Has the Nintendo Wii finally reached saturation point?
The Wii has had an incredible run for the last two years, selling to all and sundry and making Nintendo a boatload of money. In that two-year period, demand has always outstripped supply, with new stocks of the little white console disappearing as soon as they hit store shelves. Could that trend now be ending?
The almost unbelievable success of the Wii over the past couple of years has surprised most people, me included. Here is a console that is stuck in the last-gen in every way apart from its innovative control system. But that’s all it’s needed. People of all ages have wanted to buy into the dream of actually playing video games, using body and hand movements rather than the quite unnatural rigmarole associated with using a controller and learning what each button does.
It can be argued that most real gamers realized the idea of the Wii was better than the reality. Two years in, and most of us long ago realized that the Wii is nothing more than a novelty, fun for five minutes but lacking the catalog of games, graphical capabilities, and multimedia feature set that the grown-up PS3 and Xbox 360 can.
There’s no doubting that the Wii has captured the imaginations of casuals and non-gamers everywhere, but could it now have reached saturation point? In January, I asked whether sales of the Wii would slow down in light of a stronger showing from the PS3 and Xbox 360. And it could be happening already.
A writer at Aeropause today noted that stocks of Wii consoles seem to be building up in all his usual electronic stockist haunts. In Target, Wal-mart, Gamestop, and Best Buy, there are Wiis available to anyone who wants one. And that’s without the queues and fighting over the last one that we’ve seen up to this point.
This mirrors what I’ve noticed in the UK. Game shops have had ‘Wii Now In Stock’ posters up in their windows since Christmas, but they haven’t had to be taken down again because it seems supply has finally caught up with demand. Even more telling, one shop had three used Wiis for sales at the knockdown price of £99, almost half the RRP of £179.
Sales figures are showing that the Wii is still selling in high numbers, but it’s clear that demand is starting to drop from the preposterous levels they were in the run up to Christmas. Nintendo has also obviously upped production levels, and the two have conspired to mean store shelves are now packed with Wii consoles.
Could this be the first sign that the Wii is losing its appeal? Has everyone who desperately wanted one now got one? Sales figures for the next few months will be interesting to say the least. Maybe we’ve got a three-horse race this generation after all.
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19 Responses to “Has the Nintendo Wii finally reached saturation point?”
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February 28th, 2009
Very very ‘thin’ story here Dave, if you don’t mind my saying so.
“A writer at Aeropause today noted that stocks of Wii consoles seem to be building up in all his usual electronic stockist haunts.”
So, what you’re saying is that there has been a return to normality & stores actually have some stocks?
Wow, big deal. Not.
I’d also say quoting single anecdotal sources is hardly much of a foundation for a point.
“In Target, Wal-mart, Gamestop, and Best Buy, there are Wiis available to anyone who wants one. And that’s without the queues and fighting over the last one that we’ve seen up to this point.”
Again all this does is merely shows that Nintendo and the Wii have reached a much more usual and normal situation (and, as you say, this has been aided enormously but their increased production).
“This mirrors what I’ve noticed in the UK. Game shops have had ‘Wii Now In Stock’ posters up in their windows since Christmas, but they haven’t had to be taken down again because it seems supply has finally caught up with demand.”
Perfectly normal – and supply catching up with demand is exactly the normal objective for any producing company, surely?
Of course Nintendo kept things on the side of demand outstripping supply for some time, which is nice if you can do it, but that can hardly be good for your product sales in the longer term.
“Even more telling, one shop had three used Wiis for sales at the knockdown price of £99, almost half the RRP of £179.”
More anecdote.
What sort of range do used PS3s & 360s go for?
You can buy dodgy crappy ones you might be able to fix for about 25% of the retail price, so what?
“Sales figures are showing that the Wii is still selling in high numbers”
This above all is the most pertinent point.
“it’s clear that demand is starting to drop from the preposterous levels they were in the run up to Christmas.”
If true (and that is still very much unproven here) then it merely indicates a ‘fall’ from absurdly high (and unsatisfiable) demand to a much more normal (but satisfiable) very high level of demand.
“It can be argued that most real gamers realized…..”
That seems to me to be the fundamental point here.
“Real gamers” apparently loathe the Wii and simply can’t understand it’s success or appeal.
I chose not to buy one but I know several who have, I can fully understand why they did. They have a lot of fun with them when their friends (who tend not to be “real gamers” – Jebus H, say you’re not being serious, please) come round.
February 28th, 2009
“It can be argued that most real gamers realized…..”
A lot of “Real gamers” (millions accoring to sales of zelda, re4 etc) own a wii and loves it.
Pleeease stop this feverish fanboy ranting against the wii.
February 28th, 2009
I only hope your right
February 28th, 2009
@hockum:
Nobody could ever claim this article’s author to be a reporter let alone journalist. His posts here for the longest time have been two things only: regurgitate stuff posted on other blogs first and bash the Wii.
March 1st, 2009
So what’s your point, Dave? The PS2 has been available on store shelves for the past 7-8 years, and it went on to sell 150 million, crushing everything of its generation. Display a superficial grasp of manufacturing, distribution, and logistics doesn’t make this “news” — just amateurish conjecture. If you wanted to be a journalist, compare the life-to-date sales, month after month, year after year, of the Wii vs PS2. At least that might form the basis of a credible story. But I don’t think this site is really about credibility, is it? Just a hunch.
March 1st, 2009
Man, what a crap story. Honestly, being a video games blogger, I am almost embarrassed for you. There are so many things wrong with this that it’s really not even funny. I mean, I almost respected this site and this comes up, a bunch of bs wii bashing?
What’s wrong with your article? Glad you asked. First off: “Two years in, and most of us long ago realized that the Wii is nothing more than a novelty, fun for five minutes but lacking the catalog of games, graphical capabilities, and multimedia feature set that the grown-up PS3 and Xbox 360 can.”
Haha, oh jesus christ you almost had me there for a second. Okay, wait a minute. Are you saying that the PS3 has a bigger catalog of games than the Wii? Alright speedy.
“but could it now have reached saturation point? In January, I asked whether sales of the Wii would slow down in light of a stronger showing from the PS3 and Xbox 360. And it could be happening already.”
Wait a minute….shouldn’t this be normal? I mean, supply and demand has really been met. The Wii can’t continue on for years and years still selling 800,000 to a million consoles ever month; it just doesn’t make sense.
“Game shops have had ‘Wii Now In Stock’ posters up in their windows since Christmas, but they haven’t had to be taken down again because it seems supply has finally caught up with demand.”
Gaming shops never had to even put up a “PS3 now in stock”, because it’s never been out. Funny how that works huh?
Lastly, “Could this be the first sign that the Wii is losing its appeal? Has everyone who desperately wanted one now got one? Sales figures for the next few months will be interesting to say the least. Maybe we’ve got a three-horse race this generation after all.”
Okay, so the Wii is loosing it’s appeal because the people that wanted to buy one bought one? I guess that makes sense….not really. And the three-horse race…really? That’s bullshit. Until you’ve got the amount of consoles selling as much as a fraction that the Wii has, then it’s not going to be close, especially with the PS3. I mean common, if you knew jack shit about games and the gaming industry, you would know better than to make a comment like that.
You don’t have a credible story on your hands, but like Joe said, I guess your site isn’t about credibility is it?
March 1st, 2009
Wow, post Christmas sales are less then pre-Christmas, surely not?
You need to compare year on year sales, the only console in decline is PS3, so you could title this article;
“Has the Sony PS3 reached saturation point?”
But that would probably get fewer hits because everyone knows it already.
You’ll never move up the blog ranks if you keep writing this tabloid dross instead of, I don’t know, writing something entertaining, witty and intelligent. Time for a career change?
March 2nd, 2009
I must say, I think everyone’s been a little harsh on you Dave. At the same time though, they’re absolutely right. I think they can probably say it without suggesting you change profession though, you just need to get your head around the idea that the definition of a ‘gamer’, serious and casual has changed.
Serious gamers are less serious now days, casual gamers are more casual. Sure you’ve still got your butter soaked 150kg couch potatoes that know every nook and cranny of every map in Halo 3, but the ones further down from that, the ones like me – we’ve changed, or should I say excepted what the gaming industry has become/is becoming.
We’ll always get our hardcore GTAs and Halo titles, we’ll always be privileged to being able to be excited about the release of the next RE game and we’re not scared Nintendo is going to take that from us, but Nintendo don’t need to be delivering them to us justify their place in the industry as a legitimate player (not that you said they didn’t, I just got that vibe).
Nintendo Wii, in my view, isn’t going to slow down anytime soon. We’re 2 years in and haven’t experience a price drop yet. All those ’serious gamers’ (there’s a lot of them, just not as many as there is casual) out there who haven’t already bought a Wii, may very well do so when Nintendo gets to the point when they finally decide it’s worth dropping the price (we’re not even there yet).
Most of my friends are lucky enough to have both a Xbox 360/Playstation 3 AND a Wii. Why? because the Wii is fun, because when we get heaps drunk and we’re with the girls they don’t want to play Xbox 360 or PS3, because Brawl’s on the Wii, because girls (I know this is the second time I’ve mention the girls thing but it’s important for them and for us blokes and for you to understand that I like the fact that for the first time since N64 I’m playing video games with girls I bring home) like Mario Kart Wii because it’s familiar.
There’s a million reasons that we’ll start to see those ’serious gamers’ (not the butter soaked 150KG couch potatoes) pick one up after a price drop, but mainly it’s because people want them. Obviously.
It’s time you start giving credit to the system THIS generation that’s breaking down what’s left of the barriers that PS2 couldn’t break last generation to pave the way into the lives of the gamers of the future young and old.
Then the comments won’t be so…well, you can see what I mean.
100%
March 2nd, 2009
Having lots of games doesn’t mean that there is a games catalog. Shovelware abounds in the Wii games selection, a FACT no one can reasonably dispute.
There are indeed serious gamers to this day, that can easily associate the Wii with being a 5minute casual fad, cheap enough to buy and let collect dust. Buying it for loyalty to the zelda series, and a pseudo fitness device, do not a serious gamer make.
I honestly believe that the Wii is NOT of this generation of gaming, and is merely picking up where the cheap and casually accessible PS2 left off. When the Wii outsells the ps2, it will be the winner of its generation.
March 2nd, 2009
The people I know that have a wii (about 7 of them) hardly play it. On a positive note though, only two of them were what I’d consider non gamers and bought it for wii sports. The rest were big zelda/mario fans. I may borrow one of theirs so I could play those games.
March 2nd, 2009
Does anyone else get humor from these on-time-posting Wii fanboy lurkers that these articles dredge up? It’s just funny to see so many names I don’t recognize.
They also do a horrible job defending the Wii. At least from where I am sitting. It’s always “sales, sales, sales, numbers, numbers, numbers” with them. They avoid the whole “our games suck” issue like the plague… understandably.
-Arvis
March 2nd, 2009
Actually Arvis I see lots of comment here about how Wii games are fun.
The only ’sucky’ thing here are those game snobs who utterly fail to understand what has happened and still insist on turning out to sneer down their noses at those who might enjoy a game & game console that takes itself a little less seriously than some.
Awww precious. Bless.
…..and why is it mostly the PS3 fanclub so put out about the Wii?
Panties knotted tightly in a bunch that the lowest tech of this gen stole all the thunder from your supposedly almighty ‘not-a-mere-game-console-at-all-but-a-media-hub’ (don’t make me laugh) PS3?
March 3rd, 2009
HH,
My “panties” are remarkably unaffected by the Wii, which is sort of the problem. I own one. It’s not a good video game console. How do you like yours, Happy? I love me some Mario Kart. My VR is above 8000.
…actually, I think I might start calling you Dopey or Grumpy from now on…
-Arvis
March 4th, 2009
I know I can’t be in that group HH mentioned. I gave an honest assessment on my friends playing habits while even saying I’d like to borrow one to play the good games.
you gotta love the one time posters Arvis. This site was probably linked from a wii fanboy site since someone said something bad about it..
March 4th, 2009
You must have missed the bit where I said I didn’t buy one.
It’s friends and family that have them.
Actually I just bought an Xbox Elite (at the cracking price of £135/$190US/$294AUS , brand new).
I’ll make most of that back on my 5mth old 60gb one on the ‘bay.
Happy days.
March 6th, 2009
There’s a big problem here, and it’s people like Arvis. It’s people who think that “it’s just not a good video game console” is sufficient enough of an argument to suggest that it isn’t.
This arguably happens every generation, people pick a system a stick to it, through and through, balls to bones. This is the first generation however in which people have actually rejected the ‘idea’ of a type of video game console and its games.
People like Arvis think that ‘their’ idea of what a good game is, is absolute. But it isn’t. Unfortunately for Arvis, the concept of what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’ is decided by society deeming it so. It’s why things are made illegal or legal, because they’ll be bad for society as a whole not because things are inherently bad or good. They’re made so because of how society is structured and how it would impact on that structure.
As a ‘whole’ the Nintendo Wii is by far the most enjoyed current generation console in the world for a few reasons, it’s in more houses so there’s more chance for it to be enjoyed and
because people who never liked video games before like it, girls, parents etc.
Just because YOU don’t like it doesn’t make it bad. I don’t much like Arvis because of his views and small brain but that doesn’t make him ‘bad’. He’s still a person, the Wii is still a video game machine, it’s games are still video games and the only viable way of measure how ‘good’ something is really is by how much it gives back in terms of enjoyment to the people who interact with it. Now to the whole, to the casual gamer and some serious gamers the Wii provides hours and hours of entertainment that wasn’t attainable as a result of their taste in games with ‘conventional’ video games.
It’s time you except that Arvis. The Wii has, and will continue to do great things for the industry and those who play it.
P.S. I believe the Wii is more fun played with friends. Do you have friends Arvis?
March 6th, 2009
You’d have thought that any console which helped blur boundaries and engage a whole new customer base would be looked upon favourably by those who you might expect to be interested in seeing gaming flourish and grow.
But no.
The truth is that so much of the criticism is really just moaning PS3 fanboys gurning that their (try not to laugh too hard) game console/media hub hasn’t excited anyone besides the usual narrow (and as sales prove) small fanboy zealot numbers.
March 6th, 2009
So, it seems that I (unlike the Wii) actually DO have an effect on someone’s panties.
I find that internet-based forums and comments sections are usually an excellent medium for people to bounce their rhetoric off of each other in a ceaseless struggle for intellectual (but ultimately pointless) superiority. The sheer amount of trivial subjects that people debate about online is actually really humorous, but nevertheless, people like what they like and talking about the things they like will always be fun for them.
Where the fun stops is when self-absorbed, egocentric asshats who are so assured of their own superiority over another human being they have never met post long, callow and arrogant diatribes that insult personally without actually addressing any pertinent issue within the subject of the conversation in general. The problem with the internet, nay, the world in general, is people like Nick Griffiths.
Mr. Griffiths, I applaud your obviously competent handle on grammar and diction, however, your post was nothing more than a lot of sound and fury. You might find it easier to understand the personal viewpoints of others if you added a modicum of humility to your no doubt sparkling personality. You seem to think I have rejected the “idea” of the Wii, and yet I own one. I’ve also mentioned that I have extensively played Mario Kart, so I enjoy some Wii-exclusive titles. I don’t know who you think I am, but you’ve got me all wrong. So let me tell you something about myself. I’ve been an avid gamer since 1987 and my favorite genre is RPG, although I play a little of everything. Based on that information, one could infer that I am an old-school traditionalist who enjoys robust single-player experiences. Can you say with a straight face that the Wii is a good console for me? Yeah, Zelda and Metroid are great, but how long are two games supposed to last me? The simple fact that people who DON’T LIKE VIDEO GAMES LIKE THE WII should be all you need to know to understand why I hate the thing. I don’t know where people get this “Minority = Wrong” idea, but it’s sophomoric and needs to die.
I hope this was helpful for you and your quest to understand your fellow gamer… aw, who am I kidding, you won’t even read this.
-Arvis
March 7th, 2009
Not that any of you simple, one track minded people will get it. The numbers speak for themselves. Conception to date Wii has outsold PS3 over 2 to 1, and has out sold 360 nearly 2 to 1. Let’s not forget who came out last. Proof in the pudding, they say. okay: nextgenwars.com There is your proof. A lot of talk on this blog about who is better and who is not and what is bad and what is good. A lot of personal attacks and so on and so forth. Who cares. You are all internet tough-guys. We get it. But who is to say Extreme Gamers hate the Wii? I have been an avid gamer since ‘82. Atari, IE2, NES and on and on. Who here can say they actually owned a Commodore 64 or a Neo Geo? Besides me? Not only do I play the games I also create them, test them, and develop them.
Over all other consoles, PCs, Macs, handhelds, or mobile applications Nintendo has done one thing: make games. They don’t play DVDs, they could care less about blueray. They make a console that plays a game. And they do it well.
Opinions galore, and that is great. You want facts, stick to the facts. but back them up people. I could go on all day about opinions. PC has the best games for power and graphics, hands down. 360 has muscle and variety. Nintendo, longevity and doing things right and built to last. NES is 24 years old, how many still have their first one? Can that same number say the same thing about the xbox or ps? Nope, cause it’s in the numbers.
You want to play a game, play a game, you want to watch a dvd, get a dvd player. Nintendo won’t die. And the Wii is the best 7th gen system on the market. It’s time we all dealt with it.
And for what it’s worth, yes I still have a working Odyssey and a Telstar.
And lastly, for you RPGers (like myself) who have written off the Wii, understand that Nintendo actually listens to it’s customers and takes pride in feedback. I can sum up Nintendo’s take on the RPG market with one word: Fragile. The Nintendo will over take even The Elder Scrolls with this title.