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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Global Console Availablity

TheSource on 15 February 2007

The Wii's Everybody Votes Channel just revealed an unexpectedly fascinating trinket. With the closing of the first worldwide poll with results broken down by country, it is now possible to easily confirm what countries Wii is available in across the world. With that said, Wii is available, in 29 countries (at least) N.A. 5 Countries America-Canada-Mexico-Guatamala-Panama S.A. 4 Countries Brazil-Columbia-Peru-Venezuela Asia 2 Countries Japan- New Zealand Australia - Australia Europe 17 Countries Austria-Belgium-Denmark-Finland-France-Germany Ireland-Italy-Luxembourg-Netherlands-Norway Portugal-Spain-Sweeden-Switzerland-United Kingdom Can anyone offer a similar list for PS3 and 360? This would help in understanding the approaches of the big three. If Wii is out in other regions, but not included in the voting results, please add a link so it can be confirmed.



People are difficult to govern because they have too much knowledge.

When there are more laws, there are more criminals.

- Lao Tzu

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shams on 15 February 2007

LOL - so NZ get bunched in with Asia, but Australia is on its own? Interesting to see *no* launches in Asia yet (besides Japan). A lot of sales waiting in HK, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, etc... (and of course - China).



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your mother on 16 February 2007

That's kinda misleading. I live in Hong Kong and I imported the North American Wii. I cannot select any country in Asia for my console registration, so I chose Connecticut, US, even though I am several thousand miles away. Could've been Antigua. Could've been Venezuela. I voted yesterday, and I should be one of those statistics tallied. Don't read too much into this, because it is anything but accurate of the Wii's global proliferation. I would think something much more accurate (albeit misleading as well, as I hardly think there are so few Wii owners worldwide) would be http://www.mapwii.com There are much more than 29 countries registered there, for starters!



Viper on 16 February 2007

your mother said: That's kinda misleading. I live in Hong Kong and I imported the North American Wii. I cannot select any country in Asia for my console registration, so I chose Connecticut, US, even though I am several thousand miles away. Could've been Antigua. Could've been Venezuela. I voted yesterday, and I should be one of those statistics tallied. Don't read too much into this, because it is anything but accurate of the Wii's global proliferation. I would think something much more accurate (albeit misleading as well, as I hardly think there are so few Wii owners worldwide) would be http://www.mapwii.com There are much more than 29 countries registered there, for starters!
This refers to official distribution.



your mother on 16 February 2007

This refers to official distribution.
Right, but even then, it doesn't make sense to me. If you can explain it to your mother, then your mother would really appreciate it (with no attempt at snide remarks) What I take from your comment is that officially, Nintendo Wii has made a presence in 29 countries to-date. However, with so many parallel imports going on even in Nintendo-sanctioned regions, the poll numbers has to be off by a wide margin. According to mapwii, there are, for example, there are two people with their Wiis in Ecuador. I am willing to wager that among the 12 million citizens of that country, there has got to be more than 2 Wii owners. The Everybody Votes channel does not mention these countries. Furthermore, I think that many simply a) haven't found out about this new channel, and b) even if they know about this channel, they may or may not have voted, rendering the console distribution results from the poll alone to be inaccurate. I think that any way you look at it, all these numbers are way off.



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robjoh on 16 February 2007

TheSource said: Sweeden
Sweeden? Two e?



 

 

Buy it and pray to the gods of Sigs: Naznatips!

Viper on 16 February 2007

your mother said: This refers to official distribution. Right, but even then, it doesn't make sense to me. If you can explain it to your mother, then your mother would really appreciate it (with no attempt at snide remarks) What I take from your comment is that officially, Nintendo Wii has made a presence in 29 countries to-date. However, with so many parallel imports going on even in Nintendo-sanctioned regions, the poll numbers has to be off by a wide margin. According to mapwii, there are, for example, there are two people with their Wiis in Ecuador. I am willing to wager that among the 12 million citizens of that country, there has got to be more than 2 Wii owners. The Everybody Votes channel does not mention these countries. Furthermore, I think that many simply a) haven't found out about this new channel, and b) even if they know about this channel, they may or may not have voted, rendering the console distribution results from the poll alone to be inaccurate. I think that any way you look at it, all these numbers are way off.
That's not the point. The idea behind this breakdown that TheSource is presenting is merely just a means to show what countries Nintendo has officially distributed in. It's not meant to show all the countries a Wii is being played in. Besides, importing is very limited for many countries and pales in comparison to the official distribution the same country would receive. It's basically a small dent in the grand scheme of distribution.



your mother on 16 February 2007

Viper said: your mother said: That's not the point. The idea behind this breakdown that TheSource is presenting is merely just a means to show what countries Nintendo has officially distributed in. It's not meant to show all the countries a Wii is being played in. Besides, importing is very limited for many countries and pales in comparison to the official distribution the same country would receive. It's basically a small dent in the grand scheme of distribution.
"So I see", said the blind man to his deaf wife... That makes more sense now. Thanks for clarifying that with your mother. There is one thing about your second paragraph, however: I would agree that by and large what you said is true, but here in Hong Kong, parallel imports are a way of life. Wii shortages? Not here! You can find Wiis everywhere where video games are sold. In fact, I'd be willing to wager that when Nintendo finally gets around to officially launching the Wii in Hong Kong, their official sales will be much lower than sales originating from parallel imports. Seriously, it's madness here with the Wii (and parallel imports in general). The market is admittedly small (7m), but with huge disposable incomes, and they (we?) aren't going to wait for an official launch to get some gaming going on NOW. Even my PS2 was a parallel import, and I bought that about 3 years AFTER the damn console launched!



Viper on 16 February 2007

True regarding HK but then it's considered the electronics import capital of the world. It's success in obtaining Wii's well before official release is not indicative of the rate of import of other cities/countries. It's exception, not the rule.



your mother on 16 February 2007

Viper said: True regarding HK but then it's considered the electronics import capital of the world. It's success in obtaining Wii's well before official release is not indicative of the rate of import of other cities/countries. It's exception, not the rule.
Right. Don't disagree with you. Just stating that by and large, what you said is true; just so happens that it doesn't work that way here. Thought I made that clear? Also, love living here in the land of exceptions to the rule - you should see the wacky shit we can pick up just by going to one of the many video game supermalls here...