As Nintendo struggles to keep the Wii on store shelves, Microsoft believes it is experiencing a console hardware shortage of its own across the U.S. for the Xbox 360. Xbox global marketing head Jeff Bell explains in an interview with Reuters that his company underestimated demand following the very strong 2007 holiday shopping season, and now retailers are apparently forced to receive new stock "on allocation" until sometime this Spring at the earliest.

"We are really running short of product here in the United States. You could say we misjudged demand.

"Retailers have been really upset, they are on allocation. It is a lag I think we're seeing in January and that may continue into February, then as spring ramps up, we'll be able to meet that demand."

Reuters notes Bell's comments emerge just a day before the market research firm NPD Group is expected to release its monthly sales report covering the North American video games industry. Perhaps anticipating a dip in January's Xbox 360 hardware sales figures, Bell concedes the thinning of Xbox 360 stock at retail will have a negative impact not only on Microsoft, but the industry as a whole. Microsoft managed to sell approximately 1.26 million Xbox 360 consoles during December 2007, and it won't be long before we can tell how much lower January 2008's numbers will be if Microsoft's fears prove valid.