Nintendo of American president Reggie Fils-Aime says that an unexpected demographic was interested in the NES Classic, leading to a supply and demand issue.
I think we can all agree that the distribution of the NES Classic Edition last holiday season was a bit of a shitshow. The mini-consoles quickly sold out everywhere, with stores frustratingly getting restocked in the single digits. At the Nintendo Switch event, Nintendo of American president Reggie Fils-Aime weighed in on the whole fiasco, explaining what exactly went wrong to GameSpot.
“When we looked at that proposition what we believed was the adults, 30-40 years old, who grew up playing NES as a kid, 10 years old or so but had stepped away from the gaming category–that was going to be the buyer [of the NES Classic],” Fils-Aime said. “As we thought about that, that led us to a certain level of supply.”
What happened in reality though was that alongside these “lapsed gamer,” the “more active gamers” also bought the NES Classic, leading to a demand that Nintendo did not anticipate. Who would have thunk that active Nintendo fans would want to buy a cheap Nintendo nostalgia box? Inconceivable!
“That was the maketplace disconnect that happened,” Fils-Aime said. He added that Nintendo continues to make more NES Classic systems available. He said the supply issues for NES Classic have been “largely addressed,” although the console still remains out-of-stock at many retailers.
Fils-Aime is determined to not make the same mistake with the Switch, ensuring it will have 2 million units in the wild, worldwide, for its March launch.
Source: GameSpot
