Nintendo reaffirms commitment to Wii launch

A confident Nintendo has reaffirmed its commitment to the launch of the Wii, reiterating its promise of four million units for retail before the end of the year, as it expects unprecedented demand from consumers.

Bolstered by pre-orders and retailer feedback, the company aims to pull out all the stops to supply demand in a retail environment it expects to dominate this side of Christmas.

"Wii is for both experienced and uninitiated gamers, and it will be available for the masses," said Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime.

"Because of demand, we're urging shoppers not to get complacent. The level of demand we're seeing goes beyond the ordinary."

"Retailers are telling us a significant fraction of customers pre-ordering Wii are non-traditional gamers - people looking for a better way to play. And that's exactly what Wii is designed to provide," he added.

Clearly confident of its manufacturing capabilities and supply chain, the format-holder has promised to fill retail shelves with product with a launch strategy that can be deemed more efficient that its competitors.

Last year Microsoft struggled to supply retailers with enough units of the Xbox 360 leading to a shortage of hardware well into the new year.

And Sony's launch of the PlayStation 3 later this month has been hampered by poor manufacturing capabilities, with shipment targets missed and a delay to the release of the console in Europe.

Wii is due to launch on November 19th in the US, December 2nd in Japan and across Europe on December 8th.