With Nintendo having officially kicked off pre-orders for the Switch 2 in the US and Canada, social media platforms have been abuzz about various fans trying to get their hands on the console. A running theme throughout social media posts seems to be that the infrastructure behind several North American retailers, including Best Buy and Target, have been buckling under the strain from so many people trying to pre-order the Switch 2.
On social media platform X, Geoff Keighley of The Game Awards posted about trying to pre-order a Switch 2 through Target, but facing issues where the console would disappear from the digital shopping cart, and as well as his payment not going through.
“Man Target is brutal for Switch 2 pre orders,” posted Keighley. “System was in my cart, then it wasn’t, then it was, wouldn’t let me pay, etc. Anyone having luck elsewhere?”
Keighley’s post got several replies with others facing similar technical issues with Target, as well as other retailers like Walmart and Best Buy. One post even commended Target, while criticising the queue times at Walmart and Best Buy. “Target was definitely the best this go around,” posted X user LordOfRestocks. “These queues are terrible at Walmart and Best Buy.”
Nintendo had confirmed that pre-orders for the Switch 2 would be going live today earlier this month. For more details on the pre-orders, as well as the price for the console and its various games and accessories, check out our coverage.
In the meantime, Nintendo has also been facing an immense response when it opened up its lottery system for Switch 2 pre-orders in Japan. Earlier this week, president Shuntaro Furukawa revealed on social media that more than 2.2 million customers had applied for the Switch 2 through a lottery system on the My Nintendo Store.
However, Furukawa also apologised, revealing that Nintendo simply wouldn’t be able to match the demand with its current supplies. Rather, he said that Nintendo will make things easier for lottery entrants that couldn’t pre-order this time around by automatically enrolling them in the lottery for the next stock of Switch 2s in Japan.
“To spare those who were not selected in the first lottery sale the trouble of reapplying, the My Nintendo Store will automatically carry over unselected applicants from the first lottery to the second lottery,” he wrote (translated via X). “However, even with the number of units available in the second lottery sale, we will not be able to fulfill all the applications we have received. We deeply apologize for failing to meet your expectations despite our preparations.”
The Nintendo Switch 2 is slated for launch on June 5. For more details, check out our coverage of the Switch 2 Direct from earlier this month.
