First-party Nintendo games have not been available on Amazon US for months.
Eagle-eyed shoppers may have noticed that, somewhat oddly, Amazon US has not been selling any physical first-party Nintendo games, including the likes of Super Mario Party Jamboree and Luigi's Mansion 2 HD, for most of 2024 — but whatever the issue behind this dispute may be, it could now possibly be resolved.
This lack of directly available first-party titles from Nintendo on the US arm of Amazon was first spotted back in March. The X account Nintendeal, who diligently shares deals on a wide range of Nintendo Switch products, has been keeping track of the presumed 'disagreement' over the course of the past roughly eight months now.
The Nintendeal account shared that the mysterious dispute has resulted in "pre-order cancellations and games and gift cards being unavailable from Amazon US".
Whilst you haven't been able to buy, or pre-order, any first-party titles from Nintendo, you have still been able to grab other recent third-party Switch releases, such as Sonic X Shadow Generations and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
In addition to not selling first-party games, Nintendo gift cards were also pulled from sale in April. Since then Nintendo games have not been included in any Amazon sales or promotions either, including the companies titles being absent from an Amazon holiday gift guide mailer. This seems to be a US only issue however.
Whatever the beef here, it's directly between the Bezos-owned mega retailer and Nintendo. Other US stores, including Target and Best Buy have continued to offer first-party releases throughout 2024 — although Walmart did hit a slight snag this summer.
There's been some speculation as to why this long-running sales halt may have come about, including it being related to possibly sending games early before release — but this is pure conjecture. Neither Amazon or Nintendo has made any statement on the matter, and overkill has reached out (on several occasions this year) to both Amazon and Nintendo of America for comment on the issue, but no reply on the matter has been forthcoming.
overkill reached out to Andrew Wolf, who runs the Nintendeal account, for their take on this extended issue — they added that "it seems more likely to be a contractual dispute between the two companies" noting that there is some precedent here, highlighting to us how over a decade ago some similar problems arose with Wii U and Nintendo 3DS hardware not being available on Amazon US.
So, whilst we can't say for sure what the problem here is, it is wild that the largest online retailer in the world, along with gaming giant Nintendo haven't been able to sort this for so long.
However, with the Switch 2 on the horizon, and both Black Friday and Christmas looming, now would be as good a time as ever to settle any differences and get things sorted — and there's a sign that may well be the case.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom has popped up on Amazon for sale, making it the very first of Nintendo's 2024 titles to be sold and shipped directly from Amazon US. Yes, this comes a month after the game's release date, and the latest release from Nintendo, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, is not yet available — but it's a sign that things could be on the mend? Let's hope so!