Today Nintendo announced that they will be offering a rain check for those that seek a Wii.  You will be able to go into a GameStop on December 21st or 22nd and purchase a rain check for a Wii you can pickup in January.  Nintendo stated that there is  "No single element is constraining our production."  The choice of using GameStop is because "GameStop has a longtime program of taking pre-orders and matching them to a specific product. So they're the only retailer that's really set up to handle this kind of program.

I was a bit surprised that Nintendo didn't go with a more customer friendly retailer like a Best Buy.  GameStop is about a step above a Mexican flee market where they will try to get you to buy accessories, pre-order a game and service plans.  Best Buy has a pre-order system in place so my guess is they probably have some deal already in place.

This all came up because of the fact Nintendo can't get Wiis shipped to the US fast enough.  Nintendo has said they have tripled distribution workforce and are producing 1.8 million Wiis.  The problem is game consoles are made in Southeast Asia and travel to the US via freighters.  That is a fairly long trip via boat so a unit made in November won't arrive till January. 

After the Xbox 360 launched and there was a shortage Microsoft used air freight to get the 360 into consumers hands.  Guess Nintendo doesn't want to take on the extra cost.