Nintendo opened pre-orders for the SNES Classic. Aaand they closed them again.
The upcoming retro console has been on a rollercoaster the past 24 hours. Nintendo recently updated the SNES Classic website to with links to six major retailers, as reported by Forbes. But as of this writing, the pre-order section is nowhere to be found anymore.
The listed retailers were Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Target, Toys R Us, and Walmart. BestBuy’s pre-orders went live last night for a short time, as did Amazon’s. It’s unclear if the retailers sold out of their entire stock already or will be adding more soon.
GameStop has officially opened pre-orders for the SNES Classic, but the offer is currently available in-store only. Some users are reporting their local GameStops denied the pre-orders were open, so I’d advise you to call your local store and check before speeding there. But, ya know, be understanding. I’m sure they’re swamped with phone calls already.
So far today, pre-orders have gone live on both Walmart and Target’s websites only to be unavailable two minutes later. Some people were able to snag one in time, but social media is covered in screenshots of the websites giving errors after the product being added to their cart or actually trying to check out.
So yeah, it’s been a hell of a day for the SNES Classic. Just in case something happens, here are the landing pages for each retailer’s site, except Toys R Us, as it doesn’t exist yet:
Currently, your best bet is to try your local GameStop or play a game of Refresh Five Tabs Every 30 Seconds until someone’s pre-orders go live. I highly recommend following the very helpful Wario64 on Twitter, as he is extremely quick to post when a pre-order becomes available somewhere. Happy hunting, nerds.