New 3DS XLs are near-impossible to find in stores. Collectors are going crazy over inconsistent and unreliable Amiibo supply. And the limited edition Majora's Mask 3DS XL has been a real mess, with retailers canceling pre-orders after it became clear they wouldn't have enough stock to fulfill all of their promises.
The whole situation doesn't seem normal, and in fact it raises a pressing question: is there something wrong with Nintendo's supply chain? Is there something preventing the video game publisher from properly getting stock to retailers?
Well, as you might have heard, there's been a major port strike on the west coast for the past few months that, according to Reuters, has affected 70% of goods coming in from Asia. The bulk of Nintendo's products, from 3DS hardware to Amiibo toys, are made in China, and the quickest supply route for cargo ships from China to North America takes them right to the west coast... where dock workers are currently on strike.
The labor outage has been dragging on for months now, but negotiations have stalled and the situation has worsened in the past few weeks—just in time for the New 3DS XL, which launched in North America last Friday. This past weekend, west coast ports shut down entirely as the Pacific Maritime Association refused to pay dockworkers holiday rates.
The congestion is almost unbelievable. Here's a shot of the Seattle port, where tons and tons of fully-loaded trucks are idling:
