BTFeather55 said:
Without the heightened demand, the Wii would have just been a fad. As I said earlier, it is a basic human psychological trait that humans want what they can't easily have. You show one Youtube video of folks wanting to check out the Wii at E3 2006 but hadn't Nintendo been heightening demand for it before then by releasing very little information about it in comparison to the PS3 and 360 at E3 2005 for example, then calling it The Revolution making people think it was a super system of some sort then changing the name to the more curious Wii? I can name at least one billion dollar industry that soley exists on the principle of showing people what they want yet can't have. Most of its products are made in the Simi (sp?) Valley. |
I can't think of a worse argument. Nintendo wants to sell a Wii to everyone who wants one -- they just don't want to crank out so much supply that Wiis are rotting in stores and warehouses. How much supply you produce, especially prior to a major product launch, is an incredibly complicated formula that many people with several fancy degrees can miss a step on.
Nobody seriously expected the level of success that the Wii's enjoying, or even if they hoped for it, no one would've been foolish enough to gamble on it by cranking production up to the level it would've had to have been to sell to every wanting customer. Supply was limited (& perhaps continues to be) for as long as it was, because Nintendo is conservative by nature. It's smart for a business to not change radically, but to observe trends over time, conduct research, and then make strategic moves; it keeps the doors open. You adjust production (which entails a million factors) on a major line slowly, not on a whim, and it requires shifting resources, budgeting, securing new arrangements with suppliers, etc., etc., etc.
As for limited supply somehow increasing demand through some sort of forbidden fruit effect, or something, you're putting too much psych 101 into this. I think it's been pretty well documented that Nintendo's early lack of supply led to people buying other systems as substitutes; in a lot of households, that's a permanently lost sale. And for the Wii, there's also a ripple effect because so much of the actual hype has taken place by word-of-mouth, as neighbors and friends see and play Wii Sports, etc. People generally buy products based on percieved value--what it will make better in their life--not on esoterica like "it's sold out, that means it must be really cool." If you're interested in how limited supply affected the Wii, compare this holiday's sales with those of last year. They could've had a much bigger Christmas last year, which might have meant a different pattern of 3rd party support over 2008, *and* through word-of-mouth, maybe even a bigger holiday this year, sales-wise.
Finally, porn is produced mainly in the San Fernando Valley, not Simi. Simi is a small place, mostly known for being a safe place to live due to a high amount of retired police officers. It's the SFV that's the capital of the porn industry.
