Nintendo Claims Production of SNES Classic Has “Dramatically Increased”

Nintendo hasn’t made it easy for consumers to buy their products as of late. With the NES Classic and Switch, Nintendo fans have had to exercise patience for the chance to get one from store shelves or online retailers, with prolonged periods of unavailability. The latest offender is Nintendo’s forthcoming SNES Classic, a tiny HDMI-enabled version of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

The frenzy to preorder the product on Aug. 22 resembled a massacre, with stock selling out instantaneously. Soon after, the scalpers showed up on services like eBay to attempt selling their preorders for absurd prices. Nintendo of America President Reggie “The Regginator” Fils-Aime urged consumers (per Financial Times, via Polygon) to not give into these scalpers, as the company apparently “dramatically increased” production for the SNES Classic. Nintendo recently made a similar promise for the Nintendo Switch.

Fils-Aime did not cite specific numbers, but this marks an effort to combat shady practices like scalpers online, amongst other dubious tactics such as using automated bots to preorder products online. And while consumers may suspect that the scarcity of the SNES Classic, amongst their more recent hardware products, is artificial, Fils-Aime tells Financial Times that the low number of units is a result of Nintendo’s research on the poor sales of microconsoles from other gaming companies.

All of this may sound good to the average Nintendo fan, but don’t feel bad for feeling a bit cynical; as the Switch suffered some similar shortage problems as the NES Classic, it isn’t unfair to expect a repeat of history. Cross your fingers for when the SNES Classic hits stores on Sept. 29, for a retail price of $79.99.