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[Ninja Scooter]

Adding an NFC reader to this thing seems to defeat the purpose as well, which appears to be to move a ton of these during the holidays for as little as possible. The target audience isn't going to care that there are 30 games. It's not like most people who buy it are going to do much more than play most of the games for a couple of hours at most.

 

[RadarScope1]

It doesn't matter how cheap NFC, WiFi or SD card components are to add to this. This thing is going to have a rather large margin at $60. Every nickel they add to the cost means hundreds of thousands of dollars lost in profit. This thing is going to be bare-bones basic, in traditional Nintendo style. Anyone hoping for additional features beyond what's been listed is just dreaming.

 

[KC-Slater]

Why add amiibo to anything? They want to sell their dumb toys at $12.99 a pop, don't they?

As long as an NFC reader is cheap, of course it's feasible to add it. I see no reason why not.

But I don't think they have with this NES mini, or they'd have said so.

That's a fair point. It does seem like it would've been something that they would include in the press release.

Everything about this device seems out of character for Nintendo, so I suppose I'm just waiting for the 'one more thing' aspect to it. It's just suspiciously straight forward, is all.

 

[wild wild rice]

Anyone know when/where we can preorder this thing in the US? Can't find it on Best Buy or Amazon.

 

[BocoDragon]

Probably because the average lapsed NES fan in their 40's has absolutely zero interest in buying a Nintendo figure for $13?

Amiibo doesn't need to be shoehorned into every single Nintendo product.

And it's not just about adding an NFC reader. Nintendo would also be spending time and resources on creating Amiibo functionality that would be completely ignored by 99% of consumers purchasing this device.

What's with this "in their 40s" stuff. That's an assumption, and not one I'd have made.

I look at this and I think "20-something hipster at Urban Outfitters". Who do you think is buying those Atari Flashbacks at hipster clothing stores. People who were there back in the day? Nope. It's the same kids who buy record players and wish they were alive in the 70s when music was real, or whatever the fuck.

Regardless, I don't see why they wouldn't try to sell amiibo to everyone. It's optional, and if they upsell on 5% of the audience, that's enough extra profit to make it worthwhile.

I'm sure it's not in this NES mini, but I see nothing unfeasible about it being there.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

Anyone know when/where we can preorder this thing in the US? Can't find it on Best Buy or Amazon.

Search for "Nintendo" on Amazon and you'll see it at the top of the search results page. You can't pre-order it yet though.

 

[wild wild rice]

Search for "Nintendo" on Amazon and you'll see it at the top of the search results page. You can't pre-order it yet though.

Cool, thanks. Guess I'll just wait it out.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

What's with this "in their 40s" stuff. That's an assumption, and not one I'd have made.

I look at this and I think "20-something hipster at Urban Outfitters". Who do you think is buying those Atari Flashbacks at hipster clothing stores. People who were there back in the day? Nope.

Well, that's not really accurate. Anecdotal, but I used to work in retail years ago and I sold hundreds of Atari Flashbacks to people in their 30's, 40's, and 50's. I don't think I ever saw someone in their 20's show any interest in them. To be fair, I didn't work at an Urban Outfitters or Hot Topic, so I'm not saying no one under 30 will be interested in this. Obviously plenty of younger enthusiasts (like on this forum, for example) will want to grab one of these.

But I can pretty much guarantee this device will be almost exclusively marketed directly towards lapsed players and that's who will be mainly purchasing this or receiving it for Christmas.

 

[BocoDragon]

Well, you're wrong. Anecdotal, but I used to work in retail and I sold hundreds of Atari Flashbacks to people in their 30's, 40's, and 50's. I don't think I ever saw someone in their 20's show any interest in them.

This device will be almost exclusively marketed directly at lapsed players and that's who will be mainly purchasing this or receiving it for Christmas.

Maybe that says more about your retail store.

Again Urban Outfitters: exclusively young people's clothing, stocked with "retro" shit at the front of the store like Game Boy iPhone cases and USB record players. They have a wall of retro consoles just like this NES mini.

I mean look at the NES shit all over 20-somethings backpacks and wallets. Shit is everywhere! I just saw NES controller hats at the mall yesterday in a store that I felt too old to be in

Obviously it will hit both markets, but I promise you they don't assume this is only for old people.

 

[Irishonion]

Sorry probably been asked before, is it known if we would be able to load any games on it after a while? Or just 30 games and done?

I'm willing to pay 60 for some of the games on there now, just wondering possibilities.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

Maybe that says more about your retail store.

Again Urban Outfitters: exclusively young people's clothing, stocked with "retro" shit at the front of the store like Game Boy iPhone cases and USB record players. They have a wall of retro consoles just like this NES mini.

I mean look at the NES shit all over 20-somethings backpacks and wallets. Shit is everywhere! I just saw NES controller hats at the mall yesterday in a store that I felt too old to be in

Obviously it will hit both markets, but I promise you they don't assume this is only for old people.

Well, sure, it's not just for old people and I edited my post to expand on my thoughts but a very, very large portion of sales will come from an older demographic. That's why it's being made so barebones and easy to set up. Adding Amiibo functionality defeats that purpose.

 

[TheGameshark]

Sorry probably been asked before, is it known if we would be able to load any games on it after a while? Or just 30 games and done?

I'm willing to pay 60 for some of the games on there now, just wondering possibilities.

Seems to be 30 and done

 

[BocoDragon]

Well, sure, it's not just for old people and I edited my post to expand on my thoughts but a very, very large portion of sales will come from an older demographic. That's why it's being made so barebones and easy to set up.

Sure, then I agree.

There is something about this that I could see relies on keeping it simple.

 

[Mr E.]

Fuck 40 is old now?

 

[BocoDragon]

Fuck 40 is old now?

Yup. Might as well jump in the grave right now.

 

[KC-Slater]

Probably because the average lapsed NES fan in their 40's has absolutely zero interest in buying a Nintendo figure for $13?

Who do you think the audience is that's pre-ordering amiibo and encouraging artificial scarcity? Kids? Lol.

It doesn't matter how cheap NFC, WiFi or SD card components are to add to this. This thing is going to have a rather large margin at $60. Every nickel they add to the cost means hundreds of thousands of dollars lost in profit.

That's true, but it could be seen as an investment by Nintendo. Costs could be offset by additional amiibo sales. The margins on amiibo are significantly greater than any hardware. They are plastic toys produced in crazy scale. A very marginal amiibo attach rate could offset this.

Nintendo's hardware sales have been in decline, yet their amiibo sales have been through the roof. The general public isn't interested in an Wii U. This could a low cost, low barrier-to-entry piece of hardware that would allow consumers to engage with their amiibo in a practical way. Something that sales figures would suggest doesn't exist.

 

[Lupin the Third]

Maybe that says more about your retail store.

There is a huge difference between who is interested in old Nintendo games and in old Atari games. I LOVE Nintendo, and yet, even having sampled chunks of it, the Atari 2600's software library never spoke to me. I know I can't be alone.

Also, which retro platform are people actually talking about by the hundreds on YouTube? Not Atari so much. If anything, Atari is the butt of the jokes, with AVGN "pooping" on the Jaguar CD and storing Rolling Rock in the back of the 5200.

So yeah, normally I'd say that Orbital Beard's demographic data is correct, but Nintendo as a brand and a retro identity extends well beyond Atari's, Intellivision's and Coleco's. So yes, the 40+ will buy the NES unit for sure, but younger people will ALSO pick it up.

All of that said, the Amiibo thing is a dumb idea and makes no sense. What is it supposed to do? "Add a game by tapping an Amiibo"? Okay, if it's an unlock of an onboard "hidden" game, but you can wipe the Amiibo's data, so you could pass the figure around to friends and unlock that same game for dozens of people without them paying for it. And you can't put the game on the Amiibo because they hold less than 8 kilobytes, and 8 kB is the smallest NES ROM size. So you'd be asking them to A) include an NFC chip in the NES Classic device AND B) increase the Amiibo's storage space and C) implement a first-user-only system for the amiibo, insanely reducing their resale value (no one will want many of them after they're done unlocking the game). I mean, it just doesn't really hold up dude. This is not a platform they are trying to grow, it's a cash-in. A nice cash-in, an inexpensive cash-in, but a cash-in.

Edit: Literally the only thing I can think of that is feasible is if they have select existing Amiibo unlock new UI/menu graphics that are already coded on-board but not available until their matching game is beaten or the Amiibo is used. Or maybe only for the Amiibo. I don't know. Honestly, it's just not that serious.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

Who do you think the audience is that's pre-ordering amiibo and encouraging artificial scarcity? Kids? Lol.

Enthusiasts. Not lapsed NES players who haven't been following video games since the late 80's.

So yeah, normally I'd say that Orbital Beard's demographic data is correct, but Nintendo as a brand and a retro identity extends well beyond Atari's, Intellivision's and Coleco's. So yes, the 40+ will buy the NES unit for sure, but younger people will ALSO pick it up.

Very true and I edited my earlier post to expand on this. But, like you said, this still doesn't make Amiibo functionality for this product any more viable.

 

[BocoDragon]

There is a huge difference between who is interested in old Nintendo games and in old Atari games. I LOVE Nintendo, and yet, even having sampled chunks of it, the Atari 2600's software library never spoke to me. I know I can't be alone.

Also, which retro platform are people actually talking about by the hundreds on YouTube? Not Atari so much. If anything, Atari is the butt of the jokes, with AVGN "pooping" on the Jaguar CD and storing Rolling Rock in the back of the 5200.

So yeah, normally I'd say that Orbital Beard's demographic data is correct, but Nintendo as a brand and a retro identity extends well beyond Atari's, Intellivision's and Coleco's. So yes, the 40+ will buy the NES unit for sure, but younger people will ALSO pick it up.

So if Atari sells to kid who weren't alive when it was big, Nintendo will REALLY sell to kids who weren't alive when it was big.

All of that said, the Amiibo thing is a dumb idea and makes no sense. What is it supposed to do? "Add a game by tapping an Amiibo"? Okay, if it's an unlock of an onboard "hidden" game, but you can wipe the Amiibo's data, so you could pass the figure around to friends and unlock that same game for dozens of people without them paying for it. And you can't put the game on the Amiibo because they hold less than 8 kilobytes, and 8 kB is the smallest NES ROM size. So you'd be asking them to A) include an NFC chip in the NES Classic device AND B) increase the Amiibo's storage space and C) implement a first-user-only system for the amiibo, insanely reducing their resale value (no one will want many of them after they're done unlocking the game). I mean, it just doesn't really hold up dude. This is not a platform they are trying to grow, it's a cash-in. A nice cash-in, an inexpensive cash-in, but a cash-in.

Sounds like a criticism of Amiibo in general. A lot of them you could scan once and sell off.

But good point about the storage space on an amiibo. They could add more space... But I do see a huge difference between retrofitting their existing tech onto a device like this for "free", and having to develop all new amiibos.

 

[greekappi]

Will this utilize the emulator on the Wii or the shitty emulator found on the Wii U?

Also, if they release a mini N64, will they use the great emulator on Wii or the absolutely atrocious N64 emulator found on the Wii U?

I don't know why the horrible input lag issue has never been fixed when playing N64 games on Wii U. It's inexcusable.

 

[Lupin the Third]

So if Atari sells to kid who weren't alive when it was big, Nintendo will REALLY sell to kids who weren't alive when it was big.

Where is this happening, again?

Sounds like a criticism of Amiibo in general. A lot of them you could scan once and sell off.

Like, if you're unlocking skins in Mario Maker or Mario Kart, sure. But in, say, Splatoon, you have to keep using each one until you beat all the challenges, which takes a lot of time. Mario Maker's Classic Mario you need to have at the ready in order to use that mega mushroom power-up in a level you make. Smash amiibos require reuse to serve any substantial purpose. Most primary amiibo uses (like, the main reason someone will buy it in the first place, creating the demand) require reuse or continuous ownership. If the primary amiibo use becomes "one and done," that's a much different story.

Also, refer to my post edit for a suggestion on how amiibo use could be done "right" on this device.

 

[BocoDragon]

Where is this happening, again?

Go into an Urban Outfitters and notice stuff like

-Polaroid cameras
-Cassette tape iPhone cases
-Vinyl records and players (they are the number 1 seller of vinyl now)

And indeed

-Atari, Sega and Intellivision retro consoles

Then look around, notice everyone is under 30, and do the math that no one in the store is old enough to have been around during these things when they were new.

"Retro" is a core value of the 20 something hipster set.

 

[Eradicate]

So... I'm just going to call it now that this is actually an ARM-based device running a version of NX's OS, and that all of these games and more will be available on NX VC on day one.

Hey, welcome to Memberhood!

That is food for thought though. I could see it being ARM-based for sure, and why not just load in an OS they are already working on. I know they have a bunch of other ones, but why not, and who knows?

Or Ghosts n' Goblins lol

Haha, real ending too!

It does make you wonder though...the European box has that asterisk that's nagging me, so maybe it is 30...until it isn't and you're able to unlock a couple more? Wishful thinking, and again, I don't believe there's any WiFi or anything to it to download more, but maybe they have a few more games on there than they are letting on? Like, beat the first two Castlevanias and get the third one or something. I'm sure they would have just provided the game to begin with from the outset, but it'd make for a great surprise to me to suddenly unlock something!

 

[Lothar]

I don't see how they can justify selling 30 NES games for $60. It should be NES's entire library. Why isn't it? Most people who remotely care about the NES have had NES's entire library on their computers since the mid 90s or they bought whatever they wanted already on virtual console.

 

[hlhbk]

I don't see how they can justify selling 30 NES games for $60. It should be NES's entire library. Why isn't it? Most people who remotely care about the NES have had NES's entire library on their computers since the mid 90s or they bought whatever they wanted already on virtual console.

This is a rip off. I won't be picking it up. No reason the entire library isn't on there for $60.

 

[thefro]

I don't see how they can justify selling 30 NES games for $60. It should be NES's entire library. Why isn't it? Most people who remotely care about the NES have had NES's entire library on their computers since the mid 90s or they bought whatever they wanted already on virtual console.

Nintendo doesn't own the rights to the NES's entire library, and neither do the third parties for licensed games in most cases.

Asking for it to be super-duper-cheap because people can pirate the games is unrealistic

 

[hlhbk]

Nintendo doesn't own the rights to the NES's entire library, and neither do the third parties for licensed games in most cases.

Asking for it to be super-duper-cheap because people can pirate the games is unrealistic

Asking for it to be super cheap due to the games being 29 years is very realistic.

 

[Calamari41]

Asking for it to be super cheap due to the games being 29 years is very realistic.

People are willing to pay for them, Nintendo is not a charity and would be stupid to give them away for pennies just because. This product represents the cheapest these games have ever sold for. It's a good deal.

 

[Starwolf_UK]

I'm personally going to buy the separate controller. I really think those should have been out a decade ago to go with the original Virtual Console on the Wii.

Also am I right that this is like the 2DS Wii mini in that it is not likely to come to the Japanese market (then again, who would want a famicom classic controller with a really short cord).

Fuck 40 is old now?

It's JRPG ages where 15 is enough to save the world, 20s is middle ages and 40 is old man.

I don't see how they can justify selling 30 NES games for $60. It should be NES's entire library. Why isn't it? Most people who remotely care about the NES have had NES's entire library on their computers since the mid 90s or they bought whatever they wanted already on virtual console.

$60 gets you 12 games if bought on Wii, Wii U or 3DS and you don't get a controller either. If you price it too low/provide too much you just end up annoying those that support the VC. Plus it has options for future models containing a different or larger selection of games.

These retro things always have weird gaps in libraries though. I'm pleased SMB1-3 are on this unlike the licensed SEGA ones which would have Sonic Spinball, Dr. Robotniks Mean Bean Machine* and Sonic and Knuckles as your Sonic games (yes I know those things eventually wound up having SD card slots for ROM loading...as I side note I don't they ever sorted out sound emulation being crap).

*-As a side note the polarizing Wario's Woods is missing from this Nintendo one.

 

[ecosse_011172]

I don't see how they can justify selling 30 NES games for $60. It should be NES's entire library. Why isn't it? Most people who remotely care about the NES have had NES's entire library on their computers since the mid 90s or they bought whatever they wanted already on virtual console.

Yes because everyone has been into emulators on PCs for 20 years.

 

[Lothar]

It doesn't even have some of the very best NES games like Castlevania 3, Mega Man 3, Contra, Battletoads, Dragon Warrior 4, Ninja Gaiden 2, Maniac Mansion, etc..

If you're giving out a little meager amount, at least have the best.

 

[superNESjoe]

I don't see how they can justify selling 30 NES games for $60. It should be NES's entire library. Why isn't it? Most people who remotely care about the NES have had NES's entire library on their computers since the mid 90s or they bought whatever they wanted already on virtual console.

You are so out of touch with the average consumer it's almost funny.

 

[SuperLeviathan]

I would've included EarthBound Beginnings somewhere.

It's the game Americans were supposed to get, but didn't. I'm sure a fairly good cross-section of the target demo remembers it being hyped in Nintendo Power.

Or for that matter, the Lost Levels. It's become a bonafide NES game, if the NES Remix games are anything to go by.

 

[KingBroly]

I would've included EarthBound Beginnings somewhere.

It's the game Americans were supposed to get, but didn't. I'm sure a fairly good cross-section of the target demo remembers it being hyped in Nintendo Power.

Or for that matter, the Lost Levels. It's become a bonafide NES game, if the NES Remix games are anything to go by.

It wasn't released, though. Same with Lost Levels. The games listed are high profile titles for the most part. Putting something obscure in there, as well as a 4th Mario game is kinda overkill.

 

[Shig]

It wasn't released, though. Same with Lost Levels. The games listed are high profile titles for the most part. Putting something obscure in there, as well as a 4th Mario game is kinda overkill.

I don't think anyone would cry if Lost Levels and EB Beginnings replaced vanilla Mario Bros. and Ice Climbers.

 

[Dreamwriter]

I don't think anyone would cry if Lost Levels and EB Beginnings replaced vanilla Mario Bros. and Ice Climbers.

A lot of people love vanilla Mario Bros., it's a great old arcade game and one of the few 2-player games this offers. And it's also a Mario game that hasn't been brought back much in the last 10 years. So you'd be wrong.

 

[Blackpuppy]

Actually it does look like that on an rgb modded nes which displays the pure output that the NES renders.

So let's not bring up the "nah, shitty RF is how it was supposed to look" debate.

Not to nitpick or anything but the NES' pure output is actually composite video. These RGB mods modify how the NES actually works. They tap into the PPU partway through its processing and then finish it by applying their own color palettes since composite doesn't have a definite set of colors. It's all just electrical signals that a TV should display as something red or brown or green etc.

So yeah maybe not RF but the yellow RCA plug is definitely its pure output.

 

[3rdEdge]

I don't really think adding amiibo support makes much sense for this product, but imagine if they put Gyromite on there, and tapping the R.O.B. amiibo moves the gates like the original R.O.B. did. It wouldn't be much more than a novelty (and obviously not worth the trouble to program in), but how cool would it be to have the miniature R.O.B. work with the miniature NES?

 

[Lothar]

A lot of people love vanilla Mario Bros., it's a great old arcade game and one of the few 2-player games this offers. So you'd be wrong.

Original Mario Bros is already included in Super Mario Bros 3 though.

 

[Famassu]

Have they commented whether we will ever be able to buy new games for this? I mean new as in "old NES games that aren't included in the 30 games that come with this thing", not NEW new games.

While there are plenty of classics among the initial batch of games, I feel like only having something like Mega Man 2 will be annoying, would love to have the rest of NES Mega Mans at some point. Not to even mention a lot of other games not included among these 30 games.

 

[richman555]

TECMO Bowl but not TECMO Super Bowl? Yo Nintendo what.

This is likely because they also never sold Tecmo Super Bowl on the online store either. Likely the exact same games you get there.

 

[brad-t]

All the arguments about whether this is a good value, whether the price is justified or not, are senseless. I would never buy these games separately, but packed together in a cute unit that will be a cool conversation piece in my living room, and that I can play with friends on, for $70 is a good enough deal to justify buying it.

If you think it's a crappy value compared to emulation, well, yeah, it is. Anything is a crappy deal compared to paying money.

 

[Aaron Strife]

All the arguments about whether this is a good value, whether the price is justified or not, are senseless. I would never buy these games separately, but packed together in a cute unit that will be a cool conversation piece in my living room, and that I can play with friends on, for $70 is a good enough deal to justify buying it.

If you think it's a crappy value compared to emulation, well, yeah, it is. Anything is a crappy deal compared to paying money.

Seriously. You're paying 2 bones a game. Complaining about the value of this is pretty ludicrous.

"Why price this at xx when I could just get it for free" seems to only be an argument I see made for older video games. Why does the new Game of Thrones set cost $50 when you can just torrent it? Why does a new CD cost $12.99 when I can just look up all the songs on YouTube? Why does the entertainment business exist at all in that case?

If you have complaints about the selection that might be valid but they all look like winners to me. I'm sure Capcom wouldn't be too keen on letting Nintendo throw every Mega Man game in there when they're trying to hock the legacy collection on other platforms. It's cool that there are even some third party games on here at all.

 

[Apoc87]

How long do you guys think the cords on the controllers will be? Nintendos not stupid enough to put a ~4 foot cord on this right? I really want to be able to play this from my couch.

 

[The Real Abed]

How long do you guys think the cords on the controllers will be? Nintendos not stupid enough to put a ~4 foot cord on this right? I really want to be able to play this from my couch.

I'm sure someone will make an extension. I had one for my SNES controllers back in the day.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

How long do you guys think the cords on the controllers will be? Nintendos not stupid enough to put a ~4 foot cord on this right? I really want to be able to play this from my couch.

Newer GameCube controllers have long cords (either 10 or 12 feet, not sure), and those are the newest wired controllers Nintendo has put out, so that may be a good sign. I know these function as Wii Remote extensions, but I think they'll design as if it's a standalone controller.

Hopefully.

 

[MuchoMalo]

Hey, welcome to Memberhood!

That is food for thought though. I could see it being ARM-based for sure, and why not just load in an OS they are already working on. I know they have a bunch of other ones, but why not, and who knows?

Oh, I am a member. Cool. Thanks. Didn't even notice.

I can't see it being anything other than ARM-based, really. And if it's using the NX OS it would mean very good things.

 

[Mr.Fusion]

They could have amiibo unlock games on the system if it required the amiibo to stay placed on the system's NFC reader. If you take it off while playing it could just pause and tell you to put it back to continue playing.

 

[BadRamen]

Boco, it seems you certainly have a problem with retro and places like Urban Outfitters, like you presented UO having the largest record sales nowadays as kind of a bad thing, at least that's how I perceived your posts. Then again, I am "20 something" and had/have my original family NES and have similar friends/acquaintances but also I grew up with plenty of people older and way younger that also grew up with NES but dropped off because video games weren't for them. While yes retro is always chic there is a definite palpable demand on my social media of people around five years older and younger for this NES Mini that normally steer clear of video games (and even don't go for the retro trendiness normally). All anecdotal but I doubt your Urban Outfitters example or Orbital's own retail Atari example is any more or less anecdotal than mine. (I honestly believe there is a huge portion of parents/grandparents who buy things like NES Mini or Atari Flashback because they played the system as a kid and now they want to have their children check out what they were playing back in the day. That's how I got Activision Classic Atari Hits via my father for PC back in the mid 90s!)
All in all Amiibo for the NES Mini misses the core point of the NES Mini: nostalgia. Nostalgia for the many people who were around and nostalgia for the many people who were not but know of the legacy. And yes trendy hipsters but those come in all ages, ya know. If Amiibo were going to be used, I honestly believe they wouldn't have gone the NES replica route from console and controller to even the box looking damn close to the 1980s US NES box.

And hey man, I believe it is okay for you to wear a hat with NES controllers on it. Don't let society tell you otherwise!

 

[KC-Slater]

They could have amiibo unlock games on the system if it required the amiibo to stay placed on the system's NFC reader. If you take it off while playing it could just pause and tell you to put it back to continue playing.

Exactly. This is how amiibo tap works. You need the amiibo present to play the game. I don't understand why everyone thinks this would be such a ludicrous idea?