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Nintendo is Discontinuing the NES Classic in North America

Mega

Banned
It was pretty clear this was intended to be a holiday 2016 item and that's it. I don't get the clamor over it either. I see virtually zero value in it unless you just really wanna play a handful old NES games for $60.

I think so. The decision to discontinue the product was known 1.5 months ago in Sweden (the wording at one retailer was something like "Nintendo has decided to...").

It was way too easy to hack the product IMO.

Because they want you to buy a Switch or a 3DS, where you can pay for VC titles. They make much more money that way, and create an install base for most other titles, so in short they don't want you to buy an NES classic when there is a Switch you should be buying.

This decision suggests to me that VC might be launching within the next couple of weeks, to catch all the sad out-of-luck buyers with Switch VC.

All of these. Temp product to sell through the 2016 holidays until the Switch launch. Became too easy to hack with hundreds of Nintendo games, making it a nuisance with no other purpose (you can hack a Wii U to run emulators but it can still be used to buy games) and potentially cutting into VC sales. And finally, the official Switch VC is coming soon.

It probably wasn't making Nintendo that much money either, perhaps a drop in the bucket compared to Switch hardware and software sales. I think they know something we don't and that's the possibility that the market for the NES Classic is nearly saturated that it no longer makes sense to continue making it. The frustration in this thread is no indication that it could still move big numbers like it did when it was a must-buy Christmas item.

This literally makes no sense.

Yes it does. Not to the relatively few people on a gaming message board who wanted one, but the NES Classic is basically done in many ways to Nintendo.
 
"Leaving money on the table" - Selling $60 one-and-done emu boxes is not making Nintendo a lot of money. Much less than selling a $60 Switch game. Even worse, it's a distraction from the Switch. Making the Switch a success is the #1 priority. A platform they and third parties can sell games for. The NES Mini served it's purpose last Christmas and now it needs to go away since the Switch has launched and looks like a success so far.

I'm not saying you have to like the strategy, but those who appear to be utterly baffled by it are thinking very simplistically.
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
To have something to sell over Holiday 2016. Now they are worried that NES classic sales are going to cannibalize Switch sales so they are pulling it off shelves.

Yep. It was clearly just a "make some more revenue and keep investors off our backs since we couldn't get Switch and Zelda ready for the holidays" product that they cobbled together and didn't expect to generate so much demand.
 

Savitar

Member
If Nintendo was smart they'll pull a New Coke and do an abrupt turn saying they will sell it again in time for the holidays with plenty of product made available.

It would be insane.

Especially if they made some consoles Gold ala the old Zelda NES carts.
 

Dot-N-Run

Member
Nintendo will forever be an enigma. Whenever anyone comes close to figuring out how they tick they do they always manage to pull off some strange decision that leaves everyone else scratching their heads.
 

boiled goose

good with gravy
It still is absolutely a short sighted and stupid move by nintendo but I am surprised that people preordered the switch off of the short supply of the nes classic and not that it was a new nintendo console that was coming out.

I dont buy this theory at all.
And it doesn't prove that it makes money.

All of those consumers wanted a switch anyways. Just Preordered to avoid spending extra on second hand market.

Rarity crazes only benefit Scalpers.
 
1n7ed2.jpg
 

jts

...hate me...
I'm writing an email to nintendo commanding them to give me compensation and an apology, nintendo actually owes me a personal favor.. i played their games in the 80s they owe me. without me there is no nintendo.
Just wanna say thank you.
 
I always wanted one of these. Would buy one immediately if I saw it on store shelves. I even followed up on a few 'leads" over the last few months, like if CAG said Target got a shipment, or Walmart got a shipment, and always came up empty-handed.

This scarcity is what led me to preorder two Nintendo Switch consoles (recently sold one to a friend at cost), so I guess it worked.
 

boiled goose

good with gravy
Why would they want to support something for years when they wanted a quick one off holiday product?

By tying it to their ecosystem it makes sense.

As an isolated product (nes classic) it is just cheap competition that eats into their own core systems.
 

inner-G

Banned
Holy shit :(

Glad I got one - sad I didn't get a second official controller


Really sad that we'll probably never get a SNES mini
 
To hype up Nostalgia for the Switch. It was basically a "Nintendo" remember us ad campaign and it worked! Now people will just buy the switch as a $240 added value.



Hustle hard. Early bird gets the worm.

CxMOfIXUoAUlISB.jpg


Not my pic lol! But that is a crazy haul and a decent profit!

homer-urge-to-kill-rising.png
 
To hype up Nostalgia for the Switch. It was basically a "Nintendo" remember us ad campaign and it worked! Now people will just buy the switch as a $240 added value.



Hustle hard. Early bird gets the worm.

CxMOfIXUoAUlISB.jpg


Not my pic lol! But that is a crazy haul and a decent profit!

Motherfucker could go to a bank and open up a NES Mini store.
 

Ansatz

Member
Anyone saying a SNES Classic wouldn't be as hot of a product doesn't know what they are talking about. Just because it sold less in its time doesn't mean it is less desirable. Everyone knows the SNES existed, a lot of people didn't experience it and the people that didn't experience it are very curious.

I doubt SNES classic will happen since they are very conscious about the money per hour of gameplay ratio. They sell you 30 NES games for a good price because they know you'll spend 10 seconds with most of them and then savestate your way to victory in Mario.

I think VC will be handled better on Switch in the sense that it'll appear as if they have an actual plan this time, but don't expect to be showered with dozens games for a small fee. The more time you spend on classic games, the more likely it is that you'll skip on some 'lesser titles' like Arms that I'll buy now simply because there isn't much else for me to play on the system. They are clever bastards like that
 
Bummer for those of us that wanted one but could never find one. Nintendo really should have pushed this in large quantities in every big box store in North America around Christmas.
 

mindatlarge

Member
Sorry but that doesn't make any sense. It was just a small experiment that was more popular than Nintendo ever expected.

It proved that they could monetize classic games. The problem is nes classic in a sense devalued them and separated them from their core business.

That's why it should have been an nes vc box tied to the same account that is tied to all Nintendo hardware. But Nintendo fails at these things.
After the Wii U soured a good number of people on their consoles and lost a good number of the general public due to the confusion of a Wii vs. a Wii U, it makes sense to me as a way to reinstall a want for a new Nintendo console.
 

sjsteuck

Neo Member
I hope that Nintendo packages all the games that came with the NES Classic as a bundle you can buy for the Switch. That would rule. I'd prefer it, simply because the Switch's hardware is much better.
 

Ratros

Member
Why? Most companies could only dream to have a product like NES Classic in their portfolio:

a) It sells quite well
b) It is (relatively speaking) cheap to manufacture and requires limited constant investment (minimum customer support required, no need for technical improvements/revisions, etc.)
c) It does not stand in direct conflict with any current or future products in Nintendo's road map
d) It boosts Nintendo's favorability as a brand
e) It does not have any competitors in the market; nor will it face any in the foreseeable future
 
Fuuuuuck meijer had one the day and i stared at it and it stared right back at me then my wife was like nope.


Because I just ordered a GPU!
 
As someone who has multiple classic controllers I looked forward to having another one and using my others on the NES Classic.

I'm flabbergasted this is ending. I've never seen any once in the wild.

What's the best way to find one in this last month other than pray?
 

Redd

Member
I don't even know anyone personally that has an nes classic. That's how hard it still is to get one around here.
 

Zedark

Member
I hope that Nintendo packages all the games that came with the NES Classic as a bundle you can buy for the Switch. That would rule. I'd prefer it, simply because the Switch's hardware is much better.
This would make sense. They could market it as the new place to play the NES classic games (maybe call the bundle NES classic as well) and you can sell the new system and sell a nostalgia bundle of NES games in one go.
 
This actually makes me mad. I purposefully didn't buy one in the holiday season because I have played them all in my youth, and figured there would be a lot of families with young kids who would enjoy this. I was waiting figuring I'd just buy it in a few months. Big mistake apparently.

Only way they can make this ok is to put all the games on the virtual console on switch, and make it cheaper, much cheaper.
 
To hype up Nostalgia for the Switch. It was basically a "Nintendo" remember us ad campaign and it worked! Now people will just buy the switch as a $240 added value.



Hustle hard. Early bird gets the worm.

CxMOfIXUoAUlISB.jpg


Not my pic lol! But that is a crazy haul and a decent profit!

Haha goddamnn!
 

Malice215

Member
I never expected Nintendo to produce the NES Classic for this long. Sucks for the people still trying to get one. Huge win for the scalpers though.

Still hoping to find one more to give as a present.
 
To hype up Nostalgia for the Switch. It was basically a "Nintendo" remember us ad campaign and it worked! Now people will just buy the switch as a $240 added value.



Hustle hard. Early bird gets the worm.

CxMOfIXUoAUlISB.jpg


Not my pic lol! But that is a crazy haul and a decent profit!

Rettbone's back!
 
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