
Nintendo Announces SNES Classic, Comes with 21 Games - yincrash
http://kotaku.com/nintendo-announces-snes-classic-1796418700
======
Tiktaalik
Nintendo needs to be clear on whether this product will actually be produced
in enough quantities to reach customers, or whether it will be an extremely
limited special product like the NES Classic.

I was able to get an NES Classic because I lined up a half hour before a store
opened the first day and got in on the initial shipment. I never saw it in
stores after.

Unless Nintendo is clear that things are going to be different this time,
considering the popularity of the NES Classic, people are going to be lining
up over night to try to get this SNES Classic.

~~~
nolok
"Nintendo needs to do X or people will line up for hours for a chance to get
this product, creating media hype"

I don't think Nintendo needs to clarify anything. They're releasing a product
people want, and there may or may not be a limited time to get one. This will
sell like crazy.

~~~
kevinh
Anecdotal evidence, but I have no interest in this product because I wasn't
able to acquire the NES classic and have no desire to go through that process
again.

~~~
Fezzik
I think a lot of people are in that boat. I would have happily paid good money
for a NES Classic from Nintendo (I hate supporting scalpers) but I am not
going to hassle with running all over town or constantly refreshing webpages
to see if a video game system is available. If the NES classic had been
readily available, I would be excited about this. As it is/was, I'm with you.

edit, to add: and I get the shortage at launch, but to not even manufacture
enough units to even come close to meeting demand (which, I know, was unknown
at the time) leaves an extra sour taste in my mouth.

~~~
ianai
It's the combination of seemingly arbitrary shortage combined with scalpers
that ruins it for me. When I finally found a switch the staff didn't
understand why I didn't want all 3 available units. These are supposed to be
fun things - not a gotcha here and there.

~~~
liberte82
It would be nice if stores would enforce a limit per customer on these. But
what do they care?

~~~
ianai
Sell up should be enough reason.

------
aeturnum
Really interesting that they're using this as an oppertunity to officially
release Star Fox 2 [0]. It's neat to see and is pretty unexpected.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Fox_2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Fox_2)

~~~
monocasa
It'll be interesting to see the actual ROM they use.

IIRC, the ROMs floating around on the internet needed some binary patching to
run correctly. If Nintendo uses the pirated version that generally exists on
the internet like they did for the NES classic, you could argue that they
don't own all the copyright to it.

~~~
phonon
The final ROM was never leaked. They are using that.

[https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/06/plug-and-play-snes-
cl...](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/06/plug-and-play-snes-classic-
coming-sept-29-for-80-with-two-controllers/)

[https://web.archive.org/web/20150707132659/http://www.ninten...](https://web.archive.org/web/20150707132659/http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/05/feature_the_full_story_behind_star_fox_2_nintendos_most_famous_cancellation)

" "During development we received a copy of the mastered Star Fox 2 ROM to
play, and it was quite a blast." This ROM would have been the final game,
complete with QA tweaks and ready for a release that never happened. Cuthbert
is keen to point out that this version is far superior to the numerous leaked
prototype ROMs which are currently doing the rounds on the web - the leaking
of which has been erroneously attributed to himself. "There are a few ROMs on
the net in various conditions," he states. "But the ones I checked out are all
old and they don't have the randomizing Rogue-like stuff working or all the
encounters in place, so you don't really get the feel of the game we were
making." "

------
notadoc
I'm not much of a gamer but I would buy this for the nostalgic factor alone.

I hope Nintendo actually produces enough to meet demand this time and doesn't
cancel it after a few months like they did with the NES Classic. But then
again I have a gamer friend who is still looking to buy a Switch and can't
even find that in stock... perhaps Nintendo needs some help with their supply
chain.

~~~
optimuspaul
I've been wondering about this myself. I recall when the Wii came out there
were shortages for what seemed like years. Now the Switch is difficult to
find. Would they sell more if they were more available or does this
(potentially artificial) scarcity keep interest up and amplify the hype?

I suspect they just need help with supply chain.

------
sotojuan
I am VERY surprised they picked Final Fantasy III (VI in reality) instead of
Chrono Trigger (while including two Kirby games). The latter is way more
popular, at least in the West. The former is the best Final Fantasy, though
:-)

~~~
drabiega
I had this thought as well. They've basically got everything I would want to
play on this except for Chrono Trigger. On the other hand, I've bought Chrono
Trigger on three or four different platforms at this point and not FF3, so
maybe there are others like me and Square Enix wanted more money for it?

EDIT: On the Play Store, at least, FF3 has almost twice as many reviews as CT,
so maybe this doesn't hold up.

~~~
sotojuan
Yeah not a problem for me. CT has a great DS port already. I was just
surprised!

FFVI's ports have always had a negative (worse sound quality for GBA, awful
art work for iOS/Steam, horrible load times on PSOne). The only negative of
the SNES version is the translation and perhaps some bugs. If you don't own a
Wii or Wii U (or Switch, if they ever get the VC working on there), this is
the only legal way to play the SNES version of FFVI!

~~~
derefr
> horrible load times on PSOne

Does that load-time still exist if you're playing the downloadable version of
the game released on the "PSOne Store", on e.g. a PS3? If yes, would it still
exist if you stuck an SSD in the PS3?

~~~
sotojuan
Yes. It's not as bad as back in the PSOne with a CD, but compared to the SNES
versions, it will feel slow. There's YouTube videos of it. If you've played it
on the SNES before it's really annoying.

For what it's worth, I have FFIX on my PS3 digitally and it's still a bit too
slow for me (the game pushed the PSOne capabilities a bit too much!).

No idea about PS3 with SSD.

------
JansjoFromIkea
The whole supply thing always struck me a very fine balancing act overall,
Nintendo were aiming for a limited supply but by underestimating demand it
looked crazier than it really was.

If Nintendo released enough Mini-NESs last year to match the demand, by this
point right now there would be thousands upon thousands of them lying around
doing nothing and being resold for every decreasing prices. Most people surely
bought it because the box was cute and/or it was a remarkably easy gift for
someone, I can't imagine many of them are getting much use right now.

With an awareness they're no longer on sale and somewhat in-demand, people are
going to less likely to get rid of theirs. By not satisfying demand they're
managing to avoid long-term damage to the value of NES nostalgia.

Along with that, not only would saturating the market effectively kill the
chances of simply rereleasing it for another wave of hype and high sales in a
few years, it'd also potentially greatly cripple the market value of the games
on the machine. Nintendo have made a killing from re-releasing Super Mario
Bros alone over and over, if it's on the virtual store right now I imagine
it's gotta be at least $5. That's achieved by treating it like a thing of
value, not the kind of thing you find on some cheap "RETRO CLASSICS" type
bundle, preventing the NES-mini from feeling disposable helps prevent the
games on it from feeling worthless.

TL;DR? They're doing an approach which has worked very effectively for another
company in the entertainment industry
[http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Disney_Vault](http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Disney_Vault)

------
cableshaft
So I made a list of 30 SNES games about 8 months ago as an exercise if this
did get announced, and posted it here on Hacker News, and I just looked back
at that list. 15 of the games I stated are included in these 21 games, and an
additional 1 of them I just picked the wrong version (I picked Super Street
Fighter 2 instead of Street Fighter 2 Turbo).

I only missed the 2 Kirby games, Star Fox 2, Super Mario RPG, and Contra III.

Here was my list:

* Chrono Trigger * Donkey Kong Country * Donkey Kong Country 2 * Earthbound * F-Zero * Final Fight * Final Fantasy 2 * Final Fantasy 3 * Harvest Moon * Illusion of Gaia * Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past * Mega Man X * Killer Instinct * NBA Jam * Pilotwings * Secret of Mana * Sim City * Star Fox * Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo * Super Castlevania IV * Super Ghouls n' Ghosts * Super Mario Kart * Super Mario World * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island * Super Metroid * Super Punch-Out!!! * Super R-Type 3 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time * Tetris Attack * Zombies Ate My Neighbors

Source:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12903399](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12903399)

~~~
duskwuff
And of the games you missed, _nobody_ would have ever expected Star Fox 2.
That one was a total bolt from the blue.

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15charlimit
I hope they go all-out and produce 51 consoles instead of the 50 NES Classics
they managed to scrape together and sell. /s

Availability of new systems has never been a strong point of Nintendo.

~~~
alikoneko
Except for the DS line. I never had trouble finding any of the non-special
editions anywhere. If you want a Zelda or Pokemon one though (that isn't a
2DS, the 2DS that shipped with X/Y preinstalled was incredibly common) you are
going to have a bad time.

~~~
goda90
Especially if the retailer lets you buy one then cancels it on you. I got a
discounted regular New 3DS XL instead of a Zelda one because Best Buy let too
many pre-orders in.

~~~
alikoneko
What really sucks is that the 3DS special editions I loved were JP only, such
as the Pikachu ones and the Eevee one. Granted, I didn't totally love the
Eevee one. My favorite is that the R/B 20th anniversary editions are only $300
on Amazon. And here's probably the coolest one for an easy $340 [0]. Sucks to
be a Pokemon fan.

[0] [https://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-New-3DS-Solgaleo-Lunala-
Blac...](https://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-New-3DS-Solgaleo-Lunala-
Black/dp/B01LVZ5SQV/ref=sr_1_15?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1498503555&sr=1-15&keywords=pokemon+3ds)

------
pkamb
What kind of connector does the controller use? It looks like a mini vintage
SNES connector? Or are the ports on the front just for show, and the real
connectors are on the back or something?

One of the nice things about the NES Classic was that it used the same port as
a Nunchuck, meaning you could use it with your old modded Wii. Would be nice
if the SNES controller had a similarly useful connector, perhaps for Switch
compatibility.

~~~
ashark
I _really_ want a good to-USB adapter for those things. I love the Wii Classic
Pro controller, and now these.... I've tried two different models from
Mayflash, but the first stopped working after a couple months and the second
liked to trigger wild, phantom stick movement every minute or two, making it
unusable. No-one else seems to make such an adapter.

~~~
yincrash
Your easiest bet might be just connecting it to a wiimote and finding a
wiimote HID driver and connecting it to your computer via bluetooth.

~~~
ashark
I've had trouble getting it to "remember" the Wiimotes, so I always have to do
manual fiddling to get them connected. Meanwhile PS3 controllers are working
great over Bluetooth, no such problems and totally painless set-up. But
they're more expensive and I kind of want to use them for my PS3 instead,
meanwhile I've got a couple Classic Pro controllers that are otherwise unused
and can pick up more on the cheap. Aside from not having rumble, which isn't a
big deal to me, they're pretty much perfect—except I can't buy a reliable,
durable wired adapter for them.

------
hart_russell
I look forward to getting into a brawl at Gamestop at 1am to get one.

~~~
fenwick67
It's weird, but I actually kind-of enjoy getting out and waiting in line in
the middle of the night waiting for something. It's exciting.

~~~
ianai
Any idea how often that doesn't pan out for everyone? i.e. How often people
camp all night for nothing.

~~~
hart_russell
They let you know how many they have available, so the line has a logical end
to it.

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rangibaby
!!! Star Fox 2 !!!

I wonder how different it will be to the fan-edited ROM (if at all).

~~~
agumonkey
What a prize. Tricking customers into waiting 20 years

~~~
liberte82
Nintendo playing the long game

------
Isamu
update from TFA:

> UPDATE (1:53pm): And here’s Nintendo, confirming that the company does plan
> to ship more SNES Classics, but only this year.

>> 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.

------
derefr
Is it bad if I hope the zeitgeist of Shenzhen gets its hands on one of these
and clones it part-for-part? It's likely the only way I'll ever be able to own
one, given Nintendo's likely production run.

~~~
zyb09
You can always build your own EmuBox, that does the same job and much more.
For people who can't do that, I recommend looking into it, there are pre-build
options, which require less effort to get running. Or "hire" a friend to build
one.

Nintendo will always be the only one who can legally sell a finished product
like that.

~~~
derefr
Sure; the thing I want from Nintendo is mostly 1. build quality and 2. the
assurance of the games and emulators being tweaked to run at 100% speed + 100%
fidelity, 100% of the time, on the system.

A random collection of parts can be made to run a random collection of games
at "decent" fidelity+speed, but you get much better results by cloning the
output of a megacorp's QA pipeline.

I'd much rather give Nintendo my money for the work they did designing the
system, if they'll let me. But if they won't, their design will still likely
be _better_ , such that the best third-party device to get will be the one
that most closely rips it off.

~~~
DanBC
There are a bunch of emulation machines from China. Many of them are
handhelds. The build quality tends to be low; the specs are weird; the
emulation is poor.

So I wouldn't be too hopeful for a decent clone.

If you want Nintendo build quality you can buy a Wii (dirt cheap) and a
classic controller and set it up to run homebrew.

------
placeybordeaux
Oh man I wonder when N64 Classic is gonna come out /s

~~~
camhenlin
2018 probably

------
thisiscool
Why buy this when you can run all these games and so many more on a Rasberry
PI running RetroPie?

~~~
ashark
1) no fussing about with stuff that most people can't or don't want to do, 2)
nice controllers included, no config faffing about, 3) last I checked even the
Rpi3 had noticeable slowdowns and/or frame drops on Starfox and Super Mario
2—it's getting close, though, so a hypothetical Rpi4 might get us to 100%
acceptable SNES emulation.

------
afinlayson
I'm excited about this, but I really wish they'd provide a little more effort
on these projects... if they spent a little more effort, they could have
opened it up, make a retro platform, instead of a quick cash grab.

~~~
liberte82
They'll release more games on the SNES Classic II coming in 2019 ;P

------
dep_b
I'll have to buy two, then hope I can trade it for a Classic since I've missed
out on that one. I really wanted the Classic but the Super Nintendo is great
anyway as well.

~~~
angryasian
Same I still want a NES classic. Nintendo is missing out on sales. I've seen
the classic selling for 200 - 400.

------
smaili
My only gripe is more Final Fantasys and more Mega Mans :(

But I'd say just Mario RPG alone is enough to buy this thing!

------
bdz
I'm gonna definitely buy this. The library looks good also it comes with 2
controllers!

------
wnevets
I might actually buy this if theyre not sold out in 15 secs

------
pwthornton
Star Fox 2!

Lord have mercy.

Never released before.

------
H1Supreme
I still have an original SNES with 25-30 games, including classics like Super
Mario World, Super Metroid, and Link to the past. If I get an itch to play
through one of those, I fire up an emulator. Literally, no reason to switch
that old SNES on.

I guess this is for people who don't know how to make a folder on their PC?

~~~
ashark
Or they want it plugged into their TV and don't want a dedicated PC for that,
or to have to move a laptop over by the TV every time. Or for someone to be
able to play this while the PC's in use for something else. Or they like the
well-made classic-style controllers—SNES knockoff USB controllers are usually
garbage, and two new PS3 or PS4 controllers would be more expensive than an
entire SNES classic with two included controllers. You could use 360
controllers, but awful dpad (have fun losing at Punch Out) and almost as
expensive.

Or they want something people at get-togethers will pick up and play and don't
want to run into "oh yeah, you need to make sure your controllers are off when
it starts up or they won't connect" or "I just updated it and haven't forced
HDMI audio in the config so the sound doesn't work right now, sorry" or any of
a dozen other stupid problems that crop up with self-managed emulator boxes.

~~~
Rooster61
>>> SNES knockoff USB controllers are usually garbage

Not all are. I have nothing bad to say about the 8bitdo SNES30 replica
controller. It feels almost exactly like the real mcoy (and actually feels a
bit better IMO due to the slight added weight of the battery/bluetooth
components) and functions flawlessly.

[http://www.8bitdo.com/snes30-sfc30/](http://www.8bitdo.com/snes30-sfc30/)

DISCLAIMER: I'm in no way involved with that company, just a really happy
customer.

