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Radioactive IT Where are Wii?
Radioactive IT Where are Wii? | Where are Wii? |
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| by Mike Bantick | |
| Sunday, 09 December 2007 | |
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Page 2 of 2 Nintendo were burnt by the previous generation of gaming consoles. The Western markets in particular did not warm to the GameCube, and as such, came a distant third to the PS2 and Xbox in that console war. So, given the conservative business nature of the company, it was not unsurprising that the chance to ramp up the manufacturing side as a precursor to releasing the Wii was not taken. The Wii phenomenon took everybody by surprise, analysts, journalists, competitors and Nintendo themselves seemingly. It is at the point where Nintendo has decided to pull advertising from the UK market at least: Nintendo are… “looking at moving some advertising on some products into early 2008” because it wants to “act responsibly”. In Germany there does not seem to be a problem, numerous gaming forums discussing the supply shortage generally end up with a commentator from the country inviting desperate consumers to Bavaria –or similar – to snatch one of the many on store shelves there. It makes only a small amount of sense for a company to control supply to a limited amount, and in Nintendo’s case this percentage of sense drops further. For starters, Nintendo – unlike its current generation rivals – actually makes money on Wii hardware sales. The components that make up the Wii are comparatively cheaper than the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3. Even at the cheapest price point of the three consoles the Wii actually makes a profit. This leads to the real conspiracy kicker – Nintendo needs to make hay while the sun shines. The Wii is a barrel of fun, but suffers in comparison to the Microsoft and Sony rivals when it comes to power and potential. Despite Nintendo innovation in design and pick-up-and-play fun, the Xbox 360 and PS3 have a longer lifespan ahead. Already you have pundits coming forth to demote the Wii to “toy” level, whilst talking up the technological achievements of its peers. So, this time next year, it is quite possible the Wii has indeed been relegated to the curio or fad department as consumers begin to adopt the “home entertainment hub” concept both Microsoft and Sony have been pushing. My message to Nintendo, if logistics permit, start pounding out those Wii’s. right now the market is hot, and they will be snapped up as fast as you can produce them. (Maybe divert some stock from Germany). So what if the worst case scenario eventuates, the Xbox 360 Arcade starts eating into sales, or PlayStation Home attracts a whole demographic away from Mii creation? Suddenly Nintendo is left with warehouses full of Wii’s. There is always the tried and true method of a price cut, already cheap, a further price cut will shift those units in no time. I truly believe Nintendo are doing the best they can to manage the seemingly insatiable need for a Wii (hehe!), but if you are holding back in any way Nintendo, take a chance now, there really is nothing to lose. Santa will be happier as well.
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