When Nintendo announced plans for its NES Classic system last year, everyone was overjoyed. And then they realized how few units Nintendo actually shipped of the system. Today, they announced the follow-up – the SNES Classic, collecting 21 Super Nintendo games – and the immediate reaction was, “Oh cool, something else I won’t be able to find!”
I never got my hands on an NES Classic. I’m not even sure I ever saw one in stores. It was a nice pipe dream, but one I had to give up on pretty quickly.
https://twitter.com/Okiwont/status/879382540859125762
Almost immediately, though, Nintendo tried to address the controversy, almost like they realized that there was going to be some serious negative brushback because of what happened with the previous system.
Kotaku printed a statement from the video game giant, trying to assuage fears of consumers who saw a $50 system go for up to $1,000 on the secondary market.
We aren’t providing specific numbers, but we will produce significantly more units of Super NES Classic Edition than we did of NES Classic Edition.
Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Super NES Classic Edition is currently planned to ship from Sept. 29 until the end of calendar year 2017. At this time, we have nothing to announce regarding any possible shipments beyond this year.
Our long-term efforts are focused on delivering great games for the Nintendo Switch system and continuing to build momentum for that platform, as well as serving the more than 63 million owners of Nintendo 3DS family systems. We are offering Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Super NES Classic Edition in special recognition of the fans who show tremendous interest our classic content.
Well. that’s nice. The question now is, will they follow through? Since the release of the Wii system back in 2006, it seems like Nintendo is always throttling back supply to increase demand. It clearly worked for a time, but it’s also disillusioned a lot of people who used to be die-hard Nintendo fans.
Do I want a SNES Classic? OF COURSE I DO! The 21-game lineup announced has some of my favorite games from my teenage years. Let’s do a roll call:
Super Mario World – Maybe the best Mario game ever released.
Super Mario RPG – A team up between Nintendo and Square Enix that saw Mario and his compatriots in a fun Final Fantasy-style game. Speaking of…
Final Fantasy III – Better known now as Final Fantasy VI, many rank this as their favorite in the Final Fantasy series.
F-Zero – The physics engine on the first racing game of the generation blew me away, and I spent hours playing this when it came out.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – The game that hooked several generations on the Zelda franchise.
Super Punch-Out – The follow-up to Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out on the NES, now without a real person as the final boss, but with just as many outrageous characters.
Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting – Maybe the greatest fighting game ever made.
Throw in games like Star Fox, Super Castlevania IV, the first Super Mario Kart and Contra III, and the new console comes loaded with almost all of my favorite games from the Super Nintendo generation. Add to that, the system will include two controllers – a necessity with some of the two-player games that come with the system – and it sounds like Nintendo really is making an effort to be consumer-friendly here.
You can get more information on Nintendo’s plans on their website by clicking here.
So, we wait and see. We’re about three months away from the retail release of the SNES Classic, and we can all hope that Nintendo has production going triple time to make sure there are systems available for Christmas 2017.
(A note for my readers: my birthday is on November 5.)
The SNES Classic is scheduled to be released on Sept. 29 with an announced cost of $79.99.