As the holiday season nears, Nintendo has stated that they don’t expect to keep up with demand for the Wii console, despite ramping up production by 33% already and with further increases planned. Nintendo hopes to avoid last years scarcity of the console which cost the company a great deal of money in potential sales. Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime said:

“We’re now producing 2.4 million units a month worldwide. Last year, we made 1.6 million a month. So we’ve made a 33% increase. One of our competitors projects they will sell 10 million consoles worldwide this year. For us, that’s three months of production. We’re producing an unprecedented level of hardware to try to meet demand.”

As a Wii owner myself I can understand the popularity of the console, which in my mind is better than both Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, combined. The vast variety of game play and control style, along with some of the most innovative games make the Wii a console for all ages, which some believe is leading to the shortages:

“Demand for Wii is so high, says analyst Michael Pachter, because of all the different types of consumers competing for the units … it’s not just kids who crave Wii. [It's] an especially big hit at retirement homes … Hard-core gamers, who initially spurned the Wii’s lower graphic power compared to the Xbox and PlayStation 3, have changed their tune on the console, thanks to brilliant software like the first-person shooter Metroid Prime 3. And eBay scalpers? They really want Wii.”

So if you are hoping for a Wii this holiday season… well, good luck, I know I’m not selling mine. Your best bet would be to hit the stores early, or as suggested above shop for one on e-bay, although you will have to pay an outrageous price, it all depends on how bad you want it.