Why the Wii is in short supply: Nintendo plays it a Wii bit cautious

[cAPSLOCK]

I hope they increase production even more. I would really like to see what kind of numbers this thing generates when everyone who wants one can get one.

There's being cautious, then there's shooting yourself in the foot, which Nintendo has to be careful about not doing. 1.8 million worldwide is still a bit on the slow side for the kind of demand this thing has.

If by next year this time they're still impossible to find I imagine it's going to get outright hostile towards Nintendo for sitting around with their thumb up their ass for a whole year. If they're selling out minutes/hours, they should at least have figured out by now that they're probably at a fraction of their demand.

Ads aren't going to change anything, someone will still bring one over at Christmas and everyone else in the house will want one. Word of mouth is selling this thing more than occasional commercial here and there.

Also, I don't think a lot of people will "settle" for a PS3 or 360. The Wii isn't really comparable to either of them. It's really its own very unique monster. Most of the people that want a Wii couldn't give a shit about the PS360, especially since they can walk into any store anywhere and just pick one up any time.