SNES Classic Pre-Orders: Shortages, Long Lines And Cancellations

After a lengthy wait Tuesday, major retailers across the U.S. finally opened up pre-orders for the upcoming Super Nintendo Classic. But according to numerous users across social media, the pre-order process again wasn’t the smoothest.

For some users, technical problems from retailers made the pre-order process frustrating. As Gamestop’s entire site briefly went down in the initial rush for pre-orders. Frequently, orders were also either cancelled via email or invalidated before buyers reached the checkout page.

In other cases, potential SNES Classic buyers missed their chance for a pre-order because of other retailer issues. For many stores, it was often unclear if local branches were doing in-store deals — which frequently resulted in lengthy lines — or if pre-orders would only be made available online.

For some retailers and resellers, SNES Classic pre-orders doubled as an opportunity to make a hefty profit. As it did with a second shipment of NES Classics earlier this year, online retailer ThinkGeek offered SNES Classic bundles that included accessories or collectibles alongside the console. Compared to the SNES Classic, which retails for $79.99 and drops Sept. 29, many of these bundles had sizable markups from $140 to $330.

Despite all the technical and inventory problems buyers experienced, there were some positive signs compared to last year’s NES Classic rollout. At least on paper, Nintendo’s earlier launch before the holiday buying season kicks off in earnest gives the company additional time to produce enough units to meet buyer demand. Plus, retailers like Gamestop have confirmed that they’ll have additional SNES Classic inventory when the console officially launches.

But for Nintendo’s frequent reassurances that the SNES Classic’s launch would be smoother than the NES Classic’s troubled rollout, the fact that early pre-orders already ran into issues is likely far from reassuring. Upon its release last year, the NES Classic quickly suffered from interest from scalper bots and inventory shortages made it virtually impossible to find in stores. Nintendo fans are familiar with major console release shortages — the Switch remains difficult to find in stores months after its release — and they’re likely hoping that the SNES Classic won’t be the latest console to experience one.