Nintendo just announced the SNES Classic Edition (see here), and that announcement was met with two massive waves of emotion. The first wave was pure elation; total glee at the prospect of sitting down with a Super Nintendo controller and playing Super Mario Kart or Earthbound on the big screen next to my loved ones. The second emotion was pure dread; dread at the prospect of hunting all over in hopes of finding a SNES Classic Edition in stock somewhere. This is going to get ugly, and you don’t even have to wait until the thing launches on September 29 to find scalpers trying to make a quick turnaround. They’re already here.
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That’s right. Not even half an hour after the reveal of the SNES Classic Edition, listings for “pre-orders” are already popping up on Ebay for hundreds of dollars. These individuals are apparent very confident that they’ll be able to procure a mini SNES (or several) on launch day, and they’ll happily ship it to you if you’re willing to pay several times the retail price. Don’t trust them. The listing states that you’re buying this man’s “pre-order from Amazon,” but there are no pre-orders for the SNES Classic Edition. No official ones, anyway, so don’t you fall for that bait. It’s only going to get worse as the release date approaches.
What can Nintendo do to alleviate the issue? A thoughtful pre-order system will go a very long way. If they SNES Classic Edition is provided to brick and mortar retailers primarily, and those retailers limit the number of pre-orders to one console per customer, this will ensure that scalpers aren’t the only ones who procure these little Super Nintendos on launch day by shady means.
Nintendo admitted that it learned some tough lessons throughout the course of the NES Classic Edition’s very short life, so hopefully the launch of this nostalgic dream come true will go a little more smoothly. It’s still going to be tough finding one, but hopefully not impossible.
One thing is for sure. Between the SNES Classic Edition and the Switch, Nintendo is going to clean up this holiday season. Stay tuned for pre-order details.
