What's up with Nintendo hardware shortages?

[negative1]

we live in a society of instant gratitude, competition, and people that thrive on their status when they own something desirable.

 

is it any surprise when people behave in the early adopter manner? it's just basic psychology.

 

it's not going to change as long as there are people. even if there weren't any shortages, there would still be people adopting early.

 

later

-1

[Rick Dangerous]

Look what the local Mal Wart had back in stock.....

 

I bought two and left the third for some degenerate to flip on ebay for a massive $10 profit.

[Tanooki]

If I didn't think $70 was BS I'd buy it, but it is. I'll wait until it's a necessity or someone does some screwball sale that won't exclude Switch accessories at a discount.

 

Speaking of, the Nintendo CE was just back in stock for a whopping 10-15 about 30min ago up on Best Buy for sale. And again the (as you put it above) degenerates hit it with bots and crap throttling the site so it couldn't keep up. If you clicked to buy the site would hiccup you couldn't put it in a cart and after that 10-15min it went back to Sold Out. Stay classy flippers, make sure someone who would USE it can't get it for MSRP.

[Retro-Z]

Well, I've still never seen a NES Classic or Switch on the shelves of any of the local Wal-Marts, Targets, or GameStops. Not a single one. In fact, I've never even SEEN either one in person. Since last November, I've occasionally seen a few 2DS units on the shelves that included Mario Kart, but that's it for Nintendo systems. I haven't seen a 3DS on the shelves in months, either.

 

Oddly, however, there seems to be plenty of games on the shelves, just no systems for them. I could walk into Target right now and pick up all of the currently available Switch games if I wanted... but they would just be paperweights... because there are no Switch consoles to play them. LOL.

Edited March 30, 2017 by Retro-Z

[Osgeld]

I have seen one switch at my local Walmart otherwise the same

[Mord]

Same with me. I saw a switch at the nearest Walmart one time on the way to work. But it was gone the next day as expected, not that I could have afforded it on either day myself!

[KeeperofLindblum]

I know someone who works at Wal-Mart and another person who works at a Gamestop... They briefly got a second shipment of a handful of Switches, and those sold out within an hour at those places. (As well as anywhere else that got a handful of units it seems) I think the Wal-Mart got two, and the Gamestop may have gotten slightly more? (I didn't get an exact number.)

I've heard they're supposed to amp up production like crazy for the year, so people need to just be patient and wait it out.

I'd say your best opportunity is before the holiday buying season kicks in when the Switch hype dies down juuuust enough to let some units sit for a period. Once the holiday starts though, you're basically screwed until it's over again since people will jump back on that again.

[Schizophretard]

 

I've never understood the need to own something no one else does, especially a mass produced item that anyone can eventually purchase. In ten years time, the Switch someone bought on day one and the Switch someone bought two years in will be valued exactly the same on the used market. (Assuming no hardware changes in that time)

 

Or a box change or any change at all because if there is anything to show that it is an early unit it would be like the Heavy Sixer version of a Switch.

[Rick Dangerous]

Going to best buy and wal mart today to see if any NES Classics are available before they all disappear forever...will be interesting to see whats in stock now and what isn't given launch mania has subsided at least partially.

[Tanooki]

We just got what appear to be the last one in the country and some distance beyond if brickseek and nowinstock are accurate. I found one sitting at a Target 8mi~ from here and my wife was out the door in under 5min with the kid (they were going to the zoo that direction anyway.) She got it. When they're back I'll be setting that up in my kids room for her to play. Scalpers can go die in a fire as THAT is what it's about, not the mad money one can dick someone else out of.

[toiletunes]

Since Nintendo's boneheaded decision to discontinue the Mini Classic, I will despair at my missed opportunity to give them money.

Meanwhile, I will continue to make do with the original hardware and games- sigh.

[Keatah]

Everyone on this site says original hardware from BITD is the best. So no worries!

[toiletunes]

I agree!

[Rick Dangerous]

Not a NES classic to be found at best but, Wal Mart, or any GameStop in a 200 mile radius. Great job Nintendo!

 

No Switches either ( I asked just out of curiosity)

Edited April 14, 2017 by travistouchdown

[Tanooki]

The Switch is bad timing, they're supplying those. You're just fighting desperate people, and jobless scalping losers who can go stand in line to get things while you work. It's being supplied, the NES was halfassed less than a month into it as they ran a limited amount of those.

[godslabrat]

From what I can tell, if you want a Switch, and pay attention, you can get one. But it really seems like no one had a shot at the Classic.

[Prosystemsearch]

For any other company, supply shortage is a disaster.

 

For Nintendo, it's tradition...

Indeed its a tradition for them. But I think Sony used to have shortages as a tradition as well when the PS2 first came out in 2000. Just saying.

[Flojomojo]

Everyone on this site says original hardware from BITD is the best. So no worries!

And those of us who are happy with emulation can play 700 NES games, not just the 30 included in the Mini, nicely packaged as they may be.

 

Even the diehard box collectors should have what they wanted -- the true believers camped out or paid a scalper, and the casuals obviously didn't want it badly enough.

 

When there are cool new licensed Vans shoes (like the Nintendo stuff they had a few months back), they're only around for a limited time, then they're gone. Such is life!

[negative1]

nintendo clearly doesn't care about profits:

 

2011 - profit

2012-2014 3 years of loss

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/7/8564303/nintendo-fy-2014-earnings

 

2015 profit

2016 loss

 

so this year, putting efforts on the switch is the only priority they have, and not the nintendo classic

 

which is why it was a limited edition.

 

later

-1

[5200Fanatic]

Not a NES classic to be found at best but, Wal Mart, or any GameStop in a 200 mile radius. Great job Nintendo!

 

No Switches either ( I asked just out of curiosity)

 

Best bet seemed to be Target. Of course, there's no way they'll ever hit the store shelves now.

[godslabrat]

 

Early adopting has a big downside too, not only do you pay a lot more, but you miss out on later revisions/standards that you might kick yourself for.

 

Just off the top of my head:

 

early Atari 800 adopters paid a lot and missed GTIA.

Early 4K adopters paid a lot and missed HDR

 

I know there are many other examples of this.

 

I used to think that being an early adopter for a console was generally a good thing. The first builds of 80s/90s consoles tended to have the best graphics/sound chips, connectivity options, and build quality. However, since then, we've seen Xbox's RROD, Nintendo's scratched Switch screens, and numerous almost immediate price drops.

 

Now I wait a year, at minimum. I'm buying this stuff for the long haul, so I want to know if there are any major flaws I want to avoid.

[Keatah]

I used to think that being an early adopter for a console was generally a good thing. The first builds of 80s/90s consoles tended to have the best graphics/sound chips, connectivity options, and build quality. However, since then, we've seen Xbox's RROD, Nintendo's scratched Switch screens, and numerous almost immediate price drops.

 

That was true in the 70's and 80's. True till the electronic spreadsheet came to pass. Once that tool had been applied to business efficiency, all sorts of avenues for cost-cutting opened up. Save a 1/10th of a cent on this resistor across a million units, and that's a thousand dollars. do it for 10 resistors per unit and that's 10,000 savings for that production run. Apply it to a few more parts or ones with a little more margin and you can save millions. That sort of cost-cutting never happened on the well-built 1st run consoles.

 

Nowadays, marketing forces too many changes at too fast a pace, and it's almost never a good idea to get a first-run anything. Cost-savings isn't much an issue anymore. You're automatically getting the cheapest iteration to begin with.

[Retro-Z]

Hmm... so they are actually discontinuing the NES Classic? Bummer.

 

I'm always amused by companies that don't like the idea of people downloading ROMs for free and using them on freely distributed emulators. Yet these same companies, like Nintendo, don't consistently offer products at an attractive price to entice people AWAY from the emulator/ROM/Raspberry Pi scene. There is obviously a demand for products of this type, and these companies are obviously capable of producing attractive retro themed video game consoles at good prices that are popular with their customers. They just choose not to do so.

 

In the short term, I think the NES Classic was a great marketing move and a nice, attractive, "retro" video-game product. However, long-term, I think people's frustration when attempting to acquire one has only increased the interest and knowledge about what can be done with something like a Raspberry Pi.

 

I've chosen to not play the "gotta hunt down a Nintendo (insert name here) console". If they want to make this stuff hard to find, I'll just go without it. Not worth the effort/trouble/time.

Edited April 17, 2017 by Retro-Z

[Rick Dangerous]

Was at Best Buy today. Over a month later not a SINGLE Nintendo console or handheld to be found of any sort..

 

Can you imagine this issue in another industry? Go to buy a car---sorry we are out of Fords, not one on the lot. Come loiter on thursday when our shipment gets in and maybe you can get one.

 

Nintendo has a problem most companies in the world dream of, way more demand than supply. Instead of discontinuing the NES classic, they should have put their ass in gear using some of their cash to make more....and then make more factories to make more of everything.

 

When they go out of the hardware business, whenever that is, to start focusing full time on monetized mario smart phone games, I will be surprised they lasted as long as they did given their apparent desire to tick off consumers via lack of good business decisions.

[Mord]

After overhearing the staff at ebgames yesterday, I suspect my chances of finding a NES Classic locally is exceptionally slim - looks like I have at least one scalper in town that goes in and buys up everything. Ah well, I'll live.