Octopus Overlords

This is pretty cool: NES mini.

This miniature version of the original Nintendo Entertainment System (or NES) comes packed with 30 mostly-beloved games from that console's lifespan, and will retail for $59.99 starting this holiday season. It comes with an HDMI cable so it will work with modern televisions, and one controller that's an exact replica of the rectangular one you remember. Additional controllers are $9.99 each.

Here are the games that come with the NES Classic Edition:

"Balloon Fight"
"Bubble Bobble"
"Castlevania"
"Castlevania II: Simon's Quest"
"Donkey Kong"
"Donkey Kong Jr."
"Double Dragon II: The Revenge"
"Dr. Mario"
"Excitebike"
"Final Fantasy"
"Galaga"
"Ghosts 'n Goblins"
"Gradius"
"Ice Climber"
"Kid Icarus"
"Kirby's Adventure"
"Mario Bros."
"Mega Man 2"
"Metroid"
"Ninja Gaiden"
"Pac-Man"
"Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream"
"StarTropics"
"Super C"
"Super Mario Bros."
"Super Mario Bros. 2"
"Super Mario Bros. 3"
"Tecmo Bowl"
"The Legend of Zelda"
"Zelda II: The Adventure of Link"

Some great games on that list. Emulators are so easily found that I don't know that it's worth $60 and I'm guessing the games don't look great on a 50" LCD screen, but the easy of use and coolness of the system might make it worth buying.

I'm almost certainly buying this. I've been thinking it's about time to get my kiddos introduced to NES games, so this is good timing. I sure hope it's built so that more games can be added in the future, but I haven't seen any of the articles confirm/deny whether or not it has a card slot or something to accommodate that.

I also really hope a mini-SNES is coming soon after.

I predict this thing will sell like absolute gangbusters. So many parents who grew up on the NES will relish the chance to play these games with their kids. My wife saved her old NES and games but it took some effort for me to figure out how to connect it to our TV to play (turns out I needed a special converter). This new device not only corrects that issue, it comes with a really awesome list of games in a much smaller form factor.

wonderpug wrote:I'm almost certainly buying this. I've been thinking it's about time to get my kiddos introduced to NES games, so this is good timing. I sure hope it's built so that more games can be added in the future, but I haven't seen any of the articles confirm/deny whether or not it has a card slot or something to accommodate that.

I also really hope a mini-SNES is coming soon after.

I would warn you that today's kids don't usually enjoy the classics like we did. I have three kids ranging from 7 to 17 and none of them really liked old NES games when I tried to get them to play them. Compared to today's games they are way too difficult and much less flashy than your average game. The inclusion of a save feature might help, but overall don't expect them to be enamored with it.

I see it more as a nice "introduction" to gaming for younger kids. My 5 year old, for instance, has been playing Zelda with my wife, and loves it. I tried playing Metroid with him, but Mother Brain freaked him out.

And regardless if kids take to the games our not, I'm guess there are a lot of nostalgic parents out there who will buy this hoping that their kids will like 'em.

Then again, my eldest, when he was about 12, played and finished every one of the NES and SNES Advanced Wars precursors, including those that were only available in Japanese. He's since done the same thing with Fire Emblem.

I loved most of these games ~30 years ago. I can't imagine trying to play any of them again.

I guess it would be better than trying to play the Atari 2600 classics anyway.

I'm not usually one for nostalgia, but the relatively cheap price plus convenience will probably convince me to grab it. There are a lot of great games on there I'd love to revisit.

coopasonic wrote:I loved most of these games ~30 years ago. I can't imagine trying to play any of them again.

I guess it would be better than trying to play the Atari 2600 classics anyway.

I played Metroid not too long ago and it still holds up. Not was well as the SNES version, of course, but it's still good. Punch-Out, the Mario Brothers games, and the first Zelda probably also are still pretty good. Excitebike on the other hand...

I never owned an NES as a kid but I have fond memories of playing many of those games on other people's consoles. This is a day-one purchase for me.

It's a nice idea, but I suspect I wouldn't have the patience anymore for those games. Also, it almost feels like it's 5 years too late. If it had come out shortly after the Atari version of the similar thing came out, then maybe I'd be more interested.

Scraper wrote: I would warn you that today's kids don't usually enjoy the classics like we did. I have three kids ranging from 7 to 17 and none of them really liked old NES games when I tried to get them to play them. Compared to today's games they are way too difficult and much less flashy than your average game. The inclusion of a save feature might help, but overall don't expect them to be enamored with it.

whereas my son only wants a new console to... play emulated collections of old games. 15 years old and already a 'retrogamer'. i started early on him, tho.

You know they're serious when they release a trailer.

If this had NES Pro Wrestling I'd be very tempted.

That is likely the greatest omission from this release, yes.

It's kind of interesting to see how this is being marketed and hyped, when Sega and Atari versions of this have been out for years collecting dust on the back aisles of Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Sega and Atari don't have quite the cachet that Nintendo does, what with still being present in the console market. Both names of the former have been watered down due to their recent history.

And given that there were 600+ titles released in the US, they could release new versions every so often if desired.

Only 77 are listed, but imagine a re-release of publisher-specific platforms.

YellowKing wrote:It's kind of interesting to see how this is being marketed and hyped, when Sega and Atari versions of this have been out for years collecting dust on the back aisles of Bed, Bath & Beyond.

i have two Atari Flashback 2 units - the board is basically a complete VCS clone, so one can disassemble it and solder a cartridge port to the appropriate pin-outs on the mainboard, then insert and play actual Atari 2600 game cartridges on it. i have a broken 2600 that i am planning to gut and put one of the Flashback 2 boards in (wiring up the appropriate power, switches, joystick and new composite video/audio connectors as well).

This is good news for me. I still have a working NES, maybe when this is released the games will drop in price a bit. Most of the good ones are in the $20-$25 range, used. The original Final Fantasy was around $100 last I checked.
I can't bear to look again, I'm still mad at my ex-friend who borrowed all my games and sold them instead of giving them back.

I've been accumulating ROMs of a lot of titles I used to own, but it looks like this little thing covers it. I certainly wouldn't mind buying it, nor would I mind adding more games to it at a fair price.

I recently got my 8 year old into Final Fantasy I on my old Nintendo DS (does DS games and GBA games). He's enjoyed it, and I wonder if he'd like to see a list of others.

Paingod wrote:nor would I mind adding more games to it at a fair price.

soooo not gonna happen

Apparently these are quite the hot item today. I worked a night shift and thought I would stop by a store to try grabbing one on my way home. I got to Target right before they opened at 8am, but there was a line outside the door and they had already given out tickets for the eleven units they received by 7:00. I jumped over to ToysRUs right down the street and was 15th in line 45 minutes before opening...guy came out and said they only had eleven, so no luck again. There's a GameStop in the same shopping center so I walked over and was sixth in line at 8:30 and they opened at 10:00... figured "why not wait? I don't have anything else to do," so I grabbed a seat on the sidewalk and read a book on my phone until 9:30 when the manager arrived. By that time, there were about 30 people in line and they only had 15 units. They brought us inside early, and I had mine by 9:45...will be disturbing my afternoon enjoying some retro gaming!

I've had emulators for a lot of systems for years, but I though this would be fun for the simplicity and replica of the original controller. I can play games on my PC, but this will be a lot easier for my kids to try and we can enjoy it from the couch instead of a computer desk... should be fun!

Amazon:

Available at 2:00pm PST on 11/11/16:
Please note, we have very limited quantities of this item, however we will be receiving additional quantities over the coming weeks. Demand is expected to be very high, and there's no guarantee that it will remain in stock for long. We will announce when additional inventory becomes available.

I wonder what percentage of these are going straight to ebay?

Amazon sold out within just a few minutes. I tried getting one as a gift for my brother, but could never get past the 'Add to Cart' button...click that and the website either stops responding or date your cart reissue empty. Amazon tweeted after about 15 minutes that they were sold out.

As for the one I got this morning, it's very cool. Every game that I've tried so far looks great and runs totally smooth. The controller is a dead-ringer for the original (uncomfortably square corners and all), and the system couldn't be any easier to use...plug in, turn on, start playing. The only real problem I see is the same thing that pretty much everyone is talking about...controller cord is way too short. It's only about 2.5 feet long, so I can barely even set the system on an ottoman by my feet and sit back into my couch to play. There are supposed to be extension cables and third-party wireless controllers available, but even those are apparently in short supply. Overall, it really is a great product though

Looks like Best Buy still has them. On Ebay they are double priced. Hate that.

Will they release games for it over time or is it stuck with just 30?

Daehawk wrote:Will they release games for it over time or is it stuck with just 30?

No, you're stuck with the thirty games included.

So like my Atari one and such. Kinda a shame but I guess it would be too pricey for them to do them all again for this.

disarm wrote:The only real problem I see is the same thing that pretty much everyone is talking about...controller cord is way too short. It's only about 2.5 feet long, so I can barely even set the system on an ottoman by my feet and sit back into my couch to play. There are supposed to be extension cables and third-party wireless controllers available, but even those are apparently in short supply.

Ugh. I get the nostalgia factor, but they couldn't have made the controllers wireless?

Maybe for $50 more bucks per system.

HERE is info and places to buy cord extenders and wireless controllers it says.

now these are going for $299 due to limited availability. I thought it would be interesting for my son (5) and I for maybe $60. not over $200

supply and demand, I guess.

Toys R Us is supposed to have some back in stock on Sunday.

pr0ner wrote:Toys R Us is supposed to have some back in stock on Sunday.

People were camped out for them before midnight in my neck of the woods. Was below freezing last night, too.

As much as I'd love to have one, I have no problem waiting until they're easy to buy.

I really want this for the kids under the Christmas tree. They will love it. But I can't find it anywhere. Going to be my mission to find one and I'm not paying $200.

ThinkGeek is holding a lottery for the chance to buy one.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/jonu/? ... ature3_nes

Bakhtosh wrote:ThinkGeek is holding a lottery for the chance to buy one.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/jonu/? ... ature3_nes

I'm giving it a shot. Thanks!

Thanks! Giving it a go.

Thanks for the heads up - and apologies if I wind up getting an invite and you don't.

<price is right loser horn>

wonderpug wrote:<price is right loser horn>

Sad tuba