While this particular piece of news isn’t likely to appease the seasonal need building in those shoppers relentlessly searching for the near-mythical Nintendo Wii, it may well calm those willing to accept that securing a Wii for Christmas is quickly becoming an impossibility.
Nintendo and GameStop launch 'Rain Check' to help shoppers bag a Wii before the close of January 2008. Credit: Sydney Morning Herald.
More specifically, Nintendo Corp. and retailer GameStop have announced a new Wii-related program called ‘Rain Check,’ which will guarantee consumers a unit of Wii on or before January 29 of 2008, reports the Associated Press .
Granted, that’s somewhat wide of the critical Christmas period, but it at least gives out a little hope for those presently wearing down shoe rubber while traipsing endlessly from store to store only to find empty shelving and apologetic shop assistants.
"We expect this to be a great way for consumers who desperately want a Wii to have something to put under the tree," commented Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime yesterday, while also outlining that "tens of thousands" of rain checks will be made available.
Taking Nintendo and GameStop up on their ‘rain check’ offer, which will be rolled out on December 20 and 21, will subsequently entitle shoppers to a regular priced Nintendo Wii ($249.99 USD) by the close of January.
Fils-Aime also added that, beyond the rain check program, Nintendo is alongside other leading retailers such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart to force fresh Wii inventory through the supply chain before Christmas – although he reiterated that there is no definitive answer on when consumer demand will finally be met.
"I get personal calls from people wanting to know why we don’t just manufacture more [units of Wii]. Believe me, if it were that easy, we would," explained Fils-Aime in a recent conference call to analysts and journalists. "Production depends on components from a wide array of suppliers," he added. "If only one can’t increase their capacity, then we can’t increase ours."
Demand for the Nintendo Wii has remained at a high level ever since the little gaming console hit the market in November of 2006. According to recently released market figures from the NPD Group, the Wii has sold more than 6 million units in the US alone over the past year, with it shifting an impressive 981,000 US units in November, which beats out the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 by 211,000 and 515,000 units respectively.
Based on current worldwide supply figures, Nintendo is producing some 1.8 million Wiis per month, which, considering the above US figure for November, is unlikely to satisfy demand any time soon. Take a rain check.
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