With a competitive price, a nostalgia-evoking premise and a near-Christmas release date, it seemed like the Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System was a shoo-in for best-selling tech gift of the holidays.
And yet, not even a week after launch, you won't see them by the register at any store or or waiting to go in your cart at any online retailer.
Here's everything you need to know about this year's would-be hottest toy, and what you can do if you desperately want one.
What even is a Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System?
The Mini (which is what I'll be calling it, that name is too long) is a tiny box that plugs into your TV and lets you play 30 classic video games that were originally released on the Nintendo Entertainment System (or NES).
The main selling point (besides being an easy way to play 30 legitimately great 80s and 90s games from Nintendo and a handful of other developers) is that the whole thing is styled to look like a tiny version of the NES that was released here in 1987. It also comes with a full-sized replica of the original NES controller.
It was announced in July at a price of $100, with initial pre-orders going live later that month. It was released on November 10.
I'm in. Where can I get one?
Well that's the problem. It's sold out everywhere. There was a massive amount of online interest in the machine when it was announced, and EB Games sold through their initial pre-order allotment in a matter of days, as did any other local retailer offering pre-orders.
Since then demand for the system has only seemed to grow, doubtless bolstered by Nintendo's increased visibility via Pokemon and the Nintendo Switch, as well as early online reviews of the machine and the approaching holiday season.
When EB tried to hold a second round of orders in late October and its website crashed due to the load of people trying to get in, it was forced to reschedule. Many users had issues with the site too when it tried to hold orders for a final "extremely limited" shipment on November 15. This was despite EB bolstering its capacity to double its previous traffic record. Twice.
The stock sold out in minutes once again, with thousands venting their frustration online that they had added a machine to their cart only for everything to fall apart during checkout.
With brick and mortars like Big W and Target only receiving a small amount of units to display — which were summarily snapped up on the day of launch — that doesn't leave a whole lot of places to go to get one.
When will Nintendo release more?
While many people apparently expected this to go down like an iPhone launch — with heaps of supply and, at worst, only a long line or a few weeks' wait to go through in order to get one — Nintendo has played it a lot more like the release of a niche, limited collectible.
The company is currently advising Australian customers that the next shipment of Minis into the country will be in early December. This may mean a few more will appear in retailers but it's likely the stock going to EB Games has already been accounted for in last week's pre-orders. As Nintendo does not sell the machine itself, it's advising consumers to check with retailers to find out their plans for the new stock. The company will likely have additional stock available in 2017.
This is a familiar story with Nintendo, which also had massive shortages of its popular Wii console and some of its amiibo figurines after launch. Many have speculated that Nintendo does this on purpose to drive the perception its products are in demand, but it's also possible that — as a very conservative company — it just doesn't want to risk overproducing. Unlike a company like Apple, which sells iPhones through its own channels and authorised resellers, Nintendo sells primarily through games retailers which will ask them to buy back any unsold stock. Of course in the case of the Mini, global demand should have been fairly easy to gauge from the outset.
Can I buy one from overseas?
The Mini is powered via a standard Micro USB, connects to the TV via HDMI and has support for several languages, so buying one from overseas should be totally fine. Except this shortage thing is global.
The United States, arguably, had it even worse than us because the bulk of consoles there were never even up for pre-order. People had to fight it out in the stores on the morning of the launch and now the likes of Amazon and Best Buy are scheduling online orders for the few remaining consoles.
Stock in the UK and elsewhere in Europe also seems sparse, if online complaints are anything to go by. Japan doesn't have any Minis of course, because the NES was never released in Japan. A Mini Famicom was released there, but even if you were fine with a version of the machine that doesn't look like an NES, is in Japanese and has a different set of games, you'd be out of luck because it's sold out everywhere.
So, scalpers?
Unfortunately, as is often the case, many of the people who have managed to get their hands on a Mini are now flipping it on eBay or Gumtree at anywhere from two to 10 times the retail price.
There are enough of them online now that you should be able to pick one up for between $200 and $300 if you really want to, but remember to be extremely cautious. Always check the seller's history to make sure they've sold items before and have decent feedback.
Also, read the description very carefully. Some unscrupulous hawkers are trying to sell the packaging only and keep the console for themselves, and in at least a couple of instances people seem to have actually payed $100 for something they're bound to be extremely disappointed by.
Sigh. Is there another way to play these old games?
Yes! Of course the main appeal of the Mini is having everything in one package with no fuss (and having a cute tiny version of the NES to go on your shelf), but if all you want to do is play NES games over Christmas there are plenty of ways.
If you have a Wii, Wii U or 3DS console you can buy individual NES games from the eShop. They go for between $5 and $8 each.
For a real retro trip you could go out and find some original hardware. This is risky, obviously, especially if you haven't done a lot of research. Not all 30-year-old machines are in great shape in 2016. Also, as retro games have become a cool mainstream thing, prices on consoles and carts have become pretty steep.
The better option, especially if you already have some carts lying around, is a clone system. These are brand new machines built to take old-school cartridges and play them on new TVs. There are heaps out there, though my personal pick is the RetroN series from Hyperkin, all of which play NES games (you have to supply the old-school carts yourself). You can get the entry level Retron 1 new on eBay for less than $50, but you'll need to go all the way up to Retron 5 if you want HDMI.
Finally, if you're the tinkering type, you could turn a tiny computer like the Rasberry Pi (or any PC) into a Nintendo-emulating machine with software freely available online. Just know this is legally very murky, and doesn't always provide the smoothest experience.
Is the Mini even worth all this fuss?
Early reviews have been pretty positive. The games are emulated very well, and being Nintendo the build quality on the console and controller is great, although there are some quirks (like the controller cord being really short).
I was lucky enough to secure my pre-order in the original July period, although the unit has only just arrived. Stay tuned for a full review on Friday.
