Report: NES Mini console was axed to make way for SNES Mini

[HEXUS]

And suddenly the bad news becomes good news, for 16-bit retro gaming fans.

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[Kanoe]

Given that my N64 has just packed up I would love to see a N64 machine but because they sell N64 games for the Wii U / Switch I wonder if they are not going to and to try to push people who want to play those games onto those platforms instead.

[KrisWragg]

If they release a SNES mini it really needs Mario Kart, Street Fighter II, Super Ghouls and Ghosts, Super Metroid.

[sykobee]

And if it does come with Mario Kart, then hopefully it will support four controllers (even if it only ships with two). They can then put Bomberman on the box as well.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a few NES games on there too, as they have the emulator already, and to help soften the blow that Nintendo will charge more for the device than the NES Mini (because they can).

I hope they don't fix the mod backdoor.

[Ttaskmaster]

Why don't they just do one Mini that plays ALL the old games?
Are they seriously just flogging and milking the novelty market for all its worth?

[silent]

secret of mana, SF2, bomberman, zelda link to the past or just all of them on a hdd inside with an emulator. simple. so many good games. it would save me downloading an emu and roms seperately. not that i do that now. no longer even use mame

[Kjnowak]

Super Star Wars Trilogy, Mario Kart,Donkey Kong Country, Super Metroid & Earthworm Jim - As long as it has those i'm happy and anything else is a bonus.

[Tunnah]

I will never understand these. Just get a bloody emulator!

I've had a million conversations about this, with people trying to convince with me varying ways of saying retro vs several ways of saying authentic. And I've always countered with the single word of in-e-bloody-fficient. Although to be fair, I've never spoken to a techop or a server manager who has argued against me, they all say the same. You're bloody right mate, what sort of tit goes out of their way to ADD unnecessary devices to their setup

[virtuo]

If you can get hold of a Retron, they are pretty good.

[scaryjim]

... Are they seriously just flogging and milking the novelty market for all its worth?

Er ... yes. Obviously. Why sell someone one console when you can sell them two or three?

It's a nostalgia item - no-one needs one of these (as plenty of other people have said, you can just use emulators; legally even, as long as you can legally obtain the ROMs to play), but a lot of people buy them purely for the nostalgia value and to say they've got one. Price it too highly and no-one's going to buy it: you can put a price on nostalgia, and once you bump the price too much people will find a way around it. A single retro console that can play everything is a technically marvellous idea, but they can only sell one of them to each person, and they probably can't charge much more than £100 for it. But that same person will happily pay £50+ each (I've actually just read an article suggesting that Nintendo could sell a SNES mini for > $100 and still struggle to meet demand) for three mini consoles just to say they have them. More sales, more hype; probably no more profit, but a more reliable income stream.

Of course, once they've scalped the nostalgia market for the old consoles (and scalpers have, in turn, made huge profits buying up the shjrt supply and selling them on at a profit) they can re-release all the classic games in downloadable format for the switch, and scalp everyone again (in fact, one way to sell masses of switch consoles would be to release all the classic NES/SNES/N64 games for it). Just keep milking that cash cow....

[Ttaskmaster]

Er ... yes. Obviously. Why sell someone one console when you can sell them two or three?

Because it's precisely why I never got into the console market in the first place...
NES? No, you need a SNES to play these new games. SNES? No, you need an N64, now. N64? No, you need a PS1/2/3/4/MasterSystem/MegaDrive/GameCube/Saturn/Xbox/360/One/Gameboy/Pocket/Advance/Colour/DS/2DS/3DS..... none of which are backwards/cross-compatible with older games.

Back in my day, it wasn't about whether the game was available on your chosen platform. It was about which platform you did have.
"Star Raiders II*? Yes sir, which version? Spectrum? Amiga? Commodore? Spectrum. Yes sir, coming right up...". Simples.

but a lot of people buy them purely for the nostalgia value and to say they've got one.

What's nostalgic about a newly made item done up to look vaguely like something that was very different?
I mean, the signature NES cartridge door doesn't even open. The least they could have done is create a custom cartridge that loaded...
Nostalgic would be owning an original NES (which I do, assuming if the mother I no longer speak to hasn't already sold it).
This is like having one o' them Chrysler PT Cruisers and claiming nostalgia over 1930s cars... Nah, mate.

But that same person will happily pay £50+ each

Or £150 for just the one device... plus a couple quid to download each game to that device, and THAT is where the real money would be. Steam already know this and I feel it's somewhat substantiated by people who have over 300 games bought in Steam Sales that they've never even played.

[Spud1]

Given that my N64 has just packed up I would love to see a N64 machine but because they sell N64 games for the Wii U / Switch I wonder if they are not going to and to try to push people who want to play those games onto those platforms instead.

They will capitalise on both - they sell NES games on virtual console already. There is a lot of speculation (and I agree with it ) that the reason it's been discontinued now is that we're expecting virtual console to launch on the switch in the next 8 weeks, where they will be pushing NES games again. Keeping these mini emulators on a cyclical release process means you don't have too much of a conflict between the two.

I'd quite like a SNES mini to add to my collection, but tbh the main draw for me is mario kart and I know thats coming to the switch as part of virtual console with online multiplayer...so I might not need it. Still i'll probably end up buying it anyway!

[Burnt_Custard]

Nintendo being a very Japanese company and don't really like whoring out their IP. That's why you don't see too many Mario themed toys and plushes. They keep quantities low and demand high.

They could make loads of money selling orginal Mario games on mobile but they don't. It is because they are primarily a hardware company and selling the Switch is the most important to Nintendo.

[scaryjim]

... Or £150 for just the one device...

That's the point - you'll eventually hit a price point where it's too expensive for people to justify it as a nostalgic purchase. They'll justify spending £50 three times, but not £150 once.

You seem to be assuming that everyone in the world wants exactly what you want, and Nintendo are stupid for not realising this. Given how long Nintendo's been doing this, perhaps it's worth considering that they know something about their market and have decided that their current strategy is going to be successful....?

[Ttaskmaster]

You seem to be assuming that everyone in the world wants exactly what you want, and Nintendo are stupid for not realising this.

Not at all... perhaps that people are stupid to buy into Nintendo's marketing strategy and perpetuate the whole thing, though.
I personally don't care. I have a PC. If I want to play a Nintendo game, I'll look at emulators and use an Xbox pad.

Given how long Nintendo's been doing this, perhaps it's worth considering that they know something about their market and have decided that their current strategy is going to be successful....?

They've always done this sort of restricted availability thing, though, especially as far as their IP goes and that has worked so far. Not so much with their devices and peripherals...

[stylage]

I hope this becomes a reality, been kind of hoping since they released the NES. The only concern I have is what kind of games will be released on it, because much of the great games might have licensing issues.