Shoppers have stripped store shelves bare and clicked Web sites clean of Nintendo DS handheld video game units, with more than 500,000 selling in a week, the Japanese game maker said Wednesday.
The run on the $149.99 units essentially depleted the entire U.S. retail stock, said Nintendo Co. Ltd., which intends to distribute at least 500,000 more by the end of the year.
"Nintendo is producing systems as fast as they can," said a spokeswoman for the company, which introduced the Nintendo DS in stores Nov. 21.
Even as the company rushes to produce more games, it appears Nintendo DS may still join Cabbage Patch Kids, Tickle-Me Elmo and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2 in the holiday hard-to-find hall of fame. Nintendo has already said it will fall well short of demand in Japan, where the DS launched on Wednesday.
All video game and toy retailers in the Sacramento area contacted by The Bee on Wednesday said they had sold out of the Nintendo DS.
"We've gotten 25 or 30 in the last week or so," said Michael Ramondo, manager of KB Toys in Arden Fair. "We get a few every day, but they're gone as soon as we put them on the floor."
Availability online wasn't any better. The Web sites for KB Holdings LLC, the parent company of KB Toys, and Toys "R" Us Inc. were out of the devices Wednesday. On eBay, new units were selling for as much as $200.
The shortage of Nintendo's new platform is the latest in a long history of supply problems for the video game industry, which sold $23.2 billion worldwide last year.
In October, the European Union fined Nintendo $165 million for colluding with distributors to limit the cross-border flow of its products to raise prices. Nintendo has said it will file an appeal.
Nintendo in 1988 unlawfully fixed the U.S. price of its video game consoles at $99.95. The company agreed to issue $5 discount coupons to as many as 5 million customers to settle antitrust charges.
Sony Corp. launched its PlayStation 2 game machine as the hottest entertainment product of 2000 but didn't make nearly enough to meet demand. Angry consumers shifted to competitor Sega Toys Ltd.
And Sony is struggling this year to meet demand for its second-generation PS2.
Such shortages can be marketing ploys, said retail trends expert Irma Zandl of the Zandl Group.
"Some companies try to create a sense of urgency around their product," said Zandl, whose New York-based firm does research for The Walt Disney Co. and General Motors, among others. "These highly orchestrated 'shortages' often whip the consumer into a frenzy, even though sometimes there's plenty of available inventory."
Most companies, however, know holiday sales opportunities come around only once a year and will do everything in their power to meet consumer demand, she added.
The holiday run on Nintendo's newest game console may signal a return to dominance for a company that once ruled the industry with its Game Boy unit and "Super Mario Brothers" and "Donkey Kong." The firm expects to sell more than 1 million DS units in North America in less than six weeks - a mark that took Apple Computer Inc's iPod 19 months to achieve.
The Nintendo DS is about the size of a paperback book and features two screens - one of which is touch-sensitive - two slots for different kinds of games and two wireless connections. Gamers can play from two perspectives at once or combine the screens into one image, a first in the industry.
The new hardware will allow game programmers new creative opportunities, said David Sheff, author of "Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children." Since Nintendo will get a cut of every game sold via licensing fees, it stands to make millions in royalties if the DS takes hold.
"They created a great system once with the Game Boy," Sheff said. "Now this looks like it may be their time again. I can easily imagine it could become the next must-have product."
2004: Nintendo DS
New features include:
* Dual screens and touch-screen technology (lower screen) allow player to interact with game settings or access inventory items.
* Wireless communication allows players to experience real-time multiplayer game play.
* Built-in PictoChat software gives user the power to draw, write and send messages wirelessly.
* Each 3-inch screen can reproduce 3-D graphics that can surpass images displayed on the Nintendo 64.
* A local wireless network can connect up to 16 players. Requires just one Nintendo DS game card
* Stereo speakers allow for virtual surround sound.
* Separate media port for Game Boy Advance cartridges.
Source: www.nintendo.com
Hot toys from the past
1980: Rubik's Cube
1983: Cabbage Patch Kids
1983: My Little Pony
1984: Transformers
1985: Teddy Ruxpin
1988: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
1989: Little Mermaid
1989: Super Soaker
1992: Barney the Dinosaur plush
1993: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
1996: Beanie Babies
1996: Tickle-Me Elmo
1997: Tamagotchi
1998: Furby
2000: Razor Scooter
2000: PlayStation 2
2001: Bob the Builder
Source: Toy Industry Association. Bee Research by Becky Boyd
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