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Nintendo Switch supply could fall short of demand this holiday season

By

Mike Epstein/Digital Trends
The Nintendo Switch continues to sell like hotcakes and often can’t be found on store shelves, and with the holiday season quickly approaching, it’s the perfect gift for kids and adults alike. However, Nintendo isn’t sure it will be able to produce enough consoles to meet demand this year.

“Are we going to have enough for the holiday? That’s what we are focused on,” Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé told Variety.

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By the end of July, the Switch had already sold close to 5 million units, and nearly everyone who bought the console also went ahead and purchased The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In just the system’s first month on the market, 2.7 million systems were sold, and it has seen a strong software lineup release over the following months. Splatoon 2 and Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle are among our favorite games so far this year, and the much-anticipated Super Mario Odyssey releases next month.

Following the Nintendo Switch’s strong launch in March, Nintendo increased production of the console to try to meet consumer demand. As a result, it’s occasionally available at retailers now — we saw a few in the wild at Target and Walmart — but on sites like Amazon, you can expect to pay at least a little more than its suggested

$300 price

.

But the Switch is much easier to find than Nintendo’s other 2017 console, the SNES Classic Edition. The plug-and-play machine, which is loaded with 21 games including the never-before-released Star Fox 2, was available to pre-order in August and went out of stock across online retailers almost immediately. The console is only planned for production through the remainder of the year, and it’s rumored that Nintendo is planning a Nintendo 64 variant for release in 2018.

Nintendo’s increased emphasis on its newer consoles has not caused the company to slow down its support for the 3DS, however. Metroid: Samus Returns, a remake of the Game Boy’s Metroid II: Return of Samus, is out this month for the system, and upgraded versions of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon are slated to arrive in November.

Still, if your planning on giving someone a Switch this holiday season, you may want to factor in these supply issues.

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Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
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