Wii Fit shortage in the US

The current Wii Fit shortage in the US comes down to economics.  The American dollar has dropped so far that it makes sense for Nintendo to largely ignore the world’s largest consumer market and to instead fulfill the demand in Europe.

And as far as the shallow game library for Wii goes, Marco, I’d beg to differ.  Have you missed out on a few key titles?  All of the Nintendo franchise games have been AMAZING (Mario Kart Wii, Smash Brawl, Mario Galaxy, Mario Strikers, Metroid Prime). Now if you’re talking about third party titles, I’m with you.

There are some good games for Wii that flew under the radar though (Zak & Wiki is an awesome puzzle game by Capcom).

marco:

Congratulations on your success with the Wii. Really. Despite my doubts, it continues to sell well — so well, in fact, that people still can’t reliably buy one anywhere. I recognize that you’ve shipped twice as many Wiis per month, on average, as Microsoft has shipped Xbox 360s. But the Wii was released 1.6 years ago.

On launch day, it was hype. That’s good. But 1.6 years later, the perpetual shortage is just an annoyance to people who want to buy your products.

I’m one of the 24 million Wii owners. I’ve been massively disappointed in the pathetic, shallow game library. My Wii has been played about three times in the last year, and I usually forget that I even have one. But you recently released a game I’d like to buy: Wii Fit. Even though it’s $90, I still want to buy it. If it had good multiplayer (it doesn’t), I’d buy two.

But I can’t buy it. Anywhere.

I’m trying to give you money. And you won’t take it. That kinda goes against the way successful businesses are operated.

Some of your customers are so devoted, and have so much time, that they’re willing to call around and travel to multiple stores for the chance to get one of your products. That’s a huge pain in the ass. Most people don’t care about you that much. I sure don’t.

The eternal shortages are no longer cute.

Love, Marco