Nintendo announced that on November 11, 2016, they will be releasing
the "NES Classic"; a system with the design of their original Nintendo
Entertainment System, only shrunk to be a little bigger than the palm of
your hand. The system will come with 30 games pre-installed, but cannot
use classic NES cartridges. The package will also contain an HDMI cable
and, of course, the classic controller. The North American version will
also include the power adapter, but the European versions will only
come with a USB cable that will require a separate purchase of a
USB-to-Power Plug adapter (like the ones your mobile phone probably
uses).
The games included in the system are as follow:
Balloon Fight
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
Double Dragon II: The Revenge
Final Fantasy
GRADIUS
Kirby's Adventure
Metroid
Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Drea,
Super Mario Bros.
Tecmo Bowl
Bubble Bobble
Donkey Kong
Dr. Mario
Galaga
Ice Climber
Mario Bros
Ninja GAIDEN
StarTropics
Super Mario Bros. 2
The Legend of Zelda
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Castlevania
Donkey Kong Jr.
Excitebike
Ghosts'n'Goblins
Kid Icarus
Mega Man 2
Pac-Man
Super C
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 3
The system will launch at $59.99 (with the European price presumably around that number as well)
OPINION:
The release of the system is definitely exciting, but it's hard to see longevity for the product past the undoubtedly high early sales. Consoles like the Retron aren't necessarily competition and SEGA has been doing the same thing for a long time now. The pre-installed games also include some true stars of the NES library and it's hard to argue with the value at 60 bucks.
The thing that perplexes me and makes me worried that this will end up being a collector's item in the long term is that the system is small and isn't compatible with NES cartridges. Cheaply-made clone consoles (like the Poly-Station) emulate these and a hell of a lot more NES games and they're available for 15 bucks.
On the flip-side, third-party retro-systems cost a lot more than the clones and don't include a hundred region-unlocked games, but they are compatible with cartridges (and in most cases, like the Retron, they are multi-systems, supporting a number of classic console games-- NES, SNES, Mega Drive etc.). SEGA has been licensing the Mega Drive and the Master System to third-party manufacturers for a long time, but even in their deal with AT Games (who produce the only 'modern' version of the SEGA Mega Drive that's widely available at the moment), the system is made to offer a variety of options for games compatibility. These systems have about a dozen pre-installed games, they come with SD slots for ROMS (though that's not specifically stated for obvious reasons) and they are also compatible with Mega Drive cartridges, making them a good alternative for collectors that have little interest in purchasing a classic Mega Drive 1 (the only version of the system made by SEGA themselves).
Nintendo isn't only late to the party, but they're also counting once again on the name alone to push the system. That's not bad; the thing will certainly sell and it does look like a very nifty novelty item-- especially if it's also fully-functional (compatibility and emulation issues plague SEGA's third-party systems). I'm just wondering why they won't go the extra mile and offer a Nintendo-licensed alternative more appealing to retro-collectors in the long term, when other systems with three times as much functionality exist at roughly the same price and even Nintendo's own Virtual Machine offers a number of these games for a little bit of money.
UPDATE: It is now rumoured that the NES Classic will allow download and syncing more games through and with the NX Virtual Console. Where these will be download/stored and how is still unknown.
UPDATE 2: The previous rumour has been proven false. According to Nintendo, the NES Classic is a standalone system without the capability to connect to other consoles, to the Internet or a media storage device. As such, downloading and expanding the library with additional titles from the Virtual Console is impossible and only the announced 30 games will be available for play.
The games included in the system are as follow:
Balloon Fight
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
Double Dragon II: The Revenge
Final Fantasy
GRADIUS
Kirby's Adventure
Metroid
Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Drea,
Super Mario Bros.
Tecmo Bowl
Bubble Bobble
Donkey Kong
Dr. Mario
Galaga
Ice Climber
Mario Bros
Ninja GAIDEN
StarTropics
Super Mario Bros. 2
The Legend of Zelda
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Castlevania
Donkey Kong Jr.
Excitebike
Ghosts'n'Goblins
Kid Icarus
Mega Man 2
Pac-Man
Super C
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 3
The system will launch at $59.99 (with the European price presumably around that number as well)
OPINION:
The release of the system is definitely exciting, but it's hard to see longevity for the product past the undoubtedly high early sales. Consoles like the Retron aren't necessarily competition and SEGA has been doing the same thing for a long time now. The pre-installed games also include some true stars of the NES library and it's hard to argue with the value at 60 bucks.
The thing that perplexes me and makes me worried that this will end up being a collector's item in the long term is that the system is small and isn't compatible with NES cartridges. Cheaply-made clone consoles (like the Poly-Station) emulate these and a hell of a lot more NES games and they're available for 15 bucks.
On the flip-side, third-party retro-systems cost a lot more than the clones and don't include a hundred region-unlocked games, but they are compatible with cartridges (and in most cases, like the Retron, they are multi-systems, supporting a number of classic console games-- NES, SNES, Mega Drive etc.). SEGA has been licensing the Mega Drive and the Master System to third-party manufacturers for a long time, but even in their deal with AT Games (who produce the only 'modern' version of the SEGA Mega Drive that's widely available at the moment), the system is made to offer a variety of options for games compatibility. These systems have about a dozen pre-installed games, they come with SD slots for ROMS (though that's not specifically stated for obvious reasons) and they are also compatible with Mega Drive cartridges, making them a good alternative for collectors that have little interest in purchasing a classic Mega Drive 1 (the only version of the system made by SEGA themselves).
Nintendo isn't only late to the party, but they're also counting once again on the name alone to push the system. That's not bad; the thing will certainly sell and it does look like a very nifty novelty item-- especially if it's also fully-functional (compatibility and emulation issues plague SEGA's third-party systems). I'm just wondering why they won't go the extra mile and offer a Nintendo-licensed alternative more appealing to retro-collectors in the long term, when other systems with three times as much functionality exist at roughly the same price and even Nintendo's own Virtual Machine offers a number of these games for a little bit of money.
UPDATE:
UPDATE 2: The previous rumour has been proven false. According to Nintendo, the NES Classic is a standalone system without the capability to connect to other consoles, to the Internet or a media storage device. As such, downloading and expanding the library with additional titles from the Virtual Console is impossible and only the announced 30 games will be available for play.
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