Paper Mario: TTYD Pre-Orders Get Canceled, Nintendo Apparently Limiting Online Purchases

Summary Cancelations of Paper Mario: TTYD pre-orders are occurring on various sites without a clear explanation from Nintendo.

Walmart and Amazon both have canceled pre-orders on customers.

Nintendo may be redirecting sales to in-store purchases, hinting at overwhelming demand for the game despite cancelations.

Customers and insiders are reporting a string of cancelations for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door pre-orders on Nintendo Switch. The cancelations are coming from multiple sites, and no definitive reason is being given for why the cancelations are happening by Nintendo or the stores themselves.

On X, gaming insider Wario64 reported that multiple Wal-Mart customers were getting notifications that their pre-orders for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door were being canceled, and as an apology, they were being given a $25 gift card.

They note that they aren’t sure how widespread this has been but that many people are having this happen to them and that Nintendo is apparently the root cause. However, this is not the only store that this is happening at.

Paper Mario: TTYD Gets Mysterious Cancelations

Digital Purchases Are Unaffected

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While Nintendo has not confirmed that they are behind the cancelations, there are hints that there is an overwhelming surge of people wanting the Mario RPG. On Amazon, the game topped the best-sellers list in March despite it only being in the pre-order stage. Furthermore, the Walmart apology cited that they still expected the game to be available in its store on launch day, indicating that Nintendo may want people to go into stores to get the title instead of ordering physical copies online. However, digital purchases of the game from the Nintendo eShop aren’t being affected by the cancelations.

Last month, Redditor Pickledgreatness reported that their Amazon pre-order of Paper Mario: TTYD was canceled, as were certain other Nintendo Switch titles. Currently, the game’s Amazon page notes the title as “Currently Unavailable.” Despite being nearly 20 years old, the love for the classic Nintendo Gamecube title hasn’t diminished, and Nintendo is upgrading the Switch version of Paper Mario: TTYD with several new features to make the game even better. In contrast, successive franchise entries on the Wii, 3DS, and even the Switch chose different gameplay mechanics and had mixed results and reception upon launch.

Related Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Almost Had A Much Better Remake 9 Years Ago Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is eagerly anticipated for its 2024 release, but a fake 2015 trailer convinced many a port was coming to the 3DS.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is one of several AAA titles releasing in May, and if these pre-sales numbers/issues are any indication, it’s quickly on its way to becoming yet another Nintendo Switch success. If so, it’s possible that Nintendo will make a pure follow-up of the title for the Switch 2, making it the first new entry in over twenty years to adhere to the gameplay mechanics and style of the original two Paper Mario games.

Source: Wario64/X, pickledgreatness/Reddit, Amazon