Retailers Were “Upset” At Pokemon Ruby And Sapphire Shortages

ByGabriel Stanford-Reisinger

In late 2003, Reggie Fils-Aime took on the role of Nintendo of America’s president and has since expressed how one week into the job, he had to deal with upset retailers over stocking issues. Note, while he said Pokemon Emerald, he likely meant Sapphire, as that’s the game that released alongside Ruby.

During the New York Game Awards, Fils-Aime explained in a speech that they didn’t send enough copies to stores for the Christmas rush, which he assures he never let that happen again.

“I had just joined the company and [was] there for only about a week when I had to work with our retail partners because they literally did not have enough copies of Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Emerald for the Christmas rush. They were a little upset. And believe me, I never let that happen ever again.”

What do you think? Were you lucky enough to get a copy of Ruby or Sapphire for Christmas 2003? Let us know below!

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For over half a decade, Gabe has been at the forefront of covering video games. He's inked thousands of articles over the years for outlets including Switch Yo!'s very own big brother site, of which he is also the Managing Editor of, PSX Extreme.

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