GameCube Controller Adapter for Wii U Stock on Nintendo of America Store Disappears as Quickly as it Arrives

Can someone perhaps explain what reasons Nintendo might have for being unable to produce higher quantity? Do they not have factories these things can be made? I'm legitimately confused.

If they are selling them online, there isn't even the issue of retail space. They are simply not making enough. What is holding them back?

Jesus, when will Nintendo just make this compatible with upcoming major releases and the VC and just mass produce it already?

What the hell? Did Nintendo see the news about the 3rd party version of their product, and reacted by selling some ludicrously low amount of stock through their site? I just don't get it. This company cannot seem to have their ducks in a row at all lately.

Why are they not producing these adapters at a fast pace and keeping up with demand? The same with amiido's? Nintendo is losing points and quickly.

Scalpers are all over Nintendo products like crazy!

Hype. People are talking about Nintendo products they want, but are selling too quickly. If people weren't talking about that... what would the conversation around Nintendo be?

That said, I agree with you: Nintendo is losing a lot of points in my book too.

@Joalro They are a bunch of monkeys that don't know how to run a business and have no capability of understanding Supply and Demand. They are morons if they can't fix their mistakes. How long has it been? A month and a half?

So somebody found a pallet in the back of the warehouse somewhere and that was that.

I need this so bad!!!!

The Gamecube Adapter went out faster than Sonic could say "You're too slow!"

Seriously though, can't they ship some more out soon? It's obvious there's a demand for it, same thing with amiibo.

So... Nintendo makes a limited supply of Gamecube adapters and sells them... in which they go out of stock by the end of the first day. Then, after two months noticing that they might need to make a few more, they put some on their official website only to be sold out within a few hours. Well, we won't see another event like this for a few more months...

@rjejr: Dat avatar

None of this is surprising, considering the Wii U has sold about 7 million so far, and this adapter only works with Smash Bros, which not every Wii U owner has bought. So it makes sense, from a business stand point, to make a limited supply, rather than too many, where such a scenario would cost them. I really don't understand why the outrage is directed at Nintendo rather those who might have bought more adapters than they need. (Scalpers)

Scalpers and resells… low-life scumbags buying them up. As for supply, Nintendo is full of crap. These factories they use in China and Asian in general can really crank this stuff out. And the factories themselves are incredibly agile and they can swap out merchandise being manufactured on assembly lines at incredible speeds and have the new item up and running same day, if not within hours. Ramping up production takes hours, not days. Nintendo is banking on a tired and amateur hour marketing trick. It's backfiring. Until Nintendo stops reverting to the shady, manipulative company they were in the 80s, I'm done with them and their product. This and the Amiibos b.s. Completely low-rent and dishonest strategies. Ones that were played out over a decade ago, let alone now. And this isn't 'sour grapes'. I actually have mine and I have the Amiibos I wanted long before both became a shameful business maneuver. I just despise what Nintendo is doing. Very uncool. Also, I'll never flip them on ebay (because I'm not a low-life).

@Ryno - Last time I went to Target they had about 8 Wii U boxes taking up all the shelf space, so I think it's finally really gone this time, it's my memorial.

Agree, "bit o' both". Sorry, just watched Guardians.

I only hope they put a limit of one (or at most two) per customer cos otherwise we're just gonna end up with a bunch of scalping douches trying to make a quick buck on eBay.

Scalpers probably bought 20 of them smh. I missed out yet again :[

@Iggly - Haha. Nice. Simply that's what Sonic said to the people you missed it.

Probably a bit of both.
Somebody in some warehouse somewhere probably said "Hey look, we found one skid of those adapters back in the corner!" and that was the end of that. Though I do hope there was at least some kind of "one per household" limit to ward off the scalpers... but there probably wasn't.

Next console should just be the Nintendo GameCube. I think everyone would be happy with that.

Whatever...I'll just use my GameCube controllers on Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Yes, on Wii itself.

I remember a time when Nintendo actually stocked stores with adequate supply for stuff people wanted to buy. Ah, those were the days!

I know scalpers are a problem, but Nintendo gets a ton of blame for mixed messages on Amiibo and such... those figures and adaptors in no way should have sold out so soon after release and stayed sold out this long.

Nintendo seems to be having an issue with supply and demand right now. I've been struggling to find some 3DS games anywhere. Make sure you have some copies of the games on your current handheld in Walmart, otherwise you're losing a sale and the customer has to go pay more to get what they want from some scalper.

I thought some Nintendo rep a few days ago said "Nintendo is aware of the scalping problem..."? If that's the case, and they sold these on their site not limiting how many per purchase, they're dumber than I thought...or the guy was not a true Nintendo rep...or both. lol

lol I guess I should feel lucky I got my adapter yesterday.

But im sure it might be scalpers buying them and then reselling them :/

Still waiting for Gamecube VC. Then I will be interested in this.

I'm still puzzled as to why the Gamecube controller adapter is so much in rage demand yet the Wii U Fight Pad Controller with different Nintendo character designs (Mario, Yoshi, etc) and looks and play like a GCN controller is just sitting on store shelves like gamestop.

http://www.amazon.com/PDP-Wired-Fight-Pad-nintendo-u/dp/B00LSBNSAO
http://www.gamestop.com/wii-u/accessories/wii-u-fight-pad-controller-mario/115420

I figure this would be better since it works for all games that is classic controller enabled (connects to Wii Remote) vs one game and more cost efficient unless you already own GCN controller from years ago. Also it's officially licensed by Nintendo if that means anything.

Not trying to be snarky, just trying to make sense of the gamer's world.

@ultraraichu I'm under the impression that the PDP GCN controller is terrible after reading/watching reviews. The main complaint is the controller itself is uncomfortable and feels nothing like the official GCN conrollers.The Hori Battle Pad looks like a much better alternative if you're looking for a third-party GCN controller imo

Scalpersvare out of hand these days. And not just with Nintendo products, basically anything rare, with significant appeal, gets bombarded and listed at astronomical pricesvon eBay.

@ultraraichu Because PDP don't make good stuff. The Hori ones look good but are also hard to get.

Welp, looks like it's time to start refreshing the living sh** out of the nintendo store for the rest of January. Thirsty for this adapter :[

This is kinda ridiculous

@ACK It is worse than that anything slightly cheaper than normal gets bought and relisted on ebay at RRP (Dunno how that works for them).

Scalpz.

This isn't funny any more. Nintendo needs to do something to solve this issue. It's like they don't like money.

Literally all Nintendo has to do to alleviate this problem is produce more then a couple dozen per shipment so scalpers stop buying everything up because the increase in product will decrease the value enough to get them to cut it out.

At least amiibos have some semblance of an excuse because Nintendo has to deal with making multiple waves over time (still BS that some stores only get one amiibo of certain characters and nothing more though), but this is just one item that can easily be mass produced so there's no logical reason for this at all.

This is just ridiculous. Why is this even happening? I can understand that Smash 4 WiiU is a top-selling game, but still, this is just ridiculous for the big nintendo industry. I think Nintendo just needs to give us info on this problem, along with the shortage and cancelations of many amiibo, because like again, this is ridiculous. At least with amiiboo, club nintendo gives surveys on amiibo to find out what the problem is, but for the adaptor, it just seems as if they are shoving the gamecube problem below the carpet, assuming everything is all right!!! If anything, I personally believe that the gamecube adaptor is much more important than certain amiboo (might be a little biased because I ADORE the gamecube), but still, this is a big issue just by looking at it. I think Nintendo bit off a little more than they could chew, if you know what this means. I mean, it is partially their fault, and the problem would be likely to happen anyways. I think Nintendo just planned too many features at one single time with the release of Smash for WiiU, and the creation of amiibo I think is the reason why the adaptors are being delayed. Nintendo for some reason has problems with the stock of some amiibo, and I feel they are dealing with this much more then the big lack of a gamecube adaptor issue. But, I also think the issue is caused by Nintendo, for not making a good prediction of the sales of smash 4 WiiU, and the demand for the adaptor. Nintendo should have known that since it is the newest Smash, on a HOME CONSOLE, it's going to sell millions within weeks of launch (happened with melee, brawl) and at the least, adaptors could have been made long before the release of smash. But instead, they must have predicted this wrong, and this is why there are millions (estimate) of demands for the adaptor, but they can't fulfill that many people within weeks, so this is why the problem is barely being solved with only few adaptors being created (caused by other amiboo problem). I personally predict that the majority of players who want the adapter (Basically everyone...) will be fulfilled in at least August-September of this year, because Nintendo needs to deal with 2 HUGE problems at once (Amiboo once again), and while doing that, develop many, many new games for the line up of 2015 (Star Fox for WiiU, Majora's Mask, Yoshi's Wolly World, Mario Maker, etc.). But I doubt this problem will be fixed anytime soon, based upon this.

@ultraraichu I get that it is a great option, and it is a good idea for people who just want to use a basic gamecube controller, but the new controllers for the GCN are just not the same as the original, official gamecube controllers. I mean, I don't know if this would be true, but what if the new GCN controllers Nintendo makes are like the GameStop Gamecube Controllers? If you ever used one of those, you get it, but if not, they are one of the worst gamecube controllers ever made. Correct me if the info above was wrong, but if these 2 controllers are similar, then the new GCN Controller would be a horrible controller. I guess this is why people want to buy the adaptor instead of the new GCN controller. They just want to use an original, wired gamecube instead of the new one (which would suck if it was similar to the gamestop GCN controller).

@Joruus_Cbaoth Nintendo has proven that they can sell a $10 action figure for $50, and a $19 adapter for $100. It probably is just a case of not having enough supply, and working out a new contract with the supplier that can take months to sign.

Or, OR, Nintendo is deliberately selling $10 amiibos for $40 each on eBay, themselves, and making 400% profit per hour.

This is ridiculous.

@unrandomsam @Neil12
Good to know. Most of the impressions and review I read was above average combine, so it was hard to make a call.

Funny thing is I was going to mention the Hori gamecube controller but I figured that might be harder/costly to get to depending on the store and location. I brought the Luigi Hori controller this evening at Nintendo World so I'll give it a try later.

@bittrip333
Oh don't remind me. During the Gamecube era, I brought one wired and two wireless Gamestop controllers from them and all of them messed up over time. the connection stopped working for the wireless and the L shoulder & A button keep sticking on the wired. I hope that not the same with the Hori one.

Saw a notification of these being in stock. Had one in my cart to checkout. Did not have a previous account with the Nintendo Store so I tried to create one. The website was unable to process my request to create a login username and password. Tried on a different web browser, same problem. Went back to try one last time and it was then listed as out of stock. I was so close.....

@Neil12 I have the Yoshi one, just to have something a bit different, and it is rather crap. The build quality is decent enough, but it feels nothing like the original.

@russellohh Except it's not Nintendo that's making $40+ an amiibo, it's the scalpers.

I expected as much. It's why I'm glad I was able to get a Wired Fight Pad.

Man, was it lucky that I got one of these on December. It was the last one on the store I bought.

But still, what the hell, Nintendo. It's not complicated. Making things that people want to buy and selling them = profit.

They need to start selling Wii U + Villager Amiibo bundles, etc. might as well sell consoles with these in demand items.

My friend got super lucky. He called a local GameStop and someone had JUST traded one in. That person got $5 for the darn thing. My friend bought it for, like, $17.

Mayflash just released a 4 port gamecube adapter and it looks identical to the official one. I ordered one of these for $19.90. If anyone is looking for alternative, this sounds like the best one.

I totally understand why these keep running out. Nintendo doesn't want to end up sitting on a lot of hardware they can't shift. That's a thing that has killed major publishers several times.

So they take the conservative road, knowing that almost everything on the Wii U has sold LESS than expected.

They could easily meet demand, but by doing so might just as easily overshoot production by several miles. They'd rather take the hit on profit from NOT selling a couple multitabs, than go through with producing two million of them that will subsequently rot in a warehouse.

@ultraraichu those controllers are being put to the wiimote, which will reduce the wireless channels... the reason why most people want the official gamecube controller is because we want to connect 8 controllers to our Wii U.

The console can only connects to up to 7 wireless controllers simultaniously, and this is not a firmware limitation, but a hardware limitation ( I think that has something to do with bluetooth limited capabiliy, CWMII)

If we want to play 8 players mode with 8 controllers, then at least one of those controllers must be wired to the console, and that is what the adapter for.

CMIIW.. I'm more than happy if there's another option to put any controller wired-ly to my console.

I still want that second adapter so that everyone can play with Gamecube controllers in 8-player Smash.

I REALLY WANT THAT BADLY!

it boggles my mind how Nintendo refuses to limit the amount of adapters one person can buy. 2 should be the limit. Same with amiibo (2 of the same character).

I think people just need to drop the GameCube controller and move on. The GameCube and it's controller are approaching their 14th anniversary. Let it go. There are great games for the GameCube so I'm not saying get rid of your systems (you'll eventually regret it if you do). I can play GC on my two Wii's and a barely used GameCube, 2 hours, if that (got a whole new GameCube system clearanced for $25 at Target when I actually went in to get just a controller).

If you just must have a GC controller for the Wii U, a 3rd party company could step up and make a Wii U contoller in the shape of a GameCube controller. There is obviously demand for it. There is also at least one company that has made a Classic controller in the shape of a GameCube controller. Why not give that a try.

The Wii U Gamepad Pro works just fine but If I come across the adapter in the store, I'll pick one up for $20 or so. If there still going for outrageous prices on ebay, I'll pick up more and sell them there. I'm sure that they will eventually go down in price, just be patient. When the Wii came out, GC controllers sky rocketed, hitting sometimes $100 for the platinum WaveBirds and $50 for used wired controllers. At the time, I was lucky enough to pick up 3 used ones at GameStop that were in great shape for $18 a piece. I was able to pick up two new wired ones too. One is still in the original package. Eventually, the GC controllers went to normal prices and it really didn't take long.

No big deal for me, loving the pro controller, kicking @ss with it online.

So far so good with my Wii U Pro Controller, and I don't feel like I'm "smashing" it. I would still like to stay in practice with a Gamecube controller, so until I don't have to chase the world for an adapter, I think I will give in to getting an Hori pad. You gotta do better than this, Nintendo... if you knew SSB was going to be huge for the fans, why produce a hand full of adapters? No excuses.

@Ryno I can't believe it, they're back. Like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the new Terminator: Genisys trailer. Taken Friday Jan 9, 2015 at 2:45PM.

@rjejr: Nice! Good thing they have the security tag on them!

@Ryno - Yeah, all 3 of them did, I realized it while I was price scanning 1 of them. Still $99.99.

Maybe now that these are back in stock on the shelf Nintendo can start making more Gamecube adpators and amiibo.

@Ryno imagine if Sony made an adapter for the PS4 controller....