Pre-ordering Nintendo Switch 2 on Best Buy turning out to be a disaster for many

Many fans waiting to pre-order the Nintendo Switch 2 from Best Buy’s website were left frustrated after the whole process turned out to be a mess. The issues began almost immediately as the pre-order window opened. At midnight, when pre-orders were supposed to go live, Best Buy’s website was already experiencing problems.

Many users reported that the site was slow to load or completely unresponsive. Some were unable to access the pre-order page at all, while others found themselves stuck on a “coming soon” message that refused to update. One Reddit user, u/garystevensyahoo, commented, “It’s gonna be a disaster dude. We know for a fact that it’ll break at midnight.” Many others also shared the same frustration.

Even right now, those who managed to get past the initial hurdles are facing yet another obstacle: a virtual queue system that seems to drag on indefinitely. Customers are left waiting in line for extended periods, with some reporting wait times of over an hour. Adding to the trouble is the fact that those who waited report the system either crashed or informed them that the console was sold out. “I’ve been ‘in line’ for like 45 minutes. This is ridiculous. BB constantly screws up these releases,” lamented u/besthelloworld on Reddit.

The chaos isn’t limited to Best Buy alone. Other retailers, such as Target and Walmart, also experienced their share of technical difficulties, though some users reported slightly better luck there. A few managed to secure pre-orders through these alternative sites, but the overall experience was far from smooth.

While it’s clear that having thousands of users hopping on the site at once is indeed not something Best Buy deals with daily, at least they should’ve expected the massive influx today. For now, those who missed out can only hope that more stock will become available soon and that future pre-order waves will be handled more efficiently.