Europe: Wii hopefuls feel the shortage pain

by Blake Snow { Dec 8th 2006 at 10:15PM }

This week, Nintendo is making its journey into the motion-side complete (spoken in my best Emperor accent) by launching in Australia and Europe, having already finished both the US and Japanese launches. Now the old world is feeling the early shortage pain with many gamers having their preorders delayed until after Christmas, according to the BBC, because Nintendo "didn't ship enough."

In addition to gamer complaints, the article suggests UK retailers are having "problems getting stock from Nintendo." Is the continent getting the supply shaft yet again? Probably. So we at Joystiq are "pouring out a little for our homies" in Yurp. Good luck, mates.

[Thanks, >]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

32_Footsteps @ Dec 8th 2006 10:40PM

Ah, short stocking, to the point of being unable to fill preorders. This is just the moment Sony needs to take advantage of limited Wii quantities to push the PS3 hard in Europe and Australia...

Oh, nevermind.

Luckydob @ Dec 8th 2006 10:51PM

Um...Earth to everyone. If there is a console released in your area you must:

- Camp out for 72 hours to get a unit
- Pay a huge premium via eBay
- Realize you have to be very lucky or have no job in order to get one on release day.

Super fat Nintendo fanboy who will defend it to the death like a raibid zealot. @ Dec 8th 2006 10:47PM

Running out of things to write eh? I dont know but this post looks familar. Haven't you guys already pointed this out? Oh yeah you did.

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/12/07/european-wii-shortages-expected-into-2007/

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/12/08/nintendo-slip-up-points-to-wii-shortages/

Are you guys gonna blow this out of proportion too, like you did with the wii-straps? Seems like the media is trying real hard to peg something negative on Nintendo...try harder! Whats next senior citizen gets heart failure playing Wii tennis.

I hear you joystiq and I feel for Europe! I live in the States an I'm having trouble getting one.

silkylove @ Dec 8th 2006 10:47PM

LOL. Very funny #1. I'll spell it out for those who are not as adept. Wii shortages are nothing compared to the PS3 which has 0 units over there for the holidays.

Grog @ Dec 8th 2006 10:52PM

First, this little "article" adds nothing, since it's really just a couple additional sentences of commentary on a previous post.

Second, some people have been talking about how they just walked into stores (without a preorder) and picked a Wii up (mostly in England, I guess). Others couldn't get a Wii even with a preorder, but also mention how their store sold hundreds of preorders. I am in no way denying supply issues, but it doesn't seem to me like Europe is any shorter on Wiis than the rest of the world... at least from these reports. And let's face it, there was no way Nintendo was going to have extras lying around this holiday season unless they happened to make about 40 million of 'em.

Next-Gen-Gamer @ Dec 8th 2006 10:54PM

Didn't ship enough to match what they initially told retailers they'd ship, or didn't ship enough to match all the pre-orders? For those who can't tell the difference, go ask FYE about their pre-orders. The store here took over 100 pre-orders. They got FIVE consoles at launch. It wasn't because they got the shaft, it's because they just went ahead and took pre-orders, and will get the consoles to people whenever they come in.

So far, out of reading comments to that article, one store can actually claim they got ripped off. Supposedly Nintendo took away from one store, and shipped the Wiis to another store (same company, different store). THAT'S the shaft.

I kind of wish the guy commenting after that last comment would shut up. "Boohoo, my store only got 51 units". I thought people complaining about there only being "25 units" were bad.

I feel bad for the people in Europe that actually got screwed over. Not these people who pre-ordered from a store that doesn't guarantee a console at launch. Nintendo not meeting demand isn't "shortages". Nintendo taking Wiis from one store, and sending them to another could be considered "shortages" (and just down-right sad).

Don't get it twisted.

silkylove @ Dec 8th 2006 10:57PM

@ #4.

Not true. I got my Wii the Tuesday B4 black Friday just by walking in and asking the guy at the counter if they got their second shipment in yet because I knew they were restocking majorly for black Friday. He initially told me they were sold out, but after I asked him to help me out he went in the back and came back with a Wii for me. You can walk in a store in the US and have a good chance of finding a Wii if you know what time and where to try it. You just have to outthink Grandma.

Luckydob @ Dec 8th 2006 11:08PM

#7 - You just proved my point. You were LUCKY to find one.

Liquidize @ Dec 8th 2006 11:17PM

I might be a bit lost in how preorders work, but are the number of units available for preorder set by the manufacturer, e.g. sony/nintendo, or are pre order limits set by businesses themselves?

Not that I would accuse companies on any side of any ocean of short changing customers on purpose, but.....

FinalDelerium @ Dec 9th 2006 12:06AM

@4

Australia's launch was nothing like that. Turned up half an hour before twelve, waited til midnight, was thirty in line, at a quarter past twelve i had my wii and was out of there. At home and playing by quarter to one. No hassles at all.

shivr @ Dec 9th 2006 12:27AM

yeah... I got my US unit camping just 4 hours in advance... didn't have to quit my job or nothin' :)

SyChO @ Dec 9th 2006 12:30AM

Eh.... the console was released in North America, not just the USA! Don't forget that please!!!

It's not just the US, JAPAN and EUROPE...

ZombieMike @ Dec 14th 2006 9:21AM

Can't speak for everywhere, but GAME in the UK were taking as many pre-orders as they could. However, they did make it clear that this did not guarantee you a console a launch. If you were they hundredth pre-order then you would get the hundredth Wii, whether that was on launch day or three months later.

Neccy @ Dec 9th 2006 4:56AM

Apparently they all sold out within the first hour... 60 whole minutes.

Prehaps Nintendo think theres only about 50,000 gamers actually living over here in europe.

thies @ Dec 9th 2006 5:29AM

there were reportedly 50000 units in the UK. Google tells me a number of 70000 for the 360 last year and 185000 for the PSP when it launched.
And seriously, sortages onlx happen since companies try (and fail) to pull of global launches. Any console up until the 360 I could buy on day one with just walking into a store there and then.
Seeing that Nintendo can't even satisfy customers until christmas who even preordered this launch is a disaster.
I'll check out another store today still. If they are not able to sell me a wii I'll spend the money on something else. I don't need a wii and Nintendo apparently think they don't need my money. I'm just feeling bad for the publishers who pushed stacks of games out to retailers with those now just sitting there and not selling due to lack of units to be played on.

hardy har-har @ Dec 9th 2006 7:13AM

Pfft. Here in Greece, (a) no-one over the age of 17 plays console games, and (b) no shops care about honouring street-dates. So I just walked into a shop and bought one, the day before launch.

HAHA @ Dec 9th 2006 9:20AM

this isnt any better than the ps3 to me. In my eyes i cant get either one and i waited in line for both with the same result. they both lied about launch number nintendo said something like ten million will be ready to go and they fell way short of that. plus they claimed to have made them as soon as last april and there's still not enough. Why do we, the gamer have to deal with this crap. No other electronics have these types of shortages. I bet when MOTO RAZR came out which cost about the same 349/wo contract. there were no preorders no overnight camp out people simply went and got one. same thing with phonesa and TVS and everything else in the price range

MarkF @ Dec 9th 2006 9:25AM

I got my preorder from Amazon no problem at all. Interestingly, they seemed to wait until they knew exactly how many units Nintendo could supply them before accepting preorders. People complaining of unfulfilled preorders all seem to be complaining about companies who started taking orders way before they could possibly know exactly how much stock they were getting from Nintendo. Are Nintendo really to blame here? It should be noted that Amazon took way too many preorders for the Xbox360 last year and left a ton of people disappointed. Unlike other companies, did they learn from their mistakes this time around?

Lewigi @ Dec 9th 2006 1:13PM

I preordered and paid in full months ago at woolworths.
They said i was guaranteed one on launch, then i went down yesterday and i was told they didnt get any at all in. It is actualy for my christmas and worst of all is that they wont give me a refund because they cannot confirm that i definitely wont get one before christmas, but also cant guarantee me one before christmas.

DrXym @ Dec 9th 2006 2:04PM

So much for the shortage of the Wii. I walked into a GAME store in Ireland today, not particularly interested in buying one but keen to see if they had a console on display. Were they sold out? Nope. In fact as I stood there at 2pm, an assistant shouted for someone to get one from the backroom.

What made me feel sorry for the buyer was that GAME are doing the usual bundle scam - you HAD to buy 3, 4 or 5 games to secure a Wii and the prices were from about 420 euros up. So much for the price advantage of the Wii. For that kind of price you may as well (and can) buy an Xbox 360 Core with a game or two.

More evidence if any were needed that a) people who buy consoles at or close to release day are flaming idiots, and b) that game stores know and count on it.

alex @ Dec 9th 2006 2:37PM

i got mine pre-ordered from woolworths in the uk...

they told me i was pretty lucky to get it as there was trucks held up in germany on their way to the uk. supposedly the drivers went on strike and kept 4k wii's waiting.

eep.

KEELr @ Dec 10th 2006 12:07PM

Just sold a brand new Wii+Zelda+WiiPlay for $710 and have no problem waiting for these to get back instock before I get one to keep!

rubaiyat @ Dec 9th 2006 3:45PM

@16

Where did Nintendo ever say they were going to have 10 million ready and were making the Wii since last April?

Seriously, go find a single source directly form Nintendo that stated that.

Also, if you can't figure out why a cell phone or TVs are different than a game console, I don't know what to tell you.

ackmondual @ Dec 10th 2006 4:32PM

For Euros and Aussies, they're the flipside to say in a way. US got PS3 2 days bef the Wii. Those other folk had a chance for a Wii (with the shortages having a major impact like us), while nothing on the PS3. I'm not sure if they received the same # of units that we did, but I do wonder if this caused alot of PS3+Wii proponents to get a Wii.... as in if they had a chance to get a PS3 first, they would've just ignored the Wii launch assuming they would'v been able to secure a PS3 1st.

@ #7
Where are you at? I doubt it's in a metropolitan area or any city with more than a population of 75,000. In the larger cities and towns, the demand tends to be significantly higher there.

Jdoki @ Dec 10th 2006 6:52PM

I guess I should consider myself lucky that I managed to get a 360 Premium and now a Wii on their respective UK release dates.

I pre-ordered both from GAME as soon as the pre-orders were announced - it doesn't take long to sign up for the handy email that informs you when pre-orders will be accepted!

Even if Nintendo are artificially creating demand by reducing supply people still need to remember the logistics behind this. Just because Nintendo may have X million ready doesn't mean that Retailer Y has the capacity to stock those sort of numbers.

There's a physical limit to the number of boxes a warehouse can hold, a limit to the number of trucks to move the stuff around and so on.

In the case of the Wii I suspect replenishment will be frequent. This doesn't seem to be the same issue as the Xbox360/PS3 where they didn't have enough units manufactured - retailers seem confident of getting more units before Xmas.

Lemonized @ Dec 11th 2006 10:30AM

In Holland, equilevants to America's Best Buy (Mediamarkt) recieved 10 units per store.

Other retailers were given the same amount. Only 2 other major retailers were given the wii.

Other stores got nothing.

Best thing; The stores started selling the wii 1 day in advance. Leaving people like me who go on releasedate empty handed.

Next shipment: Friday. 1 day before christmas.