Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition out into the wild and according to some reports, the budget-priced system sold out instantly at places like Amazon, just ahead of the big Black Friday sales rush.
According to TechCrunch the NES Classic Edition sold out within seconds at Amazon, and was gone within half an hour at local GameStops – all 17 units zapped off store shelves within minutes. Strangely enough, the website reports that lines had formed at places at Best Buy and Target in order for people to grab up a miniature NES, which comes bundled with a single controller and 30 pre-installed games.
After going live today on Amazon, they were quickly all out, resulting in massive backlash from Amazon customers.
If you notice that the score is low it’s because a bunch of people down-rated the product after they couldn’t purchase it.
More specifically, Amazon was pounded with so much heavy traffic for the NES Classic Edition that the carts weren’t updating correctly. Some users share screenshots and testimony of how they were trying to add the mini-console to their cart but it was moving too slow for their tastes, and they already suspected that they had been out-purchased by someone else.
More than a thousand people have left plenty of reviews – many of which are negative – because they were unable to get their hands on the NES Classic Edition.
Part of the blame is placed on Nintendo by some people. They state that had Nintendo allowed for pre-orders ahead of release they could have better gauged demand and shipped the appropriate amount of SKUs to retailers and e-tailers alike.
There’s really no arguing with the people’s logic on that front, despite the fact that here at One Angry Gamer we’re oftentimes anti-pre-order. However, Nintendo’s products tend to be well made and quality designed and they’re always ripe for the pickings from people who want a good game console. Unlike their competitors they actually put gaming first, and for $60 you’re getting 30 classic games on a tiny little NES miniature system.
The more cost effective measure would be to just plug your PC into your TV via HDMI and play the games via emulation, but some people really enjoy the nostalgia of having a console sitting underneath the TV and I can’t really argue with that.
According to Nintendo, they’ve heard the complaints and the requests for more units and are already shipping out more units to get retailers resupplied in time for the brisk holiday shopping spree set to get underway later this month.
There will be a steady flow of additional systems through the holiday shopping season and into the new year. 2/3
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) November 11, 2016
Amazon doesn’t have a date on when the NES Classic Edition will be back in stock, but expect supplies to be replenished sooner rather than later. You can also sign-up for e-mail notifications so you have an idea on when more SKUs will be resupplied to the outlet.
I’m pretty sure Nintendo is hoping the Nintendo Switch sells like this when it launches next year in March.
