Blurry eyes and copious amounts of coffee are defining this Thursday morning for many Nintendo fans, as preorders for the highly anticipated Nintendo Switch 2 console went live last night at 12 AM ET at three major big box retailers--Best Buy*, Target, and Walmart. Almost instantly, social media feeds buzzed with jubilant success and bitter defeat, as Switch 2 listings changed from "coming soon" to "sold out."
Target and Walmart both opened their digital doors right at the announced 12 AM start time, and within seconds Target showed "sold out" warnings on listings for both the Switch 2 console itself and the Mario Kart World bundle. However, this turned out to be a false alarm, and while a few customers reported payment issues at the Target cart page, the big red retail chain emerged as the place most people were having early success--with the Target smartphone app proving particularly effective for some.
Some users had to effectively mash the "place order" button over and over again for Target's system to finally put the sale through, while others saw their payment methods and addresses disappear at the purchase screen. In a few extreme case, the attempt to purchase a preorder resulted in a fraud alert to their account, and a cancellation of the preorder.
Street Fighter 6
Meanwhile, Walmart's plan was to create a virtual queue for hopeful customers to file into, which at first seemed like the most efficient route. However, the virtual queue didn't assign anyone a number--at least not one they could see--and the experience turned into a "hurry up and wait" situation. The lines did eventually clear, with many saying that holding the line was bearing fruit, but the uncertainty proved stressful for most whether they succeeded or not.
Others, meanwhile, were unsuccessful in getting through the queue, and they had to open another tab to start the 10-minute purchase window. At that point, some found they were staring at the timer counting down as the system repeatedly failed to load to their cart. Some were left in the queue even after if had seemingly been disabled, while others were able to purchase a preorder while "skipping" the line. The Walmart listing still has a "preorder" button showing, but it does not indicate that it's sold out yet.
Finally there was Best Buy, which you may have noticed was marked with an asterisk above. This is because preorders here didn't begin at 12 AM as advertised; instead, they ended up going live nearly a half-hour later. Best Buy also used a virtual queue system, and it also did not designate a number to each customer's spot in line, so there was no way of knowing how close you were to checking out.
Best Buy is where I locked in for my preorder, and after the half-hour delay, I found myself in two different virtual queues; one on my browser, and one on my phone via the Best Buy app. After a full 50 minutes of waiting, the browser queue booted me back to an empty cart. Needless to say, I was not happy, but I still had the phone queue going… and going… and going.
I'd finally given up and was set to leave the line, when I noticed something: In the app, the Switch 2 listing I'd queued for said that "stock was unavailable for shipping" and "stock was unavailable for pickup," but I knew this wasn't true. So, at great risk of missing out on a preorder, I left the original queue, refreshed the page to ensure I could select my home store, and then reentered the queue.
Two minutes later--and that's not hyperbole, two literal minutes after reentry--I was verifying my account, and a preorder for the Switch 2 bundled with Mario Kart World was mine. One hour and 40 minutes from the advertised start time, victory was mine. Others who took the same approach weren't as fortunate, however.
Mario Kart World
If you weren't so lucky in last night's preorder chaos, more Switch 2 preorders will be available at GameStop beginning at 8 AM PT or whenever you local store opens for business. Those interested can also sign up at the official Nintendo website for a chance to preorder the console directly from Nintendo, with invitations scheduled to begin on May 8. If you were able to land a preorder and are looking for some accessories, those can still be preordered without much trouble.
The Nintendo Switch 2 launches on June 5. Launch titles for Nintendo's latest console include Mario Kart World, enhanced versions of The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and Tears Of The Kingdom, Street Fighter 6, and Cyberpunk 2077.
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Target and Walmart both opened their digital doors right at the announced 12 AM start time, and within seconds Target showed "sold out" warnings on listings for both the Switch 2 console itself and the Mario Kart World bundle. However, this turned out to be a false alarm, and while a few customers reported payment issues at the Target cart page, the big red retail chain emerged as the place most people were having early success--with the Target smartphone app proving particularly effective for some.
Some users had to effectively mash the "place order" button over and over again for Target's system to finally put the sale through, while others saw their payment methods and addresses disappear at the purchase screen. In a few extreme case, the attempt to purchase a preorder resulted in a fraud alert to their account, and a cancellation of the preorder.
Street Fighter 6
Meanwhile, Walmart's plan was to create a virtual queue for hopeful customers to file into, which at first seemed like the most efficient route. However, the virtual queue didn't assign anyone a number--at least not one they could see--and the experience turned into a "hurry up and wait" situation. The lines did eventually clear, with many saying that holding the line was bearing fruit, but the uncertainty proved stressful for most whether they succeeded or not.
Others, meanwhile, were unsuccessful in getting through the queue, and they had to open another tab to start the 10-minute purchase window. At that point, some found they were staring at the timer counting down as the system repeatedly failed to load to their cart. Some were left in the queue even after if had seemingly been disabled, while others were able to purchase a preorder while "skipping" the line. The Walmart listing still has a "preorder" button showing, but it does not indicate that it's sold out yet.
Finally there was Best Buy, which you may have noticed was marked with an asterisk above. This is because preorders here didn't begin at 12 AM as advertised; instead, they ended up going live nearly a half-hour later. Best Buy also used a virtual queue system, and it also did not designate a number to each customer's spot in line, so there was no way of knowing how close you were to checking out.
Best Buy is where I locked in for my preorder, and after the half-hour delay, I found myself in two different virtual queues; one on my browser, and one on my phone via the Best Buy app. After a full 50 minutes of waiting, the browser queue booted me back to an empty cart. Needless to say, I was not happy, but I still had the phone queue going… and going… and going.
I'd finally given up and was set to leave the line, when I noticed something: In the app, the Switch 2 listing I'd queued for said that "stock was unavailable for shipping" and "stock was unavailable for pickup," but I knew this wasn't true. So, at great risk of missing out on a preorder, I left the original queue, refreshed the page to ensure I could select my home store, and then reentered the queue.
Two minutes later--and that's not hyperbole, two literal minutes after reentry--I was verifying my account, and a preorder for the Switch 2 bundled with Mario Kart World was mine. One hour and 40 minutes from the advertised start time, victory was mine. Others who took the same approach weren't as fortunate, however.
Mario Kart World
If you weren't so lucky in last night's preorder chaos, more Switch 2 preorders will be available at GameStop beginning at 8 AM PT or whenever you local store opens for business. Those interested can also sign up at the official Nintendo website for a chance to preorder the console directly from Nintendo, with invitations scheduled to begin on May 8. If you were able to land a preorder and are looking for some accessories, those can still be preordered without much trouble.
The Nintendo Switch 2 launches on June 5. Launch titles for Nintendo's latest console include Mario Kart World, enhanced versions of The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and Tears Of The Kingdom, Street Fighter 6, and Cyberpunk 2077.
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