Why don't you just look into Nintendo's financial reports. Wii shipments were up 29 % or 780k in the last quarter (Apr-Jun) over the previous quarter (Jan-Mar). This pretty much proves that they were shipping Wiis as fast they could make them, or do you think they could speed up their factories even faster than that without exploding cost or quality issues? 29 % in 3 months are awesome.
The problem for American and Japanese customers is that Nintendo directed the bulk of that increase to Europe/other territories (370k for a 55 % increase over the previous quarter). Wiis have been well in stock in Europe for a couple of months now. You can walk into any store and pick up a Wii. I think that was a wise move by Nintendo. Europe had always been a weak market for them until the DS arrived, so they made it their first priority to get Europe in stock this summer, with other markets to follow.
So if we look at the 780k increase last quarter (to 3.4 million units shipped), Nintendo will probably produce and ship more than 4 million units in this quarter (Jul-Sep) and 5 million in the next (Oct-Dec) without any stockpiling involved. I think Wiis will be well in stock in Japan und America when the autumn starts and be sold out again after Thinksgiving in the US and New Year in Japan. By February Wii shortages will finally be a thing of the past.
Hardcore gaming is a bubble economy blown up by Microsoft's $7 $6 billion losses.
