Move over Bowser, classic gamers have a new arch enemy, and its looking a lot like Walmart. After surprising the U.S. Market with a pre-order link on its website on Friday for Nintendo’s forthcoming SNES Classic Edition, reports sporadically trickled out on Saturday that the retailer was canceling some orders via email.
And today it was game over for the rest of the retro-gamers, as Walmart pulled the plug on remaining pending purchases of the $80 game console that is based on 1991’s Super Nintendo Entertainment System and poised to be this year’s must-buy holiday gift.
“Unfortunately, due to a technical glitch, the Super Nintendo Classic Edition was mistakenly made available last Friday evening ahead of the official release date,” said an email sent by Walmart to pre-order customers today, according to video game news site Polygon. “We, regrettably, will have to cancel this item on your order.”
The about-face is an embarrassing admission for not only Walmart (WMT) but more so for Nintendo (NINTENDO), which had assured shoppers that this year’s likely hot holiday device would be easier to buy than 2016’s NES Classic. Last year’s $60 classic console was nearly impossible to find, both in stores and online. Stock bubbled up sporadically until Nintendo ultimately killed the 8-bit console in April, saying it “wasn’t intended to be an ongoing, long-term product.”
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But Walmart and Nintendo still have time to hit reset. Coming with 21 games—including the original Super Mario Kart and fan-favorite The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past—SNES Classic is officially due to be released in late September, and will finally include the release of Star Fox 2, a title that Nintendo has long locked away in its vaults.
Hopefully the companies are refining their game plan for next year’s rumored release of an N64 Classic, featuring Mario 64 and GoldenEye 007. After all, you don’t want to upset Bond fans—they have a license to kill.