Given the fanaticism over last year’s Nintendo’s NES Classic Edition, it shouldn’t have surprised anyone that pre-orders for the SNES Classic Edition sold out in minutes when they opened up early Tuesday.
It’s a point of frustration for both fans of classic gaming and parents hoping to lock in an item sure to be on their child’s (or spouse’s) holiday gift list. But if you weren’t awake or not quite fast enough in hitting the “purchase” button, you’ve still got a chance.
Nintendo has indicated it learned from its supply mistakes last year and said in a post earlier this month that “a significant amount of additional systems will be shipped to stores for launch day, and throughout the balance of the calendar year.”
The downside, of course, is you’re going to have to fight the holiday crowds for those.
Best Buy and Amazon, so far, are the only retailers to open up pre-orders, which will let you bypass the shopping frenzy. (WalMart pulled the trigger too early in July and had to cancel all pre-orders.) That means there are plenty of other chains that, presumably, will be doing so in the hours or days to come. Among the stores to keep an eye on are:
GameStop (no direct pre-order page yet)
ThinkGeek (no direct pre-order page yet)
If you can’t check that many pages regularly, keep an eye on the NowInStock page for the SNES Classic Edition. As availability arises, you’ll see who has them and how man. You can also sign up for an alert from Amazon for when the item again becomes available.
It’s also not a bad idea to visit nearby brick and mortar locations of the above stores in person to inquire about pre-orders. Some may have set aside inventory for foot traffic.
The standalone SNES Classic Edition will feature 21 games from the legacy console, including Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and the previously unreleased Star Fox 2. It will hit shelves Sept. 29 with a price of $80.
Nintendo doesn’t look to be done with the Classic Edition line, either. The company has already filed a trademark which seems to indicate a N64 Classic Edition is in the cards for holiday 2018.
