NES Classic Edition Will Feature a Brand New Emulator Developed by NERD

Numerous uno.

That's one smart nerd!

@JustinBailey uses blue shell

Keep buying it people so I can get my hands on a snes version! Go ahead and buy 2 if you like. 😉

https://youtu.be/IRsPheErBj8

lol playing this will trick me into believing that I'm a giant who's traveled back in time to the 1980's, only it's an alternate-reality 1980's where everyone has massive high-definition televisions from the future lol

I'm not thrilled by how they implemented the ds options on the wiiu however I think this will be good.

Christmas be coming early for scalpers this year!

Getting my brother with autism one for Christmas.

I would kill for an all-in-one Game Boy!

Or at least pay a 'undred bucks for it.

Mini-Snes... drools

we gotta buy em folks.. otherwise Nintendo might reconsider any plans for a SNES version.

Totally buying.
Even with most of these already in my VC library, Nintendo's NES titles look craptastic. Muddy, dark, blurry. This new unit offers what the VC SHOULD which is pixel-perfect mode.

I wonder if the games will still have the flicker?

Mini N64 would be the best

How had I never heard of them before now? XD

Awesome. Hopefully it does well enough that we can one day see both an SNES and N64 version of this.

They must be proud of their acronym. I would be!

Let's hope that sales are successful enough to warrant an SNES Mini/Classic Edition.

Oh, these are the guys who did such an amazing job on the DS Virtual Console emulation? Well, I'm sure they'll do a better job here. It would be an outstanding achievement to screw up with the NES, especially considering how it's been emulated near-perfectly for many systems, officially or otherwise.

@Tsurii I just don't see how they forgot to add control options, or at least a screen option that displays both screens vertically and stretches both screens to fit the TV display, without changing the D-Pad controls. The DS emulator works for some games, but not all.

It's probably not going to run on the Wii OS like I thought it would.

I'm really excited for this.. I know it's gonna sell out super fast and is gonna be a hot gift, along with Pokemon sun and moon for Christmas but I'm defiantly gonna try and get one. I'm sure they'll do an SNES since this'll do numbers.

Also great article Mitch! Love your stuff dood.

Great news. We've already had confirmation that the colour grading of the games are more faithful to the originals, so Nintendo certainly didn't want to cut any corners.

I have mine ordered, and an extra controller, really looking forward to this.

maybe before they release the nx, they can hand it over to n.e.r.d. and ask them to improve it a bit.

Only ordered the controller as I have most of the games on wii and wii u

I love their acronym. Surely it's a great conversation starter at parties. And the Wii work they have done is impressive, so I look forward to getting this mini NES. Even more I'd like a small N64, but that's probably coming a few years down the road.

That super stable 3D is their crowning achievement.

Anyone who endured the OG 3DS models and now has a New3DS knows exactly what I'm talking about.

@epicmartin7 What a wonderful idea. I should replace every "first" comment with a blue shell gif. I love that

It does compensate for no NX this year but I'm thinking this could be a version of the VC emulator that will be in the NX? If it's spot on, that'd be another selling point

As long as they put a slot so people can get mini cards with new games on or download games like the PI version somebody made it was the best.

Already Pre-ordered mine. Please, please, PLEASE make a series of RPG SNES Minis!!! I want one with all of the RPG's for SNES including Tales of Phantasia, Bahamut Lagoon, Star Ocean and Super Mario RPG, Seiken Densetsu 3, plus some that were actually released in PAL regions such as Secret of Evermore, Secret of Mana, Illusion of Time (Gaia), and the final fantasies etc.

I will buy 2, one to play and another to keep boxed up forever lol.

But didn't people find a way to make DS games look better on the Wii u? That worries me if NERD can't even reach maximum potential like that. Maybe they'll improve with the Nes Mini. I'm very interested to see if Nes games look better on this, than on the Wii U itself.

@VR32F1END
"with autism"? What's wrong with that, and how is that related to giving someone a Nintendo console? Sorry if I sound rude.

At least it isn't AtGames or Firecore.

@Jamotello They're working on an NX project now, but it's anyone's guess what it is. I hope it's the new VC!

@Ninten-san Exactly what I thought. Don't understand how mentioning he has autism is relevant.

@samuelvictor most of those pre-existing emulators are running with so many hacks, band-aids, etc., that they are hardly what you would call "accurate". Also, odds are this emulator will be used across all their products going forward, so they probably wanted a fresh, clean, code base to work with and, with any luck, getting a game to run on one platform means it can be moved to another with little fuss.

I hope to get one. I have the original nes but having this updated one with preloaded games would be nice to.

Folks, before you all get excited at the prospect of a SNES Mini, worry about whether you can even obtain one if they do make it. It's going to be even harder to preorder and obtain than the NES Mini.

I would be getting it IF IT DIDN'T COME OUT THE WEEK BEFORE POKEMON!!! Well, there's always Christmas, I guess.

@bolt05 There's so many more Snes games I would want outside of rpgs but that's a great idea and would be a day one purchase from me. I didn't know I wanted something so bad till I seen you type that!

@NintyFan 30 won't be enough. Shoot, 60 won't be enough. 100 seems like the magic number and I would pay more for that!

I still confused about 'Emulation' inside Mini NES.
Will Mini NES have backward compatible with something ?
Or it just 30 NES games already inside and can't be deleted nor added by another digital games ?

Super Stable 3D was a godsend, thanks NERD.

@TruenoGT Interesting. It's because of the resolution I stick to physical games on my dsi xl. But who knows. The Nes Mini is really turning into a gem. Here's to hoping it does well enough that they make future versions.

I'd get it, if the NES had any good games.

@Anti-Matter
It isn't backwards compatible with anything, its a plug and play console. What you buy is what you get, only those 30 games. Its been confirmed that it doesn't has internet connection or slots for more games.

I'm excited about this! I hope preorders open soon for this one, getting one before the scalpers is going to be on the same level as the first amiibo wave.

@GregoryClarke10 Why didn't Nintendo use this as their sales pitch???

@RainbowGazelle A bit too painfully true. Although to be fair I would've gotten it if it had a respectable collection of sports games (those are evergreen for me).

I see...

Well, here's hoping they do a great job with the NES Classic Edition emulation.

Can NERD bring back photo viewer from the Wii, please, used to use it to show my photos on my tv, but then got a Wii U, no picture viewer, BOOOO!

I've used the Wii U's video player to stream Anime on my TV and was very surprised at the quality.

I guess I'll call myself a fan of NERD, but that's not enough to get me to buy the NES classic, unfortunately.

@Shugo

The Wii Hardware is too big for the mini, and uses too much power. This is probably the cheapest current arm chip. But for that I'm sure it's much cheaper than recreating the Wii as none of those parts are in production anymore. Plus it should be more powerful, efficient, cool, and small. Everything Nintendo needs for this. I very much doubt the started from scratch. All these games are on VC. Not using the Wii OS and 720p always would mean some coding. But upgrading the emulator to work on new hardware isn't that difficult.

@JaxonH yip! I'm currently playing Shantae & The Pirate's Curse, and the 3D slider is all the way up! I'm actually looking forward to going back to games like Luigis Mansion on my New 3DS XL

Good, NERD actually writes good emulators for the VC, Nintendo doesn't lol.

LOL NERD XD
I might get this during the Christmas time not sure tho

N64 mini would be cool, but N64 is already way cheaper to get into than NES or SNES. You can pick up an N64 and 6-8 games for $100

Every great emulator is made by a nerd.

I recall someone out in internet land claiming this would be something different from emulation. The save states, price point, and the fact that Nintendo already uses emulation weren't big enough giveaways, I guess.

Sounds like a good thing. The fact that they're making a new emulator is a sign that they're trying to get this right.

I always figured the hardware in the NES mini would be more similar to the 3DS(ARM based) than to the Wii(PowerPC). An arm SOC has many advantages in such a small form factor. Plus, they already have emulators for the 3DS. I didn't expect they'd be making a new one. They could be reusing some of the code from what they already have, I suspect.

As for a SNES mini, I actually think that would be harder to market in several ways, despite the love for the system. I have a harder time coming up with 30+ good games that are easy to pick up and have mainstream appeal and name value. Plus there are licensing issues(Turtles in Time would be a longshot). I doubt a SNES mini RPG box would sell in numbers Nintendo would need it to. It will be interesting to see what they do. If they do it, I expect Street Fighter 2 Turbo will be one of the main attractions.

Just hope they REALLY look into the feedback from VC NES buyers to get as good emulation as people expect for the £50 price tag...

Everyone who plays video games is a bit of a nerd. I really hope it runs at the proper speed in Europe 60hz. For me that would be a deal breaker. I'd cry.

For NERDs, made by NERD.

@Spoony_Tech
Please!!! 😁

@bolt05
Good idea

@Ninten-san

My brother loves stuff from the 80s, and he got really excited when I showed him the commercial of this release. He can never be by himself, he has several health issues along with his condition, he can't drive, and he can't have normal conversations. We still work with him and he goes to an adult program. He can play old Nintendo, and really loves Castlevania and Kirby. Growing up that was one of the things we'd do together. All I was saying was that I'm getting this for him. Its a perfect gift, as our old Nintendo eventually wore out.

Edit: I guess I mentioned his condition because maybe somebody else on here that has a family member like that, and it seemed like a good idea. I've always talked to other people about it, because theres always something to learn.

If only they could redo the NES VC releases on the Wii U.

@samuelvictor Any emulators that I know of that have been being developed for over 20 years, were being done for Windows, not for a system on a chip. And those emulators were made by amatures in their spare time, and were awful. Nesticle after all these years, is still terrible. Some of the more recent emulators are much more accurate. Having a professional for profit team should churn out something really nice.

@Luna_110 It has a USB port. I'm crossing my fingers you can update it and make purchases by connecting to your PC

@jbopatrick Nintendo has already addressed that. They said there is no way to add games and that the USB port is for power only. If anyone does manage to hack the thing, I don't think it will be simple.

@sdelfin Save states don't always mean it's a software emulator. If you can store what is in the system's memory somewhere, that's pretty much a save state. For example, the Everdrive N8 can use save states on actual hardware because it can read the NES memory.

It would've been nice to see this all done on an ASIC or FPGA rather than a software emulator, but maybe that's the purist in me hoping for what's ideal rather than what's practical from a business standpoint.

@VR32F1END
OK, I get it. I have autism too (Aspergers), but I can drive (if I was allowed to) and I don't have health problems, so it's hard for me to judge someone by just the word "autism".

@Ninten-san

My brother has a different kind. I've met people with aspergers, and I would never know they had it unless they told me! Lol. I didn't mean to upset you. Very sorry if I did.

@SnoopKatt thank you for offering that info. In this case, I'm aware. I have a Mega Everdrive, though the save states can be hit or miss. I don't know if it's more reliable on the NES version. While it's possible, the inclusion of save states/suspend points in a product like this would strongly favor software emulation over FPGA or ASIC. That's also why I mentioned price as well. The whole package made it obvious, before this confirmation, that this would be emulation. Not that I have any issue with that.

@VR32F1END
I'm not upset!

Those are some serious tech crunching dudes at NERD.

I'm now conficent that this device will deliver on what's promised.

My one wish for this system would be that it also supported tiny special-run cartridges. Even if it only ever amounted to five titles or so. That'd be spectacular.

What does NERD stand for? Nintendo Emulating ROM Drive?