Nintendo Wii Fit Shortage: Planned or Popular?

Looking at the history of Nintendo product launches, you can see that it’s not the first time they have had shortages and as the latest “Must Have” product, the Nintendo Wii Fit has hit a massive shortage. Having looked around at local stores, wherever you go they all tell the same story when asked if they have stock of the Wii Fit Balance Board, the answer is no and when asked if they know when stock is coming in, they say “No Idea, everyone wants Wii Fit”. This makes me wonder if the Wii Fit shortage is a planned strategy or just because it’s very popular.

The moment the product was launched in the UK it was met with out of stock signs within hours; I bought Wii Fit the moment the stores opened on the day of release. If you did not do the same, you will find them near impossible to find currently. Did Nintendo expect this demand, if so, why did they not create more Balance Boards before launching, unless this makes everyone want them more, we all like what’s in fashion or popular and word of mouth is the best source of promotion. Its not just offline shops that are reporting shortages, no less than five major video game retailers online were also reporting Wii Fit sell-outs from the moment of pre-order. Nintendo did release a statement that explained “All retailers in the UK and Ireland have been aware of their Wii Fit allocations for launch since early March”, they then went on to explain that stopping pre-orders would be a sensible precaution, so stores can meet current orders.

Have you got your hands on Wii Fit yet and what makes you want to buy it?