Shocking no one, least of all this author who recalls the process of getting a PlayStation 5 (or rather, not getting one, at least at first), the rush to get a Nintendo Switch 2 into a virtual shopping cart last night was chaotic and ended in sadness for many participants. Preorders for US residents went live at midnight EDT today for Walmart, Best Buy, and Target, but actually completing a transaction was another story.
Of course, it wasn’t all tears. Multiple Polygon staffers managed to secure a Switch 2 last night, but doing so required a whole lot of luck, as well as patience and the willingness to be awake in the middle of the night. Even for the West Coasters, staying up late was part of the deal. Although preorders went live at the far more reasonable time of 9 p.m. PDT for them, that was just the beginning. The night began with waiting in a digital queue — and waiting, and waiting — with only some members of that queue ending up getting to put a Switch 2 in their carts.
The experience also involved some dicey page-refreshing shenanigans. Here are some of the anxious screenshots we were sharing with one another last night; the two below are from a staffer trying to close the deal on a Switch 2 at Target.
And here’s a screenshot of the demoralizing Walmart queue waiting screen — which some of us found to be useless anyway, since navigating to the actual Switch 2 product page on Walmart’s website would allow some of us to complete a full transaction, without even bothering to wait in line to do so.
Social media was ablaze with jokes and commiseration over the state of the Switch 2 preorder chaos.
And then, of course, there were the people who managed to secure a Switch 2, only to have their order canceled after the fact — either by the store, or by their bank.
This is not our last chance to get a Switch 2 today, however. Gamestop opens its preorder queues at 11 a.m. EDT. The preparations begin…
