‘Zelda: Ocarina of Time’ Fans Devastated by Week-Long Shipping Delays

Nintendo’s remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time launches today to glowing reviews, with critics praising it as a faithful recreation of one of gaming’s greatest adventures. The remake updates the visuals and controls while also addressing the frustrations of the infamous Water Temple. For some fans who pre-ordered a physical copy from Amazon, however, the excitement has been dampened by shipping delays.

Players have taken to social media to report that their orders will arrive after the weekend, with some facing a wait of up to a week beyond the original delivery date. Several buyers say they have encountered similar problems when pre-ordering games through Amazon before.

One customer said they had pre-ordered in September and questioned the retailer about the delay. Another player, Modern Vintage Gamer, said such experiences were why they stopped ordering games from Amazon years ago.

What caused the delays?

Amazon’s customer service account responded to complaints on X, though its explanation offered few specifics. One frustrated buyer said they had ordered nearly a month earlier and had been promised a release-day delivery, only to face a four-day delay.

“We understand the frustration caused by your order being delayed,” Amazon Help replied. “While we do our best to predict when products are available for dispatch, unforeseen changes in obtaining the item can occur.”

The possibility of late deliveries is one reason some players prefer the convenience of digital purchases. According to Nintendo sales data, digital purchases accounted for 61.5% of software sales from April through June, a 2.2% increase from the previous year.

Nintendo said last month that it intends to support physical releases for the foreseeable future. Still, most Switch 2 releases do not come on traditional cartridges containing the game. Instead, many use game-key cards that allow players to download the software from Nintendo’s servers.

That approach requires additional storage space on the Switch 2 and raises the same preservation concerns associated with other digital media. If Nintendo were ever to shut down the servers needed to download those games, the cards could become unusable. With PlayStation recently announcing plans to move away from producing physical discs, the limitations of Switch 2 game-key cards are especially disappointing for collectors and preservation advocates.

Source: Polygon