Nintendo needs to be clear on whether this product will actually be produced in enough quantities to reach customers, or whether it will be an extremely limited special product like the NES Classic.<p>I was able to get an NES Classic because I lined up a half hour before a store opened the first day and got in on the initial shipment. I never saw it in stores after.<p>Unless Nintendo is clear that things are going to be different this time, considering the popularity of the NES Classic, people are going to be lining up over night to try to get this SNES Classic.
Really interesting that they're using this as an oppertunity to officially release Star Fox 2 [0]. It's neat to see and is pretty unexpected.<p>[0] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Fox_2" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Fox_2</a>
I'm not much of a gamer but I would buy this for the nostalgic factor alone.<p>I hope Nintendo actually produces enough to meet demand this time and doesn't cancel it after a few months like they did with the NES Classic. But then again I have a gamer friend who is still looking to buy a Switch and can't even find that in stock... perhaps Nintendo needs some help with their supply chain.
I am VERY surprised they picked Final Fantasy III (VI in reality) instead of Chrono Trigger (while including two Kirby games). The latter is way more popular, at least in the West. The former is the best Final Fantasy, though :-)
The whole supply thing always struck me a very fine balancing act overall, Nintendo were aiming for a limited supply but by underestimating demand it looked crazier than it really was.<p>If Nintendo released enough Mini-NESs last year to match the demand, by this point right now there would be thousands upon thousands of them lying around doing nothing and being resold for every decreasing prices. Most people surely bought it because the box was cute and/or it was a remarkably easy gift for someone, I can't imagine many of them are getting much use right now.<p>With an awareness they're no longer on sale and somewhat in-demand, people are going to less likely to get rid of theirs. By not satisfying demand they're managing to avoid long-term damage to the value of NES nostalgia.<p>Along with that, not only would saturating the market effectively kill the chances of simply rereleasing it for another wave of hype and high sales in a few years, it'd also potentially greatly cripple the market value of the games on the machine. Nintendo have made a killing from re-releasing Super Mario Bros alone over and over, if it's on the virtual store right now I imagine it's gotta be at least $5. That's achieved by treating it like a thing of value, not the kind of thing you find on some cheap "RETRO CLASSICS" type bundle, preventing the NES-mini from feeling disposable helps prevent the games on it from feeling worthless.<p>TL;DR? They're doing an approach which has worked very effectively for another company in the entertainment industry <a href="http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Disney_Vault" rel="nofollow">http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Disney_Vault</a>
So I made a list of 30 SNES games about 8 months ago as an exercise if this did get announced, and posted it here on Hacker News, and I just looked back at that list. 15 of the games I stated are included in these 21 games, and an additional 1 of them I just picked the wrong version (I picked Super Street Fighter 2 instead of Street Fighter 2 Turbo).<p>I only missed the 2 Kirby games, Star Fox 2, Super Mario RPG, and Contra III.<p>Here was my list:<p>* Chrono Trigger * Donkey Kong Country * Donkey Kong Country 2 * Earthbound * F-Zero * Final Fight * Final Fantasy 2 * Final Fantasy 3 * Harvest Moon * Illusion of Gaia * Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past * Mega Man X * Killer Instinct * NBA Jam * Pilotwings * Secret of Mana * Sim City * Star Fox * Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo * Super Castlevania IV * Super Ghouls n' Ghosts * Super Mario Kart * Super Mario World * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island * Super Metroid * Super Punch-Out!!! * Super R-Type 3 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time * Tetris Attack * Zombies Ate My Neighbors<p>Source: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12903399" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12903399</a>
I hope they go all-out and produce 51 consoles instead of the 50 NES Classics they managed to scrape together and sell. /s<p>Availability of new systems has never been a strong point of Nintendo.
What kind of connector does the controller use? It looks like a mini vintage SNES connector? Or are the ports on the front just for show, and the real connectors are on the back or something?<p>One of the nice things about the NES Classic was that it used the same port as a Nunchuck, meaning you could use it with your old modded Wii. Would be nice if the SNES controller had a similarly useful connector, perhaps for Switch compatibility.
update from TFA:<p>> UPDATE (1:53pm): And here’s Nintendo, confirming that the company does plan to ship more SNES Classics, but only this year.<p>>> We aren’t providing specific numbers, but we will produce significantly more units of Super NES Classic Edition than we did of NES Classic Edition.<p>>>Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Super NES Classic Edition is currently planned to ship from Sept. 29 until the end of calendar year 2017. At this time, we have nothing to announce regarding any possible shipments beyond this year.<p>>> Our long-term efforts are focused on delivering great games for the Nintendo Switch system and continuing to build momentum for that platform, as well as serving the more than 63 million owners of Nintendo 3DS family systems. We are offering Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Super NES Classic Edition in special recognition of the fans who show tremendous interest our classic content.
Is it bad if I hope the zeitgeist of Shenzhen gets its hands on one of these and clones it part-for-part? It's likely the only way I'll ever be able to own one, given Nintendo's likely production run.
I'm excited about this, but I really wish they'd provide a little more effort on these projects... if they spent a little more effort, they could have opened it up, make a retro platform, instead of a quick cash grab.
I'll have to buy two, then hope I can trade it for a Classic since I've missed out on that one. I really wanted the Classic but the Super Nintendo is great anyway as well.
I still have an original SNES with 25-30 games, including classics like Super Mario World, Super Metroid, and Link to the past. If I get an itch to play through one of those, I fire up an emulator. Literally, no reason to switch that old SNES on.<p>I guess this is for people who don't know how to make a folder on their PC?