Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime held a conference call this morning to discuss the Wii demand and supply, the 'Wii Raincheck' program being exclusively offered by GameStop, the company's attitude towards online voice chat and more.
Nintendo and retailer GameStop will collaborate in an effort to help consumers secure a Wii this holiday season. Starting December 21, the 'Wii Raincheck' program will allow consumers to put down the full price of a Wii, for which they will receive a 'raincheck' that can be redeemed for a console in January. According to Fils-Aime, GameStop has "tens of thousands" of these certificates and he intends them for people who want "something to put under the tree."
As for why Nintendo chose GameStop as the exclusive partner, Fils-Aime said: "A certificate needs to be matched to a specific Wii which needs to be matched to a specific store. Only this retailer has the ability to pull off such a program."
Fils-Aime also noted that six million Wii units have been sold in the United States alone, with worldwide sales hovering around 11 million. Nintendo does not have the ability to stockpile systems, Fils-Aime explained, but the 1.8 million consoles being produced per month tend to sell out within days of reaching retailers. Although Nintendo ships 50% of manufactured Wii consoles to North America, the company has no plans at present to produce the machines in that territory.
The software to hardware attach rate for Wii is 3.4, Fils-Aime stated - meaning that, on average, each Wii owner has purchased three to four games. According to the NoA President, the attach rate for Wii matches the attach rate that the PlayStation 2 had at the same point in that console's lifecycle. Fils-Aime also noted a strong attach rate on controllers and peripherals, citing a virtual sell out of the Wii Zapper.
On a related note, Super Mario Galaxy has sold 1.2 million copies worldwide, according to Fils-Aime.
Fils-Aime assured an increase in the quality of third-party Wii titles. Although Nintendo does not perform strict quality assurance on submitted third-party offerings, the NoA President spoke of his company's efforts in helping developers create the best possible games. Fils-Aime referenced the quality of DS titles during the handheld's first year and acknowledged the time needed for third parties to understand the platform.
Fils-Aime relayed Nintendo's desire to mostly leave older titles alone; he does not anticipate any Virtual Console games will receive the addition of online play. However, for upcoming online-enabled Wii titles, Fils-Aimed said that online voice chat comes down to finalizing a peripheral and that he wouldn't be surprised to see that functionality become available in the future.
People looking for a Wii this weekend should check with their local Best Buy, Kmart, Sears, Target, Wal-Mart and Circuit City. Those retailers will be carrying the console, Fils-Aime said, with Wal-Mart expecting to sell Wii units all through next week.
Will Wii's economic soap opera come to an end soon? The Wiire will keep you updated.
