NES Classic

1. NES Classic launched without pre-orders and thus no way to measure actual demand. Result is a very small % of potential consumers are satisfied at launch.

2. NES Classic is never readily available and then discontinued without ever satisfying consumer demand. 

3. Result is lowered consumer trust, increased support for the reseller mentality who preys on the significant miss to satisfying consumer demand.

SNES Classic

They corrected the issue related to pre-orders and being able to estimate demand. However, this stock goes instantly to not only actual consumers but what appear to be a large number of resellers who have been emboldened due to low launch qty from Wii, NES Classic, and Switch.

Question remains open about actual launch stock. Will Nintendo launch with 5MM to attempt to meet initial demand based on NES Classic popularity plus immediate sell-outs of pre-order stock in every region? OR will Nintendo once again re-enforce the reseller mentality and break consumer trust again with a paltry launch quantity?

For me, I'm sticking with what I have on my WiiU and my hope that Switch will be given a better VC than either of these awesome retro consoles. I would have bought a couple NES Classics had they been available and I would have bought SNES Classic too had pre-orders been available for any normal amount of time. But, I have zero faith of obtaining one without wasting a lot of time and effort and that simply isn't worth it when I have a large number of these games on my WiiU already.

Given that Breath of the Wild lootboxes random things with buy once figurines than constant purchases I'd say you are looking a bit too half-empty at things.

The (S)NES issue is frankly overblown. Just V.C them if you care that much.

For whatever reason, Nintendo really doesn't seem to have much interest in their classic line... I suspect their manufacturing resources are already strained between the Switch, which is virtually impossible to get in Japan, and the amiibo.

Nintendo has always had a "we do what we want, when we want" attitude. If you're a fan, you pretty much have to live with that.

Honestly Nintendo is still being the same overly conservative small focused company they have always been. The tap a oil well with this retro console market but instead of setting up a true claim they are just planning on leaving the geyser after a few months with oil landing useless on the ground.

Maybe this sort of practice works in Japan on actual toys but Nintendo and it leadership should know better especially after the last run.

While I do hope they will have more available then the NES classic, I'm not holding my breath. This isn't Nintendo's main revenue stream and they are not going to risk the Switch, which is currently having it own issues with part supplies. You have to remember that Nintendo doesn't have its own manufacturing it has to lease space from other companies and if the demand out paces the supply there isn't very much they can do to increase it in an expeditious manner.

Plus contract runs out and usually factories that do contract work schedule ahead with what they are going to do next, so extensions while possible will be treated as low priority since they already have another contract. So if Nintendo wants to continue to use the lines need to make a deal with the next contract holder, which will drive up costs for them. (Which is probably one of the reasons the NES classic was finally scrapped because the costs out weighed the profits.)

These are treated as limited time collectors items and as such there is almost always a secondary market and the prices are horrible. Think about the Ty Bennie Baby happy meal toys. $1.00 to buy from a McDonalds at the time, hundreds to buy from ebay at times. It just the nature of the market.

It's gonna have a limited launch quantity. It's a given. That's a known business practice of theirs.

There's about a 0% chance that demand will be met.

No. They want to win the trophy for worst customer experience in video games. There is stiff competition so they must keep their game up. So much anxiety just for their customers to give them money.

Just terrible.

I'm not complaining because I always saw the SNES mini as a limited supply item aimed towards filling out the holiday season because the Switch install base isn't at a point yet where it could carry the financial load for Nintendo. They don't want the majority of you to buy a SNES mini; they want you to buy a Switch and then buy those games on their virtual console when it's finally up.

Maybe they should have just upped the price to $100 to lower demand.