Oh, what’s this? We’re posting articles again?
Maybe, just maybe I want to write more. Let’s see how we go, shall we? Once more, with feeling.
Feeling of I knew this was going to happen.
Look, even though the price of the Switch 2 is a lot (we’ll blame Trump Brand Tarrifs, thank you very much) I knew that it would sell out quickly. How could it not? We’re in the era of constantly having scalpers reach out with their grubby little fingers and robots, stealing from those who really wanted to purchase the Switch 2 yesterday evening (it was midnight this morning, but, semantics.)
The Switch 2 is not for me. My wife really enjoys Animal Crossing, and we’ve pretty much agreed that no Animal Crossing (new, that is) means no purchase from us. I didn’t even try to stay last night and combat the angry mobs to grab it. Best Buy crashed. Walmart had some sort of weird thing where you were thrown into a queue and told ominiously that “This product is selling quick” and “You may not get it.”
I went to a Target this evening and asked the Entertainment guy if he had fielded questions all day about the Switch 2, and he just sighed, saying that he had been asked all day if they still had them, as if they were waiting in the back already before their June launch date.
I don’t know how we can fix bad pre-orders. I will not pretend I have a degree in Business Supply Chain Management (I barely got an Associate’s Degree in Fine Arts) But this is just getting to the point of absurdity. Nintendo had 7 years to develop, iterate, and build a new console. 7 long years. And yet, they are still shocked that people wanted them so badly, that even in their home country, people are being told that there isn’t enought to fulfill the pre-orders that you have to have very specific criteria in order to get (read: A Nintendo Online Subscription, and 50 hours of play time. Also you have to had bought the account, no family accounts here, thanks)
It’s also telling that somehow Gamestop, of all companies, was letting people pre-order the old-fashioned way, and apparently people had a lot of success in getting their pre-order there. I just wish that companies would invest in infrastructure and planning around these events. That’s not to say everything is held together by hope and a prayer, but it sure feels like it, every time there is a major release like this. It’s a constant battle of stress and anxiety of getting it. The only reason I was able to secure a launch Playstation 5? They shadow dropped the listing on Target.com the night they announced the console, and somehow I managed to snag one. It would be nice if December rolled around and I could walk in and purchase a unit off the shelf, but somehow, I have doubts that this will be possible.
To those who didn’t get a system, I feel your pain.
But also, maybe if we wait it out, they’ll drop the price of the system once the Tarrifs destroy our economy.
Oh, wait, it’s Nintendo. They’re charging $69 for a slightly upgraded version of Breath of the Wild.
And $80 for physical games.
…Why do I want this again?
God damn it Tom Nook. You got me.
