• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Nintendo Classic Mini - NES Coming on November 11th (30 NES games)

Status
Not open for further replies.
O

outunderthestars

Banned
Ninja Scooter said:
They have the Virtual Console for that. Not sure average consumers will care to buy more games on this thing beyond the 30 installed. It's a novelty item, not an ecosystem.
Click to expand...

This right here.

This is designed to be a completely closed system. If you want a system that you can download more games for they have that as well. It's called a Wii U.
 
S

SMattera

Member
outunderthestars said:
This right here.

This is designed to be a completely closed system. If you want a system that you can download more games for they have that as well. It's called a Wii U.
Click to expand...

Obviously, being closed has its advantages: It's completely idiot proof, and ideal for situations like cars, campers, boats, etc.

But I have to believe Nintendo didn't think this would sell any more than a couple million units. If it's a runaway success, and they thought it was going to be a run away success, they probably would've figured out a way to deliver additional games (SD cards with ROM batches, etc).
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
SMattera said:
Obviously, being closed has its advantages: It's completely idiot proof, and ideal for situations like cars, campers, boats, etc.

But I have to believe Nintendo didn't think this would sell any more than a couple million units. If it's a runaway success, and they thought it was going to be a run away success, they probably would've figured out a way to deliver additional games (SD cards with ROM batches, etc).
Click to expand...

The reason it's a runaway success is because its appealing to the casual/lapsed crowd who probably wouldn't give a shit about paying to download more games. Wifi, sd card slots and some kind of games ecosystem to maintain would do nothing but add cost for Nintendo and for what? This thing is already a pretty hot item without all of that. It's appealing to the people who will probably buy it as a hot holiday item, play it for a few weeks and then stick it in a drawer and rarely ever play it again. And that's okay. It's still a license to print money for Nintendo. I doubt any of this caught Nintendo off guard. The way this product has been designed and presented tells me Nintendo knew exactly who they were going after.
 
S

spectator

Member
Ninja Scooter said:
Wifi, sd card slots and some kind of games ecosystem to maintain would do nothing but add cost for Nintendo and for what?
Click to expand...

For the opportunity to make additional sales to the consumers they excite with this product.

You know, the same reason there's more than one NES game in the first place.
 
H

HeySeuss

Member
Ninja Scooter said:
The reason it's a runaway success is because its appealing to the casual/lapsed crowd who probably wouldn't give a shit about paying to download more games. Wifi, sd card slots and some kind of games ecosystem to maintain would do nothing but add cost for Nintendo and for what? This thing is already a pretty hot item without all of that. It's appealing to the people who will probably buy it as a hot holiday item, play it for a few weeks and then stick it in a drawer and rarely ever play it again. And that's okay. It's still a license to print money for Nintendo. I doubt any of this caught Nintendo off guard. The way this product has been designed and presented tells me Nintendo knew exactly who they were going after.
Click to expand...

It's amazing how oblivious some people are about this thing. We aren't the target audience for it. Lapsed casuals and people that are nostalgic for the NES are who they're aiming at here. There's not going to be amiibo support or expansion packs or anything like that because it's not meant for us. Nintendo just knows we'll buy it anyway.
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
spectator said:
For the opportunity to make additional sales to the consumers they excite with this product.

You know, the same reason there's more than one NES game in the first place.
Click to expand...

Adding things like wifi, a store interface, and some kind of expansion bay adds costs though. When you are talking about a product that might sell millions of units that's a lot of money to add features that won't neccesarily bring you any additional users. The hardcore gamers are going to buy this without those features because they are enthusiasts and, at this price, it's a fine impulse buy. The casuals are going to buy it strictly on the strength of nostalgia and novelty and again, at that price, it's a perfect holiday impulse buy. So who exactly would those additional costly features be for? Like, I get it, it'd be nice if this thing could do a lot of different things that met mine or yours specific needs. But i also understand why it is what it is from a business perspective, and completely disagree with the notion that not having wifi or downloadable games is a mistake from that angle.
 
S

SMattera

Member
outunderthestars said:
This right here.

This is designed to be a completely closed system. If you want a system that you can download more games for they have that as well. It's called a Wii U.
Click to expand...

Ninja Scooter said:
The reason it's a runaway success is because its appealing to the casual/lapsed crowd who probably wouldn't give a shit about paying to download more games. Wifi, sd card slots and some kind of games ecosystem to maintain would do nothing but add cost for Nintendo and for what? This thing is already a pretty hot item without all of that. It's appealing to the people who will probably buy it as a hot holiday item, play it for a few weeks and then stick it in a drawer and rarely ever play it again. And that's okay. It's still a license to print money for Nintendo. I doubt any of this caught Nintendo off guard. The way this product has been designed and presented tells me Nintendo knew exactly who they were going after.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if the installed base is too small (<3 million units or so) then yeah, there's no point.

But say this thing moves 10M or so...a decent percentage of those buyers would be willing to shell out for additional games. It could be as simple as selling a second SKU for $80-$100 that had all 91 NES VC games.

In general, I think the VC is an example of Nintendo's worst execution. Slow trickle, inconsistent/incompatible controllers, etc. Inexpensive micro consoles are a more compelling way to distribute these older games.

I've seen people mid 30s on Facebook commenting on this thing like, "No Paperboy!? Aww..." "No contra? What?" etc.

People want to play classic Nintendo games but find the Wii U too expensive and the Wii's system complex and confusing.
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
SMattera said:
Yeah, if the installed base is too small (<3 million units or so) then yeah, there's no point.

But say this thing moves 10M or so...a decent percentage of those buyers would be willing to shell out for additional games. It could be as simple as selling a second SKU for $80-$100 that had all 91 NES VC games.

In general, I think the VC is an example of Nintendo's worst execution. Slow trickle, inconsistent/incompatible controllers, etc. Inexpensive micro consoles are a more compelling way to distribute these older games.
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure a majority of buyers of this thing would shell out for more games though. The reason this thing exploded all over the Internet when it was announced was because it appealed to people that will probably play it sparingly. A bunch of old NES games are cool for a nostalgia trip, but they aren't going to turn casuals back into dedicated gamers. This thing is like the videogame equivalent of a "Now That's What I Call Music! 80s Edition!" album. Not meant for people that want full albums. Not meant for people that want to curate their music library. Not meant for enthusiast vinyl collectors. It's meant to be cheap and appeal to as broad an audience as possible.

With regards to VC, you'll get no argument from me about that. I've been railing for years about Nintendo dropping the ball with Virtual Console, I just don't think this particular product is the one to use to fix it. You start adding wifi and memory slots and an online store to maintain and all of a sudden it's a different product with a different purpose.
 
O

outunderthestars

Banned
SMattera said:
Obviously, being closed has its advantages: It's completely idiot proof, and ideal for situations like cars, campers, boats, etc.

But I have to believe Nintendo didn't think this would sell any more than a couple million units. If it's a runaway success, and they thought it was going to be a run away success, they probably would've figured out a way to deliver additional games (SD cards with ROM batches, etc).
Click to expand...

The second they do that, they have to spend a large sum of money making the system secure against piracy, while at the same time driving up the cost of the system, increasing the number of sku's they have to carry, and writing more elaborate UI/OS code.

Just seems silly for a toy that already has 90% of the games that their target audience will want to play.

That said, I would really like to see Nintendo make their back catalog available on Steam....
 
S

spectator

Member
HeySeuss said:
We aren't the target audience for it. Lapsed casuals and people that are nostalgic for the NES are who they're aiming at here.
Click to expand...

This is absolutely true, but the cost/benefit of adding an expansion slot still seems like great economics. If they can sell the base unit to the wider audience and also sell extra games to us enthusiasts at the very minimal expense of an SD card slot, why not go for the gravy?
 
DeepEnigma

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
HeySeuss said:
It's amazing how oblivious some people are about this thing. We aren't the target audience for it. Lapsed casuals and people that are nostalgic for the NES are who they're aiming at here. There's not going to be amiibo support or expansion packs or anything like that because it's not meant for us. Nintendo just knows we'll buy it anyway.
Click to expand...

Precisely this.
 
UberTag

UberTag

Member
DoctorWho said:
That cable is real small.
Click to expand...
Apparently they want kids to sit within 2 feet of their 60-foot televisions and go blind. You won't even see the entire screen sitting that close to the TV. Perhaps the A/V HDMI and power cables are really long and we're supposed to rest the NES Mini on our living room coffee tables or something. That wouldn't be so bad, right?
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
spectator said:
This is absolutely true, but the cost/benefit of adding an expansion slot still seems like great economics. If they can sell the base unit to the wider audience and also sell extra games to us enthusiasts at the very minimal expense of an SD card slot, why not go for the gravy?
Click to expand...

Because adding an sd card slot to an item that will sel potentially millions when, by your own admission, the "wider" audience probably won't even use it is like flushing money down the drain.

Keep in mind that these enthusiasts are also much more likely to be versed in the ways of emulation and can just get the games they want that way rather than paying to get them in nintendo's closed ecosystem. So what guarantee do you even have that this audience will be able to make up for the added costs of wifi, an sd card slot or the expense of maintaining an online storefront?
 
S

superNESjoe

Member
Lindsay said:
GB/GBC Mini with full Super Gameboy support or bust!

Wonder how they'd do one of those though. Exclue games with multi-player or bring back the Link Cable?
Click to expand...

I would be furious if they did a Game Boy all in one like this, and required a link cable for multiplayer. There would be no reason to not have wireless in that situation for communication. Or just a USB data port.
 
T

ToastyFrog

Inexplicable Treasure Hate
Beer Monkey said:
Stripped down 2DS hardware makes way more sense than Wii, it's got a single ARM9 and is pretty much the minimum spec to do this well. Also the emulator is already written, just need to enhance for multiple save states.
Click to expand...

The idea of Wii/Wii U is just speculation, obviously, since Nintendo won't say what's inside. I hadn't considered 3DS innards, but that would fit the profile, too. My real point was that it's more in line with Nintendo's philosophy and history to tweak an existing chipset they know well (and have working software for) than to go with some new, generic solution like an Android emulation setup.
 
S

Serenitynow

Member
Agreeing with what others have said, my main gripe right now is the length of the controller cable. I'm guessing the box is too lightweight to be traditionally set closer to the TV, and that a good tug would send the thing flying. Also, a shorter cable is more convenient for wiimote use.

That said, if I'm supposed to rest this on the table in front of my couch, the AC adapter and HDMI cord better be long af.

EDIT: Or it being a display thing and the actual cords are longer. That'd be good too
 
S

Starwolf_UK

Member
NOLA_Gaffer said:
The "dark filter" is Nintendo's attempt at curbing any epilepsy issues. Expect it in the final product.
Click to expand...
I personally think it is scanlines as they did epilepsy counters on the Wii VC via some palette editing. On 3DS and Wii U you see a sort of ghosting in a few instances (a few moves in Pokemon RBY like Hyper Beam and some of the PSI spells in Earthbound).

In fact that makes me wonder if a potential "I got a seizsure from using PK Starstorm' " was the legal issues Earthbound had and not "this sample sounds like Monty Python and the script mentions the Beetles and has Yo-Yos" as is commonly thought.

Justinh said:
Maybe because newer games take epilepsy into consideration when developing them? I'm just guessing, I don't know anything.
Click to expand...
That is a pretty good assessment. I think in Japan Electric Soldier Porygon awoke the nation to the problem.

Also, Nintendo had a court case against them. I remember watching BBC3's Outrageous Fortunes back in 2004 (not a great program to watch in all honesty but people on the NOE forums wanted it banned and the BBC to apologise publicly so I was curious...) which detailed something like that. It was a stage background element in Mega Man X which caused a problem and a few aspects of Gamecube games were tested for the TV show as well (Zelda The Wind Maker was fine...no really they called it that...
poor Link or as that file name called him; Stink
).

It is no coincidence that the health and safety warnings started popping up in games after about October 2004 (I think the Japanese release of Fire Emblem Sacred Stones was the last game not to have one).

nubbe said:
just get an extension cord
Click to expand...
For the Wii remote slot, the AC adapter, the HDMI cable or all of the above?

smokeymicpot said:
Ahh I was thinking that but Tetris is on everything. No big deal though.
Click to expand...
It is a big deal for Tetris Holdings if they have sold a timed contract to Ubisoft to have full exclusivity (Ubisoft Tetris came out we saw the Game Boy Tetris and Tetris Axis be delisted from the 3DS eShop and this might be what held Puyo Puyo Tetris from the west...well that and SEGA never caring much for Puyo Puyo outside of Japan).
 
1

1upmuffin

Member
If they ever do a Game Boy Classic Edition (which would be the coolest thing ever), they should put a camera in just so it can emulate the Game Boy Camera (and a way to get those pictures off the device would be great as well).
 
Turnbl

Turnbl

Member
The NES has always fascinated me in terms of the cultural impact it had in the US. Here in the UK it didn't seem popular at all. There's a massive difference in ratio of sales between the US and EU (33.5m vs 8.3m). Most other consoles are more even between the two regions, most Sony products even selling more in the EU.

Can't seem to find any UK sales figures but I recall the NES as an expensive curiosity. It didn't even get released here until July 1987 for £180 (distributed by Mattel) - 4 years after Japan and nearly 2 years after the US. By this time the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum had already cornered the home market. My parents and others seduced by the 'educational' potential as we sat for whole weekends playing the Last Ninja!

The Commodore 64 was £200 when the NES came out but just checking my old Commodore User mag adverts this included a music maker keyboard, a designer's pencil, an Adrian Mole game plus 12 educational titles or 10 games! By Christmas '87 a sports pack was down to £170. I think parents also saw the NES robot and light gun for even more money and factored that into their thoughts. Does anyone know the initial price of NES carts in the UK?

Most of my wider friends who had a console ended up with a Master System instead - only £99 at the same time. As such for a lot of people in the UK a NES is still quite a mystical device, much more so than a Gameboy or N64.

This scratches an itch for me in terms of owning some 'real' Nintendo NES hardware without having to spend over £500 to do so, having less games and the hassle of CRT or scalar tech or the cost of building a virtual library. I'm not a casual gamer yet this still greatly appeals to me purely for its simplicity. Hopefully they don't mess the cable lengths up!
 
B

Bane

Member
Considering that account responded to a question saying preorders should already be live for certain US retailers, I'm doubtful that's an official account.
 
I

iphys

Member
Gamecocks625 said:
Chance these controllers are wireless and this short cord is used for charging based on a potentially official tweet.

https://twitter.com/nintendomini/status/756385912670474240
Click to expand...

That just seems silly then that the wire wouldn't be detachable, but it looks like it's hard-wired to the controller, so I find this hard to believe, especially with the low price of these controllers. If there were an option to play connected to a Wiimote, it would make more sense though.
 
O

OrbitalBeard

Member
Bane said:
Considering that account responded to a question saying preorders should already be live for certain US retailers, I'm doubtful that's an official account.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I saw that too.

I'm skeptical at the legitimacy of that account.

iphys said:
If there were an option to play connected to a Wiimote, it would make more sense though.
Click to expand...

Nintendo confirmed this already. It's on the official NES Classic site.
 
J

Justinh

Member
Sanjuro said:
Don't think that is real.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I have a hard time believing that these controllers would be 10 dollars if wireless, and the official NES mini classic site on Nintendo.com mentions using the controller with a wiimote specifically for use on Virtual Console games on a Wii or Wii U.
 
S

SCReuter

Member
NES Classic Edition vs. Wii U Virtual Console
E5pVX9s.jpg


8iZGYHu.jpg


KkzkFz7.jpg


q92HUK7.jpg


T4rx68P.jpg
Click to expand...
Looks like Nintendo isn't blurring/darkening/squashing the picture this time! :p

(Source: Introducing the Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition)
 
S

Spades

Member
If this thing actually sells well, do you guys actually think that Nintendo will bring out a Mini SNES and/or Mini N64?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition |OT| NES Remix Remix
|OT| 2
56
3K
NeoIkaruGAF replied
  • Poll
The best top rated Nintendo game is...?
37
2K
BlackTron replied
Zelda II Enhanced Remake - I wish Nintendo would remaster old games like this
2
56
8K
Dirk Benedict replied
  • Poll
Now that Nintendo Direct is over...who won non-E3 this June 2024? Nintendo or Microsoft?
2 3 4
166
10K
KungFucius replied
Let's predict Nintendo Switch 2 launch games
2
65
3K
cireza replied
Top Bottom