I keep hearing about shortages but I see Wii's on the shelves all the time. If you're in the Orlando, FL area I saw three at the Wal-Mart(yeah, I know) on South OBT just the other day.

I thought Nintendo was in the process of tooling another factory for Wii production.

Did I miss some great Wii games coming out, or what? What is driving all these sales? Just the control method?

Just what Nintendo wants....more frenzy around their system. The perception, rightly or wrongly, that there's an extremely high demand only makes them look better.

I don't believe it. When I did do my local WallyWorld expedition, they had Wiis on the shelf.

If it's really that bad, find a reputable seller, place a backorder, and wait. No stress, no hassle. You'll get it when it comes back in stock.

I was at target this weekend in the LA area and they had the last 2 shelves filled will Wiis. That was the most I have seen at one time.

alteredbeast: I think the attraction IS the control system. I havent seen a lot of good games so far. But if the Wii can be used by people who dont normally play video games, I would have to say it is a hit. The control system is like USB, plug and play, or in the instance, pick up and play. simple as that.

The shortage has cost Nintendo at least one sale... I was interested in the Wii... after not being able to find one for the past few months, I've lost the desire to purchase one. I've found other things to occupy my time.

My kids got a Wii as a gift and we played it a lot over the holiday weekend.

Another reason the damn thing is so great is that it allows immediate intergenerational play. In 5 minutes I was playing tennis with my 13 year old and then bowling with the 7 year old. And we all had a blast.

My husband and daughter have been interested in getting one -- but thus far I haven't given in to it. I was reading in Business 2.0 letters to the editors that it can be a lot of fun -- and is more interactive/innovative than the other gaming systems (right now we only have PS2) -- but it for serious gamers it lacks in graphicswise -- and compared to XBOX360, it isn't as great for online gaming.

All that said, if the supply isn't sufficient to meet the great demand, the folks at Nintendo better get their act together. People may want what they cannot have -- but eventually, most seem to settle.

Nintendo is a very conservative (business-wise, not political) company. They'd rather sell their 1.5 million a month for the forseeable future, than open another factory spending 100 million or so, sell 3 million for a month or two then have to mothball the place.

^ I agree with that, but the head of Nintendo did admit that they underestimated the popularity of the system.

Having said that, DON'T buy one from eBay. Don't feed the reseller beast. I waited on line at NintendoWorld in NYC for mine last week. Eventually your local store will have them. If anything, buy those bundles from Walmart.com or Circuitcity.com. You'd be surprised at how many accessories you end up buying anyway.

For Canadians who are wii hunting:

http://www.consolewatch.com/textonly.php

I used this site to email me when they went on sale online and managed to snag two (one for me, one for sis) within a couple of weeks. Saved me the stress of constantly calling stores to check on delivery dates.

My girlfriend picked up a Wii in a bundle from CircuitCity.com which was really quite fair. It only forced you to buy an extra remote and nunchuk, which is pretty standard to have, and a game of her choice. Not like she wasn't going to buy a game for the system, either. They even sent a coupon with it that saved $15 on a future $100 purchase which got them a sale on two more games (which actually included yet another coupon that went unused). I know some bundles are very strict and require silly accessories or preselected games, but there is good Wii availability out there if you look around a bit.

Sounds like all the excess is over at Wal-Mart. Am I wrong to think that they're not being bought there because the average Wal-Mart customer is too poor or too cheap to afford one??

Its easy to forget (and a little hard to believe) but nintendo has been around since 1889. When people say nintendo is in it for the long haul, they arent kidding.

I hear its common in japan to have a "100 year business plan" but never really found if thats true.

Nintendo has some pretty big titles(Metroid, Mario Galaxy, Smash Bros, Guitar Hero 3!) left to come out in the 2nd half of 2007, so the Wii shortages could definitely continue.

@synergy: Most stores tend to sell out when people realize they're in stock. Thats why you still see lines for Sunday morning when a store features them in an ad. If Walmart drops a bunch of stock on the shelf Wednesday in the afternoon, it'll take a while for people to realize they're on the shelf. I like to check whenever I'm out shopping and I've seen Wiis out in Dallas en masse only one time.

Wii's appeal: it's fun, simply, almost guilty fun. You throw off the shackles of having to play the latest and greatest. You can play 1986's super mario brothers. You can doodle on people's faces from your digital camera (and have other people doodle at the same time). You get access to one of the best developers out there (Nintendo; seriously, the latest Zelda games put hollywood to shame).
And as for the claims that the graphics aren't great: play Zelda and tell me you aren't completely immersed. Then play Call of Duty 3 and tell me you want anything more realistic (the opening battle scene is enough to scare you).
I applaud Nintendo for leaving Sony and MS to beat each other silly while they watch.

A few of you totally nailed it on the head - the appeal to the non-gamer is what is fascinating to me. I've been a game hater ever since . . . well, forever. I wasn't allowed to play them as a kid, so I decided that they were a waste of time. I've never learned the basics - I've never learned how to use the controllers, what the commands meant, what the point of the damn thing is.

And yet . . . after watching someone create a mii and play tennis for five minutes, I was interested enough to give it a try. And a week later I convinced my roommate to buy one. I've purchased my first video game (wario world), ever, at the age of 26.

Do I care if this is a hard-core gamer system? No. Do I care if it is fun and gets me off the couch for five minutes? Yes.

Am I outside of Nintendo's core market? Yes. Did Nintendo get some of my hard earned money? Yes.

The Target store at 15 mile and Coolidge in the Detroit area has had tons of Wiis last two times I was there, more than fit in the display case.
When I purchased mine, the sales person picked up a box from a sizable pile behind the electronics section cash register, rather than going to the display case to obtain one...

I got one last week at Sam's club (although I would have preferred Costco), after striking out at a Best Buy. The Sam's in Seabrook NH had two units -- the boxed on I got and the unit whose box was on display (the unit was safely off the floor). They had a system where you take a paper tag to the cashier to pay for and claim the item. They had way more tags than units, so beware.

But I got one no problem.

I remember when I used to have a Wii...until it was stolen four days after I got it. I moved on to a PS3, which I keep under lock and key at all times. But I'll never forget my first love.

@gamble:I had my Wii stolen as well and I still cry about it sometimes. The Wii, along with the DS, turned me into a total Nintendo fan boy once more. It feels as though I have lost a great girlfriend or something like that.

I now think I understand the attachment that Mac users have to their Macs or their ipods.

Atari - 1975 to 1984, 9 years
Nintendo - 1985 to 1995, 10 years
Sony - 1995 to 2006, 11 years

Nintendo will have the dominant video game console for until 2018.

Women dig the Wii...I found one last weekend...

Keep checking your local game stores (EBGames, GameStop, etc). I went to the three local malls which have these stores, got all their phone numbers and called untill they knew when they were getting a shipment in. When one popped up, I ran over to the store as fast as I could to snatch one up.

I can also attest to the Wii's mystical powers over non-gamers. My dad loves playing golf on the Wii. My dad is a Luddite in the flesh. He won't turn on a computer with out freaking out. Also one time he saw me playing "Crusader No Remorse" which is a futuristic sci-fi 3rd person shooter back in the day. When he did, he freaked out and said "Stop playing that Spiderman game and study!" I didn't know whether to laugh or cry because he called a guy in red power armor "Spiderman"

My girlfriend's father has to be practically dragged away from playing bowling on the thing. He and I can play bowling forever on that before someone yells at us to get some work done at the house :P

Wii's are still near to impossible to find in Tulsa. I finally got mine yesterday after Circuit City claimed to have them in stock in their ad Sunday.

They ended up getting one which is the one I have.

You might see them on the shelves at Wal-Mart, but you can't just buy them. You have to bundle it with games and spend nearly $500. A lot of people can drop $250 on a game system all at once, but not $500.