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[Gator86]

The thing about the NES Classic is that I'd understand the "Nintendo is conservative" argument if they weren't STILL impossible to get. Nintendo should have seen the interest after the hot launch and immediately started producing more of them, which given the hardware has to be cheap, and shipping them out. Instead they are still only shipping 50 or so every two weeks.

The key point is Nintendo is both conservative AND incompetent. You can't leave off the second part.

 

[roytheone]

I wonder how bad it will be here (Netherlands) since you are required to pay the full price up front when pre ordering. That will probably temper the run on pre-orders a bit. I hope......

 

[Steve Youngblood]

I honestly think there's way too much anxiety in here in regards to how impossible to find this device is going to be.

 

[Busaiku]

So if Sony released it in March it only would have sold 2 million world wide? I very much doubt it.

2 million for (likely) 2 weeks outside of the holidays would be a successful launch.
Not record breaking, but this is a very reasonable amount.

 

[Soapbox Killer]

By who?

GameStop. I believe the assumption was a $50 deposit will hold the system regardless of pricing and bundles that may be announced the following day. Also the may be a discrepancy as to the date due to the Japanese Showcase being the 13th but before midnight in the states (Feel free to check my math on that)

 

[HotHamBoy]

Both a completely new 3D Mario and 3D Zelda at launch is unprecedented. This launch should be the stuff of legend. Generations from now people will look back on Switch as a historical event in gaming and fond nostalgia.

That's my prediction anyway. This is Nintendo's final form, and they won't be pulling any punches.


Quoting this for new page:

Yes, because this reddit post is as good as confirmation from Nintendo.

I mean, if they have Mario and Zelda at launch then they are probably pretty set for a big one, but the price may yet be a factor. And if Mario and Zelda are at launch I wonder what, if any, big franchise titles they have slated before christmas. I mean, excluding Wii U ports. Many of us already have those Wii U games and I can't say I'm itching to buy them again for what will probably be $50-60 each, new content or whatever they may have.

But we should honestly just cease speculation until Friday, this is literally the same conversation every single day for pages and pages and none of it really matters.

To my point, however, all signs are also pointing to a $250 price in the U.S. So $250 + $120 for Zelda and Mario and you are looking at about $400 after tax.

Meanwhile, this is just some of what you could also buy in the next few months:

Gravity Rush 2
Resident Evil 7
Yakuza 0
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Persona 5
Nioh
South Park: The Fractured But Whole
Neir Automata
For Honor
Ys Origin
Torment Tides of Numenara
Mass Effect Andromeda
Tekken 7
Yooka-Laylee
MLB The Show 17
Dragon Quest Heroes II
Ghost Recon Wildlands
Digimon World Next Order
Halo Wars 2
Lego Worlds
Dynasty Warriors Godseekers
Kingdom Hearts HD Remix
Sonic Mania
Dragon Quest VIII 3DS

Or any of the games you didn't get around to buying from last year.

But I guess if you only own a Wii U or a 3DS I could see why you might be champing at the bit.

 

[Broken Hope]

Nintendo systems always sell out the first batch of stock to the hardcore ninty fans. We'll know it's a big hit if it has sustained good numbers and is hard to find for months.

I'm thinking the hybrid approach is going to work for them and this is basically going to be sold out until January 2018.

This is gonna be like the defacto tablet device to get you kids for the next 5 years, and the older gen gamers will pick it up to because having such a high quality portable experience will be hard to ignore.

What dream world are you living in? Most kids I know play with their parents iPads and eventually end up getting one of their own.

Sold out for a full year? Not a chance.

PS4 is still tracking well against the PS2 and Wii and has no stock issues.

 

[Altered Juice]

Nintendo had me running laps on thanksgiving-black Friday for their white new 3ds until I ended up snatching one from Amazon...

Going to need dat launch lineup info asap before I immediately jump to pre order.

 

[mysocksarepink]

is preordering from amazon going to be painless? why the rush to gamestop?

 

[watershed]

Nintendo is expecting to sell 2 million WW by the end of March right? It might be hard to get one anywhere. I'm gonna preorder for the first time in forever.

 

[Kilau]

lol wat yeah this is bullshit

I mean... it's printed, in color even. Has to be real.

 

[Kintaro]

Isn't Gamestop just shit on inventory regardless? I was trying to get an arcade stick or a fight pad about two months ago and they said they didnt have any in a 100 mile range and that I would have to order online. If I wanted to order online I wouldn't have came to the store in the first place.

An arcade stick/fight pad is something so niche in a GS store, it's the nichest of niche. =P Besides, why stock that when we can fit 100 shirts or 200 coffee mugs instead?

T-T

is preordering from amazon going to be painless? why the rush to gamestop?

Will it be painless? The largest video game retailer in the world is only getting like 70k units. What makes you think Amazon, who doesn't have the best of relationships with Nintendo, is getting more?

 

[bman94]

is preordering from amazon going to be painless? why the rush to gamestop?

For people who want it immediately?

 

[i HeaR MusiC]

is preordering from amazon going to be painless? why the rush to gamestop?

Trade-in promotions for me personally

 

[HotHamBoy]

is preordering from amazon going to be painless? why the rush to gamestop?

Preordered my PS4 on Amazon as soon as they went live and didn't have any problems. But Sony seems to have their shit together and they lasted a couple hours before the preorders dried up.

Trade-in promotions for me personally

You are going to regret trading in your stuff some day.

 

[outunderthestars]

An arcade stick/fight pad is something so niche in a GS store, it's the nichest of niche. =P Besides, why stock that when we can fit 100 shirts or 200 coffee mugs instead?

T-T

To be fair, they probably sell way more shirts and mugs.

 

[PadWarrior]

GameStop. I believe the assumption was a $50 deposit will hold the system regardless of pricing and bundles that may be announced the following day. Also the may be a discrepancy as to the date due to the Japanese Showcase being the 13th but before midnight in the states (Feel free to check my math on that)

Interesting all the rumors are saying the 13th

 

[Mediking]

I'm buying from Amazon-senpai, anyway.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

Preordered my PS4 on Amazon as soon as they went live and didn't have any problems. But Sony seems to have their shit together and they lasted a couple hours before the preorders dried up.

It was extremely painless to order Wii U and New 3DS online as well. Pre-ordered both my Wii U and New 3DS from Best Buy's website.

 

[JABEE]

I wonder how much of that shipment allotment is based on Gamestop's willingness to purchase hardware units.

Of course the narrative will be 'Nintendo underships because Nintendo', but remember that it's a two way street. Perhaps Gamestop doesn't want to get lost in the mire of a flop: see Vita and Wii U.

These are my thoughts. Nintendo's strategy in allotment has always been under-ship, because they didn't want exactly what happened with the WiiU to happen.

I believe if there are issues at retailers it would have more to do with confidence in Nintendo's console than any supply constraint on Nintendo's end.

 

[Servbot24]

This cannot be real... Not getting Switch at GameStop would be a monumental and unprecedented embarrassment.

 

[Seth Enosh]

Wii U had all the preorders snatched up by resellers but it wasn't hard to find even a week after launch.

Not too worried about this although I might grab a preorder Friday if it's easy to find and the launch stream on Thursday looks good.

 

[OmegaFax]

Yeah, I've argued before and I'll continue to argue that I really don't understand the "artificial scarcity is a major marketing stunt that pays off for Nintendo!" analysis. To me, the far more likely scenario is just that they want to err on the side of being conservative. Which situation is worse: having a pent-up demand for your early wave Amiibos that you undershipped, or having warehouses full of unsellable Animal Crossing Amiibos that you have vastly overestimated the demand for?

People want to point at the recently released NES Classic Mini as an obvious sell-out product that Nintendo clearly wanted to create hysteria for. But I don't know if this is really all that clear. Honestly, my thought is that this wasn't really conceived as a major product and as such they didn't necessarily have a lot invested in it. It's a total one-off. There was no plan to sell more games or accessories (outside of maybe another controller). It only costs $60. After distribution costs, retail's cut, and third party licensing costs, how profitable can it possibly be? My suspicion is that they are neither kicking themselves at all the lost profits nor is there a grand plan on how to convert that pent up demand into major sales.

I brought this up before in a different thread, but does anyone here remember that that Wii U GC controller adapter was practically impossible to find for some time? Was that them being marketing geniuses as part of some master plan to promote a niche device with incredibly limited applications? Or is it perhaps more likely that it was conceived as a niche device with no long-term prospects?

There's a breakdown in communication both within Nintendo and it's subsidiaries, to its customers, and to distributers/retailers. It's a cascade effect of assumptions and truths.

The GameCube adapter was a pain to find. I happened to get lucky and call a local GameStop of all places on the launch weekend for Smash Wii U and they had one in stock. Never used the thing outside of the first few weeks the game came out. The demand for the controller and adapter seem to have leveled off long ago and whatever is still in inventory sort of sits on store shelves.

I don't think in this case the GameCube adapter was meant to be a high volume product whereas the game itself was a showcase celebration of Nintendo and partner IP and Nintendo clearly wanted to sell as much of the core product as possible. GameCube support seemed like an unpopular idea within Nintendo but a suitable compromise for passionate players.

Eh, Nintendo has repeatedly undershipped 3DS games in some cases. I remember Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon and some other 2013 and beyond releases having smaller initial shipments, supposedly to bolster digital sales on the eShop.

The NES Classic definitely feels like a GameCube Adapter all over again. It creates a reproduction of a classic controller with a small emulation box pre-loaded with 30 games.

The console and controller do not seem. Very difficult to reproduce. The Allwinner SoC is pretty much off the shelf and the casing is very much a scale of what existed 30 years ago. I believe stories about retailers putting in low orders for them in fear it would be an end-cap retro box like Sega and Atari plug-in-plays. In reality, it was a very focused, well made product.

Amiibo, New Nintendo 3DS XL Majora's Mask Edition, and pretty much every release felt tactical. They'd make enough to sell and not replenish. Keeps inventories empty and retailers with products that are moving off shelves and out of their warehouses at the expense of customer satisfaction. People will continue to want these products based on discussion, hype, and desire to buy them.

I've somehow managed to get the black regular N3DS, Majora's Mask system, NES Classic, various Amiibo, Fire Emblem Dates SE, and that GC controller at retail price but it ain't for lack of trying. I've been very overly proactive on Twitter and SlickDeals.

 

[Mister Wolf]

All I need is BoTW and Cemu. I am good, you guys battle it out.

Cemu stutters alot.

 

[Stallion Dan]

Artificially trying to inflate demand again or just Nintendo screwing up?

Edit: Wow didn't realise I failed to hit reply this tab for ages.

 

[Servbot24]

If this news is true then securing a preorder should be the least of anyone's worries.

I don't believe the story, but if it's true then Switch is dead on arrival. I'm not buying another Wii U.

 

[HotHamBoy]

What dream world are you living in? Most kids I know play with their parents iPads and eventually end up getting one of their own.

Sold out for a full year? Not a chance.

PS4 is still tracking well against the PS2 and Wii and has no stock issues.

Or a cheap android tablet. But the biggest reason why the Switch could never be the defacto tablet for kids is that the games aren't going to be free, or 99 cents.

Let's also keep in mind that the Switch is never going to be anyone's tablet of choice because it is limited to Nintendo's tiny ecosystem and will be missing a lot of utility.

Also, pretty sure the Switch won't be pulling a 6-8 hour battery, bros.

 

[Soapbox Killer]

Interesting all the rumors are saying the 13th

The 13th is correct in the sense that it will be that date in Japan when it starts but by the time its over...in the states, many gamestops might still be open and available for preorders. Some east coast stores might get the shaft but nintendo might give early word to GS as to have a universal narrative. I'm checking with the one and only person I know that could know something.

 

[Broken Hope]

What I don't understand is Nintendo fucked up both the Wii U and 3DS launches and people are still willing to jump right in based on a 3 minute video showing mostly Wii U ports?

 

[Havoc2049]

I think Nintendo looses more sales than they gain with these shortages. By the time they can regularly stock retail shelves, much of the hype is dead.

 

[outunderthestars]

If this news is true then securing a preorder should be the least of anyone's worries.

I don't believe the story, but if it's true then Switch is dead on arrival. I'm not buying another Wii U.

Honestly not trying to be rude, but curious. If you are concerned about possibly buying another failed product, why would you even be considering buying a Switch at or near launch?

 

[hughesta]

What I don't understand is Nintendo fucked up both the Wii U and 3DS launches and people are still willing to jump right in based on a 3 minute video showing mostly Wii U ports?

because Mario and Zelda are both coming at launch, if reports are to be believed.

 

[PadWarrior]

The 13th is correct in the sense that it will be that date in Japan when it starts but by the time its over...in the states, many gamestops might still be open and available for preorders. Some east coast stores might get the shaft but nintendo might give early word to GS as to have a universal narrative. I'm checking with the one and only person I know that could know something.

Ah I see. Keep us updated.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

You are going to regret trading in your stuff some day.

Nonsense. I've never once regretted getting rid of consoles or games once I was done with them, and I've been gaming and selling off stuff for 30+ years.

Makes no sense to keep shit around if you don't replay things, even more so if you're not a stationary packrat type--I like to live in small places and move every few years.

 

[HotHamBoy]

What I don't understand is Nintendo fucked up both the Wii U and 3DS launches and people are still willing to jump right in based on a 3 minute video showing mostly Wii U ports?

THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING!!

People are so confident that Nintendo has it figured out this time and it is based on nothing beyond the fact that they need the win.

 

[digita1alchemy]

I'm still not terribly worried. As I understand it, GameStop's in-store pre-orders are allocated per-store and are entirely separate from any online pre-order stock. Meaning all I have to worry about is beating a few local people to my store Friday morning, not trying to beat thousands of people and bots trying to load a crashing web page. I've never failed to pre-order any scarce items through GameStop this way, as long as I am at the store when I should be. It's how I was able to easily buy every single Smash Bros. amiibo.

The NES Classic isn't really comparable, since they didn't do pre-orders at all.

 

[JABEE]

Yeah, I've argued before and I'll continue to argue that I really don't understand the "artificial scarcity is a major marketing stunt that pays off for Nintendo!" analysis. To me, the far more likely scenario is just that they want to err on the side of being conservative. Which situation is worse: having a pent-up demand for your early wave Amiibos that you undershipped, or having warehouses full of unsellable Animal Crossing Amiibos that you have vastly overestimated the demand for?

People want to point at the recently released NES Classic Mini as an obvious sell-out product that Nintendo clearly wanted to create hysteria for. But I don't know if this is really all that clear. Honestly, my thought is that this wasn't really conceived as a major product and as such they didn't necessarily have a lot invested in it. It's a total one-off. There was no plan to sell more games or accessories (outside of maybe another controller). It only costs $60. After distribution costs, retail's cut, and third party licensing costs, how profitable can it possibly be? My suspicion is that they are neither kicking themselves at all the lost profits nor is there a grand plan on how to convert that pent up demand into major sales.

I brought this up before in a different thread, but does anyone here remember that that Wii U GC controller adapter was practically impossible to find for some time? Was that them being marketing geniuses as part of some master plan to promote a niche device with incredibly limited applications? Or is it perhaps more likely that it was conceived as a niche device with no long-term prospects?

Yes. Sometimes I wonder if NES Classic was just a limited run item they wanted to ship to build up hype for their future consoles, releases, and brand.

There weren't really any special kiosks or branding at stores. It was a bit of an afterthought.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

What I don't understand is Nintendo fucked up both the Wii U and 3DS launches and people are still willing to jump right in based on a 3 minute video showing mostly Wii U ports?

The crowd you're dealing with right now are Nintendo fans that probably weren't all that disappointed by the Wii U and 3DS launches.

 

[Conkerkid11]

Preordered my PS4 on Amazon as soon as they went live and didn't have any problems. But Sony seems to have their shit together and they lasted a couple hours before the preorders dried up.

You can also currently purchase several different versions of the PS4 in various bundles straight from Amazon.

As has been said in here several times, no Nintendo consoles are currently available directly through Amazon.

I honestly think there's way too much anxiety in here in regards to how impossible to find this device is going to be.

It's a Nintendo product that's highly desired by the people in this thread.

Taking the thread topic into consideration as well, I don't see this as being too much anxiety.

 

[Kintaro]

I honestly think there's way too much anxiety in here in regards to how impossible to find this device is going to be.

In all seriousness, this man is probably right. =)

And lets say it does sell out. Who cares? 4 days later, Mass Effect comes out. Not to mention the TONS of games between now and then.

There will be plenty to play and do without worrying about the Switch if you can't get one.

 

[Plum]

What I don't understand is Nintendo fucked up both the Wii U and 3DS launches and people are still willing to jump right in based on a 3 minute video showing mostly Wii U ports?

THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING!!

People are so confident that Nintendo has it figured out this time and it is based on nothing beyond the fact that they need the win.

Maybe because the concept is infinitely better than the Wii U's, all rumors are pointing to a pretty heavy lineup of good games in the first year (including Pokemon and Zelda), 3rd parties aren't laughing at it like they were the Wii U and it's cheaper than the Wii U. What evidence do you have to suggest that this will be another Wii U situation?

EDIT: Don't take this to mean that I think it will be an automatic big success. Of course it won't, but if you compare the two situations for even a few seconds you'll see that it won't do anywhere near as poorly as the Wii U.

 

[JABEE]

If the product is worth buying time of the month means little.

Sony release games in March and they sell plenty.

This isn't how retail works for games though. It's one of the reasons why I'm not sure the Switch will be as crazy hard to find as people are anticipating.

 

[outunderthestars]

The crowd you're dealing with right now are Nintendo fans that probably weren't all that disappointed by the Wii U and 3DS launches.

Agreed. Nintendo fans will line up to buy the Switch regardless of the launch lineup.

 

[Shadow Broker]

I tried to buy a console in a store and they laughed at me. Asked me if I thought it was the 90s. Horrible experience.

Joking?

I'm laughing at this post.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

In all seriousness, this man is probably right. =)

And lets say it does sell out. Who cares? 4 days later, Mass Effect comes out. Not to mention the TONS of games between now and then.

There will be plenty to play and do without worrying about the Switch if you can't get one.

If I don't get a Switch on day one, I'll be fine. I've got the money right here and I'll just grab one when I can.

But a new Mass Effect game isn't a replacement for a new 3D Mario and a new Zelda. Sorry. There isn't a single game coming this year that outclasses those two for me.

 

[Conkerkid11]

In all seriousness, this man is probably right. =)

And lets say it does sell out. Who cares? 4 days later, Mass Effect comes out. Not to mention the TONS of games between now and then.

There will be plenty to play and do without worrying about the Switch if you can't get one.

I care more about BotW than any other game that releases this year.

 

[HotHamBoy]

GameCube Adapter

God damn GameCube Adapter!! I got lucky on the day they came out but I almost got screwed. How could they fuck that up? They keep undershipping. I expect them to do the same with the Switch.

The question will be one of demand. I don't know that we can assume that the $250 Switch will pull the same interest as a $60 nostalgia box.

I care more about BotW than any other game that releases this year.

Good news: you can play it on Wii U and those are very easy to find.

 

[Broken Hope]

The crowd you're dealing with right now are Nintendo fans that probably weren't all that disappointed by the Wii U and 3DS launches.

Yeah but based on how I've seen some Nintendo fans post they could sell an actual turd in a box, slap a Nintendo logo on it and sell it for $60 and they would STILL defend it.

 

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

What I don't understand is Nintendo fucked up both the Wii U and 3DS launches and people are still willing to jump right in based on a 3 minute video showing mostly Wii U ports?

Because Nintendo.

 

[KingBroly]

https://twitter.com/GoNintendoTweet/status/818506578596872198


Dragon Quest X?