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Want a Wii for Christmas? Get in Line.

by Tim Stevens on November 14, 2007 at 10:12 AM

Want a Wii for Christmas? Get in Line.

Nintendo is warning would-be gamers that, if they want a Wii before the end of the year, they might just have to fight for it -- or pay too much on eBay. Nintendo is promising to ship an extra 3.5 million consoles to retailers around the world before the end of the year to try to keep up with demand. They've already shipped nearly 14 million this year, and still, a year after the console's release, seeing one on store shelves is a rarity.

This rarity is largely driven by the console's amazing popularity with non-gamers, like mothers and senior citizens, who have been scooping up the consoles by the truckload. Plus, being about $100-$150 cheaper than the competition hasn't hurt either. These factors have helped the system to quickly leap to the number one spot in the current console race despite launching a year later than Microsoft's Xbox 360.

However, at least part of this supposed rarity is manufactured, with accusations of retailers hiding supply and using that manufactured scarcity to drive demand. As demand goes higher, so too will those eBay prices. A quick scan this morning shows the consoles selling for around $350, $100 higher than retail. Again, this for a gadget that launched last year. To avoid paying that premium, start calling retailers now, find out when they typically get Wii shipments, and get there early.

Real early.

From BBC News

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Tags: breaking+news, top, Wii

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