Midway: 'Big Strain' On Wii Game Manufacture Leading To Delays

Author: by Leigh Alexander, Staff

As part of Midway's conference call following its financial results, executives have revealed that delays in Nintendo's Wii game manufacturing plants have led to delays and increased lead times for Midway holiday season titles. According to the company's official results, reduced predicted revenues for Midway's financial year have occurred "...primarily to reflect the movement of certain Nintendo Wii and DS titles out of this fiscal year, mainly in the European territories." VP of publishing Miguel Iribarren explained why in the call, noting: "The Wii has been a victim of its own success... The demand for Wii [game] product has put a pretty big strain on Nintendo's production capacity, and that has in turn, for us, turned into longer lead times for some of our Wii products." The Midway executive continued: "And that, during the holidays -- given products coming out in a short timeframe -- has resulted, for us, in reduced ability to get product to shelves... I think for front-line releases that’s largely solved, but it’s a bigger issue for re-orders right now." A follow-up question revealed that it was particularly Nintendo's Wii disc manufacturing pipeline which has been affected by the demand, and not Nintendo DS cartridge production.