The fervor for the Super NES Classic, Nintendo's mini-console hosting a boatload of 16-bit nostalgia, is difficult to understate, exacerbated by the lack of legitimate pre-orders going up. Nintendo has confirmed today that pre-orders for the system will go up in late August in North America, putting to rest the concern that availability would simply be a free-for-all at release.

Nintendo clarified that a "significant amount" of Super NES Classics would be available at release, though shied away from any specifics. The responses to the Facebook post where Nintendo announced their Super NES Classic plans treat this assurance with suspicion, after having been burned with the NES Classic last year. The statement from Nintendo also states that the Super NES Classic will only be available for this calendar year.

The Super NES Classic was announced on June 26th with no information on pre-orders available, until retailer Wal-Mart accidentally went live with a pre-order listing in late July. After subsequently cancelling all those orders, Wal-Mart was forced to apologize for the error. After scalpers found success with the NES Classic in 2016, many fans expect a repeat of the exorbitant secondhand prices with the Super NES Classic.

The Super NES Classic features 21 games, including the never-before-released StarFox 2, and will release on September 29th.

Our Take

Trying to obtain an SNES Classic has been a lesson in anxiety. Despite Nintendo's assurances, people expect the system to be impossible to find, much like the NES Classic, and are waiting to see if that's true.