What Made The Wii Supply Run Out

It’s very rare when demand far exceeds the supply of a particular product, but that’s how it is with Nintendo’s newest gaming innovation Wii.

The release of the first batch of Wiis has reached the United States, the United Kingdom, and naturally Japan. In the United Kingdom, 50,000 units were sold in the first 12 hours succeeding the release. Just a few hours after the launch, over 1,200 units had exchanged hands through the leading online marketplace Ebay. The highest price Wii fetched on the virtual bidding site was £500.

With the first batch of Wii supply seemingly inadequate to satisfy all the pre-orders made through various stores, customers had received official mails informing them of the possibility of having their pre-orders unfulfilled before Christmas. This disappointed so much that scores of customers had emailed news programs about their predicament.

As such, parents who had the foresight to expect the Wii supply to run out and pre-order for Nintendo’s newest gaming unit have no choice now but to fall in line alongside other hopefuls.

And this was what almost happened in the UK store Woolworth’s. People had already queued up early in the morning before the shop would officially open. Although the lines for the Wii weren't as hysterical as the crowd that preceded the launch of the PS3 held several days before Wii’s official release, the crowd was still sizeable enough to guarantee a total sellout. Woolworth management believes that they would be hard pressed to have units available even before the weekend was over.

In spite of the insufficient Wii supply, however, other stores such as Dixons, Curry’s, and PC World promised that all pre-orders would be handled in “strict chronological order”.

Innovative Features: Why the Wii Supply Run Out

If you’re wondering why the Wii supply ran out, you need not wonder no more once you’ve taken a careful look of the various innovative features of Wii. The concept behind Wii is having a gaming unit that will bond everyone in the family, and people of all ages and gender. This is also why it’s called Wii – deliberately pronounced like “we” – and with two I’s together to indicate its preferred two-player status.

Nintendo Wii includes a built-in Wi-Fi system, a 512MB internal flash memory, an available slot for SD memory expansion, dual USB 2.0 ports, a new online gaming service to work with the Wi-Fi system, and of course the now famous Wii Remote, the unit’s motion-sensitive controller.