Wii Wii - Bad US economy hits the #1 gaming market

My teenager daughter is not a gamer... Was a big Sims fan, but really just into making the buildings with cheat code for unlimited cash... she also put some time into Pirates of Caribean on Xbox 360.

I recently dug out the PC game "Nick Racing" with the popular Nick Jr characters. Game is about 8 years old, the resolution is something like 320x200 and when played full screen everything is a blocky mess.

But she's been enjoying playing it.

Long story short... the game plays EXACTLY like Mario Kart. A classic Nintendo game that was remade and released for the Wii system in April.

So, wanting to hold onto those dad-daughter bonding moments, I set out to find Mario Kart.

Amazon.com: Nope
EB Games: Nope
GameStop: Nope

Then the young clerk at GameStop... no older than 18 tells me... "Its because the dollar is weak right now. Nintendo can make more profit sending the hot games to Europe. We wont see Mario-kart or Wii Fit till end of summer at the earliest"

Really? Seriously? the friggin weakend dollar has affected my video game playing? Has erased a relationship building moment with my daughter?!?! Has taught this High School student working in the mall the upcoming realistic impact of the US' bad economy?!?!

Yes.

Click for LA Times Article

"The shortage demonstrates one consequence of the weak dollar. We're seeing companies ignore their largest market simply because they can make a greater profit elsewhere," Pachter said."

Man, a lot of bad economic things are coming together... war, gas prices, housing...

When the US economy is so beat down that game manufacturers have no problem avoiding the number 1 game market... What's next to get hit?

Everything.