Japan Braces for Nintendo’s Wii Console

Two weeks ago, North America launched Nintendo’s Wii console. Records showed 400,000 units sold in eight days. On December 2, Japan will prepare for the first day launching of the next generation Nintendo video game.

The evening of December 1st showed hundreds of people lining the still closed retail stores. As many as 1000 were seen waiting outside these stores hoping that one of them could be the lucky owner of the much awaited Wii.

Unfortunately for many, even before Japanese stores open, all Wii units are sold out. Pre-orders have depleted the 400,000 units that were scheduled to be sold on the first day. Only a handful of stores will be able to sell Wii consoles that are non-preorder. Nintendo has already produced 1 million units to replenish the stocks and meet the large demand.

The Kyoto-based Nintendo hopes to sell 4 million units by December 31 and 6 million by March 31. Compared to Sony PlayStation 3’s 2 million and Microsoft Xbox 360’s 10 million targets, analysts believed that Nintendo is more capable of meeting its production demands.

The reason for this is simple. The Nintendo’s Wii is designed simply and features non-complex games unlike Sony’s PS3. The Wii system features a palm-sized wireless motion controller that makes it possible to play the games using your arms and body.

Compared to the PS3, which boasts of a faster but more expensive microprocessor and hi-definition Blu-ray disc player, Wii’s more modest specification enables its manufacturers to make them cheaper and quicker.

Nintendo Wii costs around $250 compared to Sony Playstation’s $499. The low price added to the Wii’s popularity. The introduction of the Wii has overturned Sony’s lead over Nintendo. Since the introduction of the first PlayStation, Nintendo has been trailing behind Sony in terms of units sold.