Major US video gaming retailer Gamestop has written a lengthy email to its North American stores after a legitimate promotional display of the Black Nintendo Wii was leaked by one of its staff onto the Internet.
As you know, there is a lot of rumor and speculation about various new products and titles launching this year. One of these is the Black Wii. Various blogs and internet sites are raising awareness about this product. Gamestop stores and associates should not proliferate these rumors. Today, you received POP for your windows regarding the Black Wii. Somehow, a picture of this appeared on the internet. It may seem cool to be in the know and feel compelled to share something like this. Nothing can be further from the truth. All activity like this does is hurt our reputation with publishers and manufacturers and potentially hurts our company. Until Nintendo decides to announce THEIR product, there should be no discussion of it with customers, period. If they ask, “It’s not appropriate to comment on speculation and rumor” should be the answer. The POP should be secured in the back room and left there until further notice. ANY violation of these will be treated with the most aggressive consequences. I believe strongly in the field organization, but I am as disappointed as I have been in my tenure here in how we are handling this. I am trusting that your professionalism will result in no further issues.
– Gamestop email
It was really obvious that Nintendo was planning to release a black Wii, since they’d been selling black Wiimotes for months in advance. One without the other would be wholly illogical, so anyone claiming to want secrecy on such an idea really didn’t think it through.
Why would it “wholly illogical”? They also sell blue and pink controllers. You saying they are also going to release blue and pink systems? Xbox360 and Playstation 3 controllers come in various colors too. Do they have to have systems in matching colors? No.
So are U guys making a black Wii? If so will we see it her in the US?
Isn’t this just the pic from Europe, where it is widely available?
We have been having this thing around for a couple months (Belgium) and I have seen it in Germany, France and UK as well.
The image included in the link is a promotional image given to the US game store Gamestop by Nintendo of America.
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2010/04/blackwii.jpg
I don’t get it, I heard about the black wii a long time ago! It said on the internet that it won’t be released in the US. So isn’t this picture just from the release in europe? This makes no sense to me.
@ Sue
There is a “$” sign by the price. It’s not a euro or a pound so this is the North American release. They never announced it for us, so we assumed we weren’t getting it.
i agree nintendo should be more straite forward