Overview
- Retailers told customers of problems on launch day, with Walmart canceling some pre-orders and informing buyers their orders were “out of stock,” a breakdown first reported in the days before the console’s Oct. 29 release.
- An internal Walmart memo shared online instructed stores to place a point-of-sale sales block to reserve inventory for pre-orders and said the block would remain in place through at least November 6, which left some stores with consoles on hand that could not be scanned or sold.
- Nintendo briefly reopened sales on its own online store on launch day but that limited restock sold out quickly as demand overwhelmed supply.
- Other major retailers signaled staggered replenishments around November 5–6, and Best Buy planned limited in-store midnight allocations that appear less affected by the reported supply controls.
- Scalpers listed consoles at greatly inflated prices on third-party marketplace pages while frustrated customers and store employees reported confusing cancellations, mixed messaging from customer service, and a high risk that many buyers will miss the console before the Ocarina of Time remake launches next week.