Nintendo has some good news for retro gaming fans. The company announced that it’s extending shipments for its SNES Classic Edition into 2018, having originally said that it would stop by the end of this year.
But in another surprising twist, the Japanese gaming also revealed that in 2018 it will revive the NES Classic Edition that was launched initially last November.
Above: Now you’re playing with power.
The $60 NES Classic was unveiled last June, and though the mini console proved hard to get a hold of when it hit the market five months later, it actually outsold both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in at least one month. The NES Classic Edition shipped with 30 built-in games such as The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., and Mega Man 2, but Nintendo was apparently caught off-guard by its popularity and ultimately discontinued the product less than six months after it went on sale.
Shortly after, however, Nintendo announced the $80 SNES Classic Edition — replete with 21 games such as Super Mario World and Super Mario Kart — which GamesBeat reviewed as a good machine that offered few surprises.
Preorders for the SNES Classic Edition opened on August 22, and they immediately sold out — but fans lucky enough to order one should be receiving their machine starting on September 29. If you weren’t able to get one the first time around, the company is adamant that it has increased its production significantly, and it has urged gamers not to pay over the odds for a machine through eBay or other similar auction sites.
The company said in its announcement today:
More units of Super NES Classic Edition will ship on its Sept. 29 launch day in the U.S. than were shipped of NES Classic Edition all last year, with subsequent shipments arriving in stores regularly. Fans have shown their unbridled enthusiasm for these Classic Edition systems, so Nintendo is working to put many more of them on store shelves.
There was a great deal of speculation as to why Nintendo cut the NES Classic Edition from production when it proved so popular, but whatever the reason, the company has evidently observed market demand and will announce “in the future” the exact timing for new shipments in 2018.
