Nintendo Wiis have been selling more than the anticipated number in UK to the point where retailers are somewhat panicking. Despite the fact that it was launched three months ago, High street retailers, including GAME and HMV have found that what meager stocks they can scrounge up disappear in mere hours. Unless someone is hoarding these consoles, it seems that the shortage has gotten really bad.

20 retailers were contacted by IGN all across country but only Toys R Us in Bristol had any in stock. The rest had sold all of their Wiis with no news on when the next shipment would be coming in. Apparently, a few of them are still wondering how they would provide for the pre-launch orders they accepted.

A spokesperson for Nintendo UK stated that - "The sheer level of demand for Wii over the launch period was something that no one could have anticipated. While we were certainly very well prepared for a good launch the level of demand we saw, and continue to see in the New Year, remains very high". In addition he also said - "We are continuing to make multiple and regular shipments across the UK to ensure that we keep up with demand"

The last statement is a bit hard to believe considering the shops which get regular delivery are only getting a dozen at a time, and those are normally sold within minutes of their arrival. Nintendo will have to fix this problem as more and more gamers are getting distraught at the situation. Although one person stated that they are starving the market to counter the PS3 launch, at which point they will flood the market with Wiis. Well, only time will tell whether this is really a marketing ploy or just a case of distribution problems.