Zelda: Ocarina of Time's Electric Ocarina is turning up early at Target, thanks to a barcode trick

HORI's Electric OCARINA OF TIME is the $49.99 companion to the Switch 2 remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Its official release is set for November 5, 2026, but it has appeared in some US Target stores several days early. On November 1, the deal-tracking account Wario64 posted that the accessory was "available in-stores at Target." Shoppers soon started sharing a method: scan the product's barcode at a Target kiosk, then ask a staff member to fetch it from the backroom.

A shopper workaround, not an official release

The method comes from shoppers, not from Target. One user replied to Wario64 on November 2 to say it worked. If scanning the barcode at a Target kiosk showed the item as in the backroom but out of stock on the floor, you asked a team member for help. He said that is how he got his. A Facebook reseller group also reported finding the ocarina in Target stores for about $49, even though most buyers expected it on November 5.

Be careful with this. These are individual accounts. We found no statement from Target, HORI or Nintendo confirming an early sale. Not every store will have stock, and staff may refuse to sell before the planned date. Nintendo Wire reports that Target's online listing is live but marked sold out. Nintendo Life notes that HORI's ocarina has already sold out at many retailers around the world.

What the ocarina actually does

It is not a real instrument. Nintendo and HORI both describe it as an electronic toy. You don't blow into it: you press a mouthpiece button and touch the finger-hole buttons. It isn't a controller either. The Switch 2 picks up the sound through the game's sound recognition feature and triggers the matching in-game action.

There are two modes. Free Play lets you play notes and melodies, and Auto-Play performs 12 songs from the game at the press of a button. It also has a volume dial, a headphone jack and a display stand. Three AA batteries and a screwdriver are needed but not included. Nintendo also sells its own real, playable ocarina, which works within range of the console's built-in microphone. According to Nintendo Life, it is already on sale in Japan (5,500 yen) and Australia (AUD 54.85), but not yet in the US or UK.

What about Europe?

This only concerns Target stores in the US. In France, HORI's ocarina is up for pre-order at Fnac. EditionCollector lists a November 19 date, two weeks after the US launch. We couldn't confirm that date with a second source, so it may change. The game itself launches November 5 on Switch 2, at $59.99 digital and $69.99 physical in the US.

The bottom line

Several sources confirm that HORI's Electric Ocarina was spotted on sale at US Target stores before its November 5 launch. The barcode trick, though, comes from shopper reports rather than an official Target policy, so results vary from store to store. Outside the US, nothing changes: the accessory is still a pre-order item, with a later European date reported. And it is a collector's accessory: it is not a controller and you can't blow into it.

Sources

• https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/electric-ocarina-of-time-129987/
• https://stores.horiusa.com/nsx-261/
• https://x.com/Wario64/status/2116992874713952353
• https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2026/09/zelda-ocarina-of-time-electric-ocarina-nintendo-store-pre-orders-now-live-us
• https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2026/11/reminder-zelda-ocarina-of-time-playable-ocarina-available-now-on-the-nintendo-store
• https://nintendowire.com/news/2026/11/04/zelda-ocarina-of-time-switch-2-launch-guide-restocks-more/
• https://www.keengamer.com/articles/news/the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time-launches-november-5-at-59-99-digital-and-69-99-physical/
• https://editioncollector.fr/collectors/the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time-ocarina-electronique-nintendo-switch-2-par-hori