DS Lite shortages only momentary, says Nintendo

by David Hinkle { Jan 8th 2007 at 1:30PM }

Based on a report from Yahoo! Games, Nintendo has responded to holiday shortages for its DS Lite by stating "Nintendo DS Lite proved to be a huge hit for holiday shoppers, which undoubtedly resulted in some spot shortages in various regions. As with all our products, we're working to keep the supply chain filled to meet consumer demand, and the DS Lite should be more readily available over the next couple of weeks." Now, we weren't really hunting down DS Lites during the holiday shopping season, so we cannot comment on availability in our region.

However, we were fairly sure that the DS Lite was readily available. Have there been shortages of the handheld in your neck of the woods? Have you had to resort to online purchase recently due to lack of product on your local brick-and-mortar outlet's shelves?

Tags: ds, dslite, lite, nintendo, nintendodslite, soldout, yahoo

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Ben @ Jan 9th 2007 3:38AM

The DS Lite sold out in many shops in the UK. In Newbury (60 miles west of London) I saw many shops that had signs on their doors saying that they were sold out, so many people must have been asking for them.

CJC @ Jan 8th 2007 1:47PM

My sister got one for Christmas with the message:

"I hope you enjoy it, because I had a hell of a time finding one. And I couldn't find a pink one for the life of me."

tonedef @ Jan 8th 2007 2:39PM

in gainesville, florida, ebgames, gamestop, both rhino locations, walmart, and target were out of ds's.it is a college town, so there are probably more gamers per capita here, but i was still surprised to see the little wonder sold out everywhere.

Captain Obvious @ Jan 8th 2007 1:55PM

My boss tried to get one for his daughter. He couldn't find one anywhere he looked. All he saw were "Sold Out" signs.

schiftya2 @ Jan 8th 2007 2:07PM

My parents had a really difficult time finding me a DS Lite for Christmas. They finally found one at Game Crazy which was the only place in my area that had any in stock.

skyrous @ Jan 8th 2007 5:12PM

I was in ebgames in Cleveland just over a week ago. somebody came in and asked about a DS. Clerk said they had none and no store in their district had any.

religiousjedi @ Jan 8th 2007 2:33PM

Damn! I'm surprised my neck of the woods, the OC, was sold out of Nintendo products (ie: DS Lites and Wiis). This place is pro-Sony/Microsoft! Or am I wrong about that? ~:/

Jon Bones @ Jan 8th 2007 10:46PM

I had a hell of a time trying to find a DS lite in the weeks before christmas. I was lucky enough to find someone return an unopened DS lite a few days after Giftmas and I pretty much haven't stopped playing Animal Crossing/Phoenix Wright/New Super Mario Bros. since.

Jason @ Insomnia Radio @ Jan 8th 2007 2:53PM

SOLD OUT in both San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria counties here on the Central Coast of California. Not at gamecrazy, best buy, kmart, walmart, toys r us, NOWHERE.

Brutilus @ Jan 8th 2007 7:39PM

I work part-time at an EB Games in MD and we had DS Lites right up until 1 week before Christmas. We were the best stocked store (including the big box stores) within about 15 miles and we still got desperate.

Berny @ Jan 8th 2007 4:42PM

They were all out in St. Louis. I called everywhere and I only recently found out they won't get new ones in until February.

Larry Ganz @ Jan 8th 2007 7:15PM

The EB Games in Colorado Springs Southgate area has also been sold out prior to Xmas and a few days after. I think they got some by this past weekend.

Blue Sam @ Jan 8th 2007 4:10PM

color DS lite are completed sold out and left only few white case. It seem that there is high demand on color than white.

Wari0 @ Jan 8th 2007 5:59PM

Decent stock of Onyx and Pink in Seattle/Redmond WA area.

Doc @ Jan 8th 2007 4:32PM

Metro Detroit had a big problem with DS Lites. One of my colleagues went on a vision quest to find a pink one for his little girl. I guess it took her about twenty different stores to find any at all, much less pink.

SearingLight @ Jan 8th 2007 8:01PM

Here in the Nashville/Franklin, TN area, the 4 stores that i've checked, along with two others (four stops being either a Gamestop or EB Games location, the other two being a Best Buy and Circut City) on report of a friend seeking one out; have been completely sold out for a couple of weeks now.

To boot, online ordering seems to be the only way out of the predicament for now, as most brick-and-mortar stores that i've checked seem to have reserve lists when a re-stock comes in.

RP @ Jan 8th 2007 5:55PM

Metro Chicago is all sold out, and retailers expect new ones no sooner than the last week of January. I'm going overseas to see my inlaws and wanted to pick one up for my little brother-in-law, and I had to resort to eBay. At a $30 premium.

JASON @ Jan 8th 2007 6:03PM

The same story in Sioux Falls South Dakota. I got lucky and found an onyx DS at the local Game Stop. They had 3 on hold and they had just released them since no one came to get them. All 3 gone within the hour. The the only other ones I found in town were a couple of pinks at a Shopko. This all occured the weekend of Dec. 16th.

necrophagist @ Jan 8th 2007 7:56PM

in my city we had tons of ds's. im pretty much the only person that buys nintendo products. no shortages here.

p.s. i wrote this whole post with my ds browser.

bryan @ Jan 8th 2007 8:45PM

i live in alexandria, va (a wash. dc suburb) and they are all gone here as well. last week i lucked out and stopped in to a Target in arlington, va and there was a lone pink ds lite. well, i had been searching all over for a polar white one, so i just said "wtf" and bought the pink one. i resigned myself that i will just exchange it later when more stock comes in. i get home charge it, put in animal x-ing, and my pink lite is flawless - no yellow tinted screens, no dead pixels, no probs with the d-pad. so now i will live happily ever after with my coral pink ds lite.

Sono @ Jan 9th 2007 6:59AM

I experienced the shortages in my area (central NJ).

I didnt want to putmy parents through the fiasco of getting one, So I figured after the holidays, I'd just go get one myself. But all of the stroes around were sold out. Though last time I checked at EB Games, they said more should be in this week.

Steve 3.2 @ Jan 8th 2007 11:36PM

They were definitely hard to find leading up to the holidays and are currently out of stock at Amazon, Buy.com, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. Congrats to those that got them over the holidays and good luck to everyone else who wants one!

Stu @ Jan 9th 2007 7:20AM

There also sold out at Sears, which sucks for me since I have some GC's to Sears. And they are sold out at all of the local stores I've checked in the Pittsburgh area, though my local EB Games said they expect some in two weeks.

joshua @ Jan 9th 2007 7:49AM

The Boston area was (and still is) completely sold out.

WalkerEvans @ Jan 9th 2007 12:45PM

My wife and I were going to pick up black and pink ones for Christmas and we couldn't find them ANYWHERE in central Ohio. Target, Meijer, Walmart, Gamestop, Best Buy, etc, etc. Everywhere was sold out.

Didn't have any luck online either. Every online store listed them as out of stock too. :(

Rob @ Jan 10th 2007 12:24PM

They seem to be all gone in the Hampton Roads, VA area. After some extensive shopping online, I thought I lucked out when I found 2 in stock in a Target store in Chesapeake. I even called them to verify that they were still there. About 2 hours later, I called back and they were snatched up already. I just decided to bite the bullet and get one on EBay for about 50 dollars more than the retail price...sigh.

Stu @ Jan 10th 2007 2:36PM

I just noticed that Sears.com has White DS-Lites available for immediate delivery. Too bad I want a black one. Black and Pink are still out of stock. A quick check on Best Buy and Target websites shows both don't have any DS Lites.

Brando @ Jan 10th 2007 9:04PM

Nothing in Cincinnati, Lexington, or Louisville since Christmas. Hopefully just a few more weeks.

Onyx corruption @ Jan 11th 2007 9:59AM

my friend tried to get one couldn't find one for the life of him. i found a black one, a sole black one at best buy, turned around and called him to tell him. turned back and it was gone.

Angie e @ Jan 12th 2007 3:22PM

I live in New England, and have yet to find one to purchase in the my area. Its always sold out. RI and MA, nowhere to be found. ALl that you see are bundles for sale with ridiculous prices.
And when you do get the email messages saying there are DS lites in stock, by the time you get there...sold out!

natedogg413 @ Jan 12th 2007 7:51PM

Sold out in Pittsburgh and Cleveland areas, too. My wife surprised me with a very nice carry case... and a gift card inside for when they finally come back in stock. A few black Lites have been dribbling in to area Circuit City stores, but one or two at a time, and they're usually gone before you can get the e-mail alert.