Avoid those launch day blues
Last year, the launch of the Xbox 360 saw gamers and average shoppers both scrabbling around, desperate to get their hands on Microsoft’s latest console, which was a sell out all over the country. And it’s happening again with the PS3, with some consoles, even on pre-sale tickets, fetching upwards of $8,000 dollars!
With the Wii set to launch in the UK on December 8th as part of a near simultaneous worldwide launch, many consumers are worrying they’ll face the same problems of supply that dogged the Xbox 360 launch. Microsoft admit that demand for the Xbox 360 was hugely underestimated but, by Christmas Day nearly all pre-orders for the console had been filled.
A brief ‘grey-market’ trade in Xbox 360s sprang up, with greedy opportunists selling Premium and Core packs on Ebay for up to £1100. Even Game, one of the UKs largest High Street games shops got in on the act, with one store asking nearly £1000 for an Xbox 360 with 15 games, even though 7 or the titles would be duplicates because of shortages. Game, to their credit, responded to our questions over this blatant ‘upselling’, telling us the manager of that store had breached company guidelines.
The Xbox 360 shortage even made national news headlines, unusual as sometimes the launch itself might be featured but this time the story was revisited as more and more parents were told that the Xbox 360 would not be in stock until after Christmas. As an experiment, we pre-ordered from Amazon at the start of November before cancelling the order in early January 2006…
So will things be different for the Wii?
Well, first off, Nintendo are saying they’ll be shipping roughly 4 million consoles by the end of the year. That’s an impressive figure and, seeing as the Xbox 360 has recently topped 6 million in worldwide sales for its first year, it would appear to be enough for the Wii launch.
Don’t forget, unlike the Xbox 360 and PS3, the Wii isn’t packed full of new technology. This alone drastically reduces failure rates and eases production. So Nintendo can churn out Wii with relative ease, something Sony must be getting seriously green eyed over.
Of course, we have to ask if Nintendo’s figures are optimistic, but given that Ninty rarely make a statement without being able to back it up, we’ve got every reason to believe them. It’s also well worth noting that the Wii is being firmly aimed at the casual gamer, the person who may only be dimly aware of new gaming tech. It’s essential that Nintendo has Wii on the shelf as their target consumer is unlikely to pre-order, believing that a new product should just be available off the shelf from Day One. So, even if the casual gamer finds stock short on launch day, it’s highly likely that they’ll still be able to get a Wii in time for Christmas which is what matters most.
All that leaves in the gamer who, as we saw with the Xbox 360, is the person who is most likely to be worried about stock levels on launch day. A large chunk of those 4 million Wii will be going to the US, but that should still leave plenty for the rest of the world including us.
Of course, the really big question is, where’s the best place to get your Wii from on launch day? So, on the next page, as part of our service to you, is our up-to-the-minute round-up/pre-order guide for the Wii.
