Your first, best chance to preorder an $80 SNES Classic is probably already gone.
That's because late last night, without warning anyone, Best Buy and Amazon sold out of the SNES Classic in less than 30 minutes. Moments ago, Target sold out in less than 10 minutes -- but not before throwing errors and forcibly removing the console from our digital shopping carts -- and Walmart sold out so quickly we're still wondering if the retailer threw it live by accident. It was live for less than 2 minutes, by our count.
Mind you, there are still a few unlikely ways to maybe, possibly secure an SNES Classic preorder.
Pre-order the SNES classic in-store now to be one of the first to experience Star Fox 2 pic.twitter.com/5NoGKlv0u2
— GameStop (@GameStop) August 22, 2017
You can order an overpriced bundle from GameStop.com later today (we're not sure when) or -- starting today -- walk to an actual physical brick-and-mortar GameStop store and put down a $25 deposit, assuming those stores have enough units for you. (GameStop recommends calling ahead, but we'd recommend heading over if it's close.)
You can also try Best Buy Canada, whose preorders should go live any minute now, or try refreshing Toys R'Us in case their preorders go live today as well.
Or, maybe you'll find a unit in store on the actual launch day, Sept. 29. A GameStop rep says the company will have additional units available in brick-and-mortar stores then, and Nintendo has previously suggested other retailers may, too.
#SNES Classic will be live for pre-order at approx. 10am PT. Web only. LTD QTY, no rainchecks. SNES is Eng only and not available in Quebec
— RZ Gamers Club (@BBYC_GamersClub) August 22, 2017
It's no surprise that the SNES Classic would be a hot-ticket item. Not only was Nintendo's previous tiny, HDTV-ready NES saught after to a ridiculous degree, but the new SNES Classic appears to improve upon it in a number of ways. While it only comes with 21 preloaded games and costs $20 more, they're all truly excellent titles, and the console comes with two controllers for multiplayer right out of the box. They've got longer cables so you won't have to sit right up next to your HDTV this time, too.
Plus, there's a new, just-announced rewind feature where you can rewind your game at the moment you die, and try again. Could help with some of those tough-as-nails bosses.
