Nintendo President Says SNES Classic Pre-Order Kerfuffle On Retailers’ Heads, Discourages Buying From eBay

The Nintendo SNES Classic is a highly sought-after nostalgia product from the video game company and it has caused customers quite a bit of pain already. Not only is the mini console a limited-time offer, its pre-orders have been erratic. According to the president of Nintendo America, however, this is the fault of the retailers and is advising customers not to overspend by buying the units from scalpers.

As Nintendo of America President, Reggie Fils-Aimé told The Financial Times, the botched handling of the SNES Classic pre-orders was not the company’s fault. This falls on the heads of the retailers. What’s more, he believes that customers should not have to pay for more than $79.99 for the mini consoles, which is why he is advising customers to simply wait for the units to be restocked.

This is something that Business Insider believes would be difficult since it’s likely that the consoles are going to be impossible to find for most customers. While Nintendo did promise that it would be producing more units of the product, the 2017 deadline is spurring collectors to sit in front of their computers hoping to get notifications of pre-orders.

As a result, the hunt for the SNES Classic has become a race of epic proportions, with the contenders not even knowing when the signal shot would go off. Fils-Aimé also assured customers that the company has already "dramatically increased" production for the device, but there’s no telling just how many units are coming out and if they are enough to satisfy demand. As it turns out, the Nintendo of America president couldn’t actually say that they would.

In a recent appearance at Variety's Entertainment and Technology Summit, Fils-Aimé briefly commented on the production issues with the device, Ars Technica reports. According to him, it’s not guaranteed that the increased manufacturing for the SNES Classic can provide every customer a unit.