Support NeoGAF

[Spiral Insanity]

I mean, this is neat, I guess? I don't really get it. This looks/seems like one of those cheap licensed megadrive/genesis boxes.

If this was somehow able to run actual eShop VC games, that would be noteworthy/cool. Right now, I'm just frustrated that Nintendo can't even be bothered to release some of these games on the actual 3DS eShop.

 

[ipukespiders]

Not yet, though SquareEnix games are finally turning up on it.

Excellent.

 

[Teknoman]

i thought those were done by gutting shit games no one would miss, rather than actually putting new carts into production

Repro carts are just re-purposed original games. They might have new cases and even PCBs if they're making enough to justify the cost, but the ROM chips are old stock or salvaged eproms.

Don't you have to like... sacrifice another cart to make a repro?

Yeah you've got a point about the chips themselves.

I missed the NES, so I wanna enjoy some of the greats.

Can it play your old cartridges?

Nope. Still need an actual NES or clone system for that.

 

[DeathPeak]

Was definitely surprised at that game list! I'm in!

 

[ATOMICJORGE]

Sold I'm going to buy it on DAY 1! I was not born on the NES days but I have played some of this games in the past I can't wait to play this classics again and to show the games to my subscribers on YT, the HDMI port is going to be great for capture cards

 

[jmizzal]

Just read everything, i'm IN, for the price of a game heck yea, plus can use the CC for 2 players

 

[NinjaMouse]

Yep...take my money, Nintendo. I'm in.

 

[Bitch Pudding]

They mad me at Zelda (okay, technically that's bullshit, given the order of the alphabet, but you know what I mean).

Still, Mini-SNES would be really mindblowing. Thanks Nintendo for making me want something really, really bad right now.

 

[ThisOne]

So there won't be a way to add new games to it?

 

[Deleted member 286591]

They mad me at Zelda (okay, technically that's bullshit, given the order of the alphabet, but you know what I mean).

Still, Mini-SNES would be really mindblowing. Thanks Nintendo for making me want something really, really bad right now.

It will happen, and you know it.

 

[JLynn]

Does the lack of Castlevania III confirm this is going to be a shitty system-on-a-chip system with HDMI?

Castlevania III NES version did not use any extra chips for sound; it uses the stock NES sound chips. It's the Famicom version that uses the added sound chips.

 

[Rayven]

Pretty happy with the game list. Just Tetris and the light gun games missing IMO.

 

[Couchaddict]

No RCA out? I was hoping.

 

[b3b0p]

This seems like a downgrade from a Wii or Wii U since it is static at 30 games. If this could take cartridges, I'd be down for one. I hope it's hackable to load more games and if so, I'm interested.

 

[xDUMPWEEDx]

This looks really good. It would have been a lot cooler though if there was a way to add more games.

 

[Already Torn]

So there won't be a way to add new games to it?

I'm assuming people will find one pretty quickly

 

[OrbitalBeard]

This is awesome and the type of thing Nintendo would have never even considered releasing a few years ago. I'm really loving this new direction they're taking.

Now, if the emulation is spot-on and the image quality is better than it is on Wii U, I'll be picking a couple of these up at launch.

Oh yeah, and this thing is going to be absolutely massive this holiday in North America. Guaranteed. The ultimate nostalgia rush.

 

[Morts]

So there won't be a way to add new games to it?

Doesn't look like it. It's got everything I would ever consider getting on VC and then some, though.

I was young then, but I'd be hard pressed to even name too many more NES games.

 

[Teknoman]

Pretty happy with the game list. Just Tetris and the light gun games missing IMO.

Light gun games wouldn't be playable anyway without a crt or if they included special sensors.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

It's Nintendo. The chances of something like messed up colors or high lag is, well, pretty high.

Nah man I'm sure it'll be fine.

Spoiler

Lol

 

[Pellegri Testament]

This seems like a downgrade from a Wii or Wii U since it is static at 30 games. If this could take cartridges, I'd be down for one. I hope it's hackable to load more games and if so, I'm interested.

The upside to it over the Wii/WiiU is the price point. These games are all still $5 on VC, while they're $2 each on this. This also doesn't require you to have either of those systems.

 

[MMaRsu]

i want this!!

 

[thefro]

I mean, this is neat, I guess? I don't really get it. This looks/seems like one of those cheap licensed megadrive/genesis boxes.

If this was somehow able to run actual eShop VC games, that would be noteworthy/cool. Right now, I'm just frustrated that Nintendo can't even be bothered to release some of these games on the actual 3DS eShop.

The games list is a lot better than those Megadrive/Genesis boxes.

Presumably the build quality, controller, and emulation are all better as well.

 

[abercrombie]

Pretty cool, looks like I might get one considering the games that come with it. I wonder how they will handle the resolutions on widescreen TVs. Any hopes we get some sort of faux interlacing? Ability to add more games? Nov 11 is too far away! =/

 

[stuminus3]

This is all over my Facebook from people who don't normally talk about video games.

Nintendo should call their next console the NES Pokemon. The Wii NES Pokemon.

 

[linkboy]

Bummer about Mega Man III. II is nice, but having the two best NES Mega Man games would have been great.

 

[Teknoman]

Doesn't look like it. It's got everything I would ever consider getting on VC and then some, though.

I was young then, but I'd be hard pressed to even name too many more NES games.

I'm surprised it doesn't have Castlevania 3, but I guess they had to limit in case they release another model 2 edition. It's missing a lot of great titles, but it's got some of the basics.

 

[mntorankusu]

The best thing about this is the controllers. The emulation is probably going to be dark garbage, but if the controllers are half as well-built as the originals, they'll be great.

ESPECIALLY if the shell and all of the other parts fit on an original controller PCB. It'll be like buying an official NES controller repair kit for $10.

 

[Giever]

This is pretty smart in terms of building renewed interest and awareness in Nintendo stuff, along with Pokemon GO, shortly before the NX reveal & release.

 

[Metalmarc]

This seems like a downgrade from a Wii or Wii U since it is static at 30 games.

Huh? This isnt the NX lol

 

[Ryck]

I mean, this is neat, I guess? I don't really get it. This looks/seems like one of those cheap licensed megadrive/genesis boxes.

With an HDMI port, official (wired) controllers and presumably of a much higher quality overall. (since Nintendo is making them not a 3rd party)

If you don't get that it's understandable, maybe this product is not for you. I am guessing this will be sold out all over in any case so it might be hard to track one down.

 

[Hoodbury]

Perfect Christmas present for my 5 year old daughter. Same age I was when I got my NES in 87. Always wanted her to start gaming on the old classics, now I don't have to worry about getting my old system to work or worry about how it'll look on a new tv.

Perfect gift Nintendo, thanks!

 

[Celine]

What's surprising is that almost half the games are composed by third-party releases which is uncommon in these kind of products.

 

[themagicalkitsune]

Watch them ship too few, resulting in scalpers hoarding everything and then in being impossible to find them for less than 300 bucks.

But yeah I'm in.

 

[Paperboy]

Well, it is USB powered, so...any cable will do, I imagine. Dunno why NOE isn't including it when NOA is.

Probably because of the higher taxes in Europe and Nintendo wanting to keep the price down for the consumers.

 

[mntorankusu]

Watch them ship too few, resulting in scalpers hoarding everything and then in being impossible to find them for less than 300 bucks.

But yeah I'm in.

This will definitely happen. I'm going to preorder four of the controllers as soon as physically possible.

 

[Teknoman]

I wonder if retro game stores will have a wifi/WiiU situation now, where they have to constantly explain the difference between this and the original nes to the average customer. Especially with the similar appearance.


I wonder if it'll have a cool boot screen / theme like nes remix?

 

[Koren]

Repro carts are just re-purposed original games. They might have new cases and even PCBs if they're making enough to justify the cost, but the ROM chips are old stock or salvaged eproms.

(E)EPROM, I could understand, but how would you reprogram ROMs?

As far as I know, some people reuse the PCB and sometimes a couple chips for practical reasons (it's easier), but brand new ROM / flash with the new game is soldered on the PCB.

There's people producing brand new "retro" carts for NES and SNES, it's definitively doable, and not that expensive (definitively not for a hardware maker with higher volumes).


If fact, what exactly would be difficult to find for a cart? Except carts that contains special chips, that's just ROM banks. Memory now is faster and cheaper. You could need an interface if there's different voltages, but beside this, what difficulty would you find to produce brand new carts?

 

[Gamezone]

Are we stuck with the built in games, or is it possible to play other games as well?

 

[Calamari41]

This seems like a downgrade from a Wii or Wii U since it is static at 30 games. If this could take cartridges, I'd be down for one. I hope it's hackable to load more games and if so, I'm interested.

It's definitely a downgrade in that regard, but the upside makes it way more appealing to the mass market. Instead of having to buy into a Wii or Wii U and then wrangle with the eshop, a random person who isn't as into gaming as we are can just take this off the shelf, slap it into their TV, and start playing. I won't be buying one since I already have these games on Wii U... but I'm probably going to end up getting one as a gift anyway. Perfect for little kids, nostalgia fiends who haven't gamed in years, moms looking for gifts, etc.

 

[Chaotic-Strike]

I already got a working SNES and NES, but this is great news and would love to see them expand to other consoles.

 

[Ryck]

Watch them ship too few, resulting in scalpers hoarding everything and then in being impossible to find them for less than 300 bucks.

But yeah I'm in.

This is my worry as well. Gonna preorder as soon as available on Amazon.

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

If this was able to play NES carts in addition to the installed games this woulda been a must buy for me. Now its ehh maybe if I see it cheap one day.

 

[b3b0p]

The upside to it over the Wii/WiiU is the price point. These games are all still $5 on VC, while they're $2 each on this. This also doesn't require you to have either of those systems.

Can't you get Wii used from Gamestop for like $20 now? I'm sure when NX comes out used Wii U consoles won't be expensive either.

 

[biggersmaller]

Super C but no Contra?

What could the rational for this be?

 

[CosmicQueso]

Can't you get Wii used from Gamestop for like $20 now? I'm sure when NX comes out used Wii U consoles won't be expensive either.

I think you're missing the point and target market of this thing.

 

[MCN]

I already got a working SNES and NES, but this is great news and would love to see them expand to other consoles.

Super Nintendo Classic Mini in 2018, Nintendo 64 Classic Mini in 2020, Nintendo Gamecube Classic Mini in 2022.

*dreams*

 

[ekgrey]

Can't you get Wii used from Gamestop for like $20 now? I'm sure when NX comes out used Wii U consoles won't be expensive either.

I wouldn't be so sure. Fewer sold means fewer on the market, and the MSRP of the Wii U doesn't seem to be going any lower, which will also keep used prices higher than they would be. I would be very surprised to see a Wii U in good, working order (with the tablet controller) sell for <$130 in the next year or so. Shit, even $150 would be surprising.

edit: also depends on if NX includes BC. If it does, yeah, price could drop some, but I still don't see it less than $100.

 

[Theanine3D]

Can't you get Wii used from Gamestop for like $20 now? I'm sure when NX comes out used Wii U consoles won't be expensive either.

Wii doesn't have an HDMI port, and you have to download and install games from the Wii Shop yourself. Homebrew emulation is even more of a hassle.

Convenience is worth the extra cost of this NES for people who aren't techies and just want something that works out of the box. AKA the Toys R Us soccermom crowd buying games for their kids.

 

[Rayven]

Light gun games wouldn't be playable anyway without a crt or if they included special sensors.

Good point. Was more of a "wouldn't it be cool if" thought.