'NES Classic Edition' rekindles nostalgia this November

Nintendo is going back to its roots with a mini-system that recalls the glory days of 8-bit.

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Nintendo is banking on its rich reserves of nostalgia with a new standalone system.

The "NES Classic Edition" is a miniature replica of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, complete with NES Classic Controller and HDMI cable, and comes pre-loaded with 30 games. It will release on November 11 for $59.99. Think those "Arcade Collection" plug-and-play hubs you see in stores, but this time it's all official. It also uses suspend points similar to modern emulators. 

A second Classic Controller will be on sale separately for $9.99, or you could use a Classic Controller or Classic Controller Pro for two-player games. Plus, the new NES Classic Controller can be used to play Virtual Console NES games on your Wii U and Wii. 

Check out the full listing of games below.

  • 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
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  • reply
    July 14, 2016 5:36 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, 'NES Classic Edition" rekindles nostalgia this November

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      July 14, 2016 5:59 AM

      I just squealed like a little girl. I'm going to pre-order one of these ASAP.

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        July 14, 2016 6:06 AM

        preordering is evil craddock, is it your first day here?

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      July 14, 2016 6:23 AM

      Wow. The games included with things like this are usually shit, but this list is awesome.

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        July 14, 2016 6:27 AM

        It's a solid lineup... but I do wonder if there'll be a way to side-load more. Probably not, since Nintendo's actually building the thing, unlike most retro console knock-offs.

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          July 14, 2016 6:59 AM

          I have a suspicion they won't lock the barn door too tightly. I bet it's pretty easy to add games and they probably don't care all that much.

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            July 14, 2016 7:08 AM

            Why so sure? If it's all loaded onto a ROM chip on the mobo then there's fuck all you can do to install more.

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              July 14, 2016 9:27 AM

              That's how all the Atari and Sega retro collection mini consoles work, and they have been hacked to take an SD card or even a cartridge slot from the original consoles.

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        July 14, 2016 6:55 AM

        [deleted]

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          July 14, 2016 7:09 AM

          They have on the 3DS (though it's a lengthy process) but that has an SD card slot. Given the price I'm not sure this will be as flexible (and even then, the 3DS took a serious amount of hacking to allow VC injection).

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        July 14, 2016 6:58 AM

        Very great list. I expected only the oldest, first-party games, but there is a wide variety of excellent third-party games (Final Fantasy, Star Tropics) too.

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      July 14, 2016 6:30 AM

      StarTropics!

      I loved that game.

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      July 14, 2016 6:30 AM

      [deleted]

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      July 14, 2016 6:39 AM

      No Contra is a typo? Right? Right!? Konamiiiii!!!!!

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        July 14, 2016 6:46 AM

        Super C is the better Contra game anyway.

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          July 14, 2016 6:48 AM

          I gotta figure out a way to load Mega Man 3 onto this thing. :-\

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            July 14, 2016 7:09 AM

            What did you think of Mega Man Legacy on 3DS?

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              July 14, 2016 7:32 AM

              Still need to pick it up for some on-the-go Mega Man'ing. I do have it for PC. I liked it, but am still disappointed it only contains the 6 NES games. I get why they chose those games--remastering games on the same hardware--but MM Anniversary from 2004 was a much better deal.

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      July 14, 2016 6:49 AM

      This looks like the perfect Christmas gift for my mother to get me. She doesn't have much cash, so $60 won't break the bank.

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      July 14, 2016 6:50 AM

      Prediction: This thing will be basically impossible to find for months.

      Other Prediction: Because of Prediction #1, its massive success will encourage Nintendo to either make some kind of expansion adapter dongle to load other games, or release a V2 with that functionality.

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        July 14, 2016 7:01 AM

        I'm thinking this will be positioned as a gateway drug into the Wii U/3DS Virtual Console libraries, which are rumored to be heavily expanded for NX. Those NES Remix games from a few years back accomplished a similar purpose.

        If this thing is successful--and it will be--I wonder if Nintendo will release other classic consoles in this style: SNES, Game Boy, N64... The tech is there, and so are consumers rabid for retro.

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          July 14, 2016 7:12 AM

          It's going to sell like hotcakes and I can absolutely see them doing SNES, GameBoy, even N64 next. This is clearly a thing for them now.

          Also, I'm going to post the Arduboy again. How cool would something this slim that plays original Gameboy games be?! www.arduboy.com (for the record, the arduboy isn't nearly powerful enough to emulate Gameboy games sadly)

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      July 14, 2016 6:50 AM

      I only wish the controllers were wireless.

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        July 14, 2016 7:13 AM

        Shouldn't be too hard for someone to make an adapter, since the plug is the same as on the Wiimote. Still not ideal though, since you'd need to plug the wiimote in.

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      July 14, 2016 6:58 AM

      SOLD

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      July 14, 2016 6:59 AM

      No Contra or Ice Hockey :(

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        July 14, 2016 7:05 AM

        Super C, though.

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        July 14, 2016 8:12 AM

        Oh shi, Ice Hockey was a Nintendo game too, how is that not on there?

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      July 14, 2016 7:01 AM

      This is awesome and crazy that Nintendo is releasing this. They've been surprising me a lot lately.

      That being said, this just made me wanna go buy an actual NES and a bunch of games so I can hook it up to my old 42" sony trinitron CRT.

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        July 14, 2016 12:16 PM

        They've been continually making $$ off old titles forever. Why is it any surprise that they are releasing them in yet another format?

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          July 14, 2016 12:18 PM

          Because they usually charge way more for individual NES games, like $5 a pop on Virtual Console, and also the fact that they've never really done anything like this before. They tend to re-release old games at way higher prices than they really should, but this actually seems like a good value.

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            July 14, 2016 12:28 PM

            True. Maybe they have started seeing a decline in sales for the older titles, and this is another effort to get them out the door and keep making the $$. Lower the price, bundle in a cool package... it's going to sell like hot cakes.

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              July 14, 2016 12:51 PM

              Yeah I'll admit the packaging pulled me in too. If they released these games on a disc as a $60 Wii U game I probably wouldn't buy it, especially considering I have a lot of those games on VC already. But the microconsole thing is really cool to me. Also it's official Nintendo, so it'll probably be better quality than other cheaper microconsoles with a bunch of games on it.

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      July 14, 2016 7:03 AM

      Another prediction: "Nintendo thumb" will come roaring out of the grave right alongside that awful controler.

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      July 14, 2016 7:04 AM

      How many times are people gonna pull that little thing off the shelf with corded controllers. Really wish they were wireless somehow.

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      July 14, 2016 7:07 AM

      I'm probably not going to get it because I already own a good amount of these games, but it's awesome that it's happening. Super solid list, too. Incredibly surprised to see Star Tropics on there. Figured that Nintendo forgot about that game.

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      July 14, 2016 7:08 AM

      Definitely getting this at release, even though I have most of those games on my NES anyway. I need/want this

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      July 14, 2016 7:14 AM

      [deleted]

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      July 14, 2016 7:24 AM

      Who is happy he bought some nintendo stock. This guy --------------->

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      July 14, 2016 7:30 AM

      [deleted]

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      July 14, 2016 7:34 AM

      [deleted]

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      July 14, 2016 11:02 AM

      Pretty cool, I almost lost it but.... then I realized its not a real NES with a upscaler chip + HDMI out :(

      All I ever wanted was Nintendo to re make both the NES and SNES as the actual real hardware that take the old cartridges and is fitted with an HDMI out with an additional upscaler chip to process the original signal to 1080p and also run real cartridges.

      If Nintendo started to re print NES and SNES cartridges and do the updated real hardware they make billions. Pokémon Go might even go "Wow!"

      This is cool but its just a emulator(basically the Virtual Console on silicon) in a small NES shell :( and that makes me sad. NES emulation on the PC has been around forever and other emulator consoles you can buy that take real NES cartridges.

      Man I should give up my dream of the re released updated real NES and SNES as well a freshly re printed cartridges shouldn't I...

      Khaannnnnnn I mean Nintendooooooooo :(

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        July 14, 2016 12:06 PM

        But a) Nintendo's emulation is evidently more accurate, as it should be since they made the original hardware and b) Higeartridges for games that are a few kilobytes in size are crazy overkill these days. I generally don't get the attachment to original discs and carts over images/roms though so I'm the wrong person to convince.

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          July 14, 2016 12:17 PM

          Yeah, I'd be content with actual NES hardware that's been modified to accept ROMs. These retro systems are neat, but I'm not going to go scouring thrift stores and auction sites for carts, whose prices would likely skyrocket as well with the increased demand.

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        July 14, 2016 12:07 PM

        What you want is the RetroRGB AVS

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          July 14, 2016 12:17 PM

          This is exactly what I have/do!, I have a XRGB-mini Framemeister its freaking amazing, its hooked up to my NES,SNES and Genesis with RGB.

          Still I would love Nintendo to start printing real cartridges again or have some sort of order system for us that want them. Also I still think re printing the hardware and cartridges would be amazing in my special world in my head :)

          roushimsx I know you be right there with me in line buying new cartridges and consoles :) , all well maybe one day it will happen hey.

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            July 14, 2016 12:24 PM

            I have an xrgb mini as well, but I'm really looking forward to getting an AVS to simplify the whole setup. Plus I'm hoping that the system will have a bit less latency than what we're getting out of the mini :D

            One thing I haven't had the chance to do yet is to just chuck the AC adapter from the NES and do a USB power mod...but honestly with the AVS there's not much need anymore. Natively USB powered!

            There's a pretty vibrant industry of people doing reproduction carts and materials, although I think the more awesome stuff is when you can buy a physical copy of a game that was otherwise never available that way. Something like The Legend of Link ( http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2136/ ) or Streemerz. Those fuckers are off. the. hook. Also really want to pick up some more of those new games that are coming out. :(

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              July 14, 2016 1:08 PM

              [deleted]

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                July 14, 2016 1:13 PM

                Nope, I ended up just leaving one hooked up at a time. Right now it's the N64, which benefits the least from the xrgb (and I'm going to send it off for an HDMI mod anyway :( )

                Almost bought an Amiga CD32. God, I was so close. The only reason I didn't? Those fucking controllers are awful. Decided I'd just emulate the darn thing and collect the games instead. :(

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                  July 14, 2016 1:20 PM

                  Yeah I am in the same boat I just switch on demand, the money saved = more carts I could buy at the time. Also not sure if a switch would make the quality of picture worse.

                  I have the SNES on it right now and Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts :) , so good it hurts.

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                July 14, 2016 5:58 PM

                If you are American and live in America, and use American equipment, dump SCART. Remove that bastard plug from all of your console cables and replace it with a 25 pin D-Sub, pin appropriate. Use one of the removed plugs to attach to a high quality male-male VGA cable. At this point, you will be rewarded with the ability to use literally any VGA switch box that you like, a cheap $2 switch box from Monoprice, or a high-end startech switch box that may cost upwards of $100.

                Everything about your retrogaming life will be better, your penis will also grow by five inches.

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              July 14, 2016 1:22 PM

              Awesome! Yeah I love to do that as well but don't have an income anymore so I have to hold off till I am back in the game LOL :)

              Nice that is rad, didn't know you could do that, USB power would be very cool, yeah AVS is the ultimate for sure.

              Thanks for the link that is pretty freaking cool, it rad the scene keeps going hey.

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            July 14, 2016 6:15 PM

            You guys should check out the Open Source Scan Converter:

            http://retrogaming.hazard-city.de/ossc.html

            It's going to take the throne from the XRGB. It has fully customizable output modes, for one, but the best part is it has less than 1ms input lag, since it only buffers a few lines before it starts the ouput.

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              July 14, 2016 10:49 PM

              Damn that looks epic thanks for the link.

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        July 14, 2016 12:19 PM

        That exists, but it's reaaaally expensive http://www.analogue.co/

        I kind of want one though, it's so badass

        If they made an SNES one I think I'd cave

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          July 14, 2016 12:32 PM

          They have been solde out for a long time, and it sounds like they won't be making anymore.

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            July 14, 2016 12:36 PM

            not with that attitude they won't!!!

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        July 14, 2016 4:56 PM

        I just modded my NES with an HDMI kit (hi-def nes kit by Kevtris) from game-tech.us. They're out of stock now but will be taking preorders again soon.

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      July 14, 2016 12:15 PM

      wish the controller was wireless but that would be asking for too much

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        July 14, 2016 5:02 PM

        I know right? HDMI out put but controllers are not wireless?

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      July 14, 2016 7:10 PM

      Whoa! This is such a cool and non-Nintendo-like thing to do! Also, a great price! I might have to pick one of these up. For some reason, knowing it's 'official' makes it way cooler. For one thing I'm more confident the thing will actually work!

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