If you thought that Nintendo would be the a company you could rely on, one that would have enough consoles to meet supply, then you appear to be wrong. Pre-orders in the UK have been considerably greater than Nintendo planned, and you might already be too late.

Those that pre-ordered slightly late at play.com have been sent an email with the following message:

Dear Customer, due to a European shortage of the Nintendo Wii Consoles, we regret to inform you that Play.com will be unable to supply your pre-ordered Nintendo Wii at launch.

We are guaranteed more stock before Christmas, but Nintendo have informed us, along with all other official Nintendo retailers, that the console will not be freely available until next year.

Having some bloody consoles for those that don’t pre-order!

Bummer, I thought I’d be able to pick one up at launch. CVG wern’t happy with this and so got in contact with Nintendo, who had this to say:

“In Europe Nintendo is maximising all its resources to ensure that there is a good quantity of stock available in Europe at launch and a regular supply of Wii consoles coming into the market from launch through 2007.”

“However due to the phenomenal pace of pre-orders over recent weeks, it is likely that demand will outstrip supply at launch.”

Seems that it is the whole of Europe that has been affected then, not just the UK. Once again, another botched launch job has taken place. It’s a shame, because I really thought that Nintendo would jump at the chance to get it right, after Microsoft and Sony failures. Never mind, it’s what this next (soon to be now) generation will be remembered for I suppose.

Pre-orders, in the UK at least, are still taking place at Currys and Dixons. There are quite possibly more still available, so let us know if a retailer near you has some left!