Things have been going up and down for Nintendo this past week. On the one hand, the pre-orders for the Super Nintendo Classic turned into such a fiasco, it made the getting the NES-mini look like a walk in the park. On the other, all the major video game reviewers who were able to get their hands on the device sang nothing but praises for the system, including that nifty “rewind” feature. Things might start looking down again, though. For those who were able to successfully pre-order the SNES Classic–first of all, I hate you–you may want to check your email, as reports have been coming in that retailers such as Amazon and Toys “R” Us will be delaying pre-orders due to their stock not being ready for release.
Several Toys “R” Us customers in the UK have received emails saying that, due to stock delay, the SNES Classics wouldn’t be shipped until 2-3 weeks after the official release date.
The same bad news is coming from Amazon. Several customers who pre-ordered the console received this email:
We recently learned that we may miss your delivery promise and apologize for the inconvenience. You will still receive your order of Super NES Classic. We are working hard to ensure you get this item as soon as it is in stock.
As was stated earlier, pre-orders for the SNES Classic were sold out everywhere as soon as they became available in less than half an hour. This was immediately followed by scalpers hawking them over on Ebay for more than two or three times its original price. At the very least, GameStop has reassured its customers that they will have some units available in stores on launch day, September 29th. But the closer and closer that day approaches, the more likely it seems that many fans will be left empty-handed.