Switch 2 Pre-Orders Spark Chaos

As I sit here typing at 11:30pm CT (way past my usual bedtime on a weekday), I'm joining what feels like the entire planet - plus a few alien civilizations - in the frantic race to pre-order the Nintendo Switch 2.

The madness kicked off at 9pm PT when pre-orders went live at Walmart, Best Buy, and Target. In theory. Reality proved far messier. Our entire IGN team's been battling checkout screens with wildly different success rates, while social media explodes with tales of technical nightmares, heartbreak, and the occasional hard-won victory.

Walmart treated shoppers to an immediate digital queue - some cleared it fast and secured their console, while others stare despairingly at a vague "stay in line" message with no end in sight. Those who actually reach checkout often face perplexing error messages like this:

Target initially seemed promising without a queue, but horror stories quickly surfaced. Some buyers reached confirmation screens only to receive cancellation emails minutes later. Others watched helplessly as the Switch 2 vanished from their carts mid-purchase.

The Nintendo Switch 2 sold out instantly at Target. This is unreal bro. I refreshed on the second it turned 12 am. Actually unreal

— Kenj (@Kenjdx) April 24, 2025

Then there's Best Buy - the tardiest of the bunch. Their "Coming Soon" placeholder lingered for 30 extra minutes before slowly admitting shoppers into yet another digital purgatory. Some now celebrate successful orders while others face the same maddening errors plaguing the other retailers. Adding insult to injury, fraud alerts from banks and payment processing glitches keep derailing purchase attempts.

In the time it's taken to write this, Target and Walmart have completely sold out. Best Buy's queue inches forward at a glacial pace - some have waited over an hour without progress. Cancellation emails arrive without explanation, dashing hopes of securing a console.

There's still hope though. GameStop opens pre-orders at 11:00am ET (both online and in-store), and select Nintendo account holders might receive special purchase invitations in May. Though Nintendo warns Japanese demand already far exceeds supply estimates.

For those outside the Nintendo fandom, this chaos might seem absurd. But loyal fans feel particularly burned after a rollout plagued by confusion - from opaque pricing structures and accessory costs to murky digital/physical software policies. That this pre-order disaster follows months of frustrating communications explains the outpouring of anger.

Yet for anyone dreaming of playing Mario Kart World on launch day, this brutal scramble remains our reality. Here's what you need to know if you're still fighting for that pre-order.