Gamers Being Ripped Off By Nintendo Wii Bundles
I wrote last week about the lack of available Wii consoles in the UK this Christmas. Unlike the PS3 and Xbox 360, which are both in ready supply everywhere around the country, you’d be hard pushed to find a Wii in any store.
It seems that now, retailers are making the most of the lack of supply, and great deal of demand. When they do get stocks of the Wii in, instead of just offering it on a first come, first serve basis, they are bundling the basic console with games and accessories, which consumers have to buy, and pay a high rate for, if they want to get their hands on a Wii.
MCV carried out research that shows some retailers charging £400 ($850) for a Wii, and extras, which is over double the recommended retail price of the stand alone system.
The trade paper found GameStation, Zavvi, HMV, Toys R Us and Woolworths refused to sell just the consol on its own, selling them only as part of bundle, charging from £250 with two games at HMV to a £400 bundle with five games at GameStation.
Ths has obviously caused controversy and anger amongst gamers, and also parents of children who want nothing more than a Wii for Christmas, and won’t settle for the alternatives such as PS3 and Xbox 360.
One member in a gaming forum stated:
“I’ve just been out to buy a Nintendo Wii and found I couldn’t buy just the console, but I was asked to buy a Wii with games I didn’t even want. With the Wii shortage, retailers are ripping people off by forcing them to buy games with the console so they can get as much money out of the customer as possible.”
Retailers are definitely advantage of the situation, but do you really blame them? Just the same as people selling their consoles for many times for asking price on eBay, game stores exist to make money, and that is all they are trying to do here.
The fact that Wii owners are renowned for being the most stingy when it comes to buying software for their machines, means that maybe bundling games with the starting pack isn’t such a bad plan.
Gamers, Game, Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, eBay, Christmas, Supply and Demand, UK, British
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