NES Mini: Why can't Nintendo get their shit together?

NES Minis came out, and they were hot. So hot they ran out of stock within hours of being available.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2016/11/12/sold-out-nintendo-promises-more-nes-classic-edition-stock-coming-soon/

Nintendo in all of it's usual antics didn't ship nearly as many units as they should have, and it's quite clear the majority of customers who wanted an NES mini didn't get one.

Nintendo, for its part, is promising more stock before the holidays. The company tweeted this yesterday once it became clear that only a miniscule portion of the people that wanted the Mini NES actually got one:

"The Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition system is a hot item, and we are working hard to keep up with consumer demand. There will be a steady flow of additional systems through the holiday shopping season and into the new year.”

Nintendo has done this before with other items, most recently: amiibos. And similar to the amiibo situation, NES minis are now being sold by scalpers online for up to 200 dollars. And truth be told, if more DO come before Christmas, I highly doubt it will be a large quantity.

It's almost like Nintendo doesn't want its consumers to buy and enjoy it's product. The brand marketing team must sit down and think that Nintendo fans get off on hunting their items down online for ridiculous prices.

They withhold stock to create demand, I used to work for Nintendo, it's pretty well known and a deplorable practice.

Great for scalpers.

@dynamitecop: "this is for the players"?

Nintendo doesnt understand supply and demand

you know what this means?

preorder the switch the minute it goes up lol

On the contrary, they understand it all too well and abuse it.

They are the De Beers of the video game industry.

You've already fallen into their trap, scare tactics to make people think they won't get one so they rabidly try to order before everyone else.

@KBFloYd: I would say you're 100% right on that.

I got one and am really happy with it, but Nintendo probably figured most gamers these days wouldn't want one because it would be considered underpowered to the PS4 and Xbox One. That they would complain that it did not use wireless controllers, why is the controller cord too short, where is the online, doesn't support VR, and 8-bit games look awful and are only for kids. And you can get all of these games on the Wii U which permits wireless gameplay. You know, its all about graphics, low frame rates, cinematic walk-throughs, and online. Just look around System Wars, not really that hard to figure out.

@Collie_Lover: that's a horrible answer and sounds apologetic for Nintendo.

You can't be seriously implying that people were expecting that shit from a re-release of a 30 year old console from the 8 bit era

Nintendo created buzz for their product during the holiday season. Seems pretty smart to me. There will be more stock right around Black Friday and then again just before Christmas. Calm down.

@jcrame10: I forgot to add that the NES Mini also does not play the games in 4K and it is less than $400 which are also huge drawbacks to it. I am serious, people are saying they can play these games on PC and other hardware.

Xbox exec responds to NES Mini Classic shortages

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-exec-responds-to-nes-classic-shortages-as-nin/1100-6445373/

Sports Columnist Bill Simmons Is Frustrated With The NES Classic Sellouts

I must just be blessed by my location. I can buy these things in the store easily. It was the same with the Wii. At the height of its popularity I bought one at Walmart without a problem. I guess if I were smarter I would just pick one up and put it on ebay

Exactly. People are taking this personally as if any company really gives a shit about their consumer's feelings. They are in the money making business. Get over it.

Besides, looking at how many people bashed the Wii U and laughed at how it sold, can you freaking blame them? Especially when this is a product of an era of Nintendo people would rather have their heads in their asses for?

People just like to whine. Each store around the US got 10-15. Thats a lot for a new console. Soooo many people whined and complained about the device. Talking about the cord is too short, only has 30 games, cant be upgraded, etc. This thing exceeded Nintendos expectations. But more is on the way. Nintendos factory is not some insane place that can ship 50 to each stores on release day.

It's all part of Nintendo being a con artist...they definitely succeeded. I just think it was dumb for them to release a short-ass controller, that seems to be a common complaint among reviewers.

As others have mentioned and if I'm impressed after January 12th, I'm going to preorder a Switch ASAP just to make sure I can get the damn thing.

@bowserjr123: That was part of the plan, to release a short controller in it to drive up demand and increase Switch preorders.

Why the hell people expect this thing to be upgradable is beyond me. It's a plug-n-play retro console. These things have never been expandable but when Nintendo makes one they expect it to run like a standard console.

Sold out in hours? No, sold out in minutes would be more accurate.

I don't think that this a dumb move for Nintendo though. I think that anyone who has studied psychology and/or marketing will tell you that it is actually a very smart move, especially if they have more supply that is ready to ship out before Black Friday and Christmas. By the NES Mini selling out so quickly, they have now increased demand. People are now talking about how fast the NES Mini has sold out and that will increase awareness of the product and also trigger the psychological persuasion principles of scarcity and social proof.

The principle of social proof states that we tend to like things just because other people like them. We assume that other people know something that we don't and that copying their choice is a shortcut to making the right choice. By the NES Mini selling out so quickly it sends the message that this is an item that is very desirable to many people and therefore it must be great, so it will influence people to want to buy the NES Mini because they assume that it must be great if so many people want it. This will be especially influential to parents who don't know much about gaming, but are looking to buy Christmas gifts for their children.

The principle of scarcity states that people attach a greater value to things that are scarce and people are highly motivated by the thought that they might lose out on a chance to get something. People now see the NES Mini as a more valuable item simply because it is scarce and the next time that they see the NES Mini in stock somewhere they will impulsively buy it out of fear that they might not have another chance to buy it again, especially before Christmas. Like I said, this will generate big sales for Nintendo if they were smart enough to have more supply ready to ship out before Black Friday and then another supply ready to ship out before Christmas.

Nintendo doesn't need to get their shit together on this one. They know what they are doing here and these psychological tactics will be effective in making the NES Mini a hot item. It will also have the added benefit of being effective in increasing demand for the Nintendo Switch since people will now fear that the Nintendo Switch will sellout fast just like the NES Mini did so they will think that they need to buy one right away so that they don't miss out.

Exactly. People just like whining about Nintendo.

I'm a sheep and all and have no interest in this at all. Amazing that so many people want something that is 30 years old.

The short controller doesn't drive demand, that makes zero sense since many people don't like it. The nostalgia and ability to get a retro gaming fix was the appealing factor. The only legitimate reasoning I can see for the short wiring is to be able to press the reset button easier, which doesn't weigh out having to sit so damn close to the TV.

I don't know if the NES mini will necessarily drive more Switch preorders, but it would be great if it did.

I'd care if this thing could play actual Nintendo games, or play Virtual Console NES games.

Nintendo's just trying to create buzz by making it appear their console is selling like crazy when the reality is they just didn't ship that many. Fortunately for Nintendo, millions of people have been eating the member berries lately, and will be foaming at the mouth for this thing over the next few months.

Because retro is trendy now, we can't even have that anymore, people are even taking that away from us...

Nah, Nintendo did it to get people to whine and complain which in turn drove up demand. It was a genius move by them.

The short wiring has zero relevance to the demand. Read this article so you can actually understand the reasoning for the demand:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/11/11/the-nes-classic-launch-why-does-nintendo-treat-its-fans-like-this

In case you can't comprehend it, it's because they didn't make and ship enough consoles and refused to take preorders.

Causing false shortages to spike the demand up? Nothing new.

@bowserjr123: Each store received 10-15 each and both Target, Toyrus, and Bestbuy did preorders. People were selling their preorders on both Amazon and Ebay.

Nintendo do it

They did that with the Wiiu... didn't help.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409766,00.asp

Some idiots paid more than $350 to get it early.

Minus the compensation you'd save from fighting others for the few available, what would it cost to download these games provided one did not have many of them already? Clearly Nintendo has to manufacturer demand by limiting stock. Besides the Mini, it looks as if the company also short supplied the Boo Amiibo.

@iandizion713 said:

@bowserjr123: Each store received 10-15 each and both Target, Toyrus, and Bestbuy did preorders. People were selling their preorders on both Amazon and Ebay.

Read my article: "Nintendo refused to take pre-orders on the NES Classic in North America. Nevermind that this would’ve been an easy way for the company to gauge demand and adjust their manufacturing accordingly, not to mention letting a whole lot more people actually get the product they want."

It's good that those stores took them, but that was obviously not enough to fit demand.

@bowserjr123: Plenty of stores accepted preorders. I even passed on them when they first became available. And i still got a console by waiting in line.

Nintendos factory cant produce 50 for each store that fast. Thats a massive number to do. And they arent gonna buy and open another factory to handle such short lived demand. All hot items have issues with shipments. Its how the world works.

2 ft cable on the controller? How about **** you Nintendo this ain't goddamn 1986.

No shit Sherlock, I know those stores took preorders but Nintendo didn't. They didn't create enough of them, that's why there's a problem. I'm done trying to explain this to you, you're incapable of basic comprehension.

They do this on purpose. Welcome to the world of capitalism. Enjoy your stay.

You expect Nintendo to take preorders when so many stores sell out of preorders so fast? You expect them to add fuel to the fire? And then they would of had nothing to ship to stores on release day for those who didnt preorder making even more mad.

Nintendo is handling the demand as best they can. They cant help it everybody and their mom wants one. If they could wave their magic wand and force the factory to make more, they would.

My Game got 15 NES Classic and 3!!! controllers... That was the maximum order given by Nintendo. Kind of a insane low amount, but I won't be crying over it nor do I think Nintendo should be condemned because of that. It's literally just a toy I wanted to buy and couldn't. Just that. As a 37 year old guy it would be pretty lame of me to feel entitled to that. I'm still waiting for my psvr too, when it comes it comes.

yeah i saw that. shits hilarious.

@iandizion713: "Nintendo is handling the demand as best they can" Ha, that's bullshit. They could have easily made more, yet kept their stock low on purpose. Them taking preorders would have led them to be able to track demand easier and create enough consoles.

I'm not responding to you anymore since you never make any sense.

@bowserjr123: O yeah sherlock, they could have easily just waved that magic wand and produced 100 for each store. With genius thinking like that its a wonder your not running Nintendo.

Nintendo at meeting, "How many want to buy our product? Who cares, will create millions on day one. How does 10 million sound. Great, lets print it."

WiiU's didn't sell out at launch, you think Switch will?

I bet Nintendo wishes they could've somehow controlled how many people could've downloaded Pokemon Go at a time from the getgo- maybe it'd still be as popular

Thank you based Trump

for anyone who doesnt want to click the link

They forgot to create shortages for Wii U to drive up demand. Its good to see theyre fixing their mistakes.

@jcrame10 said:

@jcrame10 said:

@GameboyTroy said:

Xbox exec responds to NES Mini Classic shortages

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-exec-responds-to-nes-classic-shortages-as-nin/1100-6445373/

Sports Columnist Bill Simmons Is Frustrated With The NES Classic Sellouts

yeah i saw that. shits hilarious.

for anyone who doesnt want to click the link

Nice, good find, that's pretty hilarious. It seems like Nintendo's only shipping 2 million Switch units at launch so it looks like we're going to see another shortage fiasco all over again.