A few months before the game’s release in Japan, Nintendo announced a beautiful cobalt blue 3DS Bundle for Fire Emblem: Awakening. It was to be sold exclusively through Nintendo’s website.

Just looking at it is enough to make my wallet jump out of my back pocket and dance. Is it really so surprising that the demand for this bundle would cripple Nintendo’s website? The servers crashed, making potential buyers unable to complete their orders. This obviously disappointed quite a few, including one particular investor who brought it  up at Nintendo’s recent Shareholder’s Meeting.

Iwata apologized for everything, proclaiming Nintendo “completely failed” to anticipate the demand for Fire Emblem: Awakening and the exclusive bundle. (I imagine Nintendo of America would echo these sentiments, with Reggie’s complete fumble that lead to the game’s announcement during E3.) Here’s something interesting, however: Nintendo of Japan cannot re-release the bundle, for it would violate the “Law for Preventing Unjustifiable Extra or Unexpected Benefit and Misleading Representation”. Since the bundle was announced to be sold ‘in limited quantities’, it would have to remain that way.

Fascinating how the same principles don’t apply overseas. Just how many times has that “Limited Edition” 25th Anniversary Mario All-Stars disc been re-printed?

Fire Emblem: Awakening has been announced for 2013 in both the United States and Europe. I wonder if a story like this means that other regions could get this Fire Emblem bundle.

SOURCE