A hot potato: Your best bet for nabbing an NES Classic Edition on Friday is to line up early at your nearest GameStop. If you're early enough, you'll almost certainly score a victory. Online outlets are more convenient but they're also far riskier as stock can go within a matter of seconds, leaving potential buyers frustrated and empty-handed.

Mark your calendar and set those alarms as the next opportunity to purchase Nintendo's wildly popular NES Classic Edition at retail is upon us.

GameStop will have limited quantities of the retro-inspired gaming machine available at retail stores beginning June 29 (that's tomorrow). The console will also be available for purchase at GameStop's website, we're told.

ThinkGeek (which is owned by GameStop) is also getting a shipment of NES Classic Editions that'll be on offer starting at 9 a.m. Eastern. On Twitter, the company said it expects the inventory to go fast. Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target and eBay are also likely to have inventory although details haven't yet been shared.


Nintendo announced the NES Classic Edition in the summer of 2016 and launched it to overwhelming demand that holiday season. The system was virtually impossible to find in stores and remained that way through April 2017 when it was prematurely discontinued so Nintendo could focus on production of its successor, the SNES Classic Edition.

A recent trademark filing suggests a miniature version of the Nintendo 64 is also in the pipeline. Many expected an announcement at E3 2018 but that didn't happen (nor did much else, for that matter).