Cubalaya Blog US

Rain Checks for Nintendo Wiis

Our last post was about the race to buy a Nintendo Wii for Christmas, and how they have steadily become scarce.  Here's an update on the problem.

Nintendo is well aware of this problem, and while they know they won't even come close to meeting demand in December, they have come up with a Wii "rain check" program for potential buyers.  Shoppers who buy a Wii at the full price of $249 on December 20th or 21st at GameStop will get a certificate promising a Wii "sometime in January".   This will give people something to put under the tree, even if it's not the Wii console itself.

 

Nintendo reportedly sold 981,000 consoles in the US this November, leading the video game console market.  And while their monthly production has been raised from 1 million to 1.8 million, the strong year-round demand and appeal to non-traditional gamers (usually young males) has caught Nintendo by (pleasant) surprise.

So, hopefully by the end of January everyone who wants a Wii will have one, without paying the marked-up prices on eBay and other sites.

(Reuters)

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The Race for a Wii

Although Nintendo plans to make another million Wii gaming consoles this month, with less than three weeks left until Christmas, it looks as if the supply of the $250 console will fall well short of demand.  Finding a Wii on store shelves is nearly impossible, and the eBay auctions have them going between $400-$600.  Some retailers also charge higher prices, often because they choose to offer the Wii with a few games and accessories, rather than just selling the console by itself.

The Wii has been selling so fast in its first year on the market that it has caught many by surprise, including Nintendo itself.  Usually video game sales slow down during the summer season, allowing the manufacturers to stock up for the Christmas shopping season.  But the Wii has been selling so well all year long that Nintendo's warehouses are reportedly empty, hence the shortage.

Nintendo's senior vice-president, George Harrison, is well aware of the current shortage.  His advice is to check when brick-and-mortar stores receive shipments of the console (by asking sales clerks, for instance), and try to get to the retail stores at opening hour on Sundays. Why Sunday? Because most retail stores run big advertisements in Sunday newspapers, and therefore save some consoles to stock the shelves with on that day.  Another factor to consider is that retail stores apparently receive more stock per store than specialized game stores, so Best-Buy might be a better bet than GameStop.

 

Online, you can check out the offers for a Wii on Cubalaya, and also take a look at our Wii Product Review.   

America's Most Wanted Notebook?

Since the holiday shopping season kicked off unofficially a few weeks ago, it seems as if there is a surprise leader on the most-wanted list.  While the new Microsoft Zune, the Nintendo Wii and its newest game, Guitar Hero III, have been hard to find due to hight demand, the Asus Eee PC has been selling so fast in its first two weeks on the market that it's almost impossible to find one anywhere.  Retailers are consistently sold out; and when they do get a shipment it doesn't even make it to the shelves. 

Although it might seem bizarre that a notebook with a 7-inch screen is so popular, a closer look at the Eee makes it easier to understand its wide appeal. First off, its price tag is $400, which makes it extremely inexpensive for an ultraportable notebook.  And while its performance and hard-drive space are anything but unlimited, it still runs Linux and browses the web just fine.  Need more hard-drive space?  Just plug in a 4GB SD card and you've doubled the capacity.

Furthermore, the Eee is quite small and lightweight, coming in at around 2.4 pounds with its power adapter.  It connects quite easily to wireless networks and has a VGA port and 3 USB ports, making it easy to connect to any type of device.  And while the keyboard is tiny, it is still manageable, and with the pre-installed Open Office software it is possible to work on documents without too much trouble.

There have been over ten thousand units sold already, and the official holiday shopping season is only two days old.  And with all things considered, it's no wonder Amazon and CNET say the Asus Eee is rated the "most wanted Christmas gift among notebooks products".

Here is a short video clip of the Asus Eee:

http://www.aviadbenhorin.com/

Christmas Bargains Online

A recent study conducted in the UK shows that Christmas shoppers can bag substantial savings by going online rather than to the high street, research by consumer group Which? shows.

It found that savings of more than 1,000 pounds could be made on a shopping list of five popular gifts -- a flat-screen television, camera, camcorder, hi-fi and DVD recorder.

Researchers compared prices on 72 products at 111 retailers and found that online savings ranged from 11 percent on digital camcorders to 29 percent on LCD and plasma televisions.

Savings could also be made on everything from books (14 percent) and MP3/MP4 players (11 percent) to CDs (7 percent) and champagne (2 percent).

But games consoles -- such as the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 -- were found to be similarly priced.

"The trick to bagging a bargain is to discover which stores offer the most extras," Which? said in its November magazine.

"For example, while John Lewis sells the PS3 for 398 pounds, HMV sells it for 425 pounds, but with four games (which cost up to 50 pounds each) and an extra controller -- which is the best deal we found."

Consumers could be missing out on savings of up to 240 million pounds a year by not shopping online, recent research by the Office of Fair Trading shows.

People's top 10 reasons for shopping over the Internet include ease of price comparison, avoiding crowds, price competitiveness and more choice, according to a poll of 2,343 Which? online panel members.

Source: Reuters (London)