Nintendo Classic Mini announced (1 Viewer)

[Morgan Jolley]

I believe Nintendo said they're working on a Wii U-to-Switch upgrade path for VC games, but not Wii-to-Switch. Just like you pretty much said would work.

If you're looking to go from Wii-to-Wii U, it might not be worth it to pay the fee. However, even with the sub-par Wii U VC performance for some games/consoles, it still works pretty damn well and has a couple extra features over the Wii versions.

 

[LeoA]

Unless they don't offer an upgrade program, I'm willing to bet that paying the Wii U upgrade fee will still save you money, even if you never load up the Wii U version once.

I see little chance that Nintendo will drastically slash Virtual Console prices. I expect to see prices remain comparable, which means that paying $2 to upgrade from Wii mode to the Wii U and then $2 more to upgrade from Wii U to the Switch, beats paying $10 all over again.

Of course if one is planning on a Switch in their immediate future and doesn't plan to continue to use their Wii U afterwards, you better wait for something more than speculation that's based off of Nintendo's recent past.

Nintendo just might have all their bases covered, although it almost sounds like wishful thinking to me that they'd recognize Wii purchases after all these years and offer a discount to take them directly to the Nintendo Switch.

Sometimes they surprise me though...

 

[Clinton McClure]

Last Saturday morning I found a NES Classic Edition at Walmart. It was the only one they had and the employee had put it in the display case less than 15 minutes before I walked through. He was honestly surprised it lasted in the case that long. I ordered a Wii Classic Pro controller (Japanese version because it's half the price of the US version) from Amazon and bought a controller extension cable from a local game store. I've only been able to play it for about an hour last weekend but I plan to sit down with it and get some good playing time this weekend. So far I love it.

 

[CraigF]

I am still looking for one. Regularly too. I don't think any have actually been available for general retail in my part of Canada since release day, though I did read of a few BB stores that got a very few more for one day before Christmas but not enough to really count. Most of the mainstream online retailers here don't even allow you to access their official page for it, only pages by 3rd party vendor listings. Kinda disappointed. I really do wonder if any more of these will be made available, even well after the Switch debut. Perhaps it truly was intended to just be a collector's item. OTOH, maybe Nintendo will slightly adjust the config to fix the one (or two) major complaint(s) when they have manufacturing capability they're willing to spare.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I am hearing that Nintendo is still producing them but you couldn't tell it by looking in stores. You also can no longer find new 3DS or 3DS XLs around here. I ordered mine from Amazon in November because of the intentional short supply and Nintendo isn't getting in a hurry to produce more. I would probably be correct in assuming they've shifted as much of their manufacturing capacity to the Switch as they could and I have heard reports via certain video game podcasts that a lot of mom and pop video games stores will not be getting any Switches and stores like GameStop are cancelling a number of preorders because Nintendo underestimated demand again and can't deliver. It's second hand information so it may be inaccurate but the Classic Mini debacle has taught me that Nintendo either has no idea what it's doing anymore or they have become jaded and indifferent towards their core audience. At any rate, good luck finding one and don't give in to scalpers.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I think Nintendo is running into a Wii situation again. Their hardware is more appealing to more people than they anticipated. They're launching with 2 million units worldwide and will probably sell them out pretty quickly, which would make it the biggest new hardware launch, I believe. The same thing happened with the NES Classic. (And also happened with PSVR, actually.)

 

[Clinton McClure]

I just read that Nintendo is officially ending production of the NES Classic for unspecified reasons. Absolute bone-headed move.

 

[DavidJ]

I just read that Nintendo is officially ending production of the NES Classic for unspecified reasons. Absolute bone-headed move.

What?!

 

[TravisR]

Smart move. "Hey, this is selling so well that we can't keep it on the shelves. Let's discontinue it!"

 

[Morgan Jolley]

They said their plan was to only make it as a limited thing to begin with and that the demand led to an increase in production. If anything, they probably wanted to cease production sooner.

It's a $60 device that probably has like $30 worth of components. Their profit margin on the Switch is higher. And don't forget, everything Nintendo has done in the last year and a half (Pokemon Go, Miitomo, NES Classic, etc.) was all in service of promoting the brand and eventually the Switch. They weren't trying to make money off of the NES Classic, they were trying to remind people of why they love Nintendo and then convince them to buy their new hardware.

It sucks that this was discontinued, but it's not really surprising. I wouldn't be surprised if they release a SNES Classic next.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I would be surprised if each unit cost over $10 to produce. My biggest fear now is that Nintendo will kill off the 3DS since it is competing with the Switch.

 

[Clinton McClure]

They said their plan was to only make it as a limited thing to begin with and that the demand led to an increase in production.

A fact they did not disclose until yesterday.

And don't forget, everything Nintendo has done in the last year and a half (Pokemon Go, Miitomo, NES Classic, etc.) was all in service of promoting the brand and eventually the Switch. They weren't trying to make money off of the NES Classic, they were trying to remind people of why they love Nintendo and then convince them to buy their new hardware.

The NES Classic and the Switch are two different gaming systems aimed at two different gamer markets. I love my Classic. Unless Nintendo goes back and makes one hell of a retro library available online, I have zero plans to buy a Switch. The NES Classic did remind me of why I love Nintendo... the Nintendo of 30 years ago. There is absolutely no reason the NES Classic could not coexist with the Switch.

It sucks that this was discontinued, but it's not really surprising. I wouldn't be surprised if they release a SNES Classic next.

I can't wait to see the scalper markup on SNES Classic consoles (if released) since they would know right out of the gate that it's going to be a limited run system. I can already see those systems going for well in excess of $1000.

 

[Bryan^H]

The super high prices of original NES titles from collector fallout is crippling.
Loose carts like Contra going for $50+ and others hovering around the $30 mark(these carts were $5-$10 a few years ago) made the NES classic a nice alternative to buying old gear at super high prices.

I have most of the games on the Classic, but I still wanted to own one for the ease of us(HDMI, and no shuffling through a couple dozen carts to play) I never saw one in the store. The Switch is not on my radar. I will never own one...unless there is a dedicated sequel to Super Mario Maker, the chance of that is pretty slim though.

 

[DavidJ]

I'd love to get a Classic, but haven't been able to find one. My sister did get one for Christmas that was purchased through a third-party for a premium.

 

[CraigF]

I just read that Nintendo is officially ending production of the NES Classic for unspecified reasons. Absolute bone-headed move.

I had no idea production was actually occurring... Still, disappointing.

 

[LeoA]

We'll see a SuperNes Classic, but not anytime soon since the focus has to be placed squarely on the Switch and its first Christmas. They're not in competition, but it could cause some indirect fallout and would only serve to be a distraction to their core mission in 2017.

With a new platform to sell that promises a good 4-5 year revenue stream from each sale, they can't afford the media focus on a one and done product or the many consumers that will be pursuing the next hot item that will soon disappear to never be seen again.

But it's a good idea to store away until the next business lull when they're in-between hardware cycles.

 

[CraigF]

^ That makes sense, and is probably the sort of higher-level corporate thought process involved (why I didn't think of it...more "practical" explanations didn't make sense to me).

The NES Classic is indeed the sort of product that can be rolled out just about any time, perhaps with small improvements. I guess Nintendo doesn't license their game products? This seems like a good candidate for that if they do, and don't want to be directly associated with it for the reasons mentioned, but still want to benefit from it.

I can't help but think that a product like this has a certain window of viability, but I could be wrong. Will the "intellectual property" (games) even have any value in, say, 20 years? And as for me, I can barely jiggle the sticks enough now, the reflexes don't get better with age and those older games are hard and require a youngster's dexterity/reflexes to minimize the frustration that "oldsters" (ahem) have less tolerance for. (Many people have been screwed by missing their window of opportunity by holding out for "more" and then having the demand pass them by.)

 

[LeoA]

On the bright side, AtGames is really upping their game this year with their plug and play line.

They'll have an HDMI/BlueTooth equipped high-end option with completely revamped hardware and a new software emulator for both their Sega Genesis and Atari 2600 plug and play consoles. And at least for the 2600, the game lineup also sounds set to take a big jump forward with a lot of quality additions (I'm guessing all the Namco properties like Ms. Pac-Man are likely to finally appear, for example). And the Genesis side will have a cartridge slot for the user to play their old games on, if they so desire.

Sadly, the others like their composite equipped low-end systems and the portables will be on last year's model hardware and software, which is basically what they were using five years ago since the advancement has been all but non-existent. So all the normal issues will still be present.

But even there, it sounds like an Intellivision Flashback 2 is planned despite disappointing sales in 2015 for the first, with a significantly improved game lineup with the Disney licensed Tron games and the popular Data East arcade conversions like Burgertime added. It will be composite and the same hardware and software emulator as the original, but the game lineup is where they really missed the boat the first time out.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Honestly...I had no interest in the NES Classic because it seemed like the clunkiest yet cheapest way to play games that I have surprisingly little interest in playing. The main appeal for me would be the cool factor and collector value, but even then...I'm not one to buy collectibles.

Like I said, everything Nintendo has done in the last year and a half has been in service to their name and brand. The NES Classic was selling well, but selling you a $60 box (minus manufacturing costs and licensing fees for the games on it) that has zero additional revenue streams isn't really the kind of thing they care much about, especially when they didn't think it would be so popular. However, the press from it coming out would remind everyone how great Nintendo is, which will drive interest in HEY LOOK NEW NINTENDO SYSTEM! A Switch might only have a $40-50 profit per unit sold, but it brings along a bunch of software and controller sales.

So should Nintendo try to make a couple million from NES Classic sales or hundreds of millions from Switch sales? Switch sold 2.5M units in a month, which is $100+M in profit from hardware plus Zelda selling a couple million copies and any other games generating licensing fees. NES Classic sold less than a million units in its lifetime, even if that was on purpose.

 

[LeoA]

There's no way they're making $40-50 profit off each Switch sold. It retails for $299 and 3rd party estimates place the cost Nintendo pays for each of the components at nearly $260.

$40 in no way, shape, or form covers all the indirect costs associated with production, all the R&D expenditures, the investment in marketing, etc. That's what the subsequent sales after the system has been taken home have to cover, along with hopefully adding a healthy profit to Nintendo's bottom line.

You're doing it again. You're looking at the direct manufacturing cost that didn't even include the expense to actually assemble the units in the breakdown that I saw or further costs like distribution, let alone the far more substantial overhead costs, and jumping off a cliff with your assumptions that Nintendo is raking in the millions in profit off Switch hardware sales alone.

I would not be surprised to see just a minor profit or even loss with their upcoming quarterly results, despite a blockbuster launch.