Nintendo Wii Still the Holiday Hot Ticket

One year after its release, expect continued headaches in trying to find a Nintendo Wii this holiday season. Reports continue to surface that units are in heavy demand and supplies just aren't keeping up.

Online shoppers can find the consoles... if they're ready to pay. Wal-Mart has a bundle that requires you buy seven games in addition to the base unit for $677. Amazon itself has no consoles in stock (check out the rationing notice on the site!), but third-party sellers have the basic console available for nearly $400 (and up), $150 over the list price and up about $50 from when I last checked on it a few weeks ago. Best Buy is sold out online, and Target doesn't even list Wiis on its site.

Over in the United Kingdom, Nintendo has officially warned consumers that shortages will remain this season even as it tries to produce and ship an extra 3.5 million consoles, bringing its total shipments this year to 17.5 million units. The company says that demand remains "unprecedented and higher than Nintendo ever could have anticipated."

The jury's out on how much of this demand is manipulated, though. Ben Patterson wrote earlier today about how Best Buy stores are manipulating in-store shoppers into buying the "last" Nintendo Wii in stock.

Good news: PlayStation 3s and Xbox 360s are readily available online, even at prices below MSRP. But if you have your heart set on a Wii under the trii, best get shopping.