ABC News is reporting a huge loss for Nintendo today as Thieves shamelessly backed up two large diesel trucks into a Nintendo warehouse in SeaTac, Washington earlier today. Police say the criminals stole thousands of consoles by using forklifts to put all the Wii U goodies into two 53-foot semi-trucks. One officer said,
“I’ve been a cop for 28 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this…this has come straight out of the movies.”
While the original article never mentions the Wii U, the accompanying video (seen above) makes it clear the new console was the target. There is some saving grace for Nintendo, however: all Wii U consoles are traceable, meaning it’s just a matter of time before the criminals are caught selling them.
That being said, in a holiday season where Nintendo needs all the momentum they can get, the absence of those 7,000 consoles could be equally damaging. That’s not only 7,000 less people paying $300 a pop ($2.1 million total), but also 7,000 less people supporting the console, buying games, playing online games, buying online content, and moving the console forward.
Whether or not Nintendo has any extra measures in place to prevent stolen units from being used is unknown and unlikely, but buyers should beware if they’re not purchasing from a big box store or reputable online retailer. For example: say you purchase the Wii U on EBay, it’s one of the stolen units, Nintendo is able to track it, and they come knocking at your door. It’s unlikely Nintendo will yank the Wii U out of your hands, but the potential headaches are most likely not worth the effort.
Hopefully the thieves find that out the hard way, but with how easy the heist seems to have been pulled off, we’re wondering if this was some sort of inside job?
