Nintendo Switch 2 Pre-Orders Went Live and Were, Predictably, a Mess

As I statesman penning this piece, I'm sitting astatine my table astatine 11:30pm CT (well past my bedtime connected a enactment night) trying, on with seemingly the full remainder of the satellite and the populations of respective different planets, to effort and pre-order a Nintendo Switch 2.

Pre-orders went unrecorded astatine 9pm PT/12am ET astatine 3 antithetic retailers: Walmart, Best Buy, and Target. Or astatine least, they were supposed to, but the existent rollout truthful acold has been a blistery mess. Myself and a large chunk of the IGN unit person each been trying to bid our Switch 2s and gathering wildly varying levels of success, and folks connected societal media are reporting a full big of problems arsenic good resulting successful frustration, dejection, and rarely, triumph.

Over astatine Walmart, Nintendo Switch 2 would-be buyers were dumped astir instantly into a integer queue to bargain their systems, and portion it did determination guardant for immoderate and yet extremity with a Switch successful the cart, others are inactive waiting connected a "stay successful line" surface with nary denotation of however agelong the hold is, oregon whether oregon not it volition beryllium successful. When they yet bash get done to purchase, immoderate folks are reporting baffling mistake messages, oregon immoderate is going connected here:

Target didn't person a queue similar Walmart, truthful astatine first, it seemed similar Switch fans saw much occurrence implicit there. But reports rapidly began mounting that buyers were moving into mistake screens passim the acquisition process, and portion immoderate radical thought they purchased a Switch 2 successfully and adjacent reached a confirmation screen, they aboriginal reported seeing a cancellation email rotation done their inboxes moments later, forcing them to commencement the full process over. Others are reporting that the Switch 2 is actively being removed from their buying cart midway done the process, forcing them to commencement over.

The Nintendo Switch 2 sold retired instantly astatine Target. This is unreal bro. I refreshed connected the 2nd it turned 12 am. Actually unreal pic.twitter.com/LAQ4lC03qw

And past there's Best Buy, whose pre-orders didn't adjacent spell unrecorded connected time. The website work "Coming Soon" for fractional an hr earlier yet opening to popular folks into a integer queue dilatory but surely, with acquisition confirmations lone conscionable present starting to travel done for some, portion others woody with immoderate of the aforementioned errors and restarts. And astatine each 3 stores, immoderate person said that they're dealing with fraud alerts from their banks oregon different weird fiscal blips that are gumming up the works and forcing them to commencement each over, yet denying them a accidental astatine a strategy entirely.

In the magnitude of clip it took maine to constitute this piece, Target and Walmart look to person officially sold out, and portion much and much folks are managing to get done astatine Best Buy, others (like myself) person been stuck successful immoderate interminable queue for implicit an hour. Others person gotten emails saying their purchases person been canceled oregon delayed, with nary caller transportation day oregon quality to reorder.

It's apt successful the coming minutes and hours we'll commencement to spot much and much successes, and there's ever an accidental to pre-order astatine GameStop time (well, today) astatine 11:00am ET some in-store and online, oregon astatine different retailers successful the future. And lucky individuals with Nintendo accounts whitethorn besides get an email from Nintendo successful May, inviting them to pre-order straight from the hardware shaper - but there's nary warrant of getting that email, and Nintendo has suggested that request successful Japan astatine slightest has been way, mode higher than the company's projected supply.

If you're not a immense Nintendo instrumentality oregon consenting to hold to acquisition a system, it's casual to scoff astatine the chaos. But it's particularly frustrating for Nintendo fans coming disconnected of a uncover and rollout that's already been confusing and exasperating astatine astir each turn. Exciting arsenic the archetypal uncover of the Nintendo Switch 2 was, the terms of some the strategy and each the requisite accessories and games near galore reeling earlier Nintendo paused pre-orders owed to tariff implementation successful the U.S., lone to occurrence them up again without changing the terms of the strategy itself, conscionable the accessories. On apical of that, Nintendo's plans for carnal and integer bundle pricing, formats, and contented person been wildly confusing, and Nintendo hasn't precisely been transparent oregon adjuvant successful clearing up questions astir however overmuch everything is going to cost, and what precisely it is everyone's purchasing. So it's nary wonderment truthful galore folks are upset astatine not adjacent knowing if they're going to beryllium capable to get their hands connected a strategy anyplace adjacent launch, particularly with the looming menace of aboriginal terms hikes oregon proviso concerns.

But if you privation to play Mario Kart World astatine launch, this is the world of the satellite we unrecorded successful close now. Here's however to get that pre-order, for those inactive trying.

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. You tin find her posting connected BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].