Nintendo's mini NES is its own walled garden

[Shawn Knight]

Nintendo yesterday unveiled a mini replica of its original Nintendo Entertainment System that’ll go on sale later this year. The pint-sized machine is small enough to fit in your hand – and maybe your pocket – but new information has emerged that may make you think twice if you were considering buying it.

If you recall, the NES Classic comes pre-loaded with 30 of the greatest games ever made for the iconic system. As it turns out, that’s as many games as you’ll ever be able to play on the machine.

When probed by Kotaku, a Nintendo representative said the console is a standalone device and thus, can’t connect to any external storage device to load additional games. That said, it’s also unable to connect to the Internet for the same purpose (or for any other reason).

The Nintendo rep also confirmed that the cartridge chamber where you’d normally slide a game into isn’t functional as the lid itself does not open.

The revelations will no doubt bum some people out but there’s reason to remain positive. When asked if there were plans for other mini consoles, like a mini Super Nintendo Entertainment System or a mini Nintendo 64, the rep said they had nothing to announce at this time. If they weren’t planning to launch additional consoles, a simple “no” would have sufficed – at least, in my mind.

If priced similarly (the NES Classic will command $59.99), would you be interested in a mini version of Nintendo’s other consoles? If so, which ones? Let us know in the comments section below.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/65594-nintendo-mini-nes-wont-accept-new-games.html

 

[yRaz]

30 games and a dedicated device for $60? that's better than a steam sale. It's still a good deal and it has all of the NES games that made it famous. Also, it'll probably support 1080p which will be worth it.

This is pretty much a none issue and I'm sure someone will hack the thing soon enough.

 

[Kibaruk]

I would love a SNES mini device, a mini 64 would also be loads of fun.

When they have ideas they'll never say a simple "no", because if this sells like butter they'll definitely put a move on other projects of the same style.

 

[Tanstar]

30 games and a dedicated device for $60? that's better than a steam sale. It's still a good deal and it has all of the NES games that made it famous. Also, it'll probably support 1080p which will be worth it.

This is pretty much a none issue and I'm sure someone will hack the thing soon enough.

Well, it would have to be a physical "hack", since nothing in its software determines whether or not it can access the internet or take USB/SD/catridges.

 

[Burty117]

A mini 64 with GoldenEye I would snap that up in a heartbeat. I lost a lot of my childhood to that game!

 

[oldikes]

30 games and a dedicated device for $60? that's better than a steam sale. It's still a good deal and it has all of the NES games that made it famous. Also, it'll probably support 1080p which will be worth it.

This is pretty much a none issue and I'm sure someone will hack the thing soon enough.

While I guess many wouldn't pass up on an opportunity to own "classics", this isn't really much of a quality sale IMO, as most of those games don't exactly hold their entertainment value in comparison to most games even in the last 15 years.

 

[Timonius]

I'm not overly impressed. I would rather spend money on authentic controllers that hook up to a pc because it's been possible to play pretty much every NES/SNES game on an emulator for years.