As most probably already know, pre-orders for the Super Nintendo Classic console went up for pre-order recently in the USA. Many were met with large disappointments in their search. One of the first chains to open orders up was Best Buy. Luckily, our fellow content contributor Chris was able to snag one from there. I live in Japan so unfortunately I was at my other job at the time they went up.
Like many others Amazon left a sore spot for most. They had a landing page for the console up almost since it was first announced. However, when pre-orders went live, many were left without notifications. The reason is that the pre-order popped up under a different landing page from the original. This felt a little shady and kind of angered a lot of people with good reason.
Shortly after, Gamestop and Target put their pre-orders up almost in unison. Much like the others, they sold out very quickly.
Personally, I have really mixed feelings about this item. I own most of the original copies of the games bundled with it. My main reason for wanting one would be Star Fox 2 finally getting a legit release, rather than having to play it on emulation for the past decade or more. I know a lot of people are super angry with the way this is being handled because Nintendo seemed to make false promises about it being easier to get one this time around.
According to Nintendo more unit will be available on launch day. They also said more would be rolling out to stores on a regular basis until year’s end. Let’s see if they hold true to that promise.
Considering I live in Japan, I’ll probably just break down and get the Super Famicom Mini. The Famicom Mini is still somewhat accessible here, and people don’t seem to be as outrageous when scalping them (current prices on Amazon.co.jp are about $95 USD at the current exchange rate).
I’m sure whether you got one or not, we can all probably agree Nintendo should start learning from past mistakes. I feel like it’s creating this false sense of demand by limiting supply. That’s economics 101, but the only people that seem to be benefiting from this are the scalpers. Polygon even reported that bots were used to snag some of these pre-orders. Some evil stuff right there.
As mentioned above, not ALL hope is lost. Also, some places haven’t opened pre-orders up yet. Keep a look out for Wal-Mart again as well as a few listed below. Good luck!
