Wal-Mart Boasts Healthy Wii Stock, 'Sold Through Tens of Thousands'

Retailer Wal-Mart says it sold thousands of Wii consoles online on Monday, and that the Wii is one of its website's top-selling items. The company recently said it had "tens of thousands" units in Wii stock online, while Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says that during the Thanksgiving shopping weekend this year, company sold double the number of Wiis it sold last year. The news from Wal-Mart supports recent analyst assertions that Wii supply is much less constrained than it was at its past two Holiday seasons. However, according to a report in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, competing retailers Best Buy, Target and Circuit City had completely sold out of Nintendo's console, despite variations of only a few cents from the console's $249 retail price. Wal-Mart offers the Wii for $249.24, plus two games for $30. "We saw very strong response to the additional inventory we offered this morning and sold through tens of thousands of Nintendo Wiis by early Monday afternoon," said Wal-Mart spokesperson Ravi Jariwala in a statement. Though the company didn't specify exactly how many it sold, Wal-Mart says it still has supply in stock, and that it plans to keep restocking the console throughout the holiday season.