Cognition Dissemination: The Absolutely Classic NES Classic
A few months ago, reports circulated from European retailers that Nintendo would be discontinuing the NES Classic Edition. While I was typing the post about it, though, I thought it was crazy talk. Though it would be a very, let’s say, Nintendo move, I couldn’t see the company ceasing production of a guaranteed moneymaker. They released it at a time where they needed such a source of revenue, as the lives of the 3DS and Wii U were fading, and the Switch’s potential success was uncertain. Nintendo had a heap of trouble meeting demand for the system even after Christmas, but surely they’d meet that someday soon. At least, that’s what logic would have you believe.
Recent news, however, proves that ostensible logic doesn’t always win out. This past week, Nintendo of America confirmed to IGN they’re indeed ceasing production for the system. Given my assumption above, this news left me dumbfounded as to why they’re doing this. Considering the reactions to this around the internet, I’m far from the only one having a tough time it. There are plenty of people who were waiting for the stock issue to be resolved, and remained comfortable in how there would be no chance of Nintendo ceasing a product that was a surefire hit. But this is bad news for anyone who hoped to easily obtain one someday soon, especially if they don’t pay attention to gaming news that trickles out on a daily basis. Those also happen to be people who still wanted to purchase one for their children, friends, or family members.
And in case you thought this was an America-only deal: Nintendo’s Japanese arm also confirmed they’re discontinuing their Famicom Classic Mini variant. Interestingly, there’s still no confirmation from Nintendo’s European arm, but their version may succumb to the same fate since the rumor originated from retailers in the region. Scalpers who were already profiting off the shortages will do so massively now, as prices increased on various second-hand marketplaces mere hours after the news dropped.
Not all might be lost, though. Nintendo’s Japanese arm included something important that was only lightly implied in NoA’s statement: They mentioned production is only ceasing temporarily, and that manufacturing will resume. There’s hope that perhaps my speculation as to what Nintendo may do could come to pass — though you’ll want to note my level of uncertainty.
Nintendo could be temporarily discontinuing it to produce a new iteration with improvements. This update could pack in more games, since some classics were missing from the original release. It could also include more hacker-proof firmware, after the original was quickly cracked to play not only the entire NES library, but SNES, Game Boy, and Genesis games along with them. Including a controller with a longer cord would also be beneficial, as the NES Classic version’s cord is considerably shorter than the original NES controller’s. As a bonus, it would also be nice if they included the ability to go online and purchase more games, but now I’m veering into wishful thinking.
Of course, it’s also possible that merely considering they have significant plans for it beyond this is the real wishful thinking. That future manufacturing could only be a limited-time deal, where another round of systems is temporarily sent to retailers, only for production to immediately cease again. This news could signify the true end for the device.
There could be another, more cynical reason for this: They’re preparing everyone for the debut of the Switch Virtual Console. I made a previous post questioning why we’ve heard nothing about it thus far, while SNK has already released several classic games on the system’s eShop, and Square Enix is releasing a Game Boy title and two SNES titles in a collection. But the NES Classic’s demise could be a sign of its impending debut. Now that Nintendo knows there’s an expanded audience interested in playing their classic games, they can get them to purchase each title for $5 a pop on Switch instead of paying $60 for 30 games at once. Not everyone will purchase 30 NES games on the VC, but those individual prices show how Nintendo will receive massive profits from digital purchases.
There’s a good chance of this happening now that we know Switch is selling well. Nintendo announced that 906,000 Switch systems were sold in March in America alone, info provided mere hours after news of the NES Classic’s discontinuation circulated. Meanwhile, other sources are saying Switch sold 2.4 million in the first month worldwide. They already have a sizable audience to sell VC titles to, but offering them won’t compare to the novelty and nostalgia associated with the miniature recreation of a classic gaming system with preloaded games. There was an audience excited for the NES Classic that doesn’t play games as constantly as they used to, and Switch isn’t even on their radars at the moment. Whether Nintendo can get them excited for one remains to be seen, especially given the price difference.
Speaking of novelties: It appears this entire NES Classic Edition was one for Nintendo, unless they indeed plan on releasing another iteration soon. If they don’t, there’s still a chance we could receive the SNES Classic that so many want; but if so, don’t count on ever seeing it on store shelves. Nintendo has always moved in mysterious ways, and their recent actions have shown how they’ll keep on shuffling the way they always have.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
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I suspect it’s more a case of Nintendo trying to prove that they’re still interested in selling their old classics in order to justify calling people who download the ROMs pirates, while at the same time they’re not really interested in selling the old games and things like the Virtual Console and the NES Classic are examples where they sighed and said “Fine, we’ll put some of these old pieces of garbage up and charge top dollar for them. Oh, what’s that? You want specific games that everyone agrees are good? Too bad.” Look at how long it took for them to start selling Earthbound. The impression I get from Nintendo is that, while they’re perfectly willing to appeal to nostalgia, they’d rather we purchase the shiny new thing while they take the previous generation machine out back and put a bullet in its head.
Of course, I am aware that the problems with selling these classic games are more than just whether or not Nintendo wants to. A lot of the old licenses are probably missing, expired or unclear about who actually owns what. But that said, you’d think Nintendo would at least be willing to sell the first party stuff that they still retain the rights to. I mean, I’d rather have a Virtual Console with a few hundred games right from the start than one where there’s maybe one to three games a week and every time I log in to check it, they announce that they’ve added garbage like Menace Beach. (Fortunately, Menace Beach isn’t one of the games on the Virtual Console, it’s just the first crappy game to come to mind.)
You can really tell when they’re not interested in selling their old games much when the amount of VC releases starts anew on new consoles. There are a bunch at the beginning, but the trickle of them always gets slower and slower. This happened with Wii U and 3DS, and Switch’s will probably go down the same path, whenever (or if!?) it arrives.
They should definitely drop a bunch of games at the start of Switch’s, especially so they can give some to those who’ve purchased the same game at least once on previous platforms. Or, uh, are these both pipe dreams?