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Nintendo To Launch SNES Mini This Year, Reports Eurogamer (eurogamer.net)

Posted by msmash on from the more-nintendo dept.

Nintendo plans to release another console this year aimed at nostalgia-seekers. The iconic game company is working on a Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) classic version that would launch in time for the holidays, according to Eurogamer, which cites sources with knowledge of the plans. The device is already under development and -- like its predecessor the NES Classic Edition -- will give gamers access to some of the console's biggest hits. From the article: Nintendo's plans for SNES mini are also a major reason why last year's NES mini did not see a reprieve from discontinuation, Eurogamer understands, despite the latter's continued popularity and sell-out status.

48 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. Release for real? by courteaudotbiz · · Score: 1

    Or just create a big hype and discontinue the thing when they will have sold 5000 boxes as they did with the NES Classic? Damn you Nintendo. I never buy anything else from you.

    1. Re:Release for real? by arth1 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm not buying anything from Nintendo because they apparently don't want my money. The NES Classic is never available in the store. The Switch is never available in the store. And I don't have time to sit outside a store for hours waiting for opening in the hope of getting one.

      They are basically telling customers "fuck you". As a result, if they one day do manage to get stores stocked, it becomes my time to say the same to them.

    2. Re:Release for real? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You make it sound like you had the chance to buy something from them in the first place.

      I feel your pain. And it's mainly due to scalpers taking advantage of the low production rates to keep the damned thing sold out at retail prices. I can't seem to find one here where I am because some dick goes around town and buys everything up whenever it's restocked. (overheard some people at gamestop talking about it.)

      Whatever. I won't be buying from scalpers.

    3. Re:Release for real? by jittles · · Score: 1

      Or just create a big hype and discontinue the thing when they will have sold 5000 boxes as they did with the NES Classic? Damn you Nintendo. I never buy anything else from you.

      My inside sources suggest they'll make exactly 21 units - 1 will be a test unit. They'll hype it for a few months and then give everyone the middle finger and suggest they make a RetroPi instead.

    4. Re:Release for real? by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 2

      You left out the Pokemon Go Plus, which also was insanely limited.

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  2. reality check by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    my gamestop got *ONE* nes mini. i dont know what nintendo is doing and i doubt they know either

  3. More EBay Gold! by RoscoeChicken · · Score: 1

    Money in the pockets of the people who have nothing better to do all day than troll Best Buy and Game Stop stores.

    I read that Game Stop is closing stores. They could have experienced a HUGE Christmas at their stores if Nintendo had supplied enough consoles to meet demand.

    1. Re:More EBay Gold! by omnichad · · Score: 2

      If there was enough supply, people would just order online. Offline-only stores are only attacked in droves by prospectors when the convenience factor is cut off.

  4. Re:Welp. In. by Wootery · · Score: 1

    Good point. Doesn't sound hard.

  5. Re:Eurogamer is a rag by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The SNES Mini was rumored the instant the NES Classic was announced. Nintendo themselves made it clear that the NES Classic was intended as a "NES 30th Anniversary" thing, and the SNES won't be 30 until 2022.

    But the biggest reason Nintendo won't ever be releasing a "SNES Classic" any time soon is that the "NES Classic" was almost instantly hacked to play additional ROMs. Nintendo hates things like that, and if they can't "secure" the system from people doing that, they're just not going to do it. They have far more control on the Switch.

    The SNES Mini just isn't happening.

  6. I don't understand all the hate on the mini NES by cide1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    All this hate on the Classic mini NES, I just don't understand. My wife was able to go to the local Target and get one for me for Christmas. It's pretty awesome, it just works, has good games, has HDMI. Great execution by Nintendo.

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    1. Re:I don't understand all the hate on the mini NES by Interfacer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Then your wife pulled off a miracle because stores around here only got a couple that didn't even make it to the shelves before flying out the door. They told me they couldn't reserve any, and that some might come in, 2 weeks after Christmas. And now I find out that Nintendo discontinued the f*cking thing.

      Instead of ramping up production ahead of time and making a killing with Christmas sales, they limit supply to a couple thousand and then discontinue the thing before it becomes available off the shelf. There is no point is talking about how great the thing is when most people didn't even get the chance to just go to the store and by one before it's gone again.

    2. Re:I don't understand all the hate on the mini NES by aicrules · · Score: 3, Informative

      For every story of someone randomly being able to go in and pick one up like it was just another item on the shelf there are a thousand stories of people who were never able to find one in stock. Online stock disappeared within minutes at best. The resellers who had it jacked up to $300 or more were finally back down to about $120 when Nintendo announced it was discontinuing production. For something that is really supposed to be casual fun they made it unnecessarily insane. The system itself did really look great. I would have loved to have been able to play many of those games on my TV at home. But from release date to today there has never been a target, walmart or best buy with one on the shelf when I went in. Brickseek only once came up with a walmart in stock and by the time I got there they were gone. But...it's just an old bit of nostalgia. It didn't ruin my life that I didn't get one. But Nintendo can GTFO for their repeated artificial scarcity BS. That's the #1 reason why I didn't even consider a WiiU or Switch.

    3. Re:I don't understand all the hate on the mini NES by ProfBooty · · Score: 1

      My local BJs had a ton of them in stock during christmas. Costco never seemed to have any.

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    4. Re:I don't understand all the hate on the mini NES by jjw3579 · · Score: 1

      There are still lines at local stores when some arrive for sale.

    5. Re:I don't understand all the hate on the mini NES by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      All this hate on the Classic mini NES, I just don't understand. My wife was able to go to the local Target and get one for me for Christmas. It's pretty awesome, it just works, has good games, has HDMI. Great execution by Nintendo.

      The hate isn't for the device. I have one (got stupid lucky and saw it on SlickDeals back in stock at Amazon one day, sold out in under 20 minutes) it's for how it was handled. It's been perpetually sold out since launch and now it's discontinued despite the obvious demand for more from consumers. OK so Nintendo underestimated the appeal of it when they launched, I can buy that. But now it's still selling out as fast as they can make them and they go "Ah, nope, no more". About the only way to get one was to luck out and be at the right place at the right time, or scalpers on ebay, which now that it's discontinued are closing successful auctions at $250-$350.

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    6. Re:I don't understand all the hate on the mini NES by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      It's pretty awesome, it just works, has good games, has HDMI. Great execution by Nintendo.

      The problem is that almost no one who wants one has gotten one, not that the product is not good.

      I have no idea why Nintendo has such a hard time producing in sufficient quantity to fulfill demand.

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    7. Re:I don't understand all the hate on the mini NES by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Nintendo have a finite production resource. That was clear when they announced the equally unavailable Switch (local store says backorder estimate is 16 weeks) is getting a production boost right when the NES Classic was getting a production halt.

      These things don't grow on trees, and even if they did you'd need to cultivate them first.

  7. Re:Super Metroid by Quirkz · · Score: 1

    Heh. I bought a SNES back in the day. I know I had at least a few games for it, but for the life of me the only one I actually recall playing is Super Metroid. Later I discovered emulation and I've played the heck out of dozens of NES titles, but again, for my SNES emulator, the only game I can remember ever firing up is Super Metroid. So I saw this product, and I thought, oh, that would be neat, I could play Super Metroid. Guess I should see what else is available, as I'm sure there's more games out there.

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  8. Re:Hopeful by SScorpio · · Score: 1

    SD2SNES if you want to play X3, the SNES Everdrive won't run X2 and X3. The MPU chip in the SD2SNES that allows CD quality music to be hacked into games is also sweet and shows what the SNES CD might have brought about since it was just more storage without any additional processing power unlike the Sega CD.

  9. Re:Welp. In. by Ranbot · · Score: 1

    Come on, Nintendo, give us a real NES/SNES/N64 combo box.

    Don't bet on it. A combo console would be very hard, maybe impossible, to design the look that would trigger nostalgic feelings, which drive these sales, because it physically won't look like any of the original consoles. Also, Nintendo can also sell more units by splitting the systems up.

    If the look of the console doesn't matter and you just want to play the old games, then Nintendo happily resells them to you through their virtual console digital store. http://www.nintendo.com/games/...

  10. will we be able to buy it? by j2.718ff · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When the NES Classic was announced, I decided I was going to buy one. Sure, I could have thrown together some kind of emulator, but this was more like the real thing, with no questions of ROM legality.

    After the NES Classic's discontinuation was announced, before it was possible for most people to buy one, I build a RetroPie. Now I have no reason to be excited about the SNES Mini.

    1. Re:will we be able to buy it? by Razed+By+TV · · Score: 1

      Nintendo built an entirely unnecessary product, and now they're doing it again.

      I don't need a collectors item with 30 games from one system.
      I don't need a second collectors item with 30 games from another system.

      I need a device that plays games from multiple systems, and the games I want to play. They should have created a system that covers every Nintendo console that a RetroPie does (or at least up through N64, which is 20 years old at this point.) So what if it doesn't make sense that you can play Nintendo 64 games on a device that looks like a classic NES? That's the added functionality that would make the product a hit.

      I also don't need this 30 games crap. I need a proper marketplace, similar to iTunes, that keeps track of my ROM purchases, so I don't have to jump through hoops to migrate my roms from one unit to another.

    2. Re:will we be able to buy it? by j2.718ff · · Score: 1

      Nintendo built an entirely unnecessary product, and now they're doing it again.

      An unnecessary product that no store could keep on the shelves because it sold out too quickly. (Yes, one could argue that they didn't produce enough units, but it's clear that people wanted them.)

    3. Re:will we be able to buy it? by Razed+By+TV · · Score: 1

      They made a novelty collectors item with limited entertainment value.

      I agree that they made a desirable item, and that, from a sales perspective, it is a successful product. However, they missed an opportunity to come out with a much better product, and the limited availability has driven up awareness of RetroPie.

      Its as if Apple came out with an iPod that has the top 100 albums of 2016 programmed into it (and can't be changed without modifying it), and the fanboys bought out all of the product.

  11. Re: I don't understand all the hate on the mini NE by Luthair · · Score: 2

    Its a disservice to the people who support them. At a certain point its hard to see it as anything but gross incompetence.

  12. Re:Welp. In. by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

    Nintendo realizes that there is plenty of nostalgia for the nes,snes, and even n64 because of projects like retropie so I'm not surprised when they put out things like NES Classic or virtual console. A multifunction console would need to have the same nostalgic look as each of the originals. It would only need the games and the nintendo logo it could even be priced a little more than a retropie kit and still sell like hotcakes.

  13. Did they really learn?! by SCVonSteroids · · Score: 1

    I didn't look at the numbers, but if SNES was more commercially successful than the NES, and Nintendo realizes the fuck-up they made with the NES Classic, this move makes a ton of sense and hopefully they've learned their lesson with this one. My hat off to Nintendo for even bothering with making these though.

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  14. Re:Eurogamer is a rag by Luthair · · Score: 1

    I suspect the SNES titles are also more valuable from a virtual console perspective too.

  15. Re:Eurogamer is a rag by omnichad · · Score: 3, Interesting

    SNES won't be 30 until 2022.

    That makes the SNES 25 this year. A 25th anniversary tends to be more celebrated than a 30th. Except with movies. Now there's some big event for every movie ever made, every 5 years past 20.

  16. So what? by JenovaSynthesis · · Score: 1

    I can built a Raspberry Pi unit that will not only be an NES/SNES Classic, but also a Sega Master System, Sega MegaDrive/Genesis system, Turbografix-16 system, and a whole slew of others all at the same time for $100.

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    1. Re:So what? by moogaloonie · · Score: 1

      All of the functionality but none of the collectability. I can run those games on my PC already without needing a separate $100 device.

    2. Re:So what? by JenovaSynthesis · · Score: 1

      The emulator comes as part of the package you'd install on the Pi. Probably the only time consuming part would be if you had to index a large number of ROMs.

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    3. Re:So what? by JenovaSynthesis · · Score: 1

      If your PC is an HDMI cable's length from your PC, that's fine. Mine is not.

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    4. Re:So what? by unrtst · · Score: 1

      "an HDMI cable's length" is a very imprecise measurement - way worse than LoC's (libraries of congress). Regardless, I'm certain your PC is within that distance from your PC.

  17. Re: I don't understand all the hate on the mini NE by barc0001 · · Score: 2

    It's not gross incompetence. They made a certain number of things, they are not selling any more at their choice. From a business perspective in many cases it's better to leave the world wanting more than to saturate the market and wear out your brand.

    And it's working. Around the web there are reams of stories being posted on the merest whiff of a hint of a SNES mini, real or not. You can't buy advertising like that.

  18. Re: I don't understand all the hate on the mini NE by Dragonslicer · · Score: 1

    I love the mentality that says, "You made a good thing but because I can't get one you are terrible." They didn't break a contract, they didn't take your money and not deliver, they simply made a product that you desire and decided not to meet demand for their own reasons. Nintendo did not wrong you.

    Why exactly is it unreasonable to call a company "terrible" just because they didn't break a contract with you or directly harm you?

  19. Retropi is strong! by WolfgangVL · · Score: 1

    If I die, I have to go before it, and it will ask me, "What is the riddle of emulation?" If I don't know it, it will cast me out of emulation-station and laugh at me. That's Retro-pi, strong in it's 3d printed case!

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  20. Counting on Nostalgia? by HockeyPuck · · Score: 1

    So Nintendo has been making Mario based games for decades... then to gain some relevance they came out with the classic NES (again Nostalgia) now a SNES...

    When will they come out with the retro Nintendo64 or the GameCube?

    By then the Wii will be about a decade old and they can come out with a retro Wii... before re-introducing the Retro NES again...

    Reminds me of Lucas issuing new "remastered" versions of SW every few years (VHS, LaserDisc, DVD etc...)

    1. Re:Counting on Nostalgia? by unrtst · · Score: 1

      They should skip all that and release a Retro Nintendo Switch ASAP. It'd help fill in the empty shelf space where the Nintendo Switch should be.

  21. Nintendo had to download there own roms to make by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Nintendo had to download there own roms to make it work. This time do they have there own in house roms
    or do they need to do like many other pay emulator systems That have to use the work that was done to make emulators happen in the first place just to endup with one that does less and that you have pay for vs it being free.

    There is one paid emulator system that I will not pay for that does less them the free one that came years before that I and others helped to make happen. That if that work was not done that this paid one will not be there also I think they don't really do to much to shut down the free one as there may some issues that come up if there where to be an code audit.

    1. Re:Nintendo had to download there own roms to make by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      THEIR own roms

    2. Re:Nintendo had to download there own roms to make by GreyWanderingRogue · · Score: 3, Informative

      Nintendo had to download there own roms to make it work.

      This argument has no place on Slashdot. Nintendo did not download the files off the internet. What they did is use the existing file format (.nes). The files are identical because the ROM dumps were taken from the cartridges. Once the format is specified, the files will always end up identical. There is no analog noise here to make them different. This is how things like GoodNes sets exist. The dumps always come out the same. Digital files are identical because they're digital files. If you think Nintendo, Konami, Square, and Capcom didn't have copies of all their officially licensed cartridges' ROMS, I think you're nuts. Take, for example, the Clu Clu Land disk game on the Gamecube Animal Crossing release that included NES games. That one is nearly identical to the one in Mame, but it keeps the checksums and has a blank high score table (the checksums is the difference between famicom disk system (fds) and quickdisk (qd) files by the way). I haven't looked at what format the disk system games are in on the Japanese Mini version.

      The File format, by the way is exactly a 16 bytes header, with defined places (PRG-ROM followed by the CHR-ROM) for the ROMs. The only information contained in the header is a code for which mapper to use (describes which circuit-board/integrated circuits; most licensed games use one of about a dozen types), mirroring and save support, and the sizes of the PRG and CHR. I've personally dumped my collection of 300+ NES games and they come out identical to the GoodNes ones, unless the mirroring or save support detection fails. That's how I know the hardware worked and I don't have to clean the contacts better. They have their own copies. They don't need to download them. They used the existing file format.

    3. Re:Nintendo had to download there own roms to make by Elric55 · · Score: 1

      If you think Nintendo, Konami, Square, and Capcom didn't have copies of all their officially licensed cartridges' ROMS, I think you're nuts.

      As an individual who has worked in this industry and who's sole job was dedicated to securely distributing game content to QA, and managing all builds for a studio, I can confirm that the archive process (especially during the early days) can be non-existent. I don't want to name specifics but there's a specific story behind a AAA title from the 90s that almost didn't get it's anniversary edition because of the difficulty of obtaining the original assets. Keep in mind this still is a big company and not one of your small indie studios and last I checked they were still developing a process for archiving.

  22. Re:Welp. In. by unrtst · · Score: 1

    No. A Wii is not the same as a combo nes/snes/n64 retro box preloaded with titles.
    And yes, cost is one of the biggest factors. There's no way I'm spending enough to get all the (expensive) add on controllers, and buy all the games ($5 - $15 each**), on top of buying a Wii.
    Form factor also matters, as does ease of use/maintenance. With the games preloaded, it's very convenient - buy it, plug it in, and it's all there. No network connection needed (or even possible). No need to create accounts, make additional purchases, download each title, etc. It's all right there. I want to pick it up and play for a bit. If I have to be bothered to do all the leg work, it's not worth it (I would have stood outside and waited for one if I had that kind of time to devote to it, HA).

    * got the game pricing from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... (500 - 1500 Wii Points, or $4.99 - $9.99 on the Wii U). And https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... (100 points = $1; Dr. Mario Online RX is 1500 points).

  23. Nintendo isn't dumb enough to care by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    About the hacking. The hack was a pain to do (relatively) and wasn't much less than work building a retro Pi. They cancelled the NES classic because it served its purpose, which was to keep the brand alive in between the dying Wii U and the Switch launch. And that's why we're not getting a SNES classic

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  24. Re:Welp. In. by michaelbuddy · · Score: 1

    HDMI problem is fixed by a $10 adapter.

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  25. Who likes "finite"? by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 1

    Finite? I like everything to be infinite.