Move continues trend of exclusivity for premium members, after Switch sells out from major retailers as it records successful start

If you want a Nintendo Switch, you might have to start thinking about the prospect of Amazon Prime membership: the online retailer has started selling its admittedly limited stock of the new Nintendo console exclusively to members of its Prime subscription service.

It’s the continuation of a growing trend from Amazon, which was first spotted making certain games and films members-only in early 2016. Then, Amazon’s explanation for the exclusivity, which affected games like Grand Theft Auto V and films including Birdman, was that “one of the many benefits of Amazon Prime is access to exclusive selection on a number of great products”. Those products were available from third-party sellers on Amazon.

The Switch has been consistently sold out from pretty much every retailer since its launch on 3 March, so the chance of getting one is slim even if you do have Amazon Prime membership. US retailer GameStop expects the console to have constrained supply for the rest of this year, due to the unexpected success of the machine.

On its first weekend on sale in the US, the Switch didn’t just outsell the Wii U, Nintendo’s underwhelming previous console; it outsold the Wii itself, Nintendo’s biggest hit this century.

In the long term, the contest is harder: the Wii sold more than 100m units over the course of its life. But the Switch has had a strong start.