Nintendo Wii supply has finally caught up to demand
Sorry I underestimated you, Wii.
(Credit: Nintendo of America)GameStop, the leading boutique video game retailer in the U.S., finally has enough supply of Nintendo Wii consoles on store shelves to satisfy consumers who want to simply walk in the store and pick one up. In an interview with Gamastura, GameStop Senior Vice President of Merchandising Bob McKenzie told the publication that his company waited almost three years for this to happen.
"Three years later, we finally have enough inventory on the shelf, and we've got a couple of weeks in supply," he told Gamasutra.
Wow. No longer do potential buyers need to wait in line, call GameStop to find out if Wiis are available, or search elsewhere for a stray console. The Wii is just available.
Remember when the Wii was first announced? It was April 2006. Everyone was expecting Nintendo's secret new console to be called Revolution. And then, in what would become a joke for months, Nintendo announced that its new console would be called "Wii."
People snickered at its name, but Nintendo stayed true to it. It wanted us to know that Wii sounds like "we," meaning it's specifically designed for everyone to enjoy. And more importantly, it wanted us to know that from a branding perspective, Wii was perfect because it wasn't long and difficult for non-English speakers to pronounce like "Revolution" and anyone from any culture would immediately know what a person was talking about when he or she said "Wii."
Nintendo listened to the jokes about the name, and probably expected them, but kept pressing on until the console was shown to journalists and gamers--who became believers.
And that was the first step in Nintendo's dominance over this generation. By November 19, 2006 when the console was released, it had already captivated the public. People waited in line to get their hands on Nintendo's capable, fun, and affordable console.
...Originally posted at The Digital Home