The Nintendo classic (not so) mini thread

[Nu-Eclipse]

Nothing to do with marketing - the popularity and demand were pretty much already there from the off.

Nintendo insisted on d1ck1ng about with the production line for them (and tilting the initial balance massively in favour of the scalpers) when it was obvious that flooding the market with as many as possible for sale from the off was the correct way to go.

[Leon Retro]

Nothing to do with marketing - the popularity and demand were pretty much already there from the off.

I've heard that Nintendo didn't do very well with marketing the NES Mini in America, so I guess it was the same for the UK. I don't know if the SNES Mini was well-publicised, but I personally haven't seen much advertising for it.

Whatever the case, Nintendo should have been far more positive with the first run of NES Minis. Maybe the company didn't think it and the SNES Mini would be so popular. I'm sure a N64 Mini would do really well.

[Nu-Eclipse]

I've heard that Nintendo didn't do very well with marketing the NES Mini in America, so I guess it was the same for the UK. I don't know if the SNES Mini was well-publicised, but I personally haven't seen much advertising for it.

I never heard of anything like that. I only ever read of stories of people all over North America wanting a Classic Mini and being p1ssed that they couldn't get one at retail anywhere in the region - same over here.

Given Nintendo's past history with this kind of thing, I think it's far more likely that Nintendo deliberately underproduced them to create said hype. These things aren't/weren't expensive to produce - one can easily make something as good if not better with a Raspberry Pi, as YouTube and elsewhere clearly show - so Nintendo should have been aggressively flooding the market with them from the start. Supply clearly wasn't meeting the initial massive demand and that's Nintendo's fault. Any other major manufacturer wouldn't have played those types of silly games and would've just churned them out.

[Leon Retro]

I never heard of anything like that. I only ever read of stories of people all over North America wanting a Classic Mini and being p1ssed that they couldn't get one at retail anywhere in the region - same over here.

Any other major manufacturer wouldn't have played those types of silly games and would've just churned them out.

I watch a lot of American gaming channels on YT, so I've heard that Nintendo didn't market the NES Classic very well in that region. I'm not sure if the there was strong marketing for the NES & SNES Classic in the UK, but I definitely didn't see much.

Also, you get the impression from a variety of sources that Nintendo saw the NES Classic as a way to make a bit of money between the Wii U and Switch. People also say that Nintendo wanted to draw some attention to the company before the Switch was released.

So, it does seem that Nintendo weren't ever fully committed to the NES & SNES Classic, simply because the company was very much focused on the 3DS and Switch.

If the talk of poor marketing is true, then it does make you wonder whether Nintendo could have sold significantly more Classic machines with a stronger marketing campaign. But Nintendo probably didn't want to spend loads of money on marketing systems that they didn't see as a very important part of their business.

If Nintendo was a company focused on retro gaming, then I'm sure the NES & SNES Classic would have sold in even greater numbers. I have a feeling that we won't see an N64 Classic because Nintendo seem to have lost interest in that sort of thing.

[wakka]

I wouldn’t say that’s necessarily true. It’s not the main part of their business but I see no reason why we wouldn’t see one eventually. Beyond that I’d see mini Gameboys on the cards.

[Nu-Eclipse]

The vast majority of proper US tech and gaming news outlets (Engadget, The Verge, Polygon, IGN, etc.) consistently reported high demand for Classic Minis and next to no supply of them coming from Nintendo initially, so I don't buy marketing being an issue, especially when we're talking about two consoles that have such a storied history and reputation in North America. These were pretty much a must-have item with mostly solid reviews in that part of the world from day one.

I would also add that Nintendo have probably dropped the idea of an N64 Classic Mini because actually putting one together would be too much hassle for them with not enough return on it. The tech would need overhauling just to have N64 games emulating at a bare minimum acceptable standard on HDTVs (just reshelling the NES/SNES Classic Mini hardware wouldn't be enough) and that's not even mentioning licensing issues that would prevent games from the likes of Rare appearing on it - just two of many factors that would easily give Nintendo the excuse to sell it at far more than they did with the previous machines.

But who knows for sure? Nintendo have actually trademarked a logo for the N64 Classic Mini in North America so saying that they've lost interest clearly isn't true.

[Leon Retro]

It’s not the main part of their business but I see no reason why we wouldn’t see one eventually

Seeing that Nintendo have had perfect emulation of their first-party games running on the Wii, then there's definitely no technical reason why we wouldn't see an N64 Classic. I just have a feeling that Nintendo aren't interested in continuing with the Classic console brand. But I do hope I'm wrong and we see a really nice N64 Classic with all of Nintendo's first-party games.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Beyond that I’d see mini Gameboys on the cards.

I wouldn't. I'd wager that an N64 Classic Mini, if it ever comes, would be the last one. Just my opinion though, obviously.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Seeing that Nintendo have had perfect emulation of their first-party games running on the Wii, then there's definitely no technical reason why we wouldn't see an N64 Classic.

The Classic Minis are System-On-Chip hardware which don't currently run N64 games 100%, unless I'm mistaken. N64 games on the Wii Virtual Console were a different kettle of fish altogether, if I remember reading correctly - basically every N64 game (every game on the Wii VC, in fact) was running to individual custom specification emulation software.

[Leon Retro]

The vast majority of proper US tech and gaming news outlets (Engadget, The Verge, Polygon, IGN, etc.) consistently reported high demand for Classic Minis

I think it's probably true that Nintendo didn't go to town with marketing the Classic machines, but demand was obviously high. We will never know if stronger marketing might have led to vastly greater sales. All we can do is say the sales figures are very impressive.

I would also add that Nintendo have probably dropped the idea of an N64 Classic Mini because actually putting one together would be too much hassle for them with not enough return on it. The tech would need overhauling just to have N64 games emulating at a bare minimum acceptable standard on HDTVs (just reshelling the NES/SNES Classic Mini hardware wouldn't be enough) and that's not even mentioning licensing issues that would prevent games from the likes of Rare appearing on it.

If you look at Nintendo's 'first-party' games away from RARE, you still have a decent collection of around 20 titles that are worth playing. And seeing that they were emulated perfectly on the Wii, it shows that Nintendo have a good in-house N64 emulator. So I think the company could probably get their first-party games running perfectly on hardware similar to a Raspberry Pi 3B, or even less powerful. I don't know how a Wii compares to the custom chip(s) used in the Mini machines.

Although, you are right that it's far more hassle creating an N64 Classic than a NES & SNES Classic. The 4 controller ports and cost of making the controllers, not forgetting how they get warn out quicker, would definitely be an issue. So if Nintendo don't feel like continuing the NES & SNES Classics, there's probably little chance the company will want to bother with an N64 Classic.

[Nu-Eclipse]

I think it's probably true that Nintendo didn't go to town with marketing the Classic machines, but demand was obviously high. We will never know if stronger marketing might have led to vastly greater sales.

Eh? How could stronger marketing make any difference to a product that was already highly in consumer/customer demand??

Nintendo had the chance to make more early on when demand was clearly high but they instead, for whatever reason, chose to faff about and make only a handful seemingly available at retail until much later when demand now seems to have fizzled out.

If you look at Nintendo's 'first-party' games away from RARE, you still have a decent collection of around 20 titles that are worth playing. And seeing that they were emulated perfectly on the Wii, it shows that Nintendo have a good in-house N64 emulator. So I think the company could probably get their first-party games running perfectly on hardware similar to a Raspberry Pi 3B, or even less powerful. I don't know how a Wii compares to the custom chip(s) used in the Mini machines.

Again, Wii hardware emulation and SOC hardware emulation aren't the same. Software was the main driver in Wii VC emulation - N64 ROMs don't even run properly when running off an emulator on a hacked Wii via homebrew.

Hell, for all I know Nintendo may well be doing the same thing with the software running on the Classic Minis.

[Leon Retro]

Eh? How could stronger marketing make any difference to a product that was already highly in consumer/customer demand??

If the lack of marketing is true, then obviously a strong marketing campaign would have probably resulted in even greater sales. I think there's always a mass market that only responds to heavy promotion.

Again, Wii hardware emulation and SOC hardware emulation aren't the same. Software was the main driver in Wii VC emulation - N64 ROMs don't even run properly when running off an emulator on a hacked Wii via homebrew.

I guess it's all to do with the emulator needing to be specifically configured for each game, much like what you get with N64 emulation on a PC. I would think Nintendo could get their 21 first-party games running perfectly on a mini console if they wanted to.

I hope Nintendo do have an N64 Mini in the pipeline.

[dataDave]

I'm trying to find a SNES mini as a birthday gift and they seem to be out of stock across the whole of Europe.

The local electronics giant literally had a whole pallet of them on the shop floor just a few weeks ago, like they couldn't even be arsed shelving them. I nearly took a photo so that I could make a joke about overstocking. WTF happened?

[importaku]

I'm trying to find a SNES mini as a birthday gift and they seem to be out of stock across the whole of Europe.

The local electronics giant literally had a whole pallet of them on the shop floor just a few weeks ago, like they couldn't even be arsed shelving them. I nearly took a photo so that I could make a joke about overstocking. WTF happened?

Official nintendo store still has them in stock for retail price

https://store.nintendo.co.uk/nintendo-classic-mini/nintendo-classic-mini-super-nintendo-entertainment-system.list

[Leon Retro]

I'm trying to find a SNES mini as a birthday gift and they seem to be out of stock across the whole of Europe.

Talk of Nintendo discontinuing the Mini machines has obviously prompted lots of people to grab one. Get one before people start charging much more.