Nintendo is relaunching its NES as a mini console with 30 pre-loaded games

Shawn Knight

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The Nintendo Entertainment System isn’t as rare as one might think given its age but that doesn’t mean everyone has one lying around. And if you do, it’s probably stored away in a closet or attic somewhere as keeping it hooked up with a collection of games can take up valuable space.

Nintendo feels your pain which is why they’ve announced a brand new version of the classic console that fits in the palm of your hand.

The NES Classic is a near-identical, mini replica of the original that plugs directly into your HDTV via an included HDMI cable. It comes with 30 of the top NES games pre-loaded as well as the AC power adapter and an NES Classic controller which of course, is designed after the original.

The full list of games is as follows: Balloon Fight, Bubble Bobble, Castlevania, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Double Dragon II: The Revenge, Dr. Mario, Excitebike, Final Fantasy, Galaga, Ghosts' N Ghoblins, Gradius, Ice Climber, Kid Icarus, Kirby's Adventure, Mario Bros., Mega Man 2, Metroid, Ninja Gaiden, Pac-Man, Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream, StarTropics, SUPER C, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Tecmo Bowl, The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.

It’s hard to argue with that list as it has a little something for everyone.

The NES Classic goes on sale November 11 priced at $59.99.

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Awesome game list and price, what I would really love to have is a mini SNES =)

What I don't see yet however, is how is this better than a NUC or whatever with some emulators and a bluetooth or wired gamepad.
 
Awesome game list and price, what I would really love to have is a mini SNES =)

What I don't see yet however, is how is this better than a NUC or whatever with some emulators and a bluetooth or wired gamepad.
It really isnt. More expensive set top boxes can play the entire NES library, with any controller, and can play SNES, n64, PS1, genesis, ece.

This product is just another plug and play console. PaP consoles with NES libraries on them have been available for 15+ years.
 
Awesome game list and price, what I would really love to have is a mini SNES =)

What I don't see yet however, is how is this better than a NUC or whatever with some emulators and a bluetooth or wired gamepad.
It really isnt. More expensive set top boxes can play the entire NES library, with any controller, and can play SNES, n64, PS1, genesis, ece.

This product is just another plug and play console. PaP consoles with NES libraries on them have been available for 15+ years.

Exactly. My kids have a mini Sega genesis loaded with tons of games. They played it for 30mins, then went back to YouTube and ps4 and forgot all about it. Point is, better options for us nostalgic types have been around for a while, and modern kids just aren't interested.
 
My god Nintendo just does not want to make money. They could have just put these games on mobile and sold them for $5 each to EVERYONE.
 
I don't see this as a main entertainment piece in someones living room.
I see it as something to put in camp for a rainy day or something to lets guests use in a waiting room.
 
Brilliant!! lol It'll sure get them sales.

In the meantime, I'll keep playing my emulators on PC and Android. :D
 
My god Nintendo just does not want to make money. They could have just put these games on mobile and sold them for $5 each to EVERYONE.

You got a bit of a point there. Havent we all purchased one or two Final Fantasy games from an App store, even though we didnt need to? lol
 
I think a snes console would make much much much more money, just for the rpgs alone.

You got a bit of a point there. Havent we all purchased one or two Final Fantasy games from an App store, even though we didnt need to? lol

Nope "we" haven't.
 
Not well timed at all, since NES games can be played on whatever the last.. many years.

And you know what, it would have been a better idea to have a full fledged sized NES, even if the internals are super small just for the retro effect or collectors.
 
The case itself is pretty cool in a retro sort of way. My question is could it be cracked open and used as a retrofit project for other boards. $60 isn't too bad to get a case that could be modified similar to others. Just a thought.

On side note I am assuming that they are mainly doing this to stem some of the recent emulator user groups that have ballooned a good deal the last two years especially. Honestly the game list is pretty decent and the cost of entry is low enough. I totally get though where people that have physical games have a legit beef about not being able to insert their original games into it also like you see from other units out there. I am curious how well the quality of the picture will be with this unit too. Are they forcing scanlines, etc to give as close to an original experience? etc.

Guess we will need to wait til November to get these anwers.
 
And you know what, it would have been a better idea to have a full fledged sized NES, even if the internals are super small just for the retro effect or collectors.

This doesnt really make sense. :-/

Either they will hunt down an original, or like the concept of a smaller version that LOOKS like a NES that they could then mod. If they didnt want a look alike, they'd most likely want the original. This is what makes more sense, to myself anyways, and a couple other posting, too.
 
Yesterday I was thinking about the idea of a CPU shrink for old consoles, and started Googling soc, to see how close they come to the original hardware. I hope this is not just some emulator. I learned a little about emulators, for example, the most accurate SNES emulator requires a 3Ghz computer, and the author said there's still not a computer available that could run a 100% accurate SNES emulator. There's an emulator called DICE that perfectly emulates Pong. And it runs 10 to 15 FPS on a 3Ghz computer. And not, it's not because of bad coding.
 
Yesterday I was thinking about the idea of a CPU shrink for old consoles, and started Googling soc, to see how close they come to the original hardware. I hope this is not just some emulator. I learned a little about emulators, for example, the most accurate SNES emulator requires a 3Ghz computer, and the author said there's still not a computer available that could run a 100% accurate SNES emulator. There's an emulator called DICE that perfectly emulates Pong. And it runs 10 to 15 FPS on a 3Ghz computer. And not, it's not because of bad coding.

I cant really seem to understand the logic. If you wanted something that emulates it 100% accurately, then get the real thing. I'm sure there's tons of SNES systems on eBay, and at your local used game stores. Also, saying "a 3 Ghz computer" is extremely vague.
 
The case itself is pretty cool in a retro sort of way. My question is could it be cracked open and used as a retrofit project for other boards. $60 isn't too bad to get a case that could be modified similar to others. Just a thought.


Agreed! In my opinion, Nintendo really dropped the ball on this one. At the very least, they should have put an SD card slot where the original cartridge went. They would have done a lot better though, had they just made it a case for a raspberry pi, still putting an sd card slot where the cartridge slot originally was. What would have been really cool to is if Nintendo had made it an actual computer case ( mini ITX ) with a custom external brick PSU, and put a blue ray drive, and sd card reader where the original cartridge went. I would actually consider buying it then.
 
The case itself is pretty cool in a retro sort of way. My question is could it be cracked open and used as a retrofit project for other boards. $60 isn't too bad to get a case that could be modified similar to others. Just a thought.


Agreed! In my opinion, Nintendo really dropped the ball on this one. At the very least, they should have put an SD card slot where the original cartridge went. They would have done a lot better though, had they just made it a case for a raspberry pi, still putting an sd card slot where the cartridge slot originally was. What would have been really cool to is if Nintendo had made it an actual computer case ( mini ITX ) with a custom external brick PSU, and put a blue ray drive, and sd card reader where the original cartridge went. I would actually consider buying it then.

BTW when I mention making an (mini ITX) case, I meant to mention that it would have to be the size of the original Nintendo. Personally, I would prefer it being original size anyways for the nostalgia of it and all. Man, a mini ITX case that looks just like an original Nintendo, with playstation ISO files, all loaded on it would be so cool!
 
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