SNES Classic Pre-orders From Walmart Canceled, Here's Why [UPDATE]
Pre-orders continue to be canceled.
Update 2: In what may be another glitch, some customers who received the email saying their pre-order would be canceled have now received another, much different email. This one is an automated email stating that the delivery date has been moved to September 29, a change from the previous date in early October. (The SNES Classic officially launches on September 29.) It's possible this is simply an accident related to the cancellation process, but for now, the uncertainty continues.
Update: It appears that more--and seemingly all--SNES Classic Edition pre-orders have been canceled, including those that were made shortly after it first went live. Walmart is sending affected customers (including several of us here at GameSpot) the following email:
"Thank you for your interest in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System – Classic Edition. As you are aware, this is a highly sought after console that will launch later this fall. Unfortunately, due to a technical glitch, the Super Nintendo Classic Edition was mistakenly made available last Friday evening ahead of the official release date. We, regrettably, will have to cancel this item on your order. We know that this is incredibly disappointing to you, and we’re truly sorry for this mistake."
It goes on to note that credit cards have not been charged, and those who paid with a gift card or PayPal will receive refunds. It also encourages customers to continue checking the Walmart website's SNES Classic page for further updates regarding possible pre-orders, although it doesn't confirm that these will be available.
"I do hope you'll give us another chance to earn back your business," it concludes.
Original Story: One of the biggest news stories last week was that Walmart had become the first retailer to make the SNES Classic available for pre-order in the US. Now, it appears that the company may have been a bit premature in putting them on sale.
Some people who managed to pre-order the console are reporting that Walmart has canceled their purchase. It's not happening to everyone; at least two GameSpot employees haven't had theirs canceled yet. But there are enough reports of it that it seems to be a trend. After a couple of days of confusion among purchasers, Walmart today gave an official reason for the cancellations via its Twitter account: the console was put on sale sooner than intended.
We are so sorry! The SNES Classics were released to soon. -Ash
— Walmart Help (@walmarthelp) July 24, 2017
This reason lines up with screenshots floating around that show people's online chats with Walmart employees. These employees have stated that the company experienced a system glitch, resulting in the SNES Classic being made available too soon.
SNES Classic pre-orders will be available again; a Target representative told Polygon that it will have them available "at a later date." There's no word yet from Nintendo or other retailers when, exactly, that date will be.
The SNES Classic costs $80 and features 21 of the Super Nintendo's best games. One of those games is Star Fox 2, a title that was never officially released. You can see all of the SNES Classic games here.
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