Nintendo president on Super Nintendo fiasco: It was 'outside our control'

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September 11, 2017 6:06 PM

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé blames Super NES Classic Edition problems on retail partners.

Nintendo's Super NES Classic Edition — an $80 rerelease of the original Super Nintendo with 21 built-in games — will be impossible to find when it launches on September 29. It's an inexpensive, nostalgia-laced product that's being made for only a limited time.

Of course it will be impossible to find. Just look at this thing:

We can't be sure, but that's a logical guess based on Nintendo's history with this kind of thing — particularly in the case of the Super NES Classic Edition.

When preorders went live for the console in late August, it was a mess. Nintendo's lack of communication about when preorders would go live, and where, resulted in a lot of frustrated consumers.

But Nintendo of America's president, Reggie Fils-Aimé, re-directed that blame to retailers, telling the Financial Times that the preordering issues were "outside our control."

Specifically, Fils-Aimé said preorder problems did not indicate a supply issue, and he urged potential customers not to turn to third-party resellers to buy the device. "I would strongly urge you not to overbid on an SNES Classic on any of the auction sites," he said. "You shouldn't pay more than $79.99."

His words may do little to reassure customers, however, given what happened in 2016 with the NES Classic Edition, which quickly sold out before being discontinued, and again last month with the SNES Classic Edition preorder fiasco.

What's far more likely is there will be limited quantities of the hardware in stores, people will line up very early, and launch units will sell out immediately. Following that, units are likely to trickle out throughout the year, with the occasional retailer offering overpriced bundles featuring the console with a bunch of junk you otherwise wouldn't buy.

For what it's worth, Nintendo promises it will produce far more Super NES Classic Edition consoles that it did with last year's NES Classic Edition. A Nintendo representative provided the following statement back in June:

"We aren't providing specific numbers, but we will produce significantly more units of Super NES Classic Edition than we did of NES Classic Edition."

How it actually plays out remains to be seen. The Super NES Classic Edition goes on sale on September 29 for $80. Check out a video of it in action right here:

Super Nintendo Entertainment System™: Super NES Classic Edition Features Trailer

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