care if this is (or any other) article is old news to you. It's new to someone (e.g. me) who might, say, only check up on a few blogs/sites a day.

There, I've said my piece. Now I'm going to quietly sneak away and hide in a corner...

3. I hope they don't do a rush job. Like a lot of people, I buy things only based on the packaging. I kind of wanted to get the Game Cube but took one look at the box and said "No way, Jose!" Flimsy construction, shoddy and thin cardboard, and sub-par aesthetics really doomed Nintendo's last generation so let's cross our fingers and hope they don't make the same mistake twice! Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Are..Are you legally retarded?

It seems like it to me.

Also, a month 1/2 early release isn't as bad as a 4 month jump (saturn).

im amazed at how many people arent catching #3's sarcasm.

Daniel wrote:"The publishers and developers would know the release date - it would only be a surprise to the consumer. To quote a 90's catchphrase - d'uh."

Well, I work for a major 3rd party publisher who happens to have a few Wii games slated for the launch window. If they go early and didn't tell us... I doubt we'd ever make another game for the Wii.

It ain't happening unless Nintendo really wants to piss off publishers.

Nintendo Australia have confirmed the launch dates for Aus. will be revealed on friday. So this seems likely.

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Nintendo already boxing Wii units?

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