This kind of stuff is par for the course with Nintendo hardware from what I can tell. Is it deliberate? If so, does perceived scarcity drive more sales, or are they just sick of warehousing unsold products?
Well, they did just get free advertising in the form of this TechCrunch article. Wouldn't be surprised if other news outlets pick on up on the story as well, with the spin of "the hot new Christmas toy".
From that perspective, having short supply on release day seems like a decent plan. Once they get the publicity, I bet the supply increases to match demand within the following month.
