Nintendo Has Discontinued The NES Classic Edition in North America

There are times when I truly feel like Nintendo hates their fans. This is one of those times.

Torches and Pitchforks anyone?

Excuse me?

The only good thing possible to take from this is that the virtual console is coming but what in the hell!
I havent even come close to getting one!

WTF? I mean I knew this would happen but I've never even SEEN one. ugh, to ebay before the scalpers get wind of this.

There was a report a few days ago that it's being discontinued in Australia. I posted it elsewhere, let me find the link.

http://www.vooks.net/report-thats-nintendo-classic-nes-mini-australia/

Why? I believe it's probably to do with it being hacked so much. The whole thing has been a fiasco from start to what now seems its finish with mainly dirtbag scalpers benefitting most.

I so hope they don't do the SNES Mini now. Not after the disaster that was this.

Worst handling of a product launch/availability ever.

This is nothing new for the company. They've been doing things like this for years.

Hilarious that they have discontinued something that I, and most of the American public never even saw in the first place lol

I'd like to be optimistic here and say "well, at least they won't make the same mistake if they do a mini SNES" but history tells me I'd be dead wrong.

Nintendo realizes that people still want this product, right? Why not continue to produce them?

I feel myself dying slowly😣

Well that's annoying. I know so many people who wanted one. Good luck to everyone trying to get one this month. Happy I was able to secure one back in November.

Probably to make way for VC announcements in the coming months.

That's just amazing! I've still never seen that thing in any stores ever!

Wow, and to think I was lucky enough to get one a few weeks ago. That is nuts, I still know people trying to find one without paying scalper rates. This will more than likely drive their prices even higher.

Got mine day of release, despite originally pre-ordering using a card that, in the meantime, expired! The Game Collection got in touch, cancelled my pre-order but gave me a code to use if I wanted to pre-order again. I thought they were great & like I said, got the mini & an extra controller from GAME on the day of release.

I would post a funny gif or video to this but I don't know how to to post it via cell phone.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE hacking the console is annoying but I doubt that's the main reason.

I have my NES mini I got on launch day. Waited outside Target for an hour in North Dakota USA. I love it, but I feel really upset that millions of other potential customers/fellow gamers will not get one of their own. Bad decision by Nintendo. This is only helping ebay scalpers profits.

It's bad enough I couldn't find the damn thing and now they're discontinuing it. Are they just that uninformed on their products or really just that stupid?

I wanted one but have never seen one.

Why in the world would they discontinue something that from as far as I can tell is in high demand from the fans? Don't know if cancelling this will give them more leeway to produce more Switches but if that isn't the reason I can't fathom as to what really is.

I cancelled my preorder back when this was released, hoping to get it down the line.
That was a stupid decision, and now I am super upset... 😢

If I recall correctly, in the early days of amiibo the less famous characters were intended to be limited-run products. I guess this is like that, except they actually went through with it instead of looking at demand and taking a hint.

Nintendo keep underestimating the strength of their own brand. I hope the Switch will give them a confidence boost.

I finally bought one at $120 (official price here in Chile). We haven't had new shipments in months, so when I saw one retailer had some units in stock today I decided to spend it.
I can't deny it is frustrating though - Nintendo's been terrible at handing the situation. Thank goodness I received some gift cards now so I won't pay full price for the Switch when I find it.

I think this was a hoax all along. I'm convinced they never actually produced or released this product, because nobody has ever actually seen one.

NES is the last console Nintendo wants to sell right now. Can't blame them, really.

Just wait until Switch is end of life, 100% you'll see this thing make a return then, gauranteed.

hope to gods the VC on the switch is good. one would hope so with all the emulators out...

@Captain_Toad It's more than enough reason for Nintendo to shut everything down. We all know how Nintendo are about piracy.

And if it does make a return next Christmas I guarantee the exploits on the original model will be gone.

@Dpishere it's to make potential customers pay more $ for the same titles on virtual console. 30 games 60 bucks is too good a deal for them now. Though I have one, won't stop me from buying the marios and zeldas for Switch virtual console since I'll want the option of taking those on the go.

Every day it becomes a little harder to defend Nintendo. Talk about a company that has no understanding of its consumer base.

This is all kinds of shady no matter what the excuse is from Nintendo. Corporations are full of it when it comes to this "supply and demand strategy" or "while supplies last", however they choose to play their words. They even had Reggie lying about it last November if I remember correctly. Lol. This is just lol worthy

They didn't have the VC on the Switch as it would have cannabilized sales of the MiniNES.
Now that this is done, VC is coming to the Switch.

Glad I was one of the lucky few that was able to pre-order through that random listing Target put up prematurely back in August, but I feel bad for those that STILL haven't been able to pick one up. Not surprising. Nintendo is terrible when it comes to meeting demand on popular products...

I only got one by taking a day off from work and showing up 2 hours before Gamestop opened. A bunch of family and friends I know wanted one but never did.
I have loved Nintendo's games and such for many years now, and probably always will, but as a company, I never have understood them.

I've never even seen one in a store. None of the ones near me ever even had it in stock past the first day.

But I really wanted one and now that I'm getting close to being able to afford one they discontinue it? That's nonsense!

Well, that was certainly quick to say the least. Glad I preordered.

Wow! Nintendo must REALLY hate money!!!!!!! loooooooooool

@uhhhhhhhh Sort out that language before the mods sort you out.

Odd decision. This prints money for Nintendo, so it seems silly to discontinue it.

Nintendo is really showing that they don't have a target audience anymore. Gamers or scalpers whatever is truly whatever as long as "somebody" buys the product. This is the funniest news I heard all day for real

I'm glad I decided the night before launch to go stand in line and buy one, or else I would not have gotten one as I never even saw one in stores since then.

I think this has to be because they are launching a Switch Virtual Console at E3 and wanted to not have the "competition" of the NES Classic on the market anymore. That's the only reason I can think of.

This isn't terrible news because outside of making a nice Christmas Day gift the NES mini kinda sucked, didn't it? 8bit games haven't aged all that well and the short cables gave it limited use.

Which leaves us with one acronym to chant:

SNES! SNES! SNES! SNES! SNES!

Nintendo: "So it turns out we actually don't like money."

Oh come on!
I've never even seen one of these things in a store, ever. I gave up my search in January. I still know tons of people that want these things.

dumb move from Nintendo. that's for sure.

That would have been nice to have...but oh well...

@Alikan Absolutely. The negative costs for selling these games on virtual console is almost nothing. Why pay production costs of the mini system and deplete some potential buyers of the virtual console? It's all bout the money. They can sell many fewer games on virtual console and still make more money.

@AlwaysGreener I'm down.

This is direct proof that the NES Classic was just for getting the brand name "Nintendo" back into the minds of society. They could have made a TON of money of this thing but... I guess they would rather wait until the Switch takes off... if they, you know, let people buy that too.

I am completely flabbergasted.

After December of last year came around and it was not easy to locate on a store shelf, I no longer cared.

I like how people are upset on a product that it wasn't meant to be a long-term thing. Sad people are sad indeed.

Besides, that what happens when you let nostalgia fully takes over your feelings. Also, we have to move forward with the Switch, because it's the future.

Nintendo I officially hate you right now. Thanks so much for screwing over your customers AGAIN, not keeping your promise to fix stock problems AGAIN, not letting people have a chance to pre-order and whoever thought this was a grand idea, ought to be fired.

Oh yeah and you can take your meaningless apologies and shove em where the sun don't shine!

So you're telling me a company has created an amazing product which everyone wants and is even willing to pay extra to get, and the reaction is to discontinue it? Sorry, today I get to be that guy, this is the stupidest Nintendo move ever, and frankly disappoints me.

Seems pretty obvious to me from a business perspective: they'd rather sell you a Switch so you can buy those games on the Virtual Console and also buy AAA titles and subscribe to their online service versus selling you a NES Classic, which is a one-time sale.

As @NateM94 said above, this is probably a good indicator that the Virtual Console is about to be announced for the Switch.

@ReshiramZekrom

Because sometimes they're spiteful morons who hate their customers and money.

@Azooooz Was there ever an official statement from Nintendo actually saying it was a temporary product? Honest question.

I can't help but think that this is also due to it being hacked and loaded with all the NES ROMs.

"NES Classic Edition wasn't intended to be an ongoing, long-term product. However, due to high demand, we did add extra shipments to our original plans."

So what? They made like 6 more?

That almost surely means I'll never own one of the controllers. I guess I only have myself to blame for not ordering when i had the chance.

Oh and the Scalpers and CEX who charge £30+

This is just plain dumb on Nintendo's part. It's clear that there was a lot of demand and it would have made them a lot of money. It makes no sense to get rid of this possible revenue stream, but that's their loss. I would have liked to have one, but it won't keep me up at night. It had a short cord anyways.

Pretty much a travesty. My modded NES minis are among my favorite gaming possessions. Bummer they couldn't produce more to meet demand, but expected since they carry a relatively small profit margin. Ironically meeting demand may not be in Nintendo's best interest...

How about a Switch game cart with the NES Classic Edition collection on it.

But I want to own one

"We understand that it has been difficult for many consumers to find a system, and for that we apologize. We have paid close attention to consumer feedback, and we greatly appreciate the incredible level of consumer interest and support for this product."

Translation: We have been listening to fan feedback about how difficult it is to obtain a NES Classic, but we simply don't give a &#-% and could care less about making money.

@VR32F1END Now that is genius! A cart with all the mini NES games on it for what £40? Sold!

@Azooooz

"I like how people are upset on a product that it wasn't meant to be a long-term thing. Sad people are sad indeed."

No one expected it to be a long term thing, but I did expect to be able to at least go out and find one. I have never seen one in the wild, ever. As far as I'm concerned, I have more of a chance of finding Bigfoot in my backyard, than finding an NES Classic on any day from when it launched, until now.

I can understand why Nintendo would want to discontinue this:
1) Free up production lines and focus efforts on building Switch supply for current demand
2) Build marketing hype for the new Switch system
3) Demand for Switch that will sell $50-$60 per game outpaces demand for NES classic at fixed $60 retail per unit (not figuring scalpers)
4) Virtual console will be coming out to Switch shortly
5) Build marketing hype of new VC on Switch
6) Easy to find hack allows the NES Classic makes it possible to play all games

Overall, NES Classic was a good product introduced at the wrong time. Nintendo could continue production of this but likely at the expense of more Switch units. They would be better off farming this off to a 3rd party with their own production line but this would likely be at the expense of quality control and that is not something that Nintendo would want to wrestle with.

All of this said, I've never seen one short of launch day and I was two people shy of what they had in stock. I made another attempt when Amazon advertised their stock window. When that was thwarted by a sellout in 45 seconds, I gave up.

None of the above reasons make it easy to be a Nintendo fan. I, among many others, would like to give them my well-earned money but it's very difficult when the supply just isn't there. An opportunity exists for this product but until demand is filled on Switch, or at least reasonably so, I don't see them dusting this box off again anytime soon.

Good riddance. If the Switch's Virtual Console gets all of these games along with the added bonus to transfer over previous purchases, it'll make this gadget obsolete.

I've owned every Nintendo console that came to NA since the NES. This is borderline infuriating. Some people aren't granted the luxury of having time to wait for a product to get stocked in order to purchase it within the 10-minute interval it's available. Why is Nintendo so incompetent when it comes to meeting demand?

I sure am glad I managed to get one on launch day for normal price.

Man, those little fellas are gonna be gold in the future! Anyhoo, here is hoping to online multiplayer, leader boards and portability with the virtual console.

As bad as this is, it's more than a month since Switch released, and they still aren't easily available.

@nab1 If you answer this question, you will find the answer: "Did Nintendo said that NES Classic Mini would be on store shelves for 2-3 years?"

I get that this was a holiday item that got an unexpected additional run. What I don't get is why did Nintendo not allow for preorders? When they did so for other regions. They don't normally do that with holiday runs (so many BF bundles that are one and done), but they extended it out and gave other regions the chance to preorder...that is what stings. Also can they at least just make the controllers? I honestly want that more than the system.

I never saw one on a store shelf. Not never. To me this makes no difference since they didn't exist for purchase anyway. I will say that this frees up production for other products. The optimist in me says ramping up Switch production after an epic (I hope) E3 showing.

The realist in me says this starts production of the Snes classic.

I find myself constantly amused at gamers who get infuriated at being unable to purchase a device that plays 30+ year old games.

Nostalgia's great and all but in this digital age the last thing I need is another device around my TV.

Strange decision. Hopefully this means that the Switch Virtual Console will be really good.

@Rumncoke25

I would love to see a SNES mini, but this went so poorly, I cringe at the very thought of something so awesome, yet completely unobtainable.

Just one thing in my mind: **** Nintendo!!!

Nintendo discontinue the NES Classic after they successfully meet consumer demand and maximize their return on the product... in an alternate reality where they make sound business decisions.

It does suck not getting something I want, but it makes sense. This was never supposed to be a new product line; this was something they threw together really quickly just so they could have something to sell in a Christmas season where their old console was completely dead and their new console wasn't ready yet. They started manufacturing it at one of the lowest points the company's been at in a while; if they made too many and lightning hadn't struck the way it did, they'd have two dead consoles collecting dust on shelves. The general public's reaction could have easily been "meh, that's neat, but I'm not paying $60 for the same 30-year-old games Nintendo's always pushing; why can't they make something new?" Sega's had plug-n-play Genesises (Geneses?) for years now, with more games and expandable memory, and most people don't care about those. In hindsight it seems obvious that they should have made 100 million of them, but this wasn't a sure thing. And with people complaining that they can't meet manufacturing demand on the actual new console they released a month ago, should they really be devoting manufacturing resources right now to what's ultimately a gimmicky toy? If the Switch fails, making more plug-n-play classic systems is definitely something they can fall back on, but right now the priority should be on maintaining the momentum of their actual product.

Just like the Black Friday 3DS, they'd rather try to upsell you than let you get what you want easily and more affordably.

Maybe they're being smart and plan to "resell" the millions of NES minis they have left on eBay.

Hopefully this means that Nintendo is going all in on the SNES and N64 Classic Mini's.

@Captain_Gonru We can probably just cut and paste my anti-Nintendo rant from this morning and put it here where I meant for it to be.

@Azooooz That's not an answer, I honestly meant to ask for a source if there was ever a comment from Nintendo saying this was a temporary product, because I don't recall. There's no need for them to say it WILL be on stores for years, because that's what products usually do if they are selling well and what consumers would expect, UNLESS specifically indicated, like "limited edition" or so. But thanks, your comment truly was helpful.

@Gold_Ranger If Switch VC doesn't have the CRT filter and other screen options, offer each game for $2, or let players use the original NES pad, then it wasn't worth discontinuing the NES Mini.

lol Xbox!

@Paddle1 Realistically Nintendo likely sees the NES Classic Mini as a failure because of how easy it is to use pirated games on as they used open source code for the operating system. And as it's a stand-alone device it can't be easily updated with "stability updates". Just my rant on the matter. I was one lucky enough to buy one so I won't be grabbing my pitchfork and joining everyone else at Nintendo Headquarters in Redmond.

Any body else need anything else to be annoyed about, Gamestop tweeted and NOA retweeted 4 hours ago the beginning of their "Store exclusive" amiibo.

https://twitter.com/GameStop/status/852563440694591489

I'd love to see them offer a bundle of those exact 30 games for$60 on Switch. I'd buy that bundle

WTF?!

@rjejr Oh... not the Zelda amiibo, too! I thought that select retailer exclusivity BS would be exclusive to the 6 Smash amiibo!

@nab1 Even if Nintendo didn't state anything about that, it's obvious from the start that this thing would be temporary. I mean, why would you expect that Nintendo plans to continue selling a product that would cannibalize its newest console. I read on twitter many times that people want NES Classic mini more than the Switch, and that is where Nintendo started to worry.

"In other news, Nintendo president Kimishima was seen literally throwing money into a garbage can."

In all seriousness, though, I'm guessing this is to clear the way for VC on Switch (and possibly to free up resources to produce more Switch units). The NES Classic was likely just a short-term thing to get the average consumer thinking about Nintendo again, as part of the company's larger efforts to increase their brand awareness/popularity. I'd be willing to believe it wasn't originally even going to be produced for this long.

Still sucks, though.

What everyone else said.

The only explanation for this is the incoming VC is going to be something special and they don't want the Mini to potentially cannibalize sales from the expected demand for the VC.

If its not, then Nintendo are once again going off in a direction that only they understand.

@Turbo857 I too really want to see the VC on Switch take off. Hopefully they fine tune the emulation though compared to what was on Wii U. I still bought a bunch of VC on Wii U but the dim display and almost lazy porting was disappointing to say the least. Still when Nintendo does bring classic Nintendo VC games to the Switch I will definitely be buying or rebuying a good library's worth of them. A cross-buy system would also be welcome.

On a collector's note, boy am I glad I snagged both a mini NES and mini Famicom! And I haven't even opened the mini fami yet.

Never did I imagine they would end production for such a popular product!

I would love to say something humerous about this — and this situation is funny as well as sad — but it's not coming out in a way that isn't extremely negative or just unclear. So with that said, what a monumentally mismanaged product. It's situations like these that cause me to have very mixed feelings toward Nintendo.

If this is due to the hacking of the unit, it shows how foolish they are if they thought the product would be difficult to hack with the design it has. This discontinuation communicates loud and clear that the scalpers should keep on scalping Nintendo stuff, since there was virtually no downside to doing so with this thing. Anyone sitting on any units will likely get very high prices for remaining units.

Smart move! If something is in high demand, stop producing them!

@ElekidDude Switch VC can't be worth this kind of crap. I think it's more likely due to the fact that their super-rare or otherwise ridiculously expensive system has been broken to where you can install 700+ games on the thing, so Ninty's pulling the plug while it's hard to come across.

How can you tell lol

@wiggleronacid True, i think the NES mini was sort of a "Let's get something people want on the shelves for Christmas!"-product, and Christmas is now over, so the NES mini's job is done.

@Azooooz Fair enough, but this announcement is just too sudden. From what we know, the current state was just that there were production issues and they were struggling to meet demand, so for them to just come out and say "BTW, we're now discontinuing this thing you wanted" is just poor customer expectation management at best. I mean, this things was pretty much impossible to buy at retail price unless you lived on very specific cities and potentially camped out for it.

Anyway, I guess it is what it is. I'm not one to complain about Nintendo like most do on every single announcement like most do, but today, I truly feel "cheated" (for lack of a better term).

@RadioHedgeFund

I use mine quite a bit, beaten Metroid, playing through Final Fantasy and tons of Mario gaming with the wife. Its a great little system! You can get wireless joysticks and long extension cords, with nifty cases that can hold it all. I love my mini NES and now I'm double glad I got it and the mini famicom.

It was already discontinued in Europe for some time. A Gamestop store manager already confirmed this over two months ago, several big online stores here had pulled the product back in January and canceled all open standing orders!!

I was laughed at and ridiculed on this site when I posted about this.

Ah well.......told you so.

@Nico07 Sounds about right, between being much more affordable than Virtual Console and being piracy ready Nintendo will discontinue a product fans love in an attempt to get more money out of them. It's not that they hate money... just the opposite.

@VR32F1END great idea

So obviously, the mini NES was nothing more than a marketing tool to get people hyped for the Switch. That is very clear now, they wanted to rebuidt a 1988 type hype for Nintendo and hoped it would drive demand for the Switch.

I'm sure resellers are rejoicing today with this news.

I can see where they're coming from if the Virtual Console is indeed coming. If it isn't, then they've completely lost their minds.

@Kayfios Nintendo giveth, Nintendo taketh away.

Too bad lately they seem better at taking than giving.

Mini NES has become a distraction for Nintendo's main hardware goals. Good riddance. Future focused!

Honestly, I can't blame them. The only reason people have been willing to pay a lot more than $60 for it is because of the scalpers hogging the majority of them. Nintendo should have just priced it originally at $100; if they tried to increase the price now, they'd just get bad press. Doesn't make it any less annoying: all I wanted was an NES controller, but looks like that won't happen.

@rjejr Yeah I flipped a table about that in another thread. sigh.

Lol wut

@Nico07

Or a discount at the very, very least. I love Punch-Out but I just can't bring myself to buy it digitally again for $5.

I'm hoping for a solid Virtual Console Switch launch.

@Nintenerdguy EXACTLY. I mean why should we all buy a $60 item that has 30 items when we could go on the Virtual console and use that same $60 to buy 12 NES games! (#Sarcasm cause you probably don't realize NES Mini is a better deal)

@Yorumi

I agree completely. When I first saw the NES Classic, I said to myself, "You know what? I can get behind this. Since they have no Wii U games to sell this Xmas, at least they can sell this as a nice stocking-stuffer."

Then they make about 6 of them, and say, "Yeah that's enough."

It's almost insulting, really. I get it if they mis-measured the demand at first (but even then, not really, cause when it was announced everyone got really excited), but to just quit while the demand is still there? That's just stupid beyond belief. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, they just don't want our money.

I wouldn't be surprised if the system being cracked wide open by hackers has something to do with this decision. I mean, it's apparently extremely easy to feed the entire NES library to your NES Classic and more, and I don't see Nintendo being okay with that.

Let's reenact how this went down at Nintendo HQ...

Nintendo Exec #1: How's that NES Mini selling in the US?

N Exec #2: Selling like hot cakes sir. Can't keep it on the shelves!

N Exec #1: Wait, so it's not the shelves at all times to advertise our products like the WiiU was?

N Exec #2: Well... I guess not, because people are buying it!

N Exec #1: This is no good. Discontinue it!

N Exec #2: Hmm... I see your point. We don't want to spend money on marketing, so having undesirable products sit on the shelves is much more effective to getting our name out there!

N Exec #3: Wait you two, I don't think that's how it works. Don't we want to make money?

Everyone Else in the Room: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.... make money? With games? Why would we want to do that when we can sell our dumb fans amiibo that do nothing in the 5 games we release for our systems each year?

~~~~~
And scene....

The part that's frustrating about Nintendo isn't even their limited supply. Fine, the thing is limited, make them, launch them, then its done. But their "we're still making them, no we're not, yes we are, please be patient, nope, done." I get this product should not have existed, it was the death of the WiiU and the delay of Switch that made it exist. I get that it was a mix of marketing and having SOMETHING to sell at Christmas, and I get that they genuinely didn't expect it to be super popular. And I get that it makes no money and conflicts with their real products and was a hacked liability on top of all that.

But it would be a lot better if they just said that instead of saying one thing and then arbitrarily doing the opposite. They need better communication. I know communication with mere peasants is the opposite of a Japanese business, but it would really benefit them here.

In a way the problem is they messed up the original launch, misjudged the market, but then TRIED to half hearted satisfy customers when they knew they didn't really have the setup for that. They never ever ever ever intended to sell this along side Switch.

@thesilverbrick I got one. 😀

I was #13 in line at GameStop on Launch Day morning and there were only 10 units in stock and I've never seen any in stock after that.

@gcunit Okay I needed a laugh. That's pretty funny!

It's probably a good thing I don't live near Seattle. The smoke from the burning NoA headquarters would kick start my allergies.

On a serious note, this doesn't particularly bother me much. Most of the games on the NES Classic that I would have played are already part of my VC library. I do feel sorry for those who really want a system as they're likely stuck with the scalper market past this point.

I think the whole problem started with Nintendo pretending this wasn't just a holiday gift stopgap to make up for a dead Wii U release schedule.

@Ryu_Niiyama I can't picture you flipping a table, you're 1 of the more level-headed ones, but that gif was pretty funny. Guess we all have our tipping points. Actually I have nothing but tipping points, but I'm naturally old and cranky.

NES Classic >>> Switch

I think it was more to have something out for the holidays last year since Wii U was dead with no one getting one since the Switch was coming out, thus all they had was Pokemon Sun/Moon and 3DS Mario Maker.

That said, I don't think we'll see a SNES Mini this year at least, not if they want that eventual Switch VC to be a success what with added online features etc.

@Yorumi

Amen to that. The communication was really, really bad for this. I don't even believe they made more, and it was all just smoke and mirrors.

This was even worse than the wave 4 amiibo debacle, and I thought that was a pretty awful time. To your point though, even then they used the, "yep we're making more, but maybe not, shelf space, ah!" line. They are never clear about anything.

@Turbo857 I doubt we'll get anything special from the Switch's Virtual Console, if it does get released that is. It'll probably be as sub-par as the Wii U's VC with it's drawn out colors and poor control configurations. The fact that you believe that this would cannibalize the Switch's virtual console is complete hogwash. It's bad enough Nintendo screwed up with this, but it's even worse when fanboys damage control the situation and act as if it was good thing.

@Nintenerdguy
Uh excuse me? I'm sorry? No. Those games are actually 30 of some of the best known classics on the bloody system. And the mini is a good deal. Or it would have been if nintendo didn't have their head jammed so far up their rear ends.

@XCWarrior

Oh to be a fly on the wall during that meeting.

@rjejr Okay I wouldn't actually flip a table (I'd THINK about it really hard though!!!) but it has not been smooth sailing building my amiibo collection. I like that I can just walk in a store now and buy them...I'm a bit bummed we are back to threatening to fight for amiibo while the gamestop clerk looks on and laughs.

@Tempestryke Yo, you ok there ma'am? I don't think I've ever seen you this hostile.

My browser is being weird atm. sigh.

@Ryu_Niiyama I'm okay. I'm just very annoyed.

That's a shame. A coworker of mine has been looking for one for her kids ever since they came out and she doesn't want to pay a scalper.

"We appreciate high demand yet we're discontinuing the thing" - now THIS is something you don't see every day. Although as a limited nostalgic special, NES Mini was probably never planned in NDS-tier numbers selling which would outweigh the downside of hackers making it a rampant emulator box in 10 seconds flat.

All the more incredible that with such a supply and lifespan, NES Mini even managed to reach Belarusian shelves of all places.

Well the nes was particularly popular in NA can't see them continuing it across Europe if they are ceasing sales in their most popular region

@BiasedSonyFan

Well golly gee! Everything is so clear now. It is almost as if a real console is the main driver of their business.

You are missing the point entirely about how much they screwed this product from the get-go, and how many easy sales they lost during the busiest time of the year. The thing was an impulse buy, and it should have been everywhere during the holidays, especially since they literally had nothing else to sell.

In the end, the scalpers wins. Damn Nintendo I thought you guys were better than this, Sega and AtGames has had their mini Sega Genesis plug and play on the market for years but you guys gave up on the NES plug and play in less than six months.

@Yorumi

I agree! But Nintendo's strategies typically leave many things to be desired! I think this is nuts, but hey, I've never run a multi billion dollar company, what do I know?

@AlwaysGreener

Slow down 'dere, partner... don't remember saying anything about cannibalization with regards to the classic NES eating Virtual Console sales. I don't believe the 2 are directly related.

My point was to illustrate that classic NES games appearing on the Switch's VC, would eventually scratch that nostalgia itch for those burned by classic NES shortages.

I'm just poking fun at people complaining about being unable to buy a device that plays 30+ year old games. That's just funny to me. I don't care enough about the classic NES to do "damage control".

@BiasedSonyFan Yeah, but they still had the potential to make money with NES classic. The Wii U being dead as a door nail, the 3DS slowly moving out of the spotlight, and the Switch being the juggernaut of sales that it is, there is no possible way that the NES classic can hurt it sales. Hell, it could bring more potential customers to Nintendo, with the whole retro craze going on these days. Any sale is a good sale and it's still desired by many who would give their hard earn cash to buy it, but why go against it? The Switch has solid footing with no real competition in it's wake that could move it, since it's on a league of it's own, console wise that is. Why would Nintendo just give up on potential gold mine?

@Yorumi Your theory of Nintendo artificially driving up demand for their products only works if Nintendo are trying to sell those products. Clearly there's no point in going out of your way to increase demand for a product that you don't plan on selling for more than a couple months.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE
Frankly this makes the most sense as things got super quiet after the first hack. In fact looking back at the NES classics articles on this site looks like the Famicon was hack only 4 days after Ninty made their statement that they would have a steady flow for the holidays.

I honestly can't fault them for discontinuing since now that the mini has been hacked so that you can have the entire system's library on it. For them to keep producing it will slit their throats virtual console wise as who in their right mind will spend a dime on VC when you can spend 60 bucks and get an entire generations worth of gaming.

Granted I'm sure not everyone would hack it but they can't take the chance.

Kinda feel bad as what was once probably once a nice holiday filler meant to stave off the drought they had ended up as a screwed one way or really screwed in another way.

I just hope they learn not to have such an easily hackable product and try again with the SNES mini. Might even be what has spurred on this call for hack hunting for the 3DS and Switch.

Unfortunately the truth lies with Nintendo and given how famously tight lipped they are I don't think they would ever be inclined to share the inside story the flaming mess that was the NES classic.

@Yorumi Something tells me that this was a Japan decision and even NoA doesn't understand why.

Meh, It was probably a limited time only thing anyways. Never had interest in it anyhow.

@retro_player_22

Well said! In fact to enhance your point, I was at toys r us earlier this week and saw beautiful, well-stocked shelves of Sega, Gameboy, Coleco, Atari and Namco plug n plays and there were quite a few interested customers, looking at them and talking to their friends about how much they loved playing them and taking them to the counter to buy them.

I bet its because it got hacked

Great. Now the scalpers are going to drive their price for this into the ground. Oh well, I can forget ever getting one now. The un-obtainable carrot... truly disheartening.

Hacking is nothing to do with this. Like the post said, this was never intended to be a long term supported product. Even the extra shipments were a stretch.

But this will give them food for thought the next time they do this... They will double the price and double the shipments.

There has to be logical reason for this, either there's a version 2 thats going to come out or thrres going to be something included with the switch online subscription that would be counter productive

@Ryu_Niiyama "I like that I can just walk in a store now and buy them.."

You know, w/ Zelda selling gangbusters on both Wii U and Switch I thought I'd be able to walk into a store and buy Wolf Link and the Gaurdian for my nephew for his birthday, but no such luck after about 7 stores, including Nintendo NY where they said no more Wolf Links ever. So good luck, I think you'll need it w/ these new ones. W/ FF7 being remastered Cloud may fly off the shelves to people who would never even consider buying a Nintendo console, those FF fanbois are out there drooling.

Scalpers be all

Now I can flip the one I got from Best Buy a couple of weeks ago and be filthy scalper rich! Bwahahaha.

I'm gonna keep it though, really, cause it'll never be 60 bucks again.

@Xaessya Ugh. I just saw some that ended for 88 bucks an hour ago. Sigh.

@Agent721 for the price of all that though you could get a Wii, an extra controller and your own choice of VC games to while away the evenings.

It's just I'm a SEGA fanboy at heart. For me 8bit = Master System!

But imagine a SNES Mini: Mario World, Mario Kart, LttP, Secret of Mana, FFVI, Super Probotector, SFII, DKC, Starwing....

@Turbo857 But paying $60 for 30 games was just a better deal, then just paying $5 for each game. I'm sorry if I snapped at you, I've been looking for this thing for months, but to no avail. The fact that it's just now been discontinued both struck a nerve of frustration, while also being disheartening for many like me who've looking for it all this time.

This makes no sense. This could literally be a long term product that sells millions upon millions upon millions of units over years and years and years. This caters to a much wider audience than just those people into videogames. This could be sold as a 'toy' and people who will never ever ever buy a Nintendo console with a VC will buy this. And a SNES mini. And possibly an N64 mini. The VC cannot be the reason.

What the hell are they doing, cancelling probably their most genius move in years? (yes that includes the Switch).

I can only hope they are releasing a revamped version or something. Nintendo baffle me at times. Lots of times actually.

Nintendo have become worthless hats. Useless greedy pieces of crap. ESPECIALLY where NA is concerned.

And they never said it was going to be a short run. What they DID say was for fans to hang on because there would be plenty more coming. More than once when reports surfaced that Nintendo were going to end production, Nintendo officials lied and said that production would not only continue and shipments go out regularly, they also said that production would actually increase. Lying sacks of crap.

Smh..Ish like this is the reason I pirate their sh@# now LMAO.

@RadioHedgeFund If they put starfox on it, I'm totally punching somebody in the face for a SNES mini. ...Well, mentally anyway. Why can't I be mean? Sigh.

@rjejr Wow I thought you had it better with Nintendo NY nearby. Sigh. Hopefully I'll snag some amazon preorders....

@Ryu_Niiyama
$88 is pretty decent... Here, the official price is $120 and its sold out!

The management of this thing is a disaster, if a Snes mini everything comes around I won't even bother. It seems that you almost have to force Nintendo to receive your money!

Shame. Nintendo could've kept this going. Ah well, I'll just keep playing the games with emulators.

If they release a SNES classic edition, I would make ABSOLUTE sure I would get one.

Nintendo is clearly worried the NES Mini would outsell the Switch so they discontinued it so the Switch stood a chance of doing well.

It's pretty clear the NES Mini only existed to fill the temporary void left by the discontinuation of the Wii U. Now that the Switch is out and selling, Nintenso wants everyone's attention there.

This only surprises me because the store I work at has finally been getting decent stock of NES Classics over the past week. I thought it would be like that from now on!

@RadioHedgeFund

Yeah and they'll just screw us SNES fans over the exact same way. Because Nintendo believes that learning from their mistakes is for fools!

@Ryu_Niiyama "Nintendo NY nearby"

Well, my wife only had to wait online 90 minutes day 1 to get a NES Mini. Then about every 3 days they put out a tweet from the store saying more were in, then in about 30 minutes another tweet saying they were out. And that lasted for a few months until Switch launched alongside Zelda and the NES Mini was kind of forgotten about.

So we do have it "better", but better with Nintendo is relative. I can probably get anything we want Day 1 waiting on line long enough, it's picking things up as gifts later on that even the store can't help with.

Based on twitter feedback I'm don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that store alone could have sold easily 10x more NES Mini than they ever got in. Who knows how many more, but 10x no problem. Before the holiday it was crazy. I don't get why they stopped, those Sega consoles have been on shelves for years and years, they never go away. NES Mini could have sold for years easily at $60.

@RadioHedgeFund

The SNES Mini must come out! It would be even more popular. Too bad the Genisis ones aren't good. I've been wanting to get one, but the reviews are poor.

Just another example of something utterly and completely ruined by sites like Amazon and EBay that thrive off of scalpers. I never even saw a single NES mini anywhere the entire time it was available. Absolutely disappointed in Nintendo for not making enough to go around. I imagine they were worried it would cut into VC profits. This news really bums me out.

@Agent721 The Irony is the Wii is probably the best retro SEGA console you can buy! The selection of MS/MD Genesis games on the Wii VC is pretty good.

I am so lucky I was able to snag one last week!

Another almost 200 angry comments from irate fans with a heightened sense of entitlement. Better luck next time.

@AlwaysGreener

Torches and pitchforks EVERYONE. Now.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE @Hamguar

I don't think it's the hacking. Nintendo never shipped many to the US. There were always large gaps in the shipment schedule and only a few ever arrived at a time. And besides a couple of shipments in November the standalone controllers haven't been available and there are no hacking concerns with those (very awesome for VC). The best theory I read is the NES classic was simply a way for them to get rid of some spare Wii parts. The controller PCB is the same as what was used the Wii U pro controller. The ports are all Wii based. This makes sense to me because after it became in demand all controllers were saved for the systems whereas this would have been a huge opportunity to sell to Wii and Wii U VC owners. Nintendo is naïve if they thought a system on a chip would never be hacked. In fact, it seems they expected it to get hacked. https://www.geek.com/games/nintendo-hides-secret-message-for-hackers-inside-nes-classic-1685039/

Almost makes me want to return my Switches and give Nintendo the BIG MIDDLE FINGER!

Nes Classic Mini 30 games Switch/3ds cartridge/download incoming...

Glad i got mine but only played it over Xmas. Please do SNES mini though.

Let's just say Nintendo offered to go into production on these again and supplied one to everyone who wanted one. They ask for a show of hands or everyone to email them to put in a request for how many they're down for and make the orders on a bespoke basis. How many people do you think actually want one? The angry comments on this forum represent 200 people at most. How many other Nintendo centric sites are there with comments sections? How many of them will generate more than 200 people commenting that they want one?
To go back into production with this - to make the casings and the molds for it and the internals for like 1000 people who actually want one. Not worth it. It was designed to generate some sales - probably to pay for some Switch marketing or something just to keep things afloat. It's a 30+ year old games console. If these were on store shelves taking up room like the licences Sega consoles, then retailers would stop purchasing units and they just rot on shelves. And most people only want them because they're in demand. I've seen the Sega ones in store and contemplated ordering online and I always end up thinking 'nah, I don't play most of the new games I have anymore' and don't get it in the end. Do you really think Nintendo refuses anyone's money? They don't.

Hm...
Who want Mini SNES from Nintendo after Mini NES discontinued ?

@ottospooky What a STUPID COMMENT!

@freaksloan your comment above wasn't the most measured and cool headed response, either. Would you really return your Switch to Nintendo just because they didn't make enough of a different product? C'mon now. I understand it's frustrating not to get what you want sometimes but people need to relax a little bit

I struggle to grasp this decision. They could have sold a ton more of them like printing money. The fans would be happy. Everyone wins. But they do this, who wins? How is this a solid business decision on any level?

It's such a rough tear... From the perspective of having one, it's not really that big a deal outside of being Nintendo memorabilia. The lack of default wireless functionality + the ability to get most games on any modern Nintendo system renders it more to the side of "cool, but there are mkre efficient options out there".

At the same time, I'd probably be pretty miffed if I was still hunting for one and heard this news. Being denied the chance to purchase something you're willing to throw money towards is never a fun feeling...

At the very least, Nintendo should've been straight about everything and said this was gonna be a limited run from the start (and maybe not hype it up so much).

Um, guys.
Why so angry by discontinuation of Mini NES ?
Those NES games can be found on E-shop and you can buy it, play it anytime. Well... maybe not as cheap as Mini NES ($2 each) but at least you got the game.

Well I doubt I'll be able to get one. This thing usually only stays in stock for less than ten minutes when it restocks.

Well, I'm glad I got ahold of one. I do agree with everyone else though- this is quite the punch in the gut.

@ottospooky

I think you woefully underestimate the demand for this thing. The consoles were going for $120 on ebay prior to the announce around 4. Now they are going for $300. There was one seller that had 94 for sale at $152 and sold all 94 within an hour of the announcement by Nintendo that they were discontinuing. Plus, I'm not sure why new molds would need to be made because the molds exist now right?

Point #1
Scalpers for the win. I must remember to become a scalper next time.
2. Anyone fearing it was because of hacking might not be correct because if you have the games to put on it you were playing them already anyhow some other way. So what would change?
3. Although the argument that it is disc because VC is coming makes complete sense, that is the reason I can't believe that.
This just sucks. I only wanted the controller anyway. There isnt any reason to not keep making the controller.

@Claytonbob "Unfortunately the NES Classic Edition has been discontinued, but worry not, Nintendo fans! All these games and more are available on the Wii, 3DS, Wii U, and (coming soon) Switch Virtual Console!"

Main point is that Nintendo could benefit in shifting back to more modern consoles and make more money as people are buying games $5 a pop (not including other VC platforms) from the eShop.

And no, that isnt necessarily "anti-consumer", though it does suck for the fans.

@DTFaux

These games have already been available on VC. If people weren't willing to buy a modern system in a different price bracket for these before (either Wii or Wii U) they won't buy a Switch for them. Many of these people are not in the market for that type of gaming. I know I've had at least 6 people at my work express interest in the mini. These people are not gamers, they aren't buying a Switch. But $60 for some nastolgia on games they played 30 years ago? Yeah, they'd have been up for that. But they don't get that opportunity now.

@cleveland124 i think that there has probably been a surge in the popularity of the product through third party sellers because of the announcement that thing isn't being made anymore. I think people are hoping to become scalpers themselves by sitting onto it for a while. But even those numbers are probably small fry for Nintendo.
I don't know much about retail and manufacturing costs but the profit margins on this thing must have been so small that Nintendo would rather not bother continuing with production. Plus it's a one time purchase thing, unlike Switch and other consoles where there is software licensing and publishing and all these additional revenue streams. With this it's the console only and possibly a controller and that's it.

@rjejr And the TP Link and Amazon exclusive Skyward Sword were gone in seconds. Cool.

@rjejr hmm... honestly that is in many ways worse than my situation. Aside from the initial amiibo surge and the NES mini (and the ME of Zelda...grumble grumble), I've been able to order what I want online and not pay scalper prices (and of course no wait in line). Ah well, they are just games. Inconvenient yes, but my house looks like a gamestop anyway. I have plenty of games to play. The amiibo are going to be an annoyance though.

@MailOrderNinja What? I've been on Amazon all day...I wish I didn't hold Zelda sacred sometimes.

I think I'll just go buy an NES.

@ottospooky

Well the guy who sold 94 in an hour sold almost exclusively ones and twos. If it was scalpers thinking they could make a flip they'd buy up a lot more at a time and hold them. In early February Nintendo said they sold 1.5 million in the US and they have never met demand. There is no way only 300 people didn't get the mini they wanted.

This is what really grinds my gears about Nintendo and their absolute incompetence at restocking products. Like REALLY Nintendo! It has been YEARS of stock issues at this point that they seem to refuse to learn from. From Amiibo waves 1-3, to majoras mask 3ds limited editions which got picked up by scalpers within an hour, to Fire emblem fates special editions, to NES classic editions, to black Friday 3ds models, to Fire Emblem Echoes limited edition (which sold out from gamestop in the US within 4 days of being available to order), to the Nintendo Switch itself. I'm so fed up with all this stock BS! All people want to do is to be able to give you their money for a product that they want and Nintendo is seemingly alergic to providing enough stock. In comparison on the NISA website you can preorder the culdcept revolt and it's special edition and it still has enough stock for the people who want it. You can even order the special edition for a niche game named Grand Kingdom, which came out almost a YEAR ago! With Atlus you can still order the limited edition of Persona 5 on Amazon a week after release! Meanwhile with Nintendo FE echoes special edition is sold out MONTHS before launch with none ever to be made again. FE Fates limited edition sold out 3 months before it's release and now goes for $300+ because of BS limited stock. And finally with the NES Classic, after being sold out for months, poof, no more stock. Like COME ON Nintendo. I'm so sick and tired of this! It is utterly amazing how small companies like Atlus and NIS handle stock better than a large corporation like Nintendo

This makes me really sad. My Mom wanted this soooooo much. She wants it more than anything. I hope we can get one in the last shipment. I love my mom more than anything, and she hasn't wanted something this much in forever. F you Nintendo. F you. You can't seem to realize people want to buy your stuff, but we can't because of your stock policies.

I had the chance to buy one the other day actually, but passed. I've just recently bought a Snes console (complete in box, for only $20 more than a new Nes mini) & would now much prefer the real deal.
Plus there's no Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout on the mini, so no sale!

@Ryu_Niiyama To be fair I never saw it go live, but it now has the unavailable sign up. I put both of them on my nowinstock tracker, but I'm not holding my breath. Even my local store was out of preorders for the TP Zelda. We still don't know who is getting Majora's Mask and thus the Fierce Diety armor in BotW.

I thought with the amiibo we were done with this.

@Ichiban Bugs bunny crazy castle. I didn't know how to curse at the age of 4 but I made some words up.

...and Darkman. Flippin Darkman.

@NinChocolate By then we'll be playing NES on the microchips in our brains, cruising our flying cars across the Martian landscape and sipping Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters​. I suppose the old geezers up at the retirement dome might want those oldfangled controllers though.

I'd ask for a SNES Mini, but I already own most of the games I would want to play on it. Same went for NES Mini. My heart goes out to anyone who wanted it, though. I sometimes wish that I had the money to buy these collector items up and sell them at a discount online just to be an anti-scalper.

@rjejr
This is so weird. It has to be the too-easy-to-hack thing, doesn't it? I mean this thing is the perfect way to play a bunch of NES ROMs and the popularity and buzz about it, bubbled them all up to easy access, and YouTube videos made it easy for grandma to do it herself.

Emulation and ROMs has always been out there but the tweaking and messing around with things that don't work and not easily transitioning to your regular entertainment center all places a bit of a buffer where Nintendo could rely on convenience to charge for their games on their platforms.

The excitement around this product makes it just way too enticing and easy to immediately have ALL the NES ROMs playing on it... and quite well.

I don't know what to say, though. I mean, it was such a hot product and such a huge miscalculation by Nintendo. It should have carried them through Xmas but instead...

I described the likelihood and history behind this type of decision in nearly article long posts last year, so I won't belabor the point again. I'll just say this:

Nintendo is the king of manufactured scarcity. It was true nearly 32 years ago, and it's still true today. Read the books "Game Over" by David Sheff and "Console Wars" by Blake Harris. They explain everything.

Basically, when it comes down to it, the NES Mini was nothing more than a cold, calculated business tactic to drum up interest in the Nintendo brand. They don't care who got them. It was well and good enough for public recognition to shoot up exponentially, by producing just enough to draw manic levels of interest, but not enough to meet demand.

In fact, they didn't need to meet demand at all. Their real profit motive has already been accomplished. Interest in the Switch is now very high. They don't need the NES Mini anymore. So they discarded it.

@rjejr
I love the little NES and I keep it among my other amiibo. Maybe it should just be an amiibo that unlocks a bunch of games on a Switch? and you can get a modern NES controller that is wireless or latches on to a Switch?

Only reason I'm grasping at straws here is that I was looking forward to a SNES mini and now...

Nintendo:

"Stop, please! I don't want your money anymore! Do'nt you realize how much I'm suffering?!"

So you have a product that's just come out and is unbelievably popular and your response is to err... stop making it...?

With Switch, amiibo, and NES Mini, I'm wondering, does Nintendo manufacture their products in Miyamoto's garage or something?

I'm going to cling on to the words "this year" as a positive sign.

@Haywired

I hope your right, but it's more likely nintendo is gonna step onto your clinging fingers and wave cheerfully as you go down.

@PlywoodStick

That argument assumes that the same people interested in the NES Classic and the Switch are the same, which I assure you they are not. That also assumes that Nintendo needed additional marketing to draw people to the Switch, when that also seems untrue to me. Nintendo seems to have done the best marketing I can remember for the Switch (Jimmy Fallon, Super Bowl Ad, Zelda, branding and messaging) and the Switch seemed to have quite a bit hype that seems completely unrelated to the mini to me.

@aaronsullivan I don't know what you're talking about with the amiibo, but I'm watching an MK8D commercial on the Discovery channel, so there's that.

I don't think it had anything to do with the hacking, this was the plan from the beginning, sell a couple of mil at Christmas then it's all about the Switch. I've been saying that since it was announced. Every financial report over the past year has listed sales of 3DS, Wii U, and some expectations for Switch. They never once gave a projection for NES Mini numbers. That was my first clue. Remember all those rumours about Switch numbers? 2 million. 10 million. 16 million. You ever once read a NES Mini number? Who was making these things?

You and I discussed the Wii U price never dropping b/c Nintendo signed a contract for 15 million at the $299 price and then never made any more at a cheaper contract price. I think the same thing happened here. Contract for 2 million, done. I just cant believe that Nintendo signed a contract for 10 million and then after 2 million they said, "sorry, no mas, haxxers." Nintendo doesn't admit mistakes b/c Nintendo doesn't make mistakes.

@cleveland124 How do you know interest wasn't drawn to the Switch using the NES Mini? How do you know the NES Mini wasn't part of the marketing, just by getting greater brand recognition out there? How much impact do those talk show cases and the Super Bowl Ad have now, so far into the future, with the current red light, green light style of momentum? The NES Mini is a tangible object, talk is cheap. Broadcasting talk is overpriced compared to spreading interest in a brand using a product they made bank on. After all, how much broadcasting talk are they doing now?

Not good. This will leave a lot of folks very unsatisfied

@PlywoodStick

Super Mario Run raced past 80 million downloads. The Nintendo brand name is strong already. The puny 1.5 million NES classic sales are just a drop in the bucket for market interest. Sure, neither of us have hard facts so if my talk is cheap so is yours. All I have is my first hand experience and I've talked to several people at my work who want a mini but have no interest in a Switch. Sure there is some market overlap but I don't think it's nearly as much as you think. For instance, a 43 year old male at my work mentioned the NES classic. I was kind of surprised he mentioned it but he must of because he knew I was a gamer. He expressed excitement in some of the games including Tecmo Bowl. I mentioned, (in my opinion), the far superior Super Tecmo Bowl. He didn't like Super Tecmo bowl. It was too complex, he preferred the simpler Tecmo Bowl. So you tell me is a grown man who hasn't owned a console in 30 years and thinks Tecmo Super Bowl is too complicated going to buy a Switch and spend 100 hours on Breath of Wild? Of course not. He's a guy who thought throwing down $60 for a few hours of nastolgia was a good idea. I know half a dozen other people like him at work. I mean the whole key to artificial scarcity is you drum up demand and value and then you pounce with supply. Where is the supply? How is Nintendo taking advantage of this? You really think that the Switch still being sold out is because people couldn't get a mini?

If it wasn't for the internet I would have never known this thing even existed.

@Yorumi In this case, I seriously have no idea what gives. I think Nintendo have historically been guilty of both artificially creating scarcity AND underestimating demand, but this one makes no sense to me. Their overhead on manufacture must be really small for this product, and demand has been immense, so it's not like they stood to lose a lot of money.

The only explanation I can come up with is that, like they've even said, they didn't expect demand to be so high and to continue beyond the first batch, so they only planned on producing/selling a set number and then moving on. And since they're now very tied up with Switch, I think they just can't be bothered to revisit the NES Classic and deviate from their original plan for it.

Which I think is a shame. They could invest a little more time and effort to pass production off to licensees and then wash their hands of it and watch the money come pouring in, but then I guess they would have to trust other companies to maintain their quality standards, and they seem to have a hard time trusting other companies.

Insane. Glad that I got one.

For me there is no change. I still want one, I can't get one.

@cleveland124 Good points, including in your previous posts. The thing is, way, way more than 1.5 million people wanted an NES Mini. But Nintendo didn't need to create any more than that, it served it's purpose with a minimal amount produced. Pokémon Go and Super Mario Run have mostly passed their flash in the pan point, they served their purpose too. But Nintendo is also a hardware company, they can't put too much focus on mobile, or else that would break the "mobile to console" strategy.

You can't run out of Pokémon Go or Super Mario Run copies. But you can very easily run out of highly demanded Nintendo hardware. Digital software can become very popular (for a time), but it cannot recreate the state of mania that exploits human psychology like a highly desired and highly unattainable physical product. Which the Switch currently is, to a certain degree, just not as extremely as the NES Mini.

Maybe they're doing a Disney VHS kind of strategy? In the days of VHS (and even DVD), Disney would a release a film for several months then throw it in a vault for a few years before releasing it again. I can see them re-releasing the NES Classic when they're having a slow quarter.

@RadioHedgeFund "But imagine a SNES Mini: Mario World, Mario Kart, LttP, Secret of Mana, FFVI, Super Probotector, SFII, DKC, Starwing...."

That's exactly what I turned my NES mini into. Well, that plus GBA games. Minish Cap is surprisingly good on a big screen.

So does the Nes Classic actually exist? I've never seen one. I heard it was only spoken of in legends. I heard that if you pray, beg and donate lots of money to these creatures called scalpers it'll magically appear.

Nintendo needs to release more of these and share the joy.

Lol just lol

A silly move by Nintendo, crazy even. So people in Europe expect a similar announcement next week (after the Easter break)

This item now becomes rarer and it's a sad day, people still wanna buy them and now they can't.

Nintendo might bring these games to Switch on a cart! but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Are you all serious? You do realize the NES classic was literally a marketing tool to get people to TALK about Nintendo, since it failed miserably with the Wii U. This is marketing 101; give away something (nes classic), make short supply so everyone is talking about it, then release the product you REALLY want people buying (Switch). If Nintendo wanted you to have an NES Classic, they would keep making them. Of course they don't; they wanted people to remember who Nintendo was. Yeah, some people are pissed...theu will probably even release the NES Classic in a digital form for the Switch just to get you to be able to have it on the go! Literally, if you ever thought Nintendo wanted the NES Classic to sell well, you're missing the point. People are pissed, people are angry, some are happy, but EVERYONE is talking about them.

Cmon people they clearly stated this was not intended to be a long term product

@Jcdbengals

Well said 🤔👍🏽

Two takeaways:

1) virtual console is coming

And

2) Nintendo wants you to buy a Switch.

That sucks. I was wanting to grab a couple of controllers

@2CUTE4YOU

Lol

There you have it Nintendo: the prices in Amazon has (almost) doubled from 175 to 300!!

I've never even seen one, let alone any chance of getting one. Now they are discontinuing it? Thanks Nintendo!

Who quits making and selling something in high demand? Insane!

I almost never say this but "#### you Nintendo!"

I don't even know what to say. As a shareholder I'm starting to get worried they don't understand how capitalism works.

Never saw one in stores. Guess I never will. I really wanted one too (without bleeding my bank account). Grrrrrr!

@nab1 Actaully the opposite. They said everyone who wanted one would be able to get one. This is crazy.

This is wildly disappointing.

It'll probably be like the McRib, just come around as a seasonal/limited thing. My guess is that Nintendo will continue with the classic series of consoles and when there's a dry season of products (like this last Christmas) they will make more production. It's genius to do that because it'll make the product seem like it's always in demand whether they're selling it or not. They'll do the same with upcoming Snes mini and N64 mini and whatevers.

At the Target I work at, I have seen them on our shelves one time, 1 hour before we opened that day... Never saw any again

@Hikingguy And the notion that Piracy is the issue is absurd. We all know their entire classic catalog is available in 100 different ways online already. Doing stuff like this actually make piracy thrive in my opinion.

@VR32F1END That's not how they do things. Remember: Nintendo wants to profit from Virtual Console, not from compilations. Think about it. And I wager that GBA Versions of Final Fantasy I, II, IV, V, and VI will hit Switch VC. I mean, I already have a Top Loader NES, a few cartridges, and good games on Wii U Virtual Console. I mean, it functions the same way as the NES Classic Edition. The NES is the reason why I have games like Battle of Olympus, Battletoads, and even The Three Stooges!

It's really weird to know that a lot of people on the US have never seen the Nes Mini, but down here on the south (Argentina) there's some stores with the Nes Mini on the shelves.

Nintendo, screw you!

I was just kidding about buying a switch.

Nintendo has officially become a troll. A$$hat

Honestly, I like the idea of a hard to get item that everyone wants. Sucks for the people that desperately want one though.

@alasdair91
I don't know about worst handling of a product ever but I'd agree it was pretty f'ing bad and that's probably being generous. This could have, and definitely should have, been a gold mine for Nintendo. After how all this went down, I'm not expecting SNES or N64 'classic' editions either. Maybe it's for the best. Focus on the Switch Virtual Console (which should've been a day one feature) and getting it back to the quality service it was on the Wii from 2006-2010.

One of many decisions to screw over their NA fans.

This item sold so well I never once saw it or the controllers on a shelf. I lucked into a system when GameStop got a shipment in that day and had yet to put them out. Conventional wisdom would say demand is up, it's selling out, let's keep making it. But, you know, it's Nintendo.

@blowback1976 The scalping is hitting fever pitch!

I had one, I sold it at Christmas (at normal price) to a co-worker who wanted it for her and her mother to play. I figured I would be able to get another someday, but I'm not too disappointed because I probably wouldn't have used it much. I feel bad for those who were patient and believed that there would be many more shipments. If this is just a NoA thing, well that would just be BS.

Nintendo... So many people are pleading with you to please... PLEASE take our money.

I've never seen a company so opposed to the concept. And I'm not just talking about the NES Mini either.

I'm not bothering to read the comments, so I'm going to skim through comments to find gif and videos.... I'm disappointed in you people there's only 3.

With each article, I feel like I have less and less to say. Some people latch onto ideas and feel the need to tell everybody!!! I can't tell if comments are getting worse, or I'm just more tired of it. Many of the comments are fine, but...geez some people desperately want their opinions to be facts.

I... just have nothing to say that hasn't been said....

My awesome sister found one for my family about a month ago so I guess I'm one of the rare owners here in the US. However, this will not stop me from repeating what others have already said....THIS IS NOT HOW YOU TREAT LOYAL CUSTOMERS! I know a lot of people who still want one of these. Nintendo screwed up once again.

It always amazes me how incompetent Nintendo can be when their games are so great. But very incompetent on nearly everything else. This infuriates me because had they announced this as a limited edition, I would have relatively easily bought one at launch by camping out. Instead I'm not ever going to have one because I refuse to put $300 in the pocket of punks.

Wow, didn't expect people to be so upset about this.

There's a thousand other ways to play these games.

I mean, I don't quite follow their strategy here. The only thing I can think of is they need all their manufacturing working on Switch supply the rest of the year. But they did say this year so that makes it sound like they're going to be selling it again down the line.

Either way I couldn't care less about this thing. I'm happy sticking with my Virtual Console.

I do hope that the takeaway from this is that VC will get all of these games in the future as there were a few that had never made it to VC before. I've vented my piece...I'm over it. Nintendo always does one and done systems during the holiday season. If I really want one I can pay on ebay. It is what it is.

What the frolic is this stuff?! I have never even seen it IRL, and now they're discontinuing it?!

Edit: . . .

What the frack is this koskit?! I have never even seen it IRL, and now they're discontinuing it?!

The ebay scalpers will be loving this....

I can imagine the fact that it has been hacked to bits might have something to do with it. Even I couldn't resist hacking it with an extra 40 or so games, and that's not something I'd normally do. It wouldn't suprise me if they come out with a version 2 for the holidays with all those exploits removed.

Still, this totally sucks for the folks that haven't been able to get one. Nintendo sure did mess this one up.

SNES Classic confirmed.
Switch VC confirmed.
Scalper-a-palooza confirmed.

@Hikingguy I am a retro collector, and I noticed the prices of just about everything for a Nintendo system insanely go up in price. But that NES mini has created a monster. NES Games that used to be 5 dollars Canadian are like 15 now. I would rather die in a watery grave then pay more than 3 dollars for John Elway's Quarterback.

Oh man, I'll never forget leaving my house early on launch morning naively telling my wife that I was going to buy three of them (two as gifts), but I might have to go to several stores to find that many. Never saw one on a shelf that day or any day since.

Personally this is a huge mistake on Nintendo's part. Clearly this is a product people want and the customer is always right. Anyways for those of you who want the real NES classic try searching vintage stock as they still sell the NES and the original game cartridges. They have several shops around the country and sell several of the classic systems and games not just Nintendo. http://www.vintagestock.com/

While this is a niche product this is ridiculous. I haven't been able to get one. It isn't about the games - the unit itself is just fun and nostalgic. That is why there was demand. I think it crazy not to at least maintain a limited ordering run, even if you have to order via Nintendo. Anecdotally I know of several more people who want one but can't get. I doesn't even have to be a promoted brand, just a side offering.

Hey Nintendo, do you want to make money on something that takes zero effort to support? Nope, fair enough

@Syrek24 I own some of the games on the NES Mini for the original NES. Not shockingly, the games that used to save don't really anymore. With 2 or 3 exceptions, I have not rebought any NES games on VC b/c I already bought them in the past. And $5 per game is outrageous. $2 per game and with a system that is only supposed to do 1 thing, play NES games, is ideal in my mind.

I want one to use it. I've never seen one to be able to buy it. I cannot be the only one who feels this way. I want to share these games with my kids

But if Nintendo insists I try and teach my young children how to play NES game with far more complicated controllers than the NES and probably discourage them, then I guess smart on them...

@BiasedSonyFan

No. I am presuming that when Nintendo announces a product for the holidays, they at least send more than 6 NES classics to any given store, then saying, "idk, maybe we'll get more, stay tuned!" I take no issue with the fact that this was a temporary thing, I really don't. I do however, take issue with Nintendo announcing a product, and then trolling us by putting it up on their website, acting like all you have to do is go to the store and pick it up.

@Nintenerdguy I will make the time to play all 30 games. I own oer 600 games, about 500 of them on NIntendo systems. I haven't played them, I probably never will. But NES games are short, and at the least I can play each for like 30 min, and that would be worthwhile in my mind. And if my kids like them, they can play whatever and not fail miserably trying to switch a NES cart and hurting something.

I thought Australia had confirmed it had be discontinued there and they're a PAL region?

I'm pretty sure this didn't even reach its prime market properly, the lapsed people who had played NES back in the day, but haven't been keeping up with Nintendo products in decades.

Blame the hackers. They're the ones who ruined it for everyone. Guarantee that's why they stopped production. Nintendo basically is cutting off the nose to spite the face. IF they make an SNES Classic they will remove the exploits.

I have an extra one but I am going to keep it new in the box as the prices are skyrocketing right now. $400 and climbing.

Absolutely terrible decision. They've alienated non-gamer customers who were ready to buy back into Nintendo for the nostalgia of their childhood. I know of several who don't buy modern consoles who were looking to get hold of one of these. I'm lucky enough to have got one on launch day through pre-order. Discontinuation will follow in Europe soon enough and then it'll be as if the thing never existed, it was all an illusion. Unless you want to pay over £100 for one "used". The sooner it becomes illegal to resell a product over the retail price within a year of purchase the better. What takes the biscuit even more is Nintendo execs saying they were working hard to replenish stock all this time. It's either a sudden U-Turn for a reason we don't know about or they were lying through their teeth the whole time.

I certainly hope whatever has been behind this decision doesn't affect the possibility of a SNES edition, and when it's announced I'll be slamming that pre-order button even quicker than usual and telling my friends who missed out on the NES to do the same. I pre-order every game and console I want out of habit anyway and I always have, but it'll be an even bigger necessity with the next classic console. And if I can, I might even place more than one order and give them to folks I know for the asking price and no more.

All I wanted was the controller, which I'm glad I got. Debating if I should get the Joystick now. I sadly have my doubts that a SNES Mini is coming, and all I wanted from that was the controller too.

STUPID NINTENDO! How offensive to treat their customers like idiots! We want to buy, but Nintendo won't sell! I'm not surprised if Nintendo lose all fans soon!

It's obviously because Virtual Console's coming; I bet Nintendo'll still charge $3-5 for NES games and getting them for $2 a pop will be profit loss for them. Makes sense from a business perspective, but still sucks.

They should put all those games on a disc and sell it for $59 for Wii U and Switch, or sell the virtual console games for a $1 each, this is ridiculous!!! I was waiting to buy a switch but now I'm so upset with Nintendo I don't want to support them, this would have made them so much money they wouldn't be in the hole they are in right now! Poorly handled Nintendo and now the Famicon mini is being discontinued, If I understood Japanese I could easily buy one of those (they were more accessible) I haven't come by one nes mini console near me, not 1 time sigh

I wanted one for pure nostalgia. Glad i picked up the retro usb avs, and N8 Everdrive. Now i can play anything, and i don't plan on getting a switch.

I figured out early on I didn't want one. Short controller cables and short supply didn't make my decision hard. We'll never see a SNES mini.

Nintendo you are one strange beast.

Nintendo really knows how to treat their fans.

Makes sense, however much people might dislike it. Switch is a runaway hit and positioned to do extremely well in the future, its Virtual Console is definitely coming, and NES mini would greatly undermine it. At 60 bucks for all those games it's extraordinarily cheap compared to the kind of money Nintendo could and will ask for the same games on Switch.

It's exactly like how in the GameCube's Animal Crossing you'd get free NES games, then in later versions that wasn't a feature because of the new Virtual Console feature on Wii etc. Why give it to people for cheap or free, when you can actually sell the same products for more? It makes complete business sense.

@RadioHedgeFund

Good point! I got to go back to that VC.

Nintendo, as a business, makes no sense. Why do they insist on isolating and alienating their fans? I haven't seen a single NES Mini, and my wife's been on the lookout as well. We haven't even heard of a store in our area that once carried it.

It's getting increasingly frustrating that they refuse to continue producing things that fans want to buy. I understand of course when it comes to aging games and consoles, but this product is only a few months old at best.m, and people are obviously clamouring for it. It makes zero sense from a business perspective to just stop production on a new product that THOUSANDS of people want to get a hold of. Horrible business practice.

@AlwaysGreener

No worries, mate. I'm sure the classic NES will make a comeback during a holiday season or a digital bundle down the road.

So glad I got my NES Classic back in November on launch day~

What a joke. Nintendo really botched this one

@Turbo857 I guess you're right. I hope problems something like this will be avoided if the Snes Classic Edition ever rolls around.

"Throughout April, [Nintendo of America] territories will receive the last shipments of Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition systems for this year. "

Does no one pay attention to the actual official statement's verbiage.

-THIS YEAR- not forever. This is the last shipment for this year.
The discussion should rather be what 'this year' means.

Does 'this year' mean 2017?
Does 'this year' mean November 10 2016 to November 10 2017 (the first year of the product?)

Would you like to see the NES Classic Edition 2 released next holiday season with a new line up of games?

Or is Nintendo doing this because it intends to push the Virtual Console for Switch, as others have suggested?

I personally think it's smart. I'm not sure how much $ is made on each unit after licensing fees, etc. But a new version seems likely in the future.

Well I can't say I didn't see this one coming.

And for people shaking their heads in disbelief, please try to understand that Nintendo didn't ever intend to sell millions upon millions of this.

Just picked up a second copy for my collection at Target.

I wonder if its because nintendo is tired of their poop getting hacked left and right. I wonder if this last shipment will sport tougher security or not.

@marnelljm So not true. People have hacked the Wii and Wii U and 3DS to death and Nintendo didn't stop production on those consoles.

@NTELLIGENTMAN people didn't turn around and charge 3, 4, 5 times the original MSRP on those.

I'm sure this is a very well thought-out, strategic on Nintendo's part. It is also a callous middle finger to consumers.

Even though I luckily got mine, and I understand it's not a "long term product," it upsets me, because it hasn't even been out a year, and demand is still high. I wanted to buy one for my nephew's birthday too, as he really loved mine. Poor kid...

It's times like this that make me almost dislike the Switch, as I'm sure it's partially to blame. (And I'm willing to bet Switch's VC NES games will have the terrible coloring/brightness the Wii, WiiU, and 3DS versions have, instead of improving the emulation.)