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View Full Version : The Euro is to blame for Wii shortage in the US.



izanbardprince
March 31st, 2008, 04:43 PM
http://www.dailytech.com/Weak+Dollar+Blamed+for+Poor+Wii+Availability+in+US/article11298.htm

The Japanese are saying that the Wii shortage in the United States is due to our "weak currency", and so they're sending more of their "allotment" to the European Union countries.

But wait, Nintendo has done this before, they create an artificial supply shortage to make it look like there's more demand for their product....I mean, the shelves are always empty must equal that people are buying them like hotcakes.

Nintendo pulled this trick back in 1996 and 1997 with the Nintendo 64, it caused a self fulfilling prophecy for them, and shortly enough you could look through newspaper classifieds and see people with an N64 wanting $600-$1000 for it, or 3 times it's original value.

But back then they weren't using this excuse, they said there was a "component shortage".

This means that Nintendo either has the best selling game systems of all time (the N64 and the Gamecube both came in at last place), they're the worst of the three at manufacturing (Sony and Microsoft never have issues this bad), or they're playing a pea and shell game.

Their latest excuse doesn't make sense either, our dollar has weakened a little, but nowhere near enough to where they'd overstock their European warehouses and pay to store them all there.

I wanted a Wii to begin with, when it came out and before I saw the price of all the accessories (Nintendo's other forte), and a demo unit in Gamestop that left me less than impressed (the controller is unwieldy and the game graphics are hardly any better than a Gamecube).

And after all of this, I have to say that I will never buy another Nintendo console again.

Kevbert
March 31st, 2008, 05:01 PM
The pound must be weak as well. Wiis aren't easy to get in the UK. Yet you can win one on the radio (competition) or bundled with an overpriced mobile phone! It's possible to go over to France on the ferry for the day and buy one in Calais for less than the UK price. The only extra required is a European to UK plug adapter.

DoctorMO
March 31st, 2008, 05:13 PM
Heh, the dollar has weakened "A lot", even when the pound was loosing strength against the euro because of higher inflation that the target 2% (it was at least 4% if not 6% last year) and the dollar still fell against the pound.

Game over when oil is sold in Euros, more money can be made that way.

original_jamingrit
March 31st, 2008, 05:15 PM
Not to be in defense of Nintendo, but I don't think that simply not wanting to supply the US is the same as an artificial supply shortage.

Ultra Magnus
March 31st, 2008, 06:21 PM
They;re definately not sending enough here then - (the pound is stronger than the euro (for the moment)) - you still can;t get a wii anywhere unless you know someone or you ordered one months in advance, the only place I have ever seen a wii on a shelf was in poland and it was selling for the equivalent of £1000 and that was last christmas.

heartburnkid
March 31st, 2008, 06:36 PM
Sony played this game as well, with the PS2. And they tried with the PS3, but it turns out that demand for it was so low that even their "shortage" still covered it nicely. :)

Still, I'm not entirely convinced that Nintendo is trying to game the system like Sony is known to do, as I still remember when the Wii was first released and they bragged that there would be "plenty for everyone" -- seems even they underestimated the demand. One thing to keep in mind is that, unlike Sony, Nintendo doesn't own its own chip fabs or anything; it has to rely on what it can purchase from other companies (IBM, ATI, etc), and that isn't always sufficient. Since supply is limited, and let's face it, the dollar is slipping in stature, it's no surprise that they would service the European market before the US market. Sucks for us, but that's life.

fissionmailed
March 31st, 2008, 06:46 PM
Even though I loath MS, if I got a current gen console, it would be an xbox 360. Wii is too casual and the PS3 doesn't have THAT may games that are good. The only selling point of a PS3 is MGS4. :\

swoll1980
March 31st, 2008, 08:09 PM
the American dollar is worthless. For the first time in the history of the world the Canadian dollar is worth more. I never thought I would see the day. Freaking bush single handedly destroyed the US economy

billgoldberg
March 31st, 2008, 08:25 PM
The Euro isn't to blame, the weak dollar is.

Besides, US gamers get their stuff allot sooner than us here.

I'm getting myself a Wii this weekend. hihihi

Bachstelze
March 31st, 2008, 08:30 PM
The Euro isn't to blame, the weak dollar is.

And over here, everyone is blaming the strong Euro for the waek level of exportations. Those economists are never happy. I'm personnally just fine with that, I've never bought as much import US DVDs than the lastest few months, since I get them dirt cheap now :D

Oh, and now that Sega is dead, I'd never buy anything but Nintendo, too (and I already have my Wii ;)).

funrider
March 31st, 2008, 08:33 PM
US dollar is really weak, and is getting weaker...pay more attention to the financial news

mips
March 31st, 2008, 08:59 PM
Their latest excuse doesn't make sense either, our dollar has weakened a little, but nowhere near enough to where they'd overstock their European warehouses and pay to store them all there.


A 'little'? It took a dive of note and is not getting any better. I actually see it falling even more in the future.

izanbardprince
March 31st, 2008, 09:07 PM
the American dollar is worthless. For the first time in the history of the world the Canadian dollar is worth more. I never thought I would see the day. Freaking bush single handedly destroyed the US economy

Actually, by making the dollar worth less, that means that in real practical applications, we should start seeing more countries buying our exports, it will become cheaper to make things here, and over the long term, some of our jobs might start coming back.

Also, the more the dollar slips, the less valuable our national debt becomes, because we borrowed it when it was worth more.

A slipping dollar is more of a mixed blessing if you ask me.

izanbardprince
March 31st, 2008, 09:11 PM
And over here, everyone is blaming the strong Euro for the waek level of exportations. Those economists are never happy. I'm personnally just fine with that, I've never bought as much import US DVDs than the lastest few months, since I get them dirt cheap now :D

Oh, and now that Sega is dead, I'd never buy anything but Nintendo, too (and I already have my Wii ;)).

And considering that the discs and cases and all the material work for those DVD's were done in China or Mexico, and the only thing we're actually selling you is a license to view the Imaginary Property stored on those discs, we've essentially sold you nothing and made a handsome profit regardless.

muximus
March 31st, 2008, 09:12 PM
doesnt this imply that the US dollar is to blame for the shortage and not any other currency?.. how can you blame another currency for doing well when your economy is goign to ****??..

Bachstelze
March 31st, 2008, 09:15 PM
And considering that the discs and cases and all the material work for those DVD's were done in China or Mexico, and the only thing we're actually selling you is a license to view the Imaginary Property stored on those discs, we've essentially sold you nothing and made a handsome profit regardless.

Yeah. Movies are made just by clapping one's hands and cost nothing to produce, this is a well-known fact...

The stupid FSF "philosophy" is really beginning to get on my nerves.

mips
March 31st, 2008, 09:19 PM
Actually, by making the dollar worth less, that means that in real practical applications, we should start seeing more countries buying our exports, it will become cheaper to make things here, and over the long term, some of our jobs might start coming back.


Your logic is flawed. The USA has offshored most of it's manufacturing to countries like China, India etc. Why? Because they pay people 10c for a hour of labour in very bad conditions. Have you seen how factories operate in China? Those people work to live. They work X hours a day, go to the work hostel, eat & sleap and then go back to work. The USA or western world will never compete on that level. Your jobs are not coming back...

mcduck
March 31st, 2008, 09:28 PM
And considering that the discs and cases and all the material work for those DVD's were done in China or Mexico, and the only thing we're actually selling you is a license to view the Imaginary Property stored on those discs, we've essentially sold you nothing and made a handsome profit regardless.

You seem to be forgetting the insanely high development costs of modern video games. Even the most expensive Hollywood movies are cheap to make when compared to video games.. Even if the disk itself is cheap, creating the "imaginary property" is not.. And as technology advances and our gaming consoles and computers become able to handle more and more detailed and realistic graphics and physics the game development will only become more expensive task to do..

Try programming a simple game, or even creating a single 3D model, and you'll start to understand why games are so expensive even when the media used to distribute them costs practically nothing..

For the original poster: The problem is not strong euro, it's the cheap dollar. And getting a Wii isn't that easy in Europe either, Nintendo simply isn't able to produce enough consoles, they sure aren't stocking them into warehouses just to **** off Americans :D

days_of_ruin
March 31st, 2008, 10:17 PM
Actually, by making the dollar worth less, that means that in real practical applications, we should start seeing more countries buying our exports, it will become cheaper to make things here, and over the long term, some of our jobs might start coming back.

Also, the more the dollar slips, the less valuable our national debt becomes, because we borrowed it when it was worth more.

A slipping dollar is more of a mixed blessing if you ask me.
Except china is being a jerk and spending big money to keep there
currency value low;_;No clue how they do it but they do.

swoll1980
March 31st, 2008, 10:49 PM
Actually, by making the dollar worth less, that means that in real practical applications, we should start seeing more countries buying our exports, it will become cheaper to make things here, and over the long term, some of our jobs might start coming back.

Also, the more the dollar slips, the less valuable our national debt becomes, because we borrowed it when it was worth more.

A slipping dollar is more of a mixed blessing if you ask me.

We didn't have a debt until bush started his assault on the middle east
and as far as the debt goes it's borrowed against the value of gold at the time I believe if you were going to lone someone money based on the value of there paper money it would be pretty stupid considering the second the money changes hands the value of there paper money decreases instantaneously. the reason the us dollar is worthless now is because were borrowing trillions of dollars from china to buy oil from the terrorist so they can buy rockets to blow up our Humvees which answers someone elses question about were chinas money goes