Nintendo Expects Wii Shortage Problems Through Holidays

Following up on his promise of flooding the marketplace with an "unprecedented" number of Wii consoles, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime (pictured left) has admitted that there is no way the company can meet consumer demand this holiday season. "The issue is not a lack of production. The issue is we went in with a curve that was aggressive, but the demand has been substantially more than that," Fils-Aime told the San Jose Mercury News. "And the ability to ramp up production and to sustain it is not a switch that you flick on. We're working very hard to make sure that consumers are satisfied this holiday, but I can't guarantee that we're going to meet demand. As a matter of fact, I can tell you on the record we won't." The president went on to recommend that hopeful Wii owners check out "all of the likely suspects"--Best Buy, Circuit City, GameStop, Toys R Us, Wal-Mart--and ask about this shipment schedules, which Fils-Aime said should be frequent. "The only other pragmatic advice is that we're aware of the situation, and we're working very hard to address it," he continued. "Believe me, I'm constantly pushing for more capacity and more volume."