In a small area of Pennsylvania called the Lehigh Valley, a movement had begun even before its stores open on Friday morning - The Nintendo (NTDOY) Classic Console (a smaller version of the original classic game console of the 1980's) had sold out even before some of the areas most popular stores even opened their doors.
At Best Buy (BBY) in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania, a line formed well before the 10 a.m. opening for a chance at tickets being handed out to buy one of 25 of the consoles in stock. At the Greenwich Township store, it was the same deal, only with 14 in stock. Target a few doors down had even fewer.
"I'm starting to think it was a marketing ploy," said Jason Dailey, assistant manager at Gamestop in the Palmer Park Mall. He got only a handful in, and they all went first thing Friday.
Store staff couldn't even say when they might get more in stock, or even whether any at all may be available by the time holiday shopping starts in earnest Black Friday, Nov. 25.
Dailey said he might know more in a day or two. At The Game Gallery, 315 Northampton St. in Easton, employee Douglas Ackerman said none came in for Friday but a handful were expected to arrive in time for Saturday's 11 a.m. opening.
John Owens, of Stewartsville in Greenwich Township, left the Best Buy near his home empty-handed after walking in shortly after opening, going to the gaming department and finding only a void where he'd hoped to celebrate nostalgia.
Chelsea Balz, also of Stewartsville, showed up to pick up a NES Classic for her boyfriend, Aaron Argondizzo, and instead left with her iPhone pressed to her ear, relaying the bad news.
"He's probably going to kill me," she said.
Harry Cleveland, of Forks Township, visited Staples next door to the Phillipsburg area Best Buy and saw a line at Best Buy before it opened.
"I thought I was missing out on something," he said.
Across the region, Nintendo fans certainly were missing out on something Friday.
Priced to move at $59.99 with one controller, the NES Classic comes with an HDMI cord to connect easily to modern flat-screens, and a host of classic games, from "Punch-out!!" and "Tecmo Bowl" to the "Castlevania" series, first through third "Super Mario Bros." and lots more.
Nintendo Co. and Best Buy media contacts weren't immediately available to comment on additional shipments Friday morning.
Its debut Friday comes as Nintendo is phasing outs its Wii U console in Japan, The Associated Press reports. That console went on sale in 2012 and is being replaced by Switch, set to go on sale globally in March 2017. Nintendo says it will show it to reporters in Japan on Jan. 13.
The Japanese video game manufacturer has already shipped Wii U machines for U.S. sales through March, company spokesman Kenichiro Matsuura said Friday, according to the AP.
Via: LehighValleyLive.com
