GameStop: DSi pre-orders double that of original DS

Ahead of the release of Nintendo’s third iteration of its popular dual screen handheld the DSi next month, GameStop’s senior VP of merchandising Bob McKenzie has said that the global games retailer has seen pre-orders for the device trump those seen for the original DS.

We’ve seen some pretty brisk pre-orders on DSi – it’s probably double where we were on the original DS, as far as reservation activity, so we’re expecting some great things from that,” he told VentureBeat.

It feels like they’re going to have good quantities to support not only the launch but also some replenishment right behind it. A lot of times with these hardware lines, it’s the shipments right after launch that are really important. You have to have the product to sustain the momentum after you get it on the shelf, so the customer doesn’t just come in and feel like they did initially with the Wii.”

McKenzie also stated that the supply situation for the Wii has finally reached parity with consumer demand: It definitely has reached a point where it hasn’t been in the three years since the Wii system launched, where we do have inventory on our shelves. We don’t necessarily have a concern about the amount of inventory.

It’s still selling very well. It’s just that it’s gone from having consumers chasing down the UPS truck to find them before entering the store. At least now we’ve got the customers coming in and they’re finding the product. It has definitely gotten to the point where there is inventory within the entire retail channel and in my competitor stores. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”