Walmart Cancels a Number of SNES Mini Pre-Orders

I haven't gotten a cancellation email yet. Going to keep my fingers crossed that I never see one.

Not surprised. The nature of the random time it was available was suspicious. There is no good solution for how to handle preorders though. It's evident that Nintendo is not making anywhere near enough of these SNES Classics to meet demand.

As usual.

I do hope the people who jumped right onto forums/comments sections to brag about getting multiples get theirs cancelled though. Would bring a big smile to my face.

Nintendo sure loves a launch fiasco.

I found out about Walmart having them first from a user on this website but upon checking my email I had a message from Walmart stating they were now available. I'm going to be really upset if they cancel my order. I never had a shot at the Nes Mini unless I wanted to sell my soul or go wait in line somewhere at 4am.

This is crazy. Nintendo is just upsetting their fans. They need to make more retro consoles for everyone.

My order says "Processing" which is what I would expect it to say.

I also received the email that it was available (for which I had signed up to receive).

Mine was cancelled the next day. They told me there was something wrong with my payment info. I rechecked it, and it was all good. I contacted their customer service. They checked it and said there was nothing wrong with it. They apologized and said they weren't sure why it cancelled. Of course, there was nothing they could do for me.

There's very little dignity in trying to get a Nintendo product. Lines in Japan only to get nothing. Waiting on crappy retailer preorder sites only to to get a cancel. And it's all encouraged by these corporations. Just keep rolling over for them!

Hmm... perhaps Walmart was merely doing a test run to see just how quickly their site would crash into oblivion when they actually do get the pre-orders.

And what did we learn? We're just as screwed as last time.

@tigergumby Same thing happened to me, except I didn't bother contacting customer service. I went to bed feeling victorious, and then was defeated when I woke up.

You know it figures. For once, I actually was able to get a preorder in and it sounds like they're going to double back their end of the deal. Everyone needs to do a better job with this. Nintendo just enjoys our misery.

"...released to soon."

I must ask, where can I go to find this "soon"?

Nobody holds Nintendo to task for their gross ineptitude and incompetence when it comes to manufacturing and distributing their products.

Yet if Nintendo announces an N64 mini, fans will still race to pre order one.

This is only the beginning...

What a mess....

@AlienX okay grammar police how about one of your previous comments on the site:

"The Wii U version is like 30% darker than the Wii version (which has the original colors). Every N64 VC is like that this time around sadly."

What the hell are colors? It's colours. If your going to be picky with other people's comments please ensure you speak the Queen's English.

I was so excited when I happened saw the notification that night and raced to snag one. Then I told my dad about it and he ordered one as well.
Next morning mine was cancelled for "payment info discrepancies".
My dad still has his processing, but he's not holding his breath.

Great😒 Hope I'm good. I literally preordered min 15 minutes after they came up.

I want to punch Nintendo, really the 1st company in the world that supplies less that the existing demand for its product ( and does not win with that kind of speculation)

@Nolan420 if you are using that logic, this article is about a Japanese product so..... [removed]

_{@panthro Watch your language. Profanity isn't allowed, regardless of what language you post it in. And let's keep it civil, consider this a warning - Octane}

Guess what Nintendo? Going to emulate all these games on PI. Would have loved to give you the money for this, but this is pathetic and I'm not refreshing pages for 4 preorder sites any longer, been doing it obsessively for a month (on 3). Took a shower Friday night and missed Walmart randomly going up. Really f---ed up and cruel.

Glad I'm not getting this yet, hopefully I won't have too much trouble nabbing it when I do, though.

Walmart, sod off, I hope your stock drops.

I'm happy about it because that means more chances to pre-order the system!

@Nolan420 yea I preordered my Switch the morning of the big Nintendo present in January. Have seen a single unit in stock at Walmart two times since launch. While I'd prefer physical games the Nes and SNES Mini are really my only shot at getting new official Nintendo hardware that works as well as the originals did back in the 80s and 90s. I wish I had kept all my original stuff as I had a ton but back then I was tight on money and had to trade in old stuff to get new stuff...

i blame nintendo

I was lucky to get a pre-order from Walmart. No cancellation yet and I'm praying it stays that way. They already took the money from my account so I'm hoping that's a good sign.

@panthro Sorry but no, in this part of the world "colors" is correct and preferred. I'm not going to change my Spanish if I go visit a Spanish site, why would I do it here?

"...released to soon." in that context is wrong everywhere.

And just to clarify, I don't poke fun at people for bad grammar(I don't care), Walmart, or in this case Walmart Help is a professional American company, they should be expected to write properly.

But even then it's not a big deal, I'm just making a funny comment, I never expected it to be offending.

@Dang69 agreed. i give up. I still got my VC on WiiU/Wii.
I refuse to try and give them money for this. Nintendo killed the Virtual Console. R.I.P. 2006-2017

@panthro
grammatically both version are correct - don't get why you are insisting that it is spelled "your" or the "Queen's" version.

@panthro @AlienX "Colors" is not a mistake but "to" instead of "too" is. It's not the only mistake either, there's also "trough" instead of "through."

Honestly though it may not be professionaI but I didn't notice at first and IMO it's not really a big deal. Mistakes happen.

@AlienX

Actually the Walmart rep also makes spelling mistakes in the chat screens: "trough" and "this orders", it goes to show how unprofessional they can be.

Awww... nuts. I haven't received a cancellation yet, so here's hoping a certain number of them will be honored. I'll have to keep my eye out for other opportunities in case. Man, and it was such a relief to get a pre-order in! Thanks a lot, Wally World.

@westermac "I understood that reference."

Of course, the one time I finally do get in a pre-order for a limited run Nintendo product, it's going to be cancelled -_-

I have an Amazon UK SNES Mini preordered, and then two from Walmart here in the US. I'm not cancelling anything until I get shipping confirmation in case something like this happens. If I do get both of my Walmart orders one is going to a friend.

Bring on the N64 Classic Edition Nintendo, I'm feeling lucky!

And so it begins.

Please folks, for the sake of those who couldn't preorder, don't make posts like "Preordered! Or "Just ordered 2!", etc. Posts like that make those who weren't able to preorder more depressed.

@Nolan420 I've never seen them in retro stores (I think that would be bad for business) but he's referring to a Raspberry Pi with RetroPi setup and configured. My Pi 2 ran everything up to 64 for sure, but I don't recall if it could run N64 or not. The Pi 3's can run N64, though honestly, I wasn't happy with the performance at all - though I'm the type that likes to play on original hardware.

@Don If simply acknowledging that there are people in the world that pre-ordered a device makes you depressed, I think you have more serious issues. Just as the people like to complain about not being able to grab one or had a pre-order cancelled (Myself included), who cares if someone lucky enough to snag one wants to share?

I got an order in during the window and now I'm just waiting for the inevitable cancellation email!

@sinalefa Yup! And even more mistakes too. This grammatical battle is likely moot anyway as the Walmart Chat Reps referenced in the article are most likely based in India. Naria's sentence structure gives it away. Who in the US (or UK) would say, "...the item was displayed before time." What, like before time began? Before the Big Bang? Before the dinosaurs? Before Jesus? LOL!

So neither the Queen or the Yanks win this one!

@TenEighty Nintendo really knows how to let there fans down.

No cancellation email yet, Maybe I lucked out, I just hope the mere mention of cancellation doesn't bring it upon me.

Whike this makes me feel a little less bad about about missing the orworser, it just prove she how dumbly Nintendo handles preorders. Why cat they just announce the date that preorders will be accepted?

@LeRaposa I'd have a guess it's more scalpers than fans. I know there are tons of fans but there are plenty more looking to take advantage of those fans knowing they can easily double or triple their investment.

Walmart has already taken $84 out of my checking acct as an "authorization hold" and I have an order confirmation number. Along with the fact I've received no cancellation email yet makes me hopeful that I'll be one of the lucky ones..... fingers crossed

This is a freaking joke. For the life of me I can't understand why Nintendo would limit this hugely popular product to such an intense degree. It literally only causes fans to be pissed at them. I would rather see the SNES Mini delayed for two years and have proper amounts of stock built up.

@Ahiam94 Likewise. I ordered within the first 4 minutes.

Hey, it's my money they want. I'll just continue playing them on my 3DS through emulation instead.

The store were I pre-ordered said that Nintendo gave them a number of how much systems they would receive without fail.

These cancellations seems rather weird.

I'm so relieved that I have no investment in Star Fox, or else Nintendo Preorder Circus (tm) would be torture.

@panthro *you're

@Agent721 Sure, blame Nintendo for Walmart's mistake.

@MegaTen
The Operation Rainfall movement wouldn't work for the Minis. Nintendo has tight control of their properties and aren't very keen on licensing them out to other groups. They are well aware of their releases not meeting demand, but they really don't care. At this point they do it on purpose to inflate the desire of people to acquire their products.

Nintendo has nothing to do with Walmart canceling these pre-orders. Please keep that in mind.

I'm hearing from multiple sources that in fact ALL Walmart's pre-orders have been cancelled. (Or at least will be as soon as the system corrects itself.)

Only the incompetents running the show at Nintendo can screw up a good thing. The Switch stock issues are a joke and what happened with both the NES Classic and SNES classic is freaking pathetic to say the least.

I was very lucky @ 11:37pm I got a email from Walmart saying the product I was looking for is in stock in 2 seconds I preordered 2 and still going strong thank you Walmart

90% of them were probably bots

@th3r3ds0x So don't be lazy, go stand in a line. In truth, pre-orders (the lazy way to buy) are WHY you would have had to stand in line at 4 AM. Pre-orders are a cancer and participating in them because everyone else does it makes you 'everyone else'.

I don't think it was a mistake and I don't think they would cancel a preorder to re-preorder a few days later. Sure it always seems the system has bugs and some people get immediately cancelled because they oversell. I've been following a few different forums and I've yet to see complaints of a mass cancel. Mine and my buddies haven't been cancelled.

There is no such thing as releasing a preorder too soon. I think either that thread was made up or the CS didn't have a clue what was going on and threw that out there.

@Crono1973 When did "cancer" become so commonplace online? Honestly, I feel like I missed it.

@MagicEmperor I don't understand your question.

@Crono1973 preorders for hardware are fine, preorders for games are a sham and should be done away with. Preordering games just encourages publishers to release broken unfinished games. Not wanting to stand in line at 4am to buy a game machine is certainly not lazy dude. I have a wife, kids, a job. Nintendo not being capable of rolling out hardware is the issue. These silly limited releases that are way too limited and seem to only cater to scalpers with vendors doing little to prevent scalpers from buying all the stock and selling it is the other half of the problem. Boils my blood when I never saw a NES Mini ever and I see pictures of scalpers with a stack of 50 sitting on a living room table...

@th3r3ds0x Pre-orders for hardware encourage scalping. Haven't you been paying attention?

@Crono1973 Pardon me! Maybe it's just in my head, but I feel like it was only relatively recently when the word "cancer" became a go-to word for describing negative things of all types. I'm not saying your use irks me, but I often see people who use the word very lazily ("You're cancer!"). So, that's why I wondered, has this always been the case for online forums for years, and I've only just noticed? Or is this a newer trend?

I'm just pondering 'out loud,' anyway.

Just checked the status of my order and it hasn't changed. I also haven't been notified of a cancellation yet, and hopefully it'll stay that way. I guess I can't do anything but wait and see. Man this sucks.

@MagicEmperor Oh, I used the word on my own without some trend to influence me. I can change the word though, we could say that pre-orders are destructive to the industry.

@WaxxyOne Yeah, this anxiety and tension sure are fun!

@Crono1973

Actually it appears the bots weren't setup for this preorder. It lasted nearly 40 minutes. However, you can be sure that the bots will be running next time and it won't be available but for a minute or two.

@Crono1973 how exactly does allowing people to preorder hardware encourage scalping? Scalpers would be just as quick to order hardware on day one and hardware would sell out just as quickly on day one as preorders do. The only thing that encourages scalping is the internet, making it easy for people to place orders from various vendors and provide an easy mechanism to sell the haredware, Amazon & Ebay. Preorders have nothing to do with that.

@th3r3ds0x Without pre-orders, on day one many units would physically be on a store shelf for people like you and me to buy. Thanks to pre-orders most of them will never see a store shelf and lazy people sitting at their keyboards can pre-order and then list them on eBay MONTHS before release. I don't know how much clearer I can present my case.

@SmaMan

What are your sources? There was a number of people cancelled within the first day for "payment discrepancies". I haven't seen anybody on forums complaining about getting cancelled after that. Indeed most people who ordered and commented on this thread still have active preorders. Certainly anything can happen and walmart could cancel them all. But at this point almost all of the preorders are still out there.

@Crono1973 damn man you should have disclosed your intimate knowledge of Walmart and other retailers stock allocation before I wasted my time. Pretty sure vendors allocate a certain amount for the retail channel vs the internet sales in advance, but you would know.

@th3r3ds0x Well that cop out for an answer tells me that you no longer disagree with me about the connection between pre-orders and scalping.

I'm not preordering. Nintendo needs to learn how to stock things. This is super frustrating. Stop with this, "we don't have the parts," BS and just make the products people want.

As long as the ebay scalpers got to keep their preorders, so Nintendo can watch to see how much money they are losing out on.

I almost want to laugh but I have so much more sympathy than that for those that geniuinely want this system. That being said, is Nintendo trying purposely to tick off all their loyal consumers or what? I'm glad I'm edging farther away from Nintendo gaming because they let me down constantly too. A once great company that provided many years of great gaming for me does little to entertain me now with their stingy offerings that really don't appeal to me anyway. I've said a million times, they have left their millions of casual gamers in the cold. That's not the majority who is on nintendo life but it is a giant number of game buyers in retail stores. Or was, anyway, back when they sold those games. Sigh.

If I can't nab one at launch, I'm buying a pi 3

I was able to pre-order two and cancelled one because it had the wrong billing address. I wonder if that cancellation on my account kept me from being hit

Like many others, mine is still "Processing."

I'm 95% getting this for Star Fox 2, so if mine gets cancelled and they're as difficult to come across as predicted, I hope some noble soul rips that ROM lickety-split.

http://www.nowinstock.net/videogaming/consoles/nintendosnesclassicedition/

There's a distinction between console and book, too. But use those so it sends a message to your phone or email as soon as stock releases for real. According to that page, there was a mere 40 minute window for people to preorder from Walmart, likely including cancelled orders. It was probably more like a 10-20 minute window for orders that will actually be filled, if any at all...

I got my pre-order in and have been lucky enough to not have it cancelled yet. I'm still decently worried, but it sounds like people that have spoke with customer service at walmart have gotten mixed signals some saying that they should be good and then even mentions of full cancellation from those screenshots below. I can just hope mine sticks around because I was lucky enough to get my preorder done about 25 minutes after it went up thanks to text alert since I missed the original e-mail while playing a game.

I received my email that they were available and preordered one. I noticed today that the money they took out went back into my account but I have not yet received a cancellation notice. I chatted with Walmart and they confirmed it was sent out too soon and would be available this weekend instead. But this just leaves a bad taste in my mouth for Walmart preorders. I'll wait for Amazon or GameStop to have them and preorder there. I didn't get an NES Classic because I couldn't stand in line. Secret of Mana is my favorite SNES game and it's worth the price to me, but not worth all this hassle. Really irks me they did this!

@KIREEK

Unless they are being big time jerks about it, isn't being happy people got their pre-orders cancelled a little extreme? I mean, I'd be excited if I were able to secure one, and I'd like to share that excitement, but I wouldn't be like "Ha ha! I got one and you didn't, suck it!"

I've seen evidence of both "we're cancelling all pre-orders" and "if your order wasn't cancelled by now, your pre-order is safe." I'd say at this point, not even Wal-Mart knows what's going on. So if you still have your pre-order in, keep every finger crossed in every way possible...

Nintendo should be meeting the demand of the fanbase, and not just the people who don't care about making money the honest way.

I managed to nab a pre-order within a few minutes after they went live on Walmart, and as of yet it hasn't been cancelled. I also just had an online chat with one of Walmart's CSRs and he said that it should be good to go. You can bet I screen-capped that conversation.

F my life! Just got the dreaded Walmart pre-order cancellation email... Thought I might be in the clear considering i didn't get one right away. I was so excited that I was awake and able to secure one when pre-orders went live. Now i feel like Walmart just cowpied all over me. A big F you to Walmart for this whole fiasco and an F you to Nintendo for not manufacturing enough of these to meet customer demand!

EEEEEEEEEEFFFFFFFFFFFFF, just got the email of my cancellation preorder.

I swear - everything I order online gets cancelled. I hate online shopping.

@bezerker99 Same here. My order hasn't officially been cancelled yet on their site, but it's likely coming since I just received the email.

@Nico07 Sucks for all of us! At least I got my $84 back from the 'authorization hold.' I've been broke all week because of this nonsense.

@Nico07 Just checked Wal-Mart's site out of curiosity and my order is still "processing" as well. Hopefully it'll slip through the cracks and not get cancelled after all. I know not likely, but it's a nice thought.

@bezerker99 Mine was only ever a pending hold on my credit card (that has since gone away). But a friend of mine it did actually charge his credit card.

This is pretty bad PR for Walmart and could have been handled better than cancelling all orders in waves over a long period of time. Fortunately I still have my Amazon.uk order in as a backup.

@BeardedSquash That's kind of what I am hoping as well. I had two orders in just in case, and if both went through I would be selling one to a friend for the price I paid.

@H8NINTENDO well thats unfortunate for your cat next time stay at home