Importers warn of Super Smash Bros. shortages

Two popular import retailers have warned consumers that Nintendo Japan is struggling to fulfil day-one pre-orders for the highly anticipated Wii title Super Smash Bros. Brawl, due for release in the region tomorrow (Jan 31).

The game is likely to be one of the biggest first-party Nintendo titles released this year — excitement is high from Nintendo's loyal fanbase following a perfect 10 score from respected Japanese magazine Famitsu.

"Please note that Nintendo has badly cut pre-orders placed by all distributors and is only shipping very limited quantities into the market this week," states Play Asia on its website.

"Our first shipment of Super Smash Bros. Brawl has reached us today, only covering about 15 per cent of all pre-orders that we have received," added the importer.

National Console Support says the troubles are more likely a delay than a shortage, and initial supplies should be topped up over the coming week.

"Our initial shipments of Smash Bros. are scheduled to arrive on Thursday of this week. We were able to obtain more copies than we originally expected after receiving the bad news from suppliers on Sunday night," reports the company.

"Some of our suppliers in Hong Kong won't be getting any copies until this weekend which makes it more of a delay than an actual shortage," it continued. "We also note that most of our Japanese vendors will receive the bulk of their supplies on February 2 and February 4 which is a few days later than the official street date."

The title has already been delayed in the US, where it is due for release on March 9, and a European release is currently pencilled in for the second quarter.