“Mum! Harvey’s being rude!”
“Right, that’s it, we’re going home. Shigeru, get your things, we’re out of here.”
“Nyah nyah nyah!”

Yes, it would seem that Nintendo’s relationship with Harvey Norman is on the rocks. As of today, Harvey Norman will not be stocking the Wii for launch, and it seems, the not too distant future.

Nintendo Australia, for reasons unknown (apart from “not agreeing to Harvey Norman’s terms and operations duties” – which in itself is pretty weak) have decided not to let Harvey Norman stock or sell their 7th generation console with the funky arm, Wii.

Vispi Bhopti, Nintendo Australia’s Public Relations Manager, gives us some insight into Nintendo’s reasoning. “They (Harvey Norman) are telling the market that we are in discussions with them but this is not true. We don’t like their terms or the way they operate and we are refusing to do business with them.”

Vispi continues with his scathing attack. “We are dealing with most mass retailers with the exception of Harvey Norman. Their terms are ridiculous. The Nintendo Wii is set to be a hot product going into the peak Xmas buying period so why should we give away margin to Harvey Norman. We are confident that the new Nintendo gaming console will drive sales during the peak buying period that is coming up.”

Hmm. Seems a bit egotistical to me. Of course nobody knows what Harvey Norman’s terms are, so nobody is really fit to make judgement. However, Nintendo need Wii to succeed, and by leaving a semi-major retailing company in the dark, they would have to have a reasonable decision.

Richard Uechritz, JB Hi Fi’s Managing Director, spoke about the Wii, and what Harvey Norman may be missing out on. “The Nintendo Wii is going to be a big seller. It is a very different type of gaming machine than the Xbox 360 or the Sony PS2. We believe that it will appeal to a wider audience other than gamers. It will reach an older audience and females and we are confident that it will be a very successful product this Xmas.”

It’s no secret that Nintendo and Harvey Norman aren’t the best of friends. Harvey Norman has never been a strong supporter of Nintendo products, and in 2002 completely dropped their support for the Gamecube, across the country. I am unaware of their situation on stocking Nintendo products now, but I would imagine that it won’t be lasting too much longer.

Richard also had this to say on Harvey Norman. “There bullying is coming back to bite them. This is one product that Harvey Norman wanted and I believe that a lot of vendors will take note of what Nintendo have done in refusing to accept Harvey Norman’s terms.”

What does this mean for Wii in Australia then? Well, while Harvey Norman is not the biggest retailer in the country (as opposed to Big W or EB Games), Nintendo are still losing potential new customers and opportunities. However, this does mean more Wii units for other retailers. But because of Harvey Norman’s apparent lack of care and respect for Nintendo, Nintendo seem unfazed at losing Harvey Norman as a supplier. Time will tell whether they made the right decision.

- Aaron Kleemann.