Shortages Force DS Packaging Change

Although Nintendo has suffered from severe hardware shortages all year in Japan, including cartridge shortages, the high demand for Nintendo DS titles has resulted in the company making unscheduled changes to the packaging of its software in Europe. A statement from officials at Nintendo of Benelux (Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxemburg) indicates that a shortage in plastic cases means that the packaging for a number of titles will be switched to a Game Boy Advance style cardboard box of the same size. The new cases will include an apology from Nintendo and an invitation to order a plastic replacement when stock levels return to normal in December. Only specific first party titles will be affected, including Super Mario 64 DS, Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Tetris DS, New Super Mario Bros. and all four variations of Nintendogs. It is unclear whether the shortage will affect other parts of Europe, but it is not expected to result in any changes in North America and Japan where differently sized cases, composed of a different material, are used.