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[Alex]

I have an order from Best Buy that's been stuck in process for a few days. It's not the 3DS, I got mine locally but misery loves company so it's nice to know it's not just my package in weird limbo!

 

[Africanus]

I can save you the trouble and let you know Chicagoland (BB, Target, Walmart, and GameStop) is stripped clean as I went looking on Friday and earlier today.

Lots of traffic in their gaming sections, lol.

I preordered 2 (1 for me and 1 for my little sister). The Gamestop employee told me all day that people were coming in hoping that there were two available only to have their dreams crushed by my preorder stronghold on them.

 

[Malyse]

I preordered from best buy and was salty to see six sitting in my local Walmart.

 

[akileese]

Found out the issue after talking to 5 different people...and also a true explanation of why many Majora's were cancelled. With the Majora's masks...Nintendo had promised them XX amount of consoles, and then came back with a significantly lower amount. As for the 3DS limbo of preparing for shipment everyone is in...one of their distribution/shipping places that all of them are coming from has experienced an unexpected "delay"...not sure if its due to the port strikes or what...

He did say everyone will receive theirs by the 20th at the very absolute latest...but everything should be shipped no later than Monday...so many should receive it sooner...

Would be nice if they actually emailed people to explain things or let people cancel or give any update at all without having to call and talk to 5 people before someone finally tracked down the info...

Best Buy deserves the brunt of the blame for the very poor customer service and communication (I had someone tell me "Our system doesn't send emails for backorders") but this doesn't appear to be on them entirely. Also, if you ask for an escalation, you're very likely to get compensated for the trouble.

 

[Producer]

got off the phone with a local target, lady said to come in tomorrow morning opening time since they restock every night.

 

[DrForester]

I was at a few stores today looking for Amiibo and saw some at Targets and TRU stores.

Completely out of luck if you're looking for that Zelda one, but the black one seemed in good supply.

 

[B.K.]

I went back to Wal-Mart today and found one hidden in the very back of the glass case .I went ahead and got it.

 

[TI82]

Our Walmarts (all three) haven't even gotten their initial shipment of them. Wtf is going on?

 

[LOCK]

All my local stores are still sold out. :/ Target told me to try again tomorrow...

 

[apieceofstrange]

I was at Best Buy in Sunnyvale, CA earlier today and they had 3-4 each of black and red units even though the website said they weren't in stock. This was around 3:30PM. Didn't buy one myself, but thought people in the SJ might be interested...

 

[DrForester]

Our Walmarts (all three) haven't even gotten their initial shipment of them. Wtf is going on?

It's Wal-Mart. More than likely they can't find them in the back. Check again on Tuesday. Wal-marts have a tough time comprehending the whole Friday release thing and probably tossed it on the pile of movies and music for Tuesday.

 

[ZOONAMI]

Got mine and Toys R Us today and so did my friend from a different TRU, they were sold out everywhere else though.

 

[ZOONAMI]

It's Wal-Mart. More than likely they can't find them in the back. Check again on Tuesday. Wal-marts have a tough time comprehending the whole Friday release thing and probably tossed it on the pile of movies and music for Tuesday.

This. I went to Wal-mart and no one knew what the hell I was talking about.

 

[jgkspsx]

My preorder from Best Buy still hasn't shipped. I went to the local store and a warehouse guy told me they were told to put the new units back in the warehouse. He may have been full of it, but Best Buy's handling of it seems messed up. I mean, moreso than usual for Best Buy.

 

[goldsoundz]

I got my black n3dsxl after work on Friday. Best Buy only had 2DS, nothing else. Thought that was weird. I walked a few stores down to Target and they had one black system left in stock which I bought. I was really surprised that I had such a hard time finding one. Thought the whole mini SD card swap process was idiotic, but the system is great otherwise. The smart 3D alone made the upgrade worth the purchase.

 

[Winterfang]

I remember I was actually looking into getting a 3DS when Nintendo announced the New 3DS. How did they fuck that up so much?

 

[……forgetit]

Seriously, what was the last hardware launch without limited supply? How is this shocking to anyone?

 

[Shiggy]

Only seems to be an issue in the US.

 

[Joei]

That's weird. I went to Target Friday morning and got this cool goldish one with a weird mask looking thing on it.

 

[JDizzv]

Wow, hate to hear some people couldn't grab one. I really want to blame NoA for this, their product availability has been horrible since the Wii days (maybe since the DS too, can't remember).

With all the advances we have in supply chain methodology and technology, there's no real reason a re-release of an established product or things like Amiibos should be so hard to find. NoA needs to hire some consultants ASAP if they care to improve.

 

[……forgetit]

Only seems to be an issue in the US.

Huh, well that changes everything

 

[AkelisRain]

Because like ebooks and movies, video games are also a form of entertainment ran by companies Amazon has to negotiate with. It shows that Amazon is willing to ignore big name products if they can't follow the pricing strategies they want.



How many people do you know that buy things off the Nintendo website?

So you think Amazon tried to stiff arm Nintendo into lowering the price and Nintendo said well I guess you will not stock our product?

 

[Cave Johnson]

I'd bet it's those damn scalpers. Anyways, huge demand here in Hong Kong, everyone is surprisingly waiting for the US version apparently and pre-orders at shop are off the charts according to some. Play-Asia, on the other hand typically overpriced their bundles but I'm sure it's an "early adopter" thing before they mark down the price.

 

[KU_]

The black and red versions are pretty well stocked near me. MM version is a whole different story but that's to be expected.

 

[Mpl90]

Only seems to be an issue in the US.

I know Amazon is reductive, but

Amazon.co.uk: one of the two XL models (no special editions) is now sold by a third party and with an increased price
Amazon.fr: 3/4 of no-special-editions models are now sold by third parties and with an heavily increased price (like 30-40 Euros higher)

So, while not as much as US, there could be some shortages in Europe as well.

 

[Shiggy]

I know Amazon is reductive, but

Amazon.co.uk: one of the two XL models (no special editions) is now sold by a third party and with an increased price
Amazon.fr: 3/4 of no-special-editions models are now sold by third parties and with an heavily increased price (like 30-40 Euros higher)

So, while not as much as US, there could be some shortages in Europe as well.

Ok, proves me wrong then. Game UK is also sold out online. Strange distribution policy on this continent.

 

[nicoga3000]

I usually have zero problems finding stuff where I live, but even the N3DSXL is nowhere to be found. Kind of bummed.

 

[AlexMogil]

I walked into Wal Mart last night and picked up a black one. They also had a red one.

Nice device.

Really dumb about the 7 day waiting period for transfers. I wanted to give my XL to my daughter.

 

[JustProgress]

Anyone in Houston know where to find one?

 

[lt519]

Heads up, was able to sell my 3DS XL on Amazon for $120, so a little over $100 after fees. Much easier to do it at GameStop but with that offer ending today doesn't seem many will get it.

 

[AgentOtaku]

This is fucking pathetic

I... I just don't see how it's a win-situation for a company when a potential customer can't just pick one of these up at their leisure... instead they're forced to play this non-sense scavenger hunt game.

And for the people who defend this, Nintendo is arguably at their historic low when it comes to mindshare and influence. The winners this gen are not playing scarcity games - they want their product in the hands of consumers, not sitting on some arsewipe's closet waiting for the ebay auction to close.

I really don't understand Nintendo's mindset. Mainstream consumers aren't sitting at their PCs talking about supply shortages like GAF. They move on and buy something else and forget about Nintendo's products.

EXACTLY

 

[Maitiú]

This is fucking pathetic

I... I just don't see how it's a win-situation for a company when a potential customer can't just pick one of these up at their leisure... instead they're forced to play this non-sense scavenger hunt game.





EXACTLY

In the handheld console market, Nintendo is the winner this gen.. If you and the poster are referring to the PS4, that was sold out for months and months upon release. Would you have preferred that Nintendo had delayed the launch another month or two so that the system was more available? I wouldn't. If you would, then just pretend that the release is a month or two from now, and go pick it up at your designated launch date.

 

[kewlmyc]

Only seems to be an issue in the US.

Fucking shocker.

 

[clem84]

Went to my local Futureshop and BestBuy in Montreal this morning and both had black and red ones. They also had Majora's mask.

 

[The Albatross]

Seems pretty much impossible. Every Target, Best Buy, and Gamestop within 50 miles of me, dozens and dozens of stores, is sold out.

 

[ostrichKing]

I lucked out this morning...looked online and saw a Target may have 1 in stock that I had called past couple days...call again this morning and they had 5 minutes earlier found it in the stock room in the wrong box! It may be the last one in the twin cities...

 

[……forgetit]

I lucked out this morning...looked online and saw a Target may have 1 in stock that I had called past couple days...call again this morning and they had 5 minutes earlier found it in the stock room in the wrong box! It may be the last one in the twin cities...

Then get it before you're too late.

 

[ostrichKing]

Then get it before you're too late.

I did...immediately hopped in the car and picked it up...Lake Street Target here always seems to "lose" or "can't find" inventory...

 

[fleck0]

Drove all around the North Bay Area this morning, all gamestops had nothin'. 2 targets, kmart, a Walmart and a Best Buy later the Toys R Us miraculously had a couple red and black units in stock.

 

[Brannon]

Walked into a Wal-Mart thinking to just buy some ginger ale, walked out with a black N3DSXL.

Because playing Monster Hunter on a small OG 3DS screen is just no.

Just no. And now... the transfer *thunderclap/cat screech*

 

[Rawr Its Ry]

Called Gamestop here in Hawai'i, they said it's out state wide. Checked BestBuy, also out.

 

[Flarin]

I live in Silicon Valley and every major retailer is sold out. Some stores said they only got 6 for the whole store and some didn't even have enough to fulfill their pre-orders. Lame.

 

[mgs2master2]

Anyone in Palmdale, Ca (where I am at) east side walmart has 2 of each color (red and black) and East side target has 1 red one left.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

This is fucking pathetic

I... I just don't see how it's a win-situation for a company when a potential customer can't just pick one of these up at their leisure... instead they're forced to play this non-sense scavenger hunt game.





EXACTLY

It seems alot of people still think Nintendo care about the mainstream.. they dont.

 

[7DollarHagane]

Again try toys r us, I think they got more than anybody.

 

[ramparter]

can't believe people are convinced the shortages are on purpose...

 

[Kusagari]

can't believe people are convinced the shortages are on purpose...

Can you blame them? Almost every new Nintendo product that isn't a game is having this happen.

 

[Coppanuva]

Can you blame them? Almost every new Nintendo product that isn't a game is having this happen.

Even quite a few games are. Fire Emblem Awakening did, Pikmin 3, pretty much any non-Megaton title is hard to find.

 

[Draxal]

It seems alot of people still think Nintendo care about the mainstream.. they dont.

Err, while I think the Amiibo/MM 3ds was artificially limited ... I don't think the new 3dsxl was in general. Look at the West Coast for why.

 

[PolishQ]

Heads up, was able to sell my 3DS XL on Amazon for $120, so a little over $100 after fees. Much easier to do it at GameStop but with that offer ending today doesn't seem many will get it.

My local Gamestop is extending the trade-in offer through the end of this week because of the limited supply.