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Live in NYC? You can (maybe) preorder a Nintendo Switch if you line up Friday morning

Only at the official Nintendo Store in New York City -- for now, at least.

Sean Hollister Senior Editor / Reviews
When his parents denied him a Super NES, he got mad. When they traded a prize Sega Genesis for a 2400 baud modem, he got even. Years of Internet shareware, eBay'd possessions and video game testing jobs after that, he joined Engadget. He helped found The Verge, and later served as Gizmodo's reviews editor. When he's not madly testing laptops, apps, virtual reality experiences, and whatever new gadget will supposedly change the world, he likes to kick back with some games, a good Nerf blaster, and a bottle of Tejava.
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Sean Hollister
2 min read
Nintendo
Watch this: 'Limited' Nintendo Switch preorders available in NYC

Want Nintendo 's crazy new transforming handheld game console before anybody else? Here's one possible way: leave your house this instant and line up outside the Nintendo World Store in New York City. That's because starting this Friday, January 13 at 9:00 a.m. ET, the company will offer "a limited quantity of preorders" for the new Nintendo Switch, according to its Twitter feed.

The timing is no coincidence: Nintendo's set to reveal the Switch in all its glory in a live video webcast on Thursday at 8 p.m. PT / 11 p.m. ET, followed by another presentation Friday morning at 6:30 a.m. PT / 9:30 a.m. to show off the system's lineup of games. (We'll have those video streams for you right here at CNET on those days.)

It's also the beginning of Nintendo's North American Switch tour, stopping at six major cities to give the public a first-come, first-serve chance to try the system for themselves on specific weekends ahead of the official launch in March.

As for the Friday morning preorder opportunity, it sounds like it's Nintendo's latest chance to drum up publicity for its toys being hard to find. It's a strategy that worked brilliantly with the original Nintendo Wii and appears to be doing quite well for the $60 mini NES Classic Edition too -- at the cost of leaving some of the company's fans a bit disappointed.

(Also see: Snapchat Spectacles, which also used limited supply to trump up interest this holiday.)

Watch this: Here's everything we know about the Nintendo Switch


While you decide whether to line up in NYC this Friday, you might want to take a look at some of the recent leaks surrounding the Nintendo Switch , such as these alleged accessories for the console, and a possible starting price of $300 or $250 depending on which retailer you ask. (Meanwhile, this post details everything we know for sure.)

Update, January 13 at 12:41a.m. PT: Please don't stand in line in the cold. Pre-orders are up at Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart.