Released on Nov. 11, Nintendo has put out what could be one of the most popular Christmas gifts this season. Throwing it back to a retro style device, Nintendo Entertainment Systems created the new Nintendo Classic Mini. With 30 of their most popular game titles pre-loaded onto the system, including the Super Mario Bros trilogy and The Legend of Zelda, this revived console is a sure way to family fun and a blast to the past.
The new Classic Mini pays tribute to its original design created by NES in 1983. With just a few minor tweaks and the blessing of 2016 technology, this will most likely be Nintendo’s most popular console yet.
“We wanted to give fans of all ages the opportunity to revisit Nintendo’s original system and rediscover why they fell in love with Nintendo in the first place,” Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America President, said.
Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand while containing 30 out of the 713 original NES classics, the console sells for $59.99 a piece, which includes one controller, an AC adaptor and an HDMI cord for your TV. Controllers can be bought separately for $9.99 to indulge in some multiplayer.
Unfortunately, you’re going to have to tell your parents to keep their old school cartridges in the box. Merely for design purposes, the system contains an outline of the flap where the original version would accept cartridges. Without being able to connect to the Internet, download any more games or use the original cartridges, gamers are stuck with the 30 NES chose to install on the system.
Polygon’s comment to the limited selection of games was, “the company is trying to do right by its fans.”
Through the Classic Mini, NES will create a sense of nostalgia for multiple generations of gamers. NES could never pre-load 713 games onto one console, so they did the next best thing – give the fans 30 beloved classics.
Regardless of the limited games, they only chose their most popular games that once entertained youth for endless hours. After releasing multiple videos of gameplay, the games look more vivid and it appears that they have modified the picture for a sharper and high-definition version of the originals. NES has also stated that anyone can play any game on the console in three different screen modes: Pixel Perfect, where the display will be pixels as squares for graphics, 4:3 Output, where the screen will literally be a 4:3 aspect ratio with the resolution of the game in modern display and CRT, which is the most authentic experience.
Another upside to the Classic Mini is that gamers can now save and pause mid-game. No more bladder damaging matches, dinners-ready-but-I-can’t-quit-matches or sorry-I-accidently-turned-off-your-console-mid-game matches. Every game has four save slots so multiple people can have an account on one system. Finally, you can start where you left off and go beat that boss you could never get to, save Peach or just keep running around as Pacman… eating whatever it is he eats.
With Amazon, the Game Collection and Zavvi already sold out, it won’t be the easiest toy to get your hands on. But don’t fret my geeky gamers, more will come, and patiently wait we shall.
