could this have anything to do with the fact that there aren't enough wiis on the market to be bought ? as can be seen in the news recently there's been a massive shortage of em so maybe japan has a shortage too, therefore not enough to sell to beat the other consoles =)

That a console is only worth buying a year after it launches.

Friends (from Canada, German, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan) said they have no trouble getting a Wii in store. Not sure why reported shortage in UK and USA. Nintendo's old marketing trick since NES? (I remember Nintendo suddenly found a few million units just before X'mas.)

Yup, I agree: what is this Wii shortage myth. There's absolutely tons of the things here in Luxembourg.

With all the EU laws on trading accross Europe, is it even legal to refuse to ship to the UK from another EU member state? From the 12th December this year, an act governing EU wide consumer rights comes into effect http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/rights/index_en.htm. Included is this:

(2) In accordance with Article 14(2) of the Treaty, the internal market comprises an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods and services and freedom of establishment are ensured. The development of fair commercial practices within the area without internal frontiers is vital for the promotion of the development of cross-border activities.

Surely 'free movement of goods' means that suppliers have to offer to ship goods to any EU member country? It will be interesting to see what happens come the deadline. Perhaps EU countries are hoarding Wiis at the moment, because they know that come the 12th of December they won't be able to. A shortage of Wiis in the UK could lead to a shortage of Wiis Europe wide!

Also, it is worth noting that the EU now requires that a product bought in one EU state must be repaired in the EU country of the purchaser if the same product is available in that country also. http://www.pcmag.co.uk/computeractive/features/2187714/goods-abroad-safely-securely

In other words, if you buy a Wii in Germany and have it shipped to the UK, then Nintendo have to offer to have it repaired in the UK if it breaks.

I'm not sure that the reported problems shipping from the continent are anything to do with Nintendo. If you have a browse around a lot of multinational sites- including the likes of Promod (womens cloths) you'll see that blocks have been put on shipping a wide range of goods from France/Netherlands (haven't checked elsewhere), over the last 10 days or so, to Ireland and the UK. Shipping companies like TNT are also quoting vastly increased delivery times. Conspiracy theorists bedamned, its more probably something to do with all the strikes in France, Germany, Italy etc- than Nintendo strong arming its local distributors......

Ps- No shortage of Wii's here in Dublin either........

The whole thing smacks of a cheap marketing stunt. By faking a shortage, they make their console look more desirable, at least in theory. In my case the inability to get hold of one when I had the money led to me buying a PS3 instead. Either that or Nintendo just have one of the worst logistics records in the world.