Hey everyone,

I moved to Osaka, Japan a few months ago and was surprised to find Wiis on store shelves here... in LARGE supply, even now during Christmas season. You can even buy used Wiis in alot of stores for around 20,000 yen (less than $200). This leads me to believe even more that Nintendo is bs-ing us when they say they are doing their best to supply the American market. Whenever I go into a game shop here I get incredibly angry at Nintendo, not just for their incompetence in keeping up with supply and demend, but also for putting regional coding on all their games. Wiis everywhere, but I can't use them to play American games unless I chip them (which I tried once and failed at :()

That's very interesting because you always hear how they are selling even more in Japan than here.

Could it be, that since the American Market is bigger it takes more Wii's to satisfy the demand?

Fascinating. That means that PS3 is really outselling the Wii. It's not because the Wii can't meet demand. Quite the contrary. It's just that PS3 is simply outselling the Wii. That's fascinating.

Maybe it's just here in Osaka. Maybe in the more rural areas, they're Wii-starved like the rest of the world but not here. Like I said, after seeing the large supply here, I don't believe anything Nintendo says about not being able to meet demand. Maybe if it was still a few months after launch but not after a YEAR! If you can't meet demand after a year, then you need to get some new, more competent people working for you.

Maybe it's just here in Osaka. Maybe in the more rural areas, they're Wii-starved like the rest of the world but not here. Like I said, after seeing the large supply here, I don't believe anything Nintendo says about not being able to meet demand. Maybe if it was still a few months after launch but not after a YEAR! If you can't meet demand after a year, then you need to get some new, more competent people working for you.

Could you buy one and mail it to me?

Could you buy one and mail it to me?

Japanese Wiis are easy to order. Try Play Asia (I'm NOT trying to plug them. It's just the only place I know of); I'm sure there are a couple of other places. Play Asia charges around $300 I think. A Japanese Wii only plays Japan-region games though; that's my dilemma. Also, they use a slightly lower voltage electricity here, so if you don't get a step-down transformer, it may fry the Wii eventually. If you're thinking of chipping it, I'd advise against it. Nintendo is incredibly paranoid about piracy, and they've been changing the designs of newer Wiis to prevent chipping. Plus, if you're in the states, some game makers recently won a law suit against American mod sellers, so many chip distributors won't ship to the states any more.

One thing you guys have to keep in mind is that Nintendo will ALWAYS be a Japanese gaming company. Japan comes first, America second, Europe third. That is how they have always felt and that is how it will always be. That is why Japan usually gets games released before everyone else. That is also why Nintendo has made sure that ALL of the demand in Japan is met. Now that it finally has been, they are going to start lowering production numbers for Japan and raising them for America and Europe.

Nintendo has a lot of pride in being a Japanese company and they always make sure to take care of their own first. I find it very admirable.

Ya they still need them. This is a complete steriotype but pretty much everyone over 6 in Japan is a HUGE gamer.

One thing you guys have to keep in mind is that Nintendo will ALWAYS be a Japanese gaming company. Japan comes first, America second, Europe third. That is how they have always felt and that is how it will always be. That is why Japan usually gets games released before everyone else. That is also why Nintendo has made sure that ALL of the demand in Japan is met. Now that it finally has been, they are going to start lowering production numbers for Japan and raising them for America and Europe.

Nintendo has a lot of pride in being a Japanese company and they always make sure to take care of their own first. I find it very admirable.

I don't deny that at all. Of course they put their home country first. People here go out of the way here to support the home economy. With many of them, they won't buy something if it's not Japanese-manufactured, even if it's cheaper.
If the home market is the top priority, then why did they launch the Wii in America before Japan? Nintendo of America has no control over manufacturing in their own territory? I'll admit to not knowing about the corporate structure. The problem I have is that the market here is too OVERsaturated to believe that everyone is doing their jobs properly. They're overflowing with Wiis here.