Last week, Nintendo discontinued the NES Classic after just six months of availability. The decision to kill off the beloved little retro box leaves it with an odd legacy. It was a neat system, but awful supply issues never allowed it to reach its potential and supply shortages left customers who wanted to buy one understandably frustrated.
Despite not being able to keep it on store shelves, Nintendo reported it sold 1.5 million NES Classic systems worldwide as of January. But it could have absolutely sold even more. Clearly, there’s demand for a Nintendo-sanctioned retro gaming console. The product grabbed the attention of lapsed gamers, the kind of people who aren’t interested in buying a Nintendo Switch, New 3DS, or a 2DS. But let’s face it, even though it was popular, the NES Classic was not as cool as it could have been. It was a good first draft, but Nintendo can (and I believe inevitably will) improve on it. And the company isn’t done trying to sell devices like it.
It was a good first draft, but Nintendo can make a better retro console
It was easy to love the simplicity behind the NES Classic. The plug and play device was a gateway to 30 great games from the mid-to-late ‘80s; The library included top-tier hits like Super Mario Bros. 3, Donkey Kong, and even third-party games like Castlevania. The system offered up good quality video game emulation at a low cost ($60 USD). But perhaps its neatest feature was how the wee console captured the look and feel of the iconic original system down to the smallest details.
The NES Classic experience was good enough, but the list of shortcomings in Nintendo’s design are still considerable. The NES Classic can't connect to the internet, which meant you couldn’t go online and add more games to the system’s software library (hackers figured out a way add more games to it, though). It had no expandable storage. The entire system ran on open source software, which was one of the most un-Nintendo characteristics about it (though, admittedly, the menu and UI were well done). And the measly two-and-a-half-foot-long controller cord meant you had to sit close to your television or buy extension cables to use it comfortably in a living room.
All of these deficiencies made the NES Classic feel like a B-tier product from the beginning. The fact that we all bought into it or even listed these drawbacks as justifiable reasons for Nintendo to keep costs low is mere proof that we loved the idea.
...it’s not enough to sell people an offline box of games and call it a day.
Admittedly, there’s nothing wrong with Nintendo offering a low-cost system to grab the attention of Joe or Jane Walmart on the way to the checkout counter, but it’s not enough to sell people an offline box of games and call it a day. Imagine Apple, Amazon, or Google selling you an equivalent built to look like a VHS player with 30 classic movies from the ‘80s bundled in. That product would get laughed out of the room.
Sure, there’s interest in NES Classic because it’s cheap, but Nintendo can do better. The next Nintendo classic console should be an improved, higher quality retro games console. It should bundle in a good wireless controller and connect to an online shop on the internet. The next NES Classic-like device should be a sold as a starter pack with the option to buy more games, assuming Nintendo can navigate the third-party licenses and set everything up properly. This kind of service can live alongside the company’s Virtual Console offerings on Switch, but be significantly cheaper than ever owning Nintendo’s current hybrid console.
Now more than ever, Nintendo sees itself as an entertainment brand, and the company has taken steps to diversify its offerings. Over the past few years, Nintendo has started selling original games on smartphones. It made a deal with Universal to create a theme park called Super Nintendo World. The NES Classic was part of this effort, and even though we don’t know why Nintendo discontinued it, it doesn’t make sense to assume Nintendo is done utilizing the power of its classic game catalog.
Some will say, ‘But NES Classic already prints money?’ Maybe it does, but maybe it doesn’t. We don’t know how profitable the NES Classic was for Nintendo in the end. We do know that the cheap sticker price set the price per game lower than what the company sells Virtual Console games for on Wii, Wii U, and 3DS.
Virtual Console on Switch isn't the only audience for classic games...
Others will say, ‘Maybe Nintendo killed off the NES Classic in order to push its Virtual Console brand on Switch?’ Unlikely. If Nintendo thinks that Virtual Console on Switch is the only audience for classic games, that would be a major mistake, especially given the reaction to the NES Classic. It’s true that Nintendo underestimated the popularity of its first retro games console, but the NES Classic was a version 1.0 product. Nintendo can do much better. And when it does, Nintendo needs to make sure there’s ample supply for customers who want one.
Jose Otero is an Editor at IGN and host of Nintendo Voice Chat. You can follow him on Twitter.
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