@ nord - thanks for the lesson and I love your joke "Wii doesn't just cater for the hardcorz". I do not find that an inspiring list. Can you look into your release crystal ball and tell me when a decent racer will be released - last good ones I had were F Zero and Burnout 2

Seattle is supposed to be one of the "high tech" hotspots in America.  I would wager that Wiis are pretty commonplace here in and California, and perhaps New York, Chicago, etc.  Everyone who wants one, has one now.  Its rural America (which is the majority of consumers) that is probably still supply constrained, because the Wii is still "catching fire" there.

That being said, the Wii's sales can't last forever -- I think the Japanese sales, where saturation occurs much more rapidly, is evidence of that.  It doesn't have DVD, etc. support, so I doubt it will have the legs of the PS2.  I wouldn't call it a "fad", but... its lacking some extended value that will eventually lead to Nintendo needing to release another console.. and sooner than Sony had to, in the last generation.

From a business point of view, this is pure genious, from Nintendo's perspective.  There's no reason to believe that consumers won't be all over a HD version of the Wii, etc.

You can cut out California and New York. I live in the former (San Jose), and have friends and family in the latter. Wii's are still MIA (save for the Nintendo Store in NYC). Can't speak to the rest, but reports I've been hearing say otherwise.

Edit: Looks like you added more in after. Maybe you're right, I dunno. I'm personally still a bit baffled about why the PS2 keeps selling, so long-term trends aren't my thing. Time will tell.

But I stand by my first statement. Examining the present, Wii demand in the US still outstrips Wii supply, and not just in rural areas.

Of course saturation will lead to the release of another console. That's just reflexive. But Japan is hardly indicative of buying and saturation trends in the rest of the world, especially for this generation.

No way.  I can tell you that finding a wii at target, best buy, circuit city, and frys is rare.  Costco does sell them but I don't know if they actually have them in stock in store.  There is no way that there is just a shortage in the rural midwest.  I live in the Bay Area (San Francisco Bay Area).

NASCAR Kart

In all seriousness, yes, there are no good racers on the horizon, but we honestly only know like 3 games that Nintendo themselves are working on, and they have way more 1st party studios than that, and they must be working on something, or else they would be laid off. However, if you want to know games coming out in the near future, check out the Wii Games in 2009 thread.

Anyways, at least I could find a bunch of games for the system and it gets 3-4 good games a month. I can't quite say the same for PS3 and PSP. Sure they get some really awesome games, but their release lists are so sparse. For example, the PSP gets <1 release per week on average.

Anyways, I'm sidetracking this thread, but there are good games for all the systems.

That's pretty strange.  You'd think urban areas would be relatively similar in terms of supply.  In scouring Target, Fry's and Fred Meyer for the past two months (for a Jasper X360), every couple days, I can tell you that Wii's have not been out-of-stock ever here during that time, with the sole exception of a day or two following Black Friday weekend, and at the two Target stores I was visiting only.

Then again, I know the days-of-the-week when these stores get their weekly shipments in -- I timed my visits to be on those days (actually the day after), specifically to scour for a new X360.  Its possible that, on the off days, the Wiis went missing... but I kinda doubt it.

You're also near Nintendo of America's HQ. Maybe that plays a role?

I dunno, but I can assure you that your experience does not reflect that of the bulk of the country.

So like I said: eBay!

I doubt NoA's HQ has anything to do with regional shipping, or supply.  I also doubt that you can truly deny that my experience is any less common that your own, unless you are a sales professional, or otherwise.  We'll see, in not too long, when this week's numbers come out.

...What are you anticipating for this weeks numbers, exactly?