GameStop on Wii: 'Three years later, we finally have enough'
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Mar 19th 2009 at 4:10PM } 
Three years and countless lives lost later, it appears that Nintendo's Wii has finally found equilibrium in the epic battle between supply and demand. GameStop SVP of Merchandising Bob McKenzie, speaking with embedded reporters from Gamasutra, expresses the company finally has enough inventory on the shelf, with at least a couple weeks worth of supply.
As for software, McKenzie sees EA Sports Active being another hit for the console, stating that the pawnshop conglomerate was surprised by the popularity of Wii Fit.
Although this talk of Wii sales equilibrium sounds lovely in March, that doesn't guarantee it'll hold true once the holidays come around. But, at least, the concept of balance in the Wii supply chain is a tangible idea after all these years.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Cody @ Mar 19th 2009 4:17PM
ZEHOMGGG TEH WII IZ DOOMED!!1!1!
#1 console going strong!
Eggman @ Mar 19th 2009 4:19PM
Now, is this because Nintendo has actually increased supply? Or is it because spending is down in general so fewer people are out and about buying up consoles?
Cody @ Mar 19th 2009 4:22PM
I'd say a little of both.
Courtney @ Mar 19th 2009 5:00PM
A third factor is that with so many Wiis in homes, the demand is just finally starting to naturally slow down.
samfish (is ready for MadWorld!) @ Mar 19th 2009 5:26PM
My guess is demand is finally being met more than anything, although the economy is probably a factor, too. They did sell 700,000+ units last month, after all...and the analyst predictions (I know, I know..) are putting February at about 600,000 or so...we'll find out for sure when the NPDs drop soon (tonight?)
Bissy Boy (PSN johnnynumber5) @ Mar 19th 2009 7:43PM
This bit of information goes right along with what that analyst said just a day or so ago about Wii demand finally starting to decline and fall in line. Demand has fallen in Japan for a little while now and if the price hike in the UK (or was it all of EUR?) which is being passed onto consumers won't help things across the pond. I'm pretty sure they will have a good holiday sales spike but I think it's more than likely that demand has started to taper off. It's pretty crazy that the frenzy lasted as long as it did but as they say all good things must come to an end. I don't think it's as simple as Nintendo has finally managed to exceed the demand. I think it's more to do with demand starting to come down ithan it doesto the global economy being in the shitter though it is also part of it.
Tha0racle @ Mar 19th 2009 4:32PM
This may end up being the best year to own a Wii so its good they have some supply out there.
~Snipes~ (PSN slycooper_rocker) @ Mar 19th 2009 6:04PM
has it really been 3 years? i feel so old.
Garst @ Mar 20th 2009 12:39AM
Don't worry, it's only been 2.5 years.
Edge @ Mar 19th 2009 4:35PM
And we hardcore gamers have had enough of Nintendo.
...wait, I don't think that's what they meant... but it's no less true.
Rob @ Mar 19th 2009 4:51PM
Figures they would come out with all the RPG's and more mature games around the time the hardcore crowd wrote it off as a kiddy console.
Moptimus Slime (Leader of the Taylor Swift Defense Force, Gobot in disguise) @ Mar 19th 2009 4:52PM
yes where are all those M-rated games that made Nintendo famous? Why did they suddenly switch to being this family friendly company? WHY?
Rob @ Mar 19th 2009 4:55PM
"Why did they suddenly switch to being this family friendly company? WHY?"
Disposable income?
samfish (is ready for MadWorld!) @ Mar 19th 2009 5:24PM
"And we middle school and high school-age gamers have had enough of Nintendo."
That's a little more accurate, methinks.
MF Doom @ Mar 19th 2009 6:49PM
"And we who don't like being forced to scrape the bottom of the barrel to boast that we bought more than one Wii game during a 3/4ths-of-a-year long period have had enough of Nintendo."
Ficksed
The DS rocks my socks. I don't understand how the Wii is defensible, though.
MF Doom @ Mar 19th 2009 6:50PM
"Figures they would come out with all the RPG's and more mature games around the time the hardcore crowd wrote it off as a kiddy console."
lol, how'd I miss this?
What alternate reality are you living in?
If you're talking about the handheld universe, well yeah, Nintendo always fucking rocks there.
The Wii is the weakest of the consoles, though, and in more than one way.
Mr Khan @ Mar 19th 2009 6:56PM
Depends on how you define "bottom of the barrel." I mean, if you want to exclusively play games that are trying to epic and shiny, then yeah, you're not going to get much, but if you want unique, charming experiences, there's been quite a bit recently.
MF Doom @ Mar 19th 2009 7:01PM
Unique, charming experiences.
How come I keep hearing this?
No offense, really, but a lotta you guys act like games like this are unique to the Wii.
The PS3 and 360 have 'em too, and honestly, there's more on the 360 than there are on the Wii. PS3 is reaching that count.
Over here in the HD crowd, we call 'em downloadable games.
Alright, that was uncalled for, but typically, these 'charming games' have about the same amount of depth and replayability, as well as the same amount of charm, as games I can open up the PSN store and download.
The main difference here? When I'm done with my charming game
I have a bunch of shiny epics in my collection I can turn to.
Don't know why so many folks on the Wii side give 'shiny epic' negative connotations. Not saying that's what ya did, but I see it happen a lot.
Rob @ Mar 19th 2009 7:04PM
@ MF Doom
I picked up a issue of Nintendo Power, and saw a bunch of nice looking games in it, both for the Wii and DS.
Mr Khan @ Mar 19th 2009 7:05PM
Ahh, fatass. What happened, my friend?
MF Doom @ Mar 19th 2009 7:11PM
I got a job; meaning I've got a PS3 and a 360 now sitting proudly next to my Wii.
I still play 'em all, too. Wii gets around 25% of the playtime, 360 gets 35%, and PS3 gets 40%. Never expected I'd be playing the PS3 the most...
Thing is, though, when I've got a constant influx of awesome, refined, creative games coming out for the PS3 and the 360... it's hard to go to the store and look at the Wii's game list.
I've been playing a lot more lately thanks to Madworld and I might give The Conduit a buy if it can impress me (which it has yet to do, sadly), and I know there are more games down the road... but I've just got so damn much to play on the 360 and the PS3. Hard for me to put aside money for Wii games when something that is honestly bigger, better, and more badass is coming out on one of the other two consoles.
...can't wait for Mario, Zelda, and Pikmin. Sadly, thanks to good ol' Ninty, I'll have to.
Markez @ Mar 19th 2009 7:16PM
Welcome back, pal. The waiting part sucks, as I really refuse to believe that Nintendo can't rally the resources to push out more of their own IP at a quicker clip than they have been. My opinion is it's bordering on ridiculous. Pikmin 3 would be a no brainer. They seem content to just sit on their ass and slowly mete out quality 1st party games.
Mr Khan @ Mar 19th 2009 7:59PM
But the waiting is nothing worse than Nintendo's ever been up to. That's the part i don't get about the complaining
MF Doom @ Mar 19th 2009 8:10PM
Khan, it's because during the wait, Nintendo proved that they no longer really understand what most of us want. Tell me E3 08 didn't prove that. Unless Chinatown Wars (which admittedly is pretty dang good so far) and AC (pffffft) are supposed to be enough to excite us.
I'm sure they'll get back to what they started off doing (making games for us) but it's hard to have faith in them after that showing, ya know?
mynk @ Mar 19th 2009 8:24PM
excuse me, you mean primary and middle. high school is all 360 and ps3. for some reason everyone in the #teen age group thinks that they are automatically 17 as far as games go.
Bissy Boy (PSN johnnynumber5) @ Mar 19th 2009 8:25PM
Funny enough I like that damn controversial Animal Crossing game ...
MF.Doom (Fat ass)
Don't remember if you had been into him before or not but did you get around to checking out some Immortal Technique? Good shit if you want more than the 3 B's - Bling, Bitches and Bentleys (and I *know* you do by your names on insight and MF Doom). I love me some good socially relevant hip-hop and it gets no better than one Immortal Technique!
http://www.myspace.com/immortaltechnique
vidGuy @ Mar 19th 2009 4:40PM
28 months != 3 years
Desolation @ Mar 19th 2009 4:43PM
Three years my ass.
jcar302 @ Mar 19th 2009 4:45PM
Nintendo wii's are like jet ski's, dirt bikes, hot tubs and similar luxury items.
Once you try one out, you feel like you have to have it.
But after 2 weeks, you realize it's alot more fun to play with one that someone else has footed the bill for.
I know many people with the wii, not a single one still uses the system, some have even gotten little to no use at all. It's a fad and a complete waste of money.
My advice, if your buddy has one, go over his house and play it, it will make him feel like he didn't waste his money, and you won't have to spend $300 for one.
The marketing department at nintendo has done a wonderful job of selling these systems. Because they sure as hell didn't sell because the system is great.
Rob @ Mar 19th 2009 4:50PM
Still made Nintendo money, so that's all they could really care about. Considering around the time of the Gamecube there were people saying that Nintendo was going to turn into another Sega.
ice~ @ Mar 19th 2009 4:54PM
are you forgetting it prints money?!
vidGuy @ Mar 19th 2009 5:00PM
Assert your views as if they were universal, why don't you?
I paid $250 for the Wii and $350 for the 360 - and I get about that ratio of play out of them 40/60. I definitely don't find it a waste, and neither do the dozens of gamers I know that own them.
Moptimus Slime (Leader of the Taylor Swift Defense Force, Gobot in disguise) @ Mar 19th 2009 5:14PM
really? I've got 2 games on my "Me Wanty" list this week alone. Throw in MadWorld (got last week) and Broken Sword (next week I believe) thats 4 games in 1 month. The last game I got for my 360 was Halo Wars, which I rented
samfish (is ready for MadWorld!) @ Mar 19th 2009 5:17PM
"I know many people with the wii, not a single one still uses the system, some have even gotten little to no use at all."
Strange, it's the opposite for me.
I bet people walk out of theaters too when a a huge movie you hate but everyone else likes opens, too, huh?
Bissy Boy (PSN johnnynumber5) @ Mar 19th 2009 8:13PM
I think both ends of the spectrum have been covered in this reply chain when it comes to the Wii. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. I neither love the thing nor despise the site of it. I don't get excited about that many games but there are some I would like to have.
Like sand through the hour glass ... So are the days of our lives
This is what happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force ... And so goes the days of our lives (on Joystiq).
We exist in an Irresistible force paradox ... an unstoppable force paradox ... depending on your perspective.
The awareness we have that "contributors" exist even when they are no longer visible is what makes us aware ... This object permanence guarantees even the trolliest of trolls will be back though they are hidden in plain sight ... lurking ... waiting for you to slip up.
There is no such thing as Universal Truth though we know it exists ...
And so goes the days of our lives on The Stiq.
:)
I think I'll go find something enjoyable to play on my Wii so the life of an innocent puppy is spared.
Lou-igi @ Mar 19th 2009 4:56PM
I think its because most of the people who want the Wii already have it.
Rob @ Mar 19th 2009 4:59PM
Yeah, if you believe some charts, almost 50 million Wii's have been sold around the world
THE WICKER MAN (BWF) (GT: Dalek Prime) @ Mar 19th 2009 5:00PM
gamestop fu@% ur self. Nintendo gimmie earthbound series
Mr Khan @ Mar 19th 2009 6:35PM
Never again, apparently. Itoi's done with the series and apparently dislikes the idea of letting the game be localized, and legal troubles are interfering with Mother 2 (EarthBound) getting on VC.
mikemaj82 @ Mar 19th 2009 5:07PM
Are you kidding? Gamestop sucks. Best Buy has had 100s of Wii's sitting on their shelves for over three months now.
Rob @ Mar 19th 2009 5:09PM
I can agree with that, Gamestop does indeed suck.
time @ Mar 19th 2009 5:19PM
I have never had a problem buying new games from Gamestop. Is there something I don't know?
samfish (is ready for MadWorld!) @ Mar 19th 2009 5:21PM
The Best Buy near me doesn't. I do see them about 2/3 of the time on the shelves, though, if I had to guess. I haven't seen any store where I can walk in at any given point and be like 90% guaranteed to walk out with a Wii, like I could do with 360 or PS3. Maybe more like 70%-75% or so guaranteed.
samfish (is ready for MadWorld!) @ Mar 19th 2009 5:22PM
Also, Gamestop sucks. This is true.
mikemaj82 @ Mar 19th 2009 5:41PM
I had preordered RE5 from one of the game stores owned by Gamestop, and they haven't called me yet. Ended up doing an in-store pickup at Best Buy a day later, since they had it in stock. (Collector's edition at that). I consider that bad business.
tmmoore_nc @ Mar 19th 2009 5:35PM
Definitely a ton of Wiis in my area, at Target, Best Buy and Gamestop alike.
UncleCheeto @ Mar 19th 2009 5:40PM
The nice part about retailers never having the Wii in stock was that I got a great deal on the one I sold to a lady at work. Paid for my PS3. Better sell them while you can get a good price before everyone else gets the same idea.
Yakul @ Mar 19th 2009 5:43PM
How about Wii Fit?
I live in Canada, WiiFit is rare spawn...
Balloonfighter99 @ Mar 19th 2009 6:03PM
Wow Uncle Cheeto!!! How did you think up that plan? Nobody would have ever guessed that.
Tha0racle @ Mar 19th 2009 6:01PM
Same goes for me , I play the Wii constantly.. I love when I read people saying that there are no games for the Wii..nigga please. Wiiware alone has a ton of fun games to buy let alone the VC and retail games ( I know there is a ton of crap too , but there are quite a few gems out there ),
Also , I have lost 21lbs using that damn Wii Fit and dieting