GameStop's website buckles under today's amiibo rush, frustrating Nintendo fans

Nintendo fans desperate to pre-order the next batch of amiibo figures appear to have brought down GameStop's website amid the rush to secure plastic versions of Ness, Wario, Pac-Man and others. Pre-orders for those figures, including the GameStop exclusive Ness from EarthBound, were meant to go live on the game retailers site today. But after the site crashed, it appears GameStop took a drastic measure and put its site into maintenance mode — and it's been that way for hours.

Earlier today, GameStop announced it would open pre-orders for new amiibo figures — due for release in May — at 2 p.m. CT. Up for reservation today were Ness, Robin, Charizard, Pac-Man, Lucina, Wario, Inkling Boy, Inkling Girl and a Splatoon three-pack.

As of this writing, GameStop says its website is "currently down for improvements," and directs visitors to check out Kongregate.com in lieu of doing any shopping (or submitting any amiibo pre-orders).

Some amiibo collectors appear to have had some success with pre-orders at GameStop's retail stores. Though they've also experienced their share of frustration in their attempts to secure the new amiibo. Some waited in line for an hour or more to pre-order amiibo, only to contend with GameStop's in-store pre-ordering system going down.

Here's a selection of frustrated tweets from amiibo hunters:

I stood in line at #GameStop for 2 hours! And didn't get any of wave 4 #amiibo

— Thedominoking0197 (@Stickbomb0197) April 2, 2015

Hey @NintendoAmerica, I'm in line at @GameStop 90 mins after wave 4 ssb Amiibo orders went up and they're all gone. What's wrong with you?

— Cameron Schimmel (@CameronSchimmel) April 2, 2015

I made the mistake of going to Gamestop during the amiibo rush. Computers down. People standing for hours. one guy coloring.

— cold bear (@polarpies) April 2, 2015

@NintendoAmerica The Ness Amiibo is a GameStop exclusive and is already sold out in hours. So disappointing.

— Tighe Arnold (@TigheArnold) April 2, 2015

Just waited at a @GameStop for almost 2 hours and just missed the 6pack of #amiibo #preorder by seconds! @NintendoAmerica :(

— Donald Wells (@TheDonOfGaming) April 2, 2015

Nintendo fans looking to secure amiibo figures have already had to deal with another retailer exclusive, Jigglypuff, who is only being sold at Target stores. The character is currently not available for pre-order through Target.com. Another retailer exclusive, Toys R Us' Greninja amiibo, is scheduled to be available for pre-order starting April 3, between 7-9 a.m. ET.

Update: GameStop said in a post on Facebook that it's putting online pre-orders of amiibo on hold until it gets its technical issues sorted out.

Due to very strong demand for the newest wave of Nintendo's amiibo figures, GameStop is experiencing some technical issues with our website.

At this time, we are accepting pre-orders of amiibo in stores only while we resolve these issues.

We are working aggressively to resolve the technical issues as quickly as possible and expect it to be back online shortly.

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