Nintendo Unhappy With Unofficial Wii Bundles

Nintendo is facing increased "complications" as a result of ongoing Wii supply shortages, but nonetheless expressed displeasure with unofficial system bundles put together by retailers.

In an interview with Reuters, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said the company is having trouble planning for the coming months because of the Wii shortages, as well as unanticipated demand for the DS handheld, which has led to some concerns over DS inventory levels for Christmas. "The level of demand we are facing complicates all of our future business planning," Fils-Aime said. "All of that becomes a much tougher exercise until we have supply and demand curves that intersect."

In spite of the supply difficulties, Fils-Aime expressed particular concern over unofficial bundles assembled by retailers that sell for significantly higher than the Wii's standard list price of $250, which he feels may dull Nintendo's competitive edge. "Retailers have already been given feedback that we are not big fans of that. We think it masks some of the price advantage we have versus our competition and, frankly, the consumer should decide what they want," he said.

However, he also said Nintendo wouldn't be taking any direct such as cutting back Wii shipments to retailers who engaged in this practice, relying instead in Nintendo's strength in the market to carry its message. "We don't have to remind retailers of the strength we have right now. We are simply making an observation and that reinforces our point quite nicely with retailers," he said.

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It's called demand. Why would the retailers limit themselves to mere vanilla suckass packages when the demand is so high that they could sell bundles including a house and a berline? It's all the more normal. Especially considering that selling games shouldn't hurt a console that has a rather appaling catalogue.
Geez, they act like they're all shocked. Maybe you can't abuse consumers that much?

While I appreciate the rights for retailers to sell packages of thier own devising, I'd like to buy a vanilla console personally. I don't want to buy a Wii and have it packaged with the most recent 'Sonic' and 'Harry Potter' games (Game). I don't want to buy a 360 with the latest 'Need for Speed' and 'HALO' games despite wanting 'Assassins Creed' from the package, and I certainly don't want 'Scene It?' either... (HMV).

I want just the console and the games *I* want to play, and I don't want to have to trade the crappy games in to get rid of them at a fraction of the retail price because they can't seperate the packages and technically can't refund them.

So I'd like Nintendo to sell JUST the basic packages. I'd like everyone just to sell the "basic" packages. Including PC building companies. I don't want your software - I just want what I specify. Thank you free-market system.

Arbre:
It's called demand. Why would the retailers limit themselves to mere vanilla suckass packages when the demand is so high that they could sell bundles including a house and a berline? It's all the more normal. Especially considering that selling games shouldn't hurt a console that has a rather appaling catalogue.
Geez, they act like they're all shocked. Maybe you can't abuse consumers that much?

The idea is, the retailers are forcing people to buy what they don't want (the things in the bundle) to buy something they DO want (the Wii). Now, bundles aren't normally bad, but when a bundle is the only way to get one of the items in the bundle, and said item is an incredibly popular one, it's essentially exploiting the customers.

Now, if they were offering to sell either the Wii -or- a bundle that includes a bunch of things at a cheaper price, but they don't hold Wiis for -just- the bundle and refuse to sell them seperately, I'd be fine. That's normal marketing - selling a bunch of items at a discount in order to sell something to someone that wouldn't normally buy it, and using only a low price point to do so. But using the Wii's popularity and rarity to do it is just wrong, imo.

Sure, it sucks. But it's business. People are so desperate to grab Wiis that they'll take the whole chariot full of shovelware along, and pay.
It's rather obvious that the consoles are being sold anyway, no matter the bundle.
So it turns out to be:

"Wah wah! People are still buying our Wii, but they also buy more games now! We're so unhappy with that!"

Please. Hypocrisy?
So it makes more games sales for Nintendo. Sure, a tad forced, but the cash is finding its way back into Nintendo's pockets.

I can see where Nintendo's coming from with this. Like they said, the price of the Wii really is the #1 reason most people are buying it over or in addition to their other consoles. If the store is selling it for $350 with a bunch of useless games, and an xbox 360 is for $350, Nintendo loses that competitive advantage that they had.

And as far as "that's business", retailers should use the recommended bundle that Nintendo says. I can see unofficial bundles as an easy way to dump off unwanted or non-selling games.

Mage26:
I can see where Nintendo's coming from with this. Like they said, the price of the Wii really is the #1 reason most people are buying it over or in addition to their other consoles. If the store is selling it for $350 with a bunch of useless games, and an xbox 360 is for $350, Nintendo loses that competitive advantage that they had.

The 360 (and PS3) have nowhere the same level of media coverage and buzz the Wii enjoys.
This is, after all, just temporary, and I don't think these bundles will remain past the holidays.

And as far as "that's business", retailers should use the recommended bundle that Nintendo says. I can see unofficial bundles as an easy way to dump off unwanted or non-selling games.

Why should they? If it sells, it's a formidable opportunity to flush more software at the same time.
As long as it sells (and remains only a temporary move), it actually benefits both parties. Only the consumer looses... but no one forces us to buy the Wiis. If certain consumers are ready to buy such bundles, you can call these people the way you want, it does not make a difference. It's an opportunity to exploit.

What I love is how when Nintendo sells their console at the same initial price - thanks to success - and packs it with some shovelware that's only worth two cents, people praise Nintendo, but when retailers exploit the same success, they're demons.