Nintendo Classic Mini announced

[bretthorror]

And for the record, NES was the godsend to video games.

 

You mad?

[+RevEng]

I don't mean to be rude... [snip]

 

I've seen cats & dogs smarter than Atari 7800 supporters.

You should trade in those NES underoos for some big boy pants. Many of us support all retro systems.

 

On the topic of the mini, it looks cute but I've bought many of the games i want to play in original carts and the virtual console. I'll likely sit this one out.

[atarilovesyou]

Something I'm finding a bit lame, especially on this thread, is how people can't seem to accept a product for what it is and just carry on.

 

Nope, no way to use old joysticks.

 

Nope, there's no way to play carts on this.

 

Nope, you can't add games to this.

 

Nope, you can't use anything other than HDMI outputs.

 

 

Now I realize we're in the minority (we're retro fans, a 'niche' market that we ourselves love to label us with) and we'd love all these extra bonuses, but the fact is that only ONE retro system catered to even a portion of these requests, and that was the first iteration of the Atari Flashback 2.0 ...and after that, it became more and more stripped down.

 

We all have access to old equipment and a multitude of ways to play any game we want.

 

Nintendo is never going to release a part-for-part NES system...sure, I'd love that, you'd love that, Billy Homework would love that (sorry Billy, just name dropping) but that ain't gonna happen.

 

What you get is a wicked awesome little machine that will play 30 wicked awesome games ever available on the NES on modern TVs with modern outputs.

 

That's what ya get.

 

And ya get it for comparably dirt cheap: 60 USD!

 

I'll take that all day long, and I actually foresee an issue with availability this Christmas. I will buy one as soon as I see it. I'm sure other will as well.

 

And I'm sure that some of you will lament the lack of a pack-in Advantage. Well, there goes the neighbourhood.

[bretthorror]

You should trade in those NES underoos for some big boy pants. Many of us support all retro systems.

 

On the topic of the mini, it looks cute but I've bought many of the games i want to play in original carts and the virtual console. I'll likely sit this one out.

I have all the original hardware and I emulate. That's why I think this dissing a plug n play is a joke.

 

Get your pops a whooore and enjoy life and play a few games with a couple of Steveweisers.

[NinjaWarrior]

Something I'm finding a bit lame, especially on this thread, is how people can't seem to accept a product for what it is and just carry on.

 

Nope, no way to use old joysticks.

 

Nope, there's no way to play carts on this.

 

Nope, you can't add games to this.

 

Nope, you can't use anything other than HDMI outputs.

 

You can use old Joysticks, I have a Adapter that can

 

You can use a Converter to convert HDMI to Composite -- Yes that was me complaining

Edited July 17, 2016 by NinjaWarrior

[Schizophretard]

You must have amazingly bad luck. There's no reason why modern TVs should be failing on you, period. Frankly, if you have HD video sources, sticking with old CRT TVs, particularly with the low prices on today's HDTVs, seems an extraordinary measure.

That made me think about how lucky I am that my first TV that had s-video that I bought in high school still works like new. Then I was thinking about how lucky I am that I have another CRT TV with an NES already built in which made me think of another thing, a Nintendo smart TV. It would be kind of neat to have a smart TV that has the Virtual Console as one of its apps so you don't need to plug any console in.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I don't mean to be rude... but the NES Mini detractors seem like Jag supporters.

 

I've seen cats & dogs smarter than Atari Jag supporters.

Fixed that for you!

[+Random Terrain]

I will wait for some reviews... but if it's decent quality I will definitely buy one.

 

If the games look and play the same, the mini NES would be worth getting for my mother. She'd love to play NES Bubble Bobble (one of her favorite games) on her HDTV. It would probably be better for her if the controller was wireless, though. Things aren't really set up for a classic-style corded console.

[high voltage]

I don't mean to be rude... but the NES Mini detractors seem like 7800 supporters.

 

I've seen cats & dogs smarter than Atari 7800 supporters.

Animals are smarter than humans period.

[Schizophretard]

I think you are missing the target here.

What you describe would be good for people that want a Wii U and would like to have a supply of retro games, or people that would liek to reveive some old memories but thing that 6$ for SMB is too expensive.

 

Here, this product is geared toward people that doesn't own a Wii U, either because they aren't interested or because they thing their kids are too young to handle one (expecially with the Mablette), and the Nintendo fans that will collect stuff.

And this is where it's a clever solution. The NES Mini is exactly the right price and simplicity for people to buy one for their 6 years old. The selection of games and the additionnal pad mean that it will please the retrogamers that arrived late on the party and would need those 60$ only to buy a loose yellowed NES.

This isn't a "new console" it's a collectible item, in the same vein than the Amiibos.

I understand that it isn't targeting those that want a Wii U but that is kind of my point. I would completely get the idea of this if the Wii U was already doing well instead of it being its biggest flop for a home console but since that isn't the case it doesn't make sense to me. This Christmas they shouldn't be trying to compete with AtGames. Their competition is Sony and Microsoft which means they should be trying to come up with a really good reason for parents to buy a Wii U for their kids instead of the competition. The kind of idea that changes the minds of those who don't want a Wii U to being those who view it as a must have. Therefore, it would make more sense to me if instead of releasing this NES Mini as a must have they should take what makes it a must have and apply those things to the Wii U. What I have gathered so far from this thread is that they are things like:

 

1. HDMI. Wii U has that.

 

2. Looks like an NES for collectors. That can be done with a theme something like the look of these:

 

3. The console is $60 and comes with 30 free games or the games are $2 each and the console is free, depending on how you want to look at it. Anyway, if $60 is a good deal for 30 games then at the price of a Wii U that same deal would be $300 for 150 games(5 times as many but the same price each). But I think all of Nintendo's first party titles from the NES to the Game Cube, Game Boy to Game Boy Advance, and ,I guess now that I think about it, also their Game and Watch games and Arcade games would all be much more than 150 games. Therefore, it would be a much better deal per game for each dollar spent than the NES Mini.

 

4. The $10 NES Mini controllers. They are already designed for use with also the Wii U and if they went with this strategy they could make similar controllers from their other systems like the SNES.

 

5. The issue you brought up about parents not comfortable with their kids using its tablet controller and making it simple for their 6 years old. They could also throw in an NES themed Wii U Pro Controller to sweeten the deal. After the parents set it up they can just allow their kids to go at it with that controller with hundreds of Nintendo first party games. Besides, it isn't like the kids will be unsupervised because the parents will be there whining about it being their turn or begging to share by play a multiplayer game.

 

[+Random Terrain]

Animals are smarter than humans period.

Yeah, it's a fact that dogs and monkeys made it to space before humans did, so that proves it.

[Bill Loguidice]

I understand that it isn't targeting those that want a Wii U but that is kind of my point. I would completely get the idea of this if the Wii U was already doing well instead of it being its biggest flop for a home console but since that isn't the case it doesn't make sense to me. This Christmas they shouldn't be trying to compete with AtGames. Their competition is Sony and Microsoft which means they should be trying to come up with a really good reason for parents to buy a Wii U for their kids instead of the competition. The kind of idea that changes the minds of those who don't want a Wii U to being those who view it as a must have. Therefore, it would make more sense to me if instead of releasing this NES Mini as a must have they should take what makes it a must have and apply those things to the Wii U. What I have gathered so far from this thread is that they are things like:

 

1. HDMI. Wii U has that.

 

2. Looks like an NES for collectors. That can be done with a theme something like the look of these:

 

 

 

3. The console is $60 and comes with 30 free games or the games are $2 each and the console is free, depending on how you want to look at it. Anyway, if $60 is a good deal for 30 games then at the price of a Wii U that same deal would be $300 for 150 games(5 times as many but the same price each). But I think all of Nintendo's first party titles from the NES to the Game Cube, Game Boy to Game Boy Advance, and ,I guess now that I think about it, also their Game and Watch games and Arcade games would all be much more than 150 games. Therefore, it would be a much better deal per game for each dollar spent than the NES Mini.

 

4. The $10 NES Mini controllers. They are already designed for use with also the Wii U and if they went with this strategy they could make similar controllers from their other systems like the SNES.

 

5. The issue you brought up about parents not comfortable with their kids using its tablet controller and making it simple for their 6 years old. They could also throw in an NES themed Wii U Pro Controller to sweeten the deal. After the parents set it up they can just allow their kids to go at it with that controller with hundreds of Nintendo first party games. Besides, it isn't like the kids will be unsupervised because the parents will be there whining about it being their turn or begging to share by play a multiplayer game.

 

 

I think this idea would only work if the Wii U was still viable. It's not. Nintendo almost certainly already stopped production of new Wii U units and there's still plenty of unsold inventory in the supply chain. There's clearly no real way to reduce production costs and put the Wii U out cheaper, otherwise Nintendo would have already done that. Nintendo has ZERO incentive to produce a new run of Wii U's, that, no matter how compelling the hook, have a chance of not selling, then there's still the issue of all of the other Wii U's that are still out there. That translates to retailers probably not wanting to carry MORE Wii U stuff.

 

The mini NES is something cheap to produce and easy to sell. It's an impulse purchase for consumers. It's a brilliant marketing move to get some mojo/goodwill back from consumers leading into the NX. There's no way to dress up the dead Wii U to be that goodwill ambassador. Clearly it did the Wii U no favors that the final year or so of the Wii was so depressing, providing no real momentum leading into the Wii U's launch. Nintendo is in a similar situation here paired with a 3DS platform that's winding down itself. I'm sure it's not lost on Nintendo that they need positive momentum going into the NX. Initiatives like the mini NES and Pokemon Go are low risk ways of doing that.

 

I'm also not sure there's any validity to the idea of parents being afraid to let their younger kids handle the Wii U's gamepad tablet. Babies are given smartphones and tablets all of the time to play with.

[MCHufnagel]

Well, I think this is a great little item and will purchase it when it comes out. I had to liquidate most of my retro collection when I was laid off three years ago and so I no longer have a NES. So instead of playing emulators I'll be able to get a console on the cheap. I'll plug it into my bedroom tv where plugging in a pc isn't practical. And I hope that a SNES mini gets released down the road. Hopefully AT Games will add save states to their Genesis Flashback machines now that Nintendo has it with this little item.

[Atariboy]

 

Nintendo has ZERO incentive to produce a new run of Wii U's, that, no matter how compelling the hook, have a chance of not selling, then there's still the issue of all of the other Wii U's that are still out there.

 

Not to mention that even if Nintendo did this, retailers were willing, and consumers bought it, what then? It's still hardware a few weeks out from its 4th birthday that's on the verge of being replaced with little new development underway for it.

 

Getting more Wii U's into homes at this late date not only means very little for Nintendo's position, but it's almost also damaging to their NX. For every new Wii U customer at this point, there's a potential individual that's going to be playing the waiting game on the NX for a few years that may have otherwise made the jump early.

 

Even worse, they were perhaps unaware that the Wii U was on the cusp of being replaced and will be entirely soured on the deal when they realize what happened and will instead exit the Nintendo fold rather than move forward to a NX eventually.

 

A heavy push on the Wii U front just doesn't make any sense at this point. It almost would be like Hitler launching the Battle of the Bulge. At best for all those resources expended, you just pushed out the end by a matter of weeks.

Edited July 17, 2016 by Atariboy

[TPA5]

Animals are smarter than humans period.

 

As far as I know, animals haven't cured polio. Or figured out that putting bacon on top of a cheeseburger vastly improves it.

 

 

So far every person I have shown this thing has had the same reaction: "That's so awesome, I can't wait to buy one."

 

At $60 a pop this isn't 'saving Nintendo' ahead of the NX release. I feel like it's more the actions of a company that's trying to diversify in a market that's increasingly difficult to gain a foothold in. Think about how forcefully Nintendo promised they'd never step into the mobile gaming market, and lo and behold now they are trying it out. They know there's a goldmine of IP's in their closet, and if they don't want to go the way of Sega it's up to them to use them for more than just console/handheld releases.

[+phoenixdownita]

As far as I know, animals haven't cured polio.

That's obviously because Poliovirus is strictly a human pathogen, and does not naturally infect any other species.

[+RevEng]

From the wiimote classic controllers, it's pretty clear Nintendo is leveraging existing tech to make this thing as cheap as possible to build. It seems likely it's running an ARM CPU with a cut-down 3DS virtual console. That would mean Nintendo has minimal software development effort, and they could (likely) leverage existing agreements for 3rd party titles. It also means bigger volume discounts on hardware components, and established supply channels.

 

Assuming that's right, the mini is a minimal gamble for Nintendo. You can also expect the capabilities of the mini to be limited to some subset of VC capabilities.

[Schizophretard]

I think this idea would only work if the Wii U was still viable. It's not. Nintendo almost certainly already stopped production of new Wii U units and there's still plenty of unsold inventory in the supply chain. There's clearly no real way to reduce production costs and put the Wii U out cheaper, otherwise Nintendo would have already done that. Nintendo has ZERO incentive to produce a new run of Wii U's, that, no matter how compelling the hook, have a chance of not selling, then there's still the issue of all of the other Wii U's that are still out there. That translates to retailers probably not wanting to carry MORE Wii U stuff.

 

The mini NES is something cheap to produce and easy to sell. It's an impulse purchase for consumers. It's a brilliant marketing move to get some mojo/goodwill back from consumers leading into the NX. There's no way to dress up the dead Wii U to be that goodwill ambassador. Clearly it did the Wii U no favors that the final year or so of the Wii was so depressing, providing no real momentum leading into the Wii U's launch. Nintendo is in a similar situation here paired with a 3DS platform that's winding down itself. I'm sure it's not lost on Nintendo that they need positive momentum going into the NX. Initiatives like the mini NES and Pokemon Go are low risk ways of doing that.

 

I'm also not sure there's any validity to the idea of parents being afraid to let their younger kids handle the Wii U's gamepad tablet. Babies are given smartphones and tablets all of the time to play with.

 

I see your point about a new production run of the Wii U. So, how about this modified version of the idea? They still sell the NES Mini for the purpose of being a plug and play impulse buy device as you described but it also doubles as and is marketed as an Amiibo that unlocks what I described for the Wii U but also the New 3DS. In other words, you could just buy it for a plug and play and/or buy it to scan on the Wii U and/or New 3DS to unlock all retro first party Nintendo games on the Virtual Console. That would cover the plug and play impulse buy part, appeal to those who collect Amiibos, and potentially move the Wii U's and New 3DS's that are already on the shelves because it would unlock so many first party retro Nintendo games for them.

[mikey.shake]

While it's got some great information contributed (and thanks to all), this thread is cracking me up. The love, the hate, the rampant speculation, a few quarrelsome back-and-forths. Total hilarity, I'm checking it as regularly as I can.

 

For what it's worth, I think this is brilliant. I have virtually no need for one (NES/Trinitron/Everdrive at my place), but the HDMI means I'd still snag one for the living room in a heartbeat if the price drops just a few bucks. That's an impressive sale, as far as I'm concerned.

 

But you know who'd love this? My sister. We didn't have an NES, but had a SNES a few years later. We're total polar opposites in personality and she barely played games when we were kids beyond a little Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country. But even so I'd be willing to bet she'd drop on this at Target in a second. She might not even realize it's much different than the SNES. And while she's smart, I could see her thinking the Virtual Console was "too complicated" and wouldn't bother looking into it. What's more is that it makes a perfect gift for her two little boys. And mom and dad will have fun with it too. It's easy to set up and you'll be able to get these anywhere. No having to "figure out" how to hook up a Wii/WiiU, no learning curve, looks like it used to, no dirty and blinking original console somewhere in Mom's basement. No overpriced retro gaming stores where squares might feel intimidated and (quite possibly) get ripped off. And there are a whole lot of people like her out there. Way more than us.

 

This is a low-pricepoint, low-R&D way for Nintendo to probably make a bunch of money trading on things they mostly already own, to (as someone else pointed out) diversify their market, increase brand awareness with a well-done reminder of their greatest triumph in anticipation of their new mysterious cross-platform thing, and even appeal to a big percentage of hardcores like us who are pulled in by the HDMI or the novelty or the collectibility.

 

And with traditional consoles going the way of the dodo, IPs are suddenly getting a lot more important. And here's a company with some of the best of them. (Several companies, if you include the other publishers on the Mini.) Get people buzzing about them again. This is probably the best thing to happen to Castlevania's IP in ages.

 

I feel like if they get these on the right shelves at department stores we can watch a thirty-year range of "non-gamers to casual gamers" deciding that $60 is just about right for most of the games they remember. ("All three Super Mario Bros! Punch-Out! Zelda! We'll get this, the kids will like it, too.")

[Great Hierophant]

I would dearly like to see a My Life in Gaming type of comparison between the NES Classic Mini, the Wii Virtual Console, the Wii U Virtual Console, the Hi-Def NES Mod and the AVS.

 

As far as the game selection goes, "The Force is strong with this one".

 

How long will it take someone to modify the NES Controller with the Wii plug to work in a real NES?

Edited July 17, 2016 by Great Hierophant

[Andromeda Stardust]

I understand that it isn't targeting those that want a Wii U but that is kind of my point. I would completely get the idea of this if the Wii U was already doing well instead of it being its biggest flop for a home console but since that isn't the case it doesn't make sense to me. This Christmas they shouldn't be trying to compete with AtGames. Their competition is Sony and Microsoft which means they should be trying to come up with a really good reason for parents to buy a Wii U for their kids instead of the competition. The kind of idea that changes the minds of those who don't want a Wii U to being those who view it as a must have. Therefore, it would make more sense to me if instead of releasing this NES Mini as a must have they should take what makes it a must have and apply those things to the Wii U. What I have gathered so far from this thread is that they are things like:

 

1. HDMI. Wii U has that.

 

[...]

 

With all due respect, the Wii-U has failed to really penetrate the market. The vast majority of people who are on the fence at this point will probably look elsewhere or wait for the NX to drop. I have immensely enjoyed the Wii-U and gotten my money's worth, but Nintendo needs a "killer app" this Christmas season, and if they did sell a million plus NES Minis, that would amount to enormous profit.

 

They are not merely competing with Atgames. They will knock them clear out of the arena. Nintendo is infinitely more popular than Atari, and I think it's a brilliant strategy. I plan on buying one for myself and a couple friends/family members. There has been a demand for Nintendo/Famicom plug-n-plays for at least ten years now. Remember all those shady dealers selling their shitty little pirate fami-clones in shopping malls and flea markets? Well Nintendo shut them down but they kept crawling back.

 

This is the console for casual gamers who don't want to buy an expensive console with expensive games, connect to the internet to install updates, etc. Just plug and play. No carts with dirty connectors. No SRAM batteries that no longer retain data. No fighting with modern displays to get decent picture (Atgames is woefully behind with the times still using composite). Turn it on and it works, with the modern convenience of saving your progress at any point in the game.

[0078265317]

I would dearly like to see a My Life in Gaming type of comparison between the NES Classic Mini, the Wii Virtual Console, the Wii U Virtual Console, the Hi-Def NES Mod and the AVS.

 

As far as the game selection goes, "The Force is strong with this one".

 

How long will it take someone to modify the NES Controller with the Wii plug to work in a real NES?

 

Except no Castlevania 3. I mean there is 1 and 2. Why not 3? Maybe 3 uses special chips like sound and stuff this can't emulate.

[Great Hierophant]

 

Except no Castlevania 3. I mean there is 1 and 2. Why not 3? Maybe 3 uses special chips like sound and stuff this can't emulate.

 

It is a not perfect lineup, you could easily say why no Ninja Gaiden 2 or 3, Mega Man 1 or 3, 4, 5 or 6, Tecmo Super Bowl, Startropics II, Double Dragon 1 or 3 or Contra. Castlevania III exists on all three virtual consoles, suggesting that any issues with the MMC5 mapper it uses have long since been overcome. It does not use extra sound (Akumajō Densetsu does) and barely uses the features of the MMC5.

Edited July 17, 2016 by Great Hierophant

[0078265317]

But then why do some noac not load CV3. I thought it used extra stuff that most noac cant handle.

[Great Hierophant]

The NES Classic system is pure emulation of both the system and the cartridges. Many of the NOAC systems do not provide all the signals on the cartridge connector which cartridges did use. NOAC systems which do not provide all the necessary signals to CV3 will fail.