Nintendo SNES Classic Pre-Orders Sold Out Minutes After Going Live

As if there was any doubt that it would happen, Nintendo’s SNES Classic mini console went live just after midnight last night and sold out in a matter of minutes. It became available in other stores around dawn, but even there the units got bought out right away. As a result, customers will simply have to wait until stores unleash the next round or go to eBay where scalpers are already going to town.

Ever since the recent Walmart pre-order debacle, fans have been eagerly awaiting when the $80 mini console will finally become available. Many of them had notifications setup so that the minute it does go live, they’ll be able to act. Sadly, it was all for naught for some fans since pre-orders launched in rather grim fashion. At BestBuy, it went live around 1:20 a.m. ET, Business Insider reports.

Amazon’s own pre-order offer started around 4:45 a.m. ET. In a matter of minutes, every single available slot was quickly filled.

Now, it’s worth noting that there are still some retailers that are reportedly going to offer pre-orders but have yet to do so. Of course, the same pattern can be expected here and there might actually be quite a bit of bot action going on.

At eBay, scalpers are already selling the unit for significantly higher prices. Some are even offering the units for as much as $400, which is more than the previous NES Classic consoles went for.

As Forbes notes, Nintendo did promise that more units of the retro console will be made this time around. However, it’s only going to be available until the end of 2017. After that, fans will likely need to wait for the N64 Classic to get their next fix of nostalgia. In any case, getting an SNES Classic unit now as about as easy as finding actual sunken treasure.