Konami addresses Amazon’s TurboGrafx-16 mini unavailability

Following a delay in its U.S. release earlier this year due to the global effect of COVID-19, the TurboGrafx-16 mini was finally released on Amazon.com in late May. And as one might expect, it didn’t last long.

That begged the question: Would it be back? While some mini consoles, such as the NES Classic, flew off shelves and were not replenished for quite some time, others like the PlayStation Classic, were not quite so fortunate, and stuck around long enough to be marked down. But in all this, where does something retailer-exclusive like the TurboGrafx-16 mini fall? We reached out to find answers.

For Amazon’s part in this, a customer service representative said that they had not received an update on their end as to when or even if the product would be replenished. They did suggest that it was available from other sellers, but seeing as they’re marked up to almost double the original price (minimum), that’s probably not the most ideal solution for some people (especially if you’ve got eyes on the next generation of consoles — or have had your job affected by COVID-19).

So next, we reached out to the source: Konami themselves. They got back to us with the following statement:

We know there have been some issues with the system’s availability on the U.S. store so apologies for the inconvenience. The team in Japan is working closely with Amazon to resolve the situation, and they’re hoping to see the console available soon. Keep an eye on the Amazon page and the team is planning updates on the main PC Engine page as soon as they hear more.

So at the very least, it sounds like the TurboGrafx-16 mini isn’t a one-and-done deal, and we’ll hopefully see some more released at its more reasonable price soon.

With that said, there is another issue to address: If you, like the writer of this piece, are from Canada, then getting your hands on a TurboGrafx-16 mini of your very own has been just a little bit trickier. As it is, Amazon.ca is not carrying the product (except via overpriced resellers, of course), and the cost of purchasing and importing it from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.jp can nearly double the price as well, which may not be viable for some of those interested in the product (*cough*).

Unfortunately, there are no updates regarding that yet, but it has apparently been “put on Konami’s radar.” So at least there’s some hope there.