SNES Classic Pre-Orders Begin, Almost Entirely Sold Out

Game Rant

By Rory Young

Published Aug 22, 2017

SNES Classic pre-orders begin, selling out almost instantly as they're rolled out across major online retailers. One retailer remains, but chances are slim.

The good news is that pre-orders for the SNES Classic have begun, as Nintendo officially confirmed this morning. The bad news is that pre-orders have already sold out at five major online retailers. That doesn't mean that all hope is lost, however, as Nintendo has listed one additional retailer who hasn't started pre-orders yet. There will still be opportunities to buy a SNES Classic in-store, as well, plus potentially additional stock made available to online retailers

Nintendo updated the SNES Classic official website around 6:00am PT this morning, adding a section linking to six different retailers with the title, "Pre-order now from these retailers." By the time Nintendo had updated the site, both Best Buy and Amazon had already pushed pre-orders live and sold out. Best Buy started late yesterday, around 10:00pm PT, and sold out within 20 minutes. Amazon started around 3:00am PT and sold out in around 30 minutes.

The third round of pre-orders went out at Walmart at 10:00am PT on the dot, selling out within just 5 minutes. In the 20 minutes after, both GameStop and target launched online pre-orders for the SNES Classic and sold out almost instantly. Neither Target nor GameStop's websites are fully functional at the moment, but the odds that any pre-orders remain available is extremely unlikely. It's fair to say that the SNES Classic is already insanely popular.

Only one retailer remains that has yet to launch pre-orders for the SNES Classic, according to Nintendo's list. Toys R Us could launch pre-orders in the next fifteen minutes or in the next week. It's not exactly a reliable website for predicting video game offerings. Additionally, GameStop is reporting that there is some pre-order stock available that can only be gotten in-store, so there may be an opportunity there for SNES Classic hunters. Let's just say that the odds of anyone getting one at this point are extremely low.

There's no official confirmation that additional waves of pre-orders will be going out prior to the SNES Classic's launch on September 29. But Nintendo has said in the past that the SNES Classic will be available in much higher stock than the NES Classic was in 2016, so there's always a possibility of more becoming available. Then again, there's also a chance that this is it. The NES Classic disappeared so fast it may as well never have existed. The SNES Classic could easily follow suit, so it's best not wait for the SNES Classic scalpers.

The SNES Classic releases on September 29, 2017.

Update: Toys R Us has provided a statement on Twitter clarifying that the store will not be offering pre-orders for the SNES Classic. Toys R Us will only offer the console directly in its stores come September 29. While GameStop is still offering a limited amount of SNES Classics via $100-$200 bundles, it seems the current wave of pre-orders has ended and there are no currently announced plans for further pre-order waves.