UPDATED: Nintendo has issued a statement pretty similar to Amazon's own wording.
"An internal Amazon.com shipping issue triggered a brief hold on orders of Nintendo 3DS systems while the situation was reviewed, as is common in such matters," said the company in a statement. "Amazon.com resolved the issue, and Nintendo 3DS orders have resumed. There are no issues with Nintendo 3DS inventory or quality. For additional information about this incident, please contact Amazon.com."
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You couldn't purchase the Cosmo Black version of a 3DS on Amazon earlier today. A note said the decision came from "because customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the item, the way we are shipping it, or the way it's described here."
It didn't take long for outlets like CNN to pick up on the story.
Making the situation stranger, the entire time that Amazon had pulled down purchasing options for the Cosmo Black version, customers could purchase the Aqua Blue version without a problem.
Amazon lifted the temporary ban this afternoon.
"We received customer feedback that there may be an inventory issue with the Cosmo Black Nintendo 3DS," said Amazon public relations manager Anya Waring to me in a statement. "The product itself was not under review. [..] The Amazon.com offer of black Nintendo 3DS was removed until we had a chance to investigate the issue, and it was resolved."
Amazon was not willing to expand on the "inventory issue" and why it was no longer a problem.
"Sorry, I don't have any additional detail to share," said Waring.
There were rumors the hardware was flagged due to complaints about 3DS hinges, which can reportedly scratch the top screen. Each 3DS comes with a one-year warranty, and Nintendo's a company historically known for being pretty easy to deal with when it comes to replacing devices.
Nintendo did not respond to a request for comment about the entire event.
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