# Switch 2 Pre-Order Locked and Loaded I may be a few days late in sharing this news, but I did manage to secure a pre-order for a Nintendo Switch 2 on Wednesday/Thursday evening at 00:57. It was a digital bloodbath. Okay. That might be slightly over exaggerating, but it was far from a smooth process. I wanted to chronicle the evening to a degree for my own future reference and there's no better place than the old blog. After a [tariff-induced delay](https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-delays-switch-2-pre-order-date-in-the-us-to-assess-impact-of-trumps-tariffs), pre-orders were [rescheduled](https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/nintendo-maintains-nintendo-switch-2-pricing-retail-pre-orders-to-begin-april-24-in-u-s/) to commence on April 24, 2025 at retailers. Three chains confirmed that they would open orders at midnight on the 23rd—Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. The plan for the evening was straight forward. I bought a Red Bull and after my wife and I's weekly West Wing Wednesday, I came out to my studio and played *Fortnite* [[Zelda Stole Fortnite's Best Mechanic – A Video Essay|with the boys]] until about a quarter to midnight.[^1] I was logged into all three sites, my address and credit card information all up to date. One window with Twitter was open to my left and the rest were on my right. I was as prepared as one could be. Target and Walmart were on time. Best Buy floundered around and didn't go live for some 30 minutes. All three stores were slammed by a tidal wave of people. Walmart threw everyone in a digital line where they could stay on screen or go browse around while keeping their place in line. I didn't dare leave the page. In my Target tab, I was able to add [[Nintendo Switch 2 Will Cost Me 619.96|everything I wanted]] to my cart. I started the checkout process, but was stuck in a loading loop. People said on Twitter that there was more success on the Target app. I pulled it up and did get further in the checkout process. Every time I paid, Target claimed they could not ship to my address, which is not a true statement at all. This loop of website to app to loading to address failure continued throughout every attempt at Target. This was a blessing in disguise though, as Target would go on to cancel people's orders. I don't want to flirt with that kind of risk. During this [flat circle](https://youtube.com/watch?v=0mhZBLUyybo&t=14), Walmart just kicked me out of line.[^2] The standard Switch 2 appeared sold out, so I hopped back in line for the *Mario Kart World* bundle. Help me Best Buy, You're my only hope. After dropping the ball at what time midnight is, Best Buy continued to fumble by just leaving people locked in a line with no progress indicator; leaving people stuck watching a wheel spinning with a hope and a prayer. My phone and two tabs were locked up in this Best Buy situation; one window was still in a Walmart line. Chances were not looking very good. I was already mentally preparing to go camp out at a GameStop after I got the girls off to school in six hours. Then a [tweet from Ryan McCaffrey](https://x.com/DMC_Ryan/status/1915268299283456368) saved my bacon. > Just got a second one at Walmart after being in line forever, and a coworker said to just open a new tab. That one went through instantly! > > (Second one will go to a coworker who strikes out.) I hopped over to my Walmart window, pressed Cmd + T and went to Walmart.com. Right on the home page was the stand-alone Switch 2. I clicked and saw a glorious "Add to Cart" button, which went *straight to my cart*. I was able to check out immediately. This knowledge also helped Logan get one. My friend Grant held out at Best Buy and finally got through around 1:30. Him and one other friend are the only people I know that got through Best Buy. Others waited 90 minutes to be greeted by a "sold out" screen. This was a mess from the word "Go." it seems these retailers haven't learned anything over the years. Best Buy was late and sporadic during the PS5 launch. Target seems to always manage to sell more than they have, thus leading to disappointing cancellations. I have never ordered from Walmart, so we shall see.[^3] They are promising delivery by 9:00 AM on launch day. I know a console launch only comes around every 4-5 years at this point, if you factor in mid-gen bumps and the fact Nintendo is on their own schedule. How are these corporations not prepared for this sort of demand? How is the pre-ordering apparatus not scalable? It's not a perfect comparison, but ordering an iPhone for the last 5-7 years has been fairly smooth—definitely in the last 3-5. Now, are there infinitely more iPhones sold? Yes. I think the key difference (besides Apple having infinitely more money) is that Apple sells directly. These are other *retailers* selling Nintendo's product. When Sony did the PS5 pre-orders in 2020, it wasn't so bad. Invites were gauged off engagement with their platform. A simple queue was formed with unique invites tied to a users PSN ID. Nintendo is doing something similar with the Switch 2. Maybe Nintendo's own orders will be okay. Doesn't sound like they'll all arrive [in time for launch day](https://x.com/Wario64/status/1915433770993283242) though. I haven't bought an iPhone from a cell phone carrier...ever? I am going to wager than the ordering experience at them pales in comparison to Apple's system.[^4] You would think that the retailers want consumers money and would make it as easy as possible to give said money to them. They never seem to learn. I guess we shall see if Walmart delivers on time as promised in 38 days. Then we'll find out if retailers get their act together for the PS6 and whatever name Microsoft gives the next Xbox: maybe the Xbox Series One.[^5] [^1]: Last year, I suggested watching one episode a week of *The West Wing* with my wife on Wednesday evenings, like the days of TV past. She had never seen it and I never finished it. She's not one for political drama, so I wasn't sure if it'd stick. We just wrapped Season 1 that night. She's hooked. [^2]: While I was kicked out, my buddy Logan was not. He got through and Walmart gave him some 90~ seconds or so to complete the order. He threw the console in his cart only to realize that his wife had about $100~ of groceries sitting in there to buy soon. He didn't really want to buy all that right now. He wasn't fast enough deleting them all, so he had to get back in line. The following morning, his wife was a smidge mad that he deleted all their groceries. 🤣 [^3]: I do remember grocery shopping when I saw Walmart go live with a PS5. I had one in my cart, but decided to wait for Amazon later in the day. That did work out in my favor, but still...bold strategy on my part. [^4]: That does not mean Apple is [without](https://9to5mac.com/2022/09/09/iphone-14-apple-store-errors/) fault though. Re-reading this article, I remember that launch. It went smooth on my end, but not so for tons of people. The article also highlights issues at T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. [^5]: I could actually imagine "Xbox Series Elite" given the other "elite" branding.