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[World SkiFree]

I managed to snag two today (TRU and Frys in store pickup). One is for me and the other is an xmas gift. Many thanks to the gaffers who shared these links and helped me get these in the wee hours of the morning!

How did you get it at Fry's? I wasn't able to find it on their site last night or this morning (or now for that matter).

Someone posted a direct link earlier. It wasn't up for long as I don't think they intended to allow for in store pickup.

I followed some of those preorder leads from a few pages ago and was able to order through TRU and Frys during the early morning (US). I had also planned on running by Wal-Mart heading to work. TRU cancelled my preorder after the store opened, WM had sold out their 12 units much earlier but Frys confirmed my preorder later by email and I picked it up at lunch.

Appreciated all of the leads from GAF, hope others get the console soon. As some folks have said, don't fall for scalper variety. I love the NES but an emu machine is not worth that much trouble and money.

As for the machine, I have some concerns about input lag but probably related to my janky Vizio. Having played so much "real" NES, not sure I can deal with any lag. But probably user error. Hope to add more comments in the OT when I get chance to play more.

Also got the hardcover book (arrived from Amazon today). Like the Mini, great nostalgia but I expected a bit more outside of Prima Guide variety. Hope to take a deeper dive on that this weekend, too.

 

[Randam]

Exactly. They didn't have any way of knowing if this would be a hit or not; product demand is one of the hardest things to predict. If they'd made millions more of them and it had flopped, they'd all end up in a landfill and it would have been far more financially devastating to Nintendo than temporarily making their customers unhappy about supply.

If you're making a new kind of product you've never made before, you conservatively estimate demand, make enough to cover that on the low end so you're not totally screwed if they don't sell, and if the demand is higher, you can always make more.

Thing was sold out in July after only a few days all over Europe

 

[outunderthestars]

I've had a shitty day, but this put a huge smile on my face.

 

[Toth]

I think I know why my BB order hasn't shipped. There is no mail today and I chose standard shipping...

 

[MisterHero]

Exactly. They didn't have any way of knowing if this would be a hit or not; product demand is one of the hardest things to predict. If they'd made millions more of them and it had flopped, they'd all end up in a landfill and it would have been far more financially devastating to Nintendo than temporarily making their customers unhappy about supply.

If you're making a new kind of product you've never made before, you conservatively estimate demand, make enough to cover that on the low end so you're not totally screwed if they don't sell, and if the demand is higher, you can always make more.

There's sense this argument makes is limited by that NINTENDO DIDN'T ALLOW PRE-ORDERS.

They showed it off months ago and could've been taking pre-orders this whole time. They could still be doing it for future shipments, and yet they don't. Nintendo deliberately blocked itself from one of the best measurements of demand.

At least I can hug my Famicom mini. I can't play Final Fantasy, but it's cool to look at!

 

[noonespecial]

Exactly. They didn't have any way of knowing if this would be a hit or not; product demand is one of the hardest things to predict. If they'd made millions more of them and it had flopped, they'd all end up in a landfill and it would have been far more financially devastating to Nintendo than temporarily making their customers unhappy about supply.

If you're making a new kind of product you've never made before, you conservatively estimate demand, make enough to cover that on the low end so you're not totally screwed if they don't sell, and if the demand is higher, you can always make more.

I just don't buy that argument. Even on Amazon's webpage it said that demand was expected to be very high. Also, someone in this thread said that they were responsible for ordering video game consoles for a major US retailer and were only given 7% of their requested amounts by Nintendo.

So, yeah, the retailers and Nintendo both knew what the demand for this would be. POSSIBLY not quite this high of a demand but they all knew it would be in huge demand regardless.

The problem ultimately is with a low initial stocking supply from Nintendo but was that due to a desire by them to set an artificially low supply on purpose or did they encounter some kind of manufacturing delays or problems? Who knows...

 

[zelas]

Nah, the demand is clearly high regardless.

Based on what hard metrics? By far the major factor in the scarcity is the lack of units produced. Retailers wouldnt have us jumping through these hoops otherwise. Look at other products that have moved even tens of millions of units in a day or so.

With the obvious manufactured shortage and fans telling us the demand is just so overwhelming I cant help but see parallels to amiibo. Except the mini has a much higher ceiling thanks to being worthwhile outside of being a collectible.

 

[Cfer]

I wish the controllers were wireless or at least 6-8ft cables

I don't know how to set this up in any room in my house

 

[AgeEighty]

Thing was sold out in July after only a few days all over Europe

Which I'm sure was very encouraging to them, but that was just a small allotment, right? And a few days is kind of a long time for preorders of something to sell out.

And even if they looked at that and said "Oh no, we'd better increase production!"—which for all we know they did do—they still couldn't know how many would be enough and how many would be too many, and it doesn't necessarily mean they could have had them all ready in time for November.

I just don't buy that argument. Even on Amazon's webpage it said that demand was expected to be very high. Also, someone in this thread said that they were responsible for ordering video game consoles for a major US retailer and were only given 7% of their requested amounts by Nintendo.

So, yeah, the retailers and Nintendo both knew what the demand for this would be. POSSIBLY not quite this high of a demand but they all knew it would be in huge demand regardless.

The problem ultimately is with a low initial stocking supply from Nintendo but was that due to a desire by them to set an artificially low supply on purpose or did they encounter some kind of manufacturing delays or problems? Who knows...

That Amazon message went up this week, and was posted because they knew they weren't getting very many. The size of the first production run would have been set months ago, before the hype set in.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

Yeah. I rarely understand the artificial scarcity argument. I mean, I guess in some very narrow cases it might make some sense. Further, if you've got more inventory at the ready you can ship very quickly, I could maybe understand the ploy. It could potentially make some fence-sitters buy immediately when you ship resupply batch one and two if they see one, for instance.

But really, unless you've got some sort of profit-sharing going on in the resale market it makes very little sense to me. You're not making more money selling fewer units. If there's clear demand and you can meet that demand, you might as well sell as many units as you can for as long as people are interested in buying them.

Agreed, it really doesn't make any good business sense for Nintendo to set up some shortage scheme.

I am very curious about production numbers but not sure if I see this demand lasting past holiday rush for hot cheap gifts.

 

[Ramirez]

I know the eBay prices have been pointed out a bit, but geez. if you go to sold listings on eBay, sort highest price sold to lowest and list 200 per page, it's all units that have sold for $300 or more.

I'm kicking myself right now, I had a friend offer to pick me up one at a rural Wal-Mart in Kentucky, she got hers no problem, lol.

 

[noonespecial]

Based on what hard metrics? By far the major factor in the scarcity is the lack of units produced. Retailers wouldnt have us jumping through these hoops otherwise. Look at other products that have moved even tens of millions of units in a day or so.

With the obvious manufactured shortage and fans telling us the demand is just so overwhelming I cant help but see parallels to amiibo. Except the mini has a much higher ceiling thanks to being worthwhile outside of being a collectible.

I wasn't a part of the Amiibo craze (I could've given a shit for them to be honest) but was there an artificial scarcity on some of the ones that were intended to be rare because they were jacked up in initial price by Nintendo? I'm not trying to be sarcastic here - it is an actual question.

If all Amiibo's were intended to cost the same from Nintendo then I don't at all get why they made some of them intentionally scarce either.

Which I'm sure was very encouraging to them, but that was just a small allotment, right? And a few days is kind of a long time for preorders of something to sell out.

And even if they looked at that and said "Oh no, we'd better increase production!"—which for all we know they did do—they still couldn't know how many would be enough and how many would be too many, and it doesn't necessarily mean they could have had them all ready in time for November.



That Amazon message went up this week, and was posted because they knew they weren't getting very many. The size of the first production run would have been set months ago, before the hype set in.

Maybe. I guess we will see in the restocking. Unfortunately, Nintendo has a bit of an infamous history with doing this so I wouldn't be surprised either way...

 

[chris121580]

So at this point are we through with all the major stores with first allotments and stuck waiting for restock?

Unfortunately it seems like that's the case

 

[NeOak]

I wasn't a part of the Amiibo craze (I could've given a shit for them to be honest) but was there an artificial scarcity on some of the ones that were intended to be rare because they were jacked up in initial price by Nintendo? I'm not trying to be sarcastic here - it is an actual question.

If all Amiibo's were intended to cost the same from Nintendo then I don't at all get why they made some of them intentionally scarce either.

They came in waves. All have the same $12.99 MSRP.

It was a matter of character popularity. For example, hypothetically speaking it was like for every Wii Fit Trainer, they made 5 Mario amiibos.

 

[GeeDuhb]

Maybe I am being optimistic, but part of me feels like Nintendo did this on purpose and they have a warehouse full of them, ready to restock on a weekly basis. They want to make sure people have a chance to get them throughout the holiday season? I am probably just crazy hahaha. I just can't imagine that they shipped out everything that they made. They had to be manufacturing these things for months at this point.

They do seem to have a restock plan, so we will have to see how it all pans out. But then again...Nintendo...

 

[dragonyeuw]

Exactly. They didn't have any way of knowing if this would be a hit or not; product demand is one of the hardest things to predict. If they'd made millions more of them and it had flopped, they'd all end up in a landfill and it would have been far more financially devastating to Nintendo than temporarily making their customers unhappy about supply.

If you're making a new kind of product you've never made before, you conservatively estimate demand, make enough to cover that on the low end so you're not totally screwed if they don't sell, and if the demand is higher, you can always make more.

It's unfortunate they used the holiday period to test the demand for this item. Upon announcing it, it was pretty clear from the buzz across the internet that this was going to be a hot Christmas gift item. I imagine people wouldn't be quite so pissed if this was released during the summer or something like that. As it stands now, it's an excellent breeding ground for scalpers to run amok until and/or unless Nintendo gets out a second batch of units, in plentiful supply, over the coming weeks. Hopefully by December you can reasonably walk into a store and pick one up. I don't expect this to be a product that Nintendo produces indefinitely anyways, so they'll probably release batches as demand dictates. That said, this being somewhat uncharted territory for them, they should know what to expect for an eventual SNES version down the line and produce enough from the start to fill the pipeline, and definitely have preorders next time around.

 

[yo_soy_el_topo]

Just saw a console END with a $2k+ selling price. Was that real life?

 

[noonespecial]

It's unfortunate they used the holiday period to test the demand for this item. Upon announcing it, it was pretty clear from the buzz across the internet that this was going to be a hot Christmas gift item. I imagine people wouldn't be quite so pissed if this was released during the summer or something like that. As it stands now, it's an excellent breeding ground for scalpers to run amok until and/or unless Nintendo gets out a second batch of units, in plentiful supply, over the coming weeks. Hopefully by December you can reasonably walk into a store and pick one up. I don't expect this to be a product that Nintendo produces indefinitely anyways, so they'll probably release batches as demand dictates. That said, this being somewhat uncharted territory for them, they should know what to expect for an eventual SNES version down the line and produce enough from the start to fill the pipeline, and definitely have Preorders.

That's just crazy talk!

They came in waves. All have the same $12.99 MSRP.

It was a matter of character popularity. For example, hypothetically speaking it was like for every Wii Fit Trainer, they made 5 Mario amiibos.

Thank you for the information.

 

[Kaladin]

Just saw a console END with a $2k+ selling price. Was that real life?

Or was it just fantasy?

 

[GeeDuhb]

It's unfortunate they used the holiday period to test the demand for this item. Upon announcing it, it was pretty clear from the buzz across the internet that this was going to be a hot Christmas gift item. I imagine people wouldn't be quite so pissed if this was released during the summer or something like that. As it stands now, it's an excellent breeding ground for scalpers to run amok until and/or unless Nintendo gets out a second batch of units, in plentiful supply, over the coming weeks. Hopefully by December you can reasonably walk into a store and pick one up. I don't expect this to be a product that Nintendo produces indefinitely anyways, so they'll probably release batches as demand dictates. That said, this being somewhat uncharted territory for them, they should know what to expect for an eventual SNES version down the line and produce enough from the start to fill the pipeline, and definitely have preorders next time around.

I still refuse to believe they didn't account for demand. This thing was announced 4 months ago and received fantastically. It also does not seem to take a whole lot to produce. There is just not much to it. Someone earlier in the thread said they were a buyer for retail and their clients only got something like 7% of the actual amount of orders were placed for in August.

But who knows, maybe this is the case.

 

[Doctre81]

You're doing the lord's work my friend

What did he do? lol I missed it

 

[ZiggyPalffyLA]

Holy shit these things are going for $500+ on eBay, I'm tempted to sell mine.

 

[TheSadRanger]

I went to some wal marts and gamestops during lunch, none of em had it. Live in the North Dallas area and one Wal-Mart told me they only received seven units.....

I hate you Reggie ;_;

It's always something with Nintendo.................... I swear this shit makes me not to want to buy Nintendo products, so ridiculous.

I guess I'll just go play Dishonored 2 /kicks rocks

 

[_PsiFire_]

I went to an EB Games to pre-order an extra controller, they had a Turbo Stick on the shelf...shipment came in late this afternoon. Big score!

 

[Munter]

Or was it just fantasy?

Caught in a bid war

 

[dragonyeuw]

I wasn't a part of the Amiibo craze (I could've given a shit for them to be honest) but was there an artificial scarcity on some of the ones that were intended to be rare because they were jacked up in initial price by Nintendo? I'm not trying to be sarcastic here - it is an actual question.

If all Amiibo's were intended to cost the same from Nintendo then I don't at all get why they made some of them intentionally scarce either.

.

I don't think any were intended to be rare. The Marios, Zeldas, Samus, Donkey Kong mascots would be expected to sell more than villager, Marth and Wii Fit trainer, and that was reflected in how those characters were produced. Once the craze kicked in, those produced in lower quantities spiked in value i.e basic supply and demand.

 

[MyNameIsRye]

Holy shit these things are going for $500+ on eBay, I'm tempted to sell mine.

List price doesn't mean sale price. Most are selling closer to 300. Which is still a lot.

 

[SuperSah]

Well, in a shocking twist of events, Amazon UK has actually just dispatched my console.

Due tomorrow it says. I'm happy

 

[Koppai]

Got my NES Classic Mini, I mean my Famicom Mini!

 

[TheSadRanger]

"Ummmm Nintendo this is X major retailer, you only send us around 50 units. The demand is incredibly high and we need at least a million units or more if you can"

"Ummm Nintendo, can we at least get a reply on when we might receive additional units for a restock?"

 

[AgeEighty]

It's unfortunate they used the holiday period to test the demand for this item. Upon announcing it, it was pretty clear from the buzz across the internet that this was going to be a hot Christmas gift item. I imagine people wouldn't be quite so pissed if this was released during the summer or something like that. As it stands now, it's an excellent breeding ground for scalpers to run amok until and/or unless Nintendo gets out a second batch of units, in plentiful supply, over the coming weeks. Hopefully by December you can reasonably walk into a store and pick one up. I don't expect this to be a product that Nintendo produces indefinitely anyways, so they'll probably release batches as demand dictates. That said, this being somewhat uncharted territory for them, they should know what to expect for an eventual SNES version down the line and produce enough from the start to fill the pipeline, and definitely have preorders next time around.

They should. There will still be a little uncertainty as to demand, especially if they ever go past SNES and into N64 and beyond, but next time they should be better prepared.

 

[Shil Pencer]

Its like Nintendo is trolling you again after you finally get the system. I knew the cord length going in to this but it doesnt really register until you see it in person.

 

[Chris R]

I would also like know how many they produced

I bet NA got 50k, Europe 35k and Japan 25k

 

[Kalnos]

I got one from Gamestop (online) last night before they went out of stock, should I be good even if my order is in the 'open' status? I never order stuff from Gamestop ^_^;

 

[dragonyeuw]

I still refuse to believe they didn't account for demand. This thing was announced 4 months ago and received fantastically. It also does not seem to take a whole lot to produce. There is just not much to it. Someone earlier in the thread said they were a buyer for retail and their clients only got something like 7% of the actual amount of orders were placed for in August.

But who knows, maybe this is the case.

Man..... I don't know. I mean, I'm thinking taking preorders as far back as July would have clued them in as to how units to produce just to fulfill those, and conservative estimates of how many to put out in the wild at launch. Like you said( which I also stated above), there was enough positive buzz upon the announcement and they had to be aware of that. And if small percentages of orders placed 4 months ago are being filled? Does give weight to what you're saying..... I just don't know. Hopefully for the SNES mini they get it right, and the NES mini was a test for how to market and produce this kind of product to meet demand. I'm stopping short of saying it's deliberate, because I'm thinking what company in their right mind would intentionally limit the sales potential for a product at this time of year, and give scalpers the means to get their grubby little paws on them and make all the moola. Doesn't make sense to me, so I'm going with being conservative to avoid overstock( like what's become of Amiibo), or maybe they're a little shy from filling the pipeline with Wii Us....and we know how they sold post xmas 2012. Then again, we're talking uncomplicated $60 machines that cost relative pennies, so getting them out in second and third waves over the next month hopefully shouldn't be an issue.

But honestly, I really have no clue how they go about these things.

 

[NeoGold123]

Caught in a bid war

No escape from reality.

 

[SoldierOfLight]

Holy shit these things are going for $500+ on eBay, I'm tempted to sell mine.

Sold one. Paid the price for mine own. On Craigslist.

 

[Citizen K]

Just turned mine on and it's showing 720p. Is that normal?

 

[BorntoPlay]

Nice personal info on the right-hand side there

Ms paint your name and address out, bud.

Eta- highly disappointed. At the very least, I didn't even know it was coming out until I woke up this morning, so it stings a little less.

that is not me, so dont worry.. thanks anyway for let me know...

 

[Ramirez]

Just turned mine on and it's showing 720p. Is that normal?

I watched a video on Cinnemassacre, said that was the highest output.

 

[Doctre81]

List price doesn't mean sale price. Most are selling closer to 300. Which is still a lot.

I just saw one go for over $600.

Edit: went for $910 us.....

 

[Citizen K]

Wtf now I'm getting sound cutting out. It's ok in the menu but when I start a game the music stops for a few seconds then comes back briefly before going again. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[Syriel]

Yeah. I rarely understand the artificial scarcity argument. I mean, I guess in some very narrow cases it might make some sense. Further, if you've got more inventory at the ready you can ship very quickly, I could maybe understand the ploy. It could potentially make some fence-sitters buy immediately when you ship resupply batch one and two if they see one, for instance.

But really, unless you've got some sort of profit-sharing going on in the resale market it makes very little sense to me. You're not making more money selling fewer units. If there's clear demand and you can meet that demand, you might as well sell as many units as you can for as long as people are interested in buying them.

Artificial scarcity works if you have a brand that can benefit from the "halo effect."

Basically, the lost profits are less than what you would have paid in advertising for the same level of exposure.

It is a very calculated thing and doesn't work everywhere, but a perfect example of it can be seen with Nike and limited edition sneakers.

I still refuse to believe they didn't account for demand. This thing was announced 4 months ago and received fantastically. It also does not seem to take a whole lot to produce. There is just not much to it. Someone earlier in the thread said they were a buyer for retail and their clients only got something like 7% of the actual amount of orders were placed for in August.

But who knows, maybe this is the case.

Production is simple. The NES Classic is about $20 in parts. The board is simple and easy to produce. Everything except the case and controller molds is pretty off-the-shelf.

What's difficult is planning for that production run. Nintendo very likely wants to get more out there because, well, Nintendo likes money and hasn't had a printer since the days of the Wii. Every one of these things is pure profit.

 

[robotrock]

Some guy who sold their NES Classic for $220 in the B/S/T thread got banned.

I wonder how that deal is going now, after the ban.

 

[doctorcdcs]

Some guy who sold their NES Classic for $220 in the B/S/T thread got banned.

I wonder how that deal is going now, after the ban.

Did he actually sell it for that amount or was he asking for $220 and then he got banned?

 

[Josh5890]

Some guy who sold their NES Classic for $220 in the B/S/T thread got banned.

I wonder how that deal is going now, after the ban.

Really? I never saw that happen here before. I figured that it was frowned upon but ok.

 

[NeOak]

Some guy who sold their NES Classic for $220 in the B/S/T thread got banned.

I wonder how that deal is going now, after the ban.

Did he actually sell it for that amount or was he asking for $220 and then he got banned?

Really? I never saw that happen here before. I figured that it was frowned upon but ok.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=224142774#post224142774

That is what happened.

 

[Dub117]

My order from Toys R Us is delayed and I called and the automated system said the item is on back order. What is the chance it gets cancelled?

 

[Doctre81]

These things are now going for on average of $400 instead of $200. This is crazy

 

[noonespecial]

Well, I will say this for the charlie foxtrot that today was; at least this was the most fun I've had hanging out on NeoGAF all damn day in a long time. I'm heading out - will wait for this thing to be restocked. Until then, I hope everyone who got one has fun with it!