Nintendo Classic Mini

[The NZA]

 

REDMOND, Wash., July 14, 2016 – If you see a Nintendo Entertainment System on store shelves this holiday shopping season, you haven’t entered a time machine. (Unless everyone around you is wearing acid-washed jeans and neon leg warmers. If that’s the case, you may have unknowingly walked through a rift in the space-time continuum.) The most likely scenario is you are setting eyes on the Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition, launching in stores on Nov. 11 at a suggested retail price of $59.99. That’s right: The NES is back! But this isn’t the same NES that you fondly remember. This new nostalgia-fueled system is a near-identical, mini replica of Nintendo’s original home console and plugs directly into your high-definition TV using an included HDMI cable. The console comes complete with 30 NES games built in, including beloved classics like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong, PAC-MAN, and Kirby’s Adventure.

 

“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,” said Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime. “The Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition is ideal for anyone who remembers playing the NES, or who wants to pass on those nostalgic memories to the next generation of gamers.”

 

The system comes packaged with an HDMI cable, an AC adapter and one NES Classic Controller, which is patterned after the iconic design of the original NES controller. But you really just want to know the full list of 30 games, right? Feast your eyes on the fantastic collection of NES classics included with each and every system:

 

Balloon Fight™

BUBBLE BOBBLE

Castlevania™

Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest™

Donkey Kong™

Donkey Kong Jr. ™

DOUBLE DRAGON II: THE REVENGE

Dr. Mario™

Excitebike™

FINAL FANTASY®

Galaga™

GHOSTS’N GOBLINS®

GRADIUS™

Ice Climber™

Kid Icarus™

Kirby’s Adventure™

Mario Bros. ™

MEGA MAN® 2

Metroid™

NINJA GAIDEN

PAC-MAN™

Punch-Out!! ™ Featuring Mr. Dream

StarTropics™

SUPER C™

Super Mario Bros.™

Super Mario Bros. ™ 2

Super Mario Bros. ™ 3

TECMO BOWL

The Legend of Zelda™

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link™

 

There’s a little something for everyone: a nice mix of timeless favorites, cult classics and maybe even some games that you never got around to playing. Each is sure to bring back memories and produce plenty of new ones. You can even enjoy playing several of these games with two players by attaching a second NES Classic Controller, which will be sold separately at a suggested retail price of $9.99. A Classic Controller or Classic Controller Pro can also be used (each sold separately).

 

When connected to a Wii Remote controller, the NES Classic Controller can also be used to play Virtual Console NES games on a Wii U or Wii system. Playing these retro games using a retro controller makes the experience that much more authentic. And if you ever need to step away from the NES Classic Edition in the middle of a tough level (or take a break to call one of Nintendo’s helpful Game Counselors*), don’t worry about losing any hard-earned progress. Each game has multiple suspend points, so you can start where you left off at a later time, no passwords needed.

 

What’s old is new again with the Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition. Relive past glories. Finish off that boss you never beat. Save the galaxy and rescue the princess!

 

*Please only call if you have indeed entered a time machine. The Game Counselor program no longer exists in 2016.

 

official site is up! $60, 11/11 - pretty cool holiday gift

 

 

additional controllers are $10, prolly grab one just to have a classic NES pad over HDMI for WU/etc

 

 

 

for reference!

 

[Visitant]

[Donatella]

This is perfect for people like me who love the NES but don't have the time/energy/knowledge to get into collecting older consoles/games without being ripped off.

[The NZA]

it really is, and it's got a great lineup of most of the games people'd wanna play too! no Castlevania 3, but that one's notoriously hard to emulate anyway.

 

still salty about that forbes article calling some of these games junk - he ranked on bubble bobble (one of my favorites) and had never heard of Gradius...what the hell, man

[Little Nemo McFly]

Daaaaaamn. Okay - that looks sexy.

 

I already have most of these games on the Virtual Console - but holy god, NES emulation on the VC makes games look sooo crappy. (they run fine, but the presentation...it all just looks sooo washed-out) SNES, GBA on VC look fantastic. The difference between Metroid running on the NES VC and running on the GBA VC (Metroid: Zero Mission includes the original NES Metroid) is night n' day. The NES VC emulator just - does the games such a disservice.

 

Hopefully, this upscales these major NES titles properly. The Masterpiece section in Smash Bros (Wii U) is a great example of how excellent NES titles can look in 1080p. Looking forward to reviews.

[Mr. Hakujin]

No Tetris? Ah, I see Dr. Mario though. Noice! Price seems a little steep for what amounts to a nostalgically packaged emulator though. This makes me want to break out my old XBox my friend modded for me back in the day and play the NES emulator & all the games I DL'd to it.

 

(If it's closer to $30 by X-Mas I'm getting one anyway.)

Edited July 15, 2016 by Mr. Hakujin

[Visitant]

Daaaaaamn. Okay - that looks sexy.

 

I already have most of these games on the Virtual Console

 

I don't have a wii u, but I do have my wii modded for emulation and it works really fantastic. Few games have issues running perfectly. That being said, there's just something to be said for embracing the nostalgia of the thing. The controller alone makes it worth it to me.

[Keth]

We sell a Genesis version of this at our store every year at Christmas. I think this is feeding off nostalgia a little too hard. You can emulate these just fine and they already sell controllers like that. I mean it's definitely cool Nintendo put this out, but I don't think it's very practical I guess?

[The NZA]

I don't have a wii u, but I do have my wii modded for emulation and it works really fantastic. Few games have issues running perfectly. That being said, there's just something to be said for embracing the nostalgia of the thing. The controller alone makes it worth it to me.

 

yeah, the Wii & Wii-U have fantastic emulators - i'm told you can get legit 240p out of many games, which for libraries like neo-geo & TG16 is fantastic

 

We sell a Genesis version of this at our store every year at Christmas. I think this is feeding off nostalgia a little too hard. You can emulate these just fine and they already sell controllers like that. I mean it's definitely cool Nintendo put this out, but I don't think it's very practical I guess?

 

yeah, but as i understand it (havent had a chance to mess with one) that genesis one - like the atari flashback stuff - is supposed to be butt emulation, at least for those who recall what it should sound/play like (not uncommon for genesis emulators, sadly)

 

nintendo signing off on this should at least mean it's quality stuff - granted, the majority of people who play may not mind if stuff isn't very accurate, but many of those folks are okay with stretching classic titles to 16:9 and fucking up the resolution on their LCD, nevermind the input lag that's introduced by some sets. a box like this (im guessing, based on nintendo's tight work on Wii emulators/etc) should put some effort into authenticity/displaying games properly! i guess we'll see, that's my hope though.

[Iambaytor]

Yeah but the thing about that Sega Genesis one is that it has a spot for an SD card so you can put your own ROMs on it.

[The NZA]

didn't know that - that's a pretty neat option, even if i doubt i'd dig how they sound/play...does make it more viable though, prolly cheaper than the shaky-ass retron 5 as well

[Iambaytor]

Oh, the one I'm thinking of is also a handheld.

[Little Nemo McFly]

 

@ 0:32

 

IN HD

 

 

 

 

 

[Little Nemo McFly]

http://arstechnica.c...sole-emulation/

 

IMPROVED COLOR / SHARPNESS OVER PREVIOUS OFFICIAL DOWNLOADS.

 

 

For a while now, a certain subset of authenticity-obsessed nostalgic NES player has been disappointed with noticeable color-matching issues and blurriness evident in Nintendo's official Virtual Console NES re-releases on the Wii, Wii U, and 3DS. That problem led many to worry that the recently announced NES Classic Edition mini-console would suffer from the same issues.

 

Nintendo released an online trailer for the $60 plug-and-play system. Amid a lot of '80s style marketing glitz, the video briefly showed some NES Classic Edition games in action, displaying what seems to be much crisper and more accurate HD emulation of the NES cartridges you remember.

 

You can see the improvements directly in the above gallery, with the NES Classic version on the left and the Wii U Virtual Console version on the right (images were sourced from official Nintendo trailers whenever possible to avoid issues with capture fidelity). As you can see, the NES Classic Edition versions are altogether brighter and crisper, with solid colors and well defined corners on the square pixels. It's the kind of high-fidelity ROM recreation that players on PC-based emulators are already used to, but Virtual Console players may be surprised by it (especially if they last played these games through the low-definition output of the Wii).

 

Of course, you could argue that these overly sharp pixels are actually doing a disservice to games that were originally displayed on fuzzy CRT screens wit scanlines and phospor-induced motion blur. While there's something to that argument, Nintendo's previous official NES emulation efforts ended up just looking muddy rather than authentically "retro."

 

It's hard to see the NES Classic Edition as anything other than an improvement (assuming the final hardware matches the "Product Under Development" shots shown in this trailer). Still, we're holding out hope that Nintendo also includes some sort of advanced image filtering options for players who want to try to truly recapture the gaming imagery of their youth.

 

This video is a bit dry (actually...very dry - LOL) - but it's excellent in regard to being informative and appreciating the value of what this is.

 

 

 

 

 

This thing is going to sell millions of units. Millions.

 

 

[Visitant]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/07/27/nintendo-announces-official-nes-book-playing-with-power

 

Nintendo is giving 17 of its NES classics a scholarly exploration by way of an official hardcover retrospective.

The Prima Games book, titled Playing With Power, is available November 18, and explores classics such as the Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Donkey Kong. The other games in the book aren't listed in the official product description, but you could probably figure them out by crossing 3rd party games off the list of titles on the NES Classic Edition and starting from there.

 

n fact, Nintendo calls the book a "perfect companion" to the NES Classic Edition. Included in the hardcover book are interviews with developers, a "showcase of vintage advertising and priceless excerpts from Nintendo Power," and a feature emblematic of the era, now almost entirely gone from gaming: hand-drawn maps.

The whole thing comes in a slip cover resembling an old-school NES cartridge, and is available for pre-order right now.

 

[Little Nemo McFly]

Yeah, I really like the hand-drawn maps / game guide aspect.

 

As game-changing as the original Zelda was - that game is in dire-need of an update. Without a proper in-game map or any direction / in-game clues that make any actual sense - you will be wandering that world for days looking for dungeons. It was amazing n' fun, as that kinda freedom was unheard of - today, modern gamers who have never experienced what it was back-in-the-day...or have just plum forgotten where stuff is - they're going to go online. A companion book like this - I think, greatly enhances the experience.

 

I'm sure all the artwork, tidbits n' extra goodies will make this a must-own for ol' school NES / Nintendo Power lovers.

 

I wanna see pages!

[Visitant]

It was amazing n' fun, as that kinda freedom was unheard of - today, modern gamers who have never experienced what it...

 

 

http://www.gamesradar.com/8-ways-dark-souls-hardcore-zelda-game/

 

 

 

(glad i'm not the only person on the internet who thinks this)

[The NZA]

^as a hardcore zelda & souls fan....i get the points being made, i just hate when people want the games proper more like each other

 

- that book is so bought

- wait, that KS artbook thing is still available? also somehow bought

- zelda 1 is timeless, and needs no maps!! i say this as someone who loves the shit out of metroid fusion, haha

- i thought the VC color complaints were on the Wii-U end? Wii stuff was said to be fantastic, especially over component...still, glad to see they're living up to their rep here. yeah, i adore scanlines & such but most of the crowd for this wants "cleaner" graphics than i do, so i get the decision

[Little Nemo McFly]

I've always had my Wii hooked up w component - NES VC always looked head-scratchingly muddy. Disappointing as an official release, especially when compared to what other 'sd' emus were doing at the time. Even more disappointing when next-gen hit (Wii U) and there was zero change. The other VC services don't have this issue, they've always looked stellar (great colors n' crisp pixels).

 

So damn happy they're doing something about the freakin' legendary NES library. Curious as hell to know how this is going to affect the NES VC. Sales will no doubt plummet - maybe they'll finally update their NES 'emu app' as now the quality-issue is going to be a 'very known' thing. An update would totally kick-up sales. There are tons of other NES games in there that should see the HD light of day...officially.

 

An option to replicate an old-school tv w/ dem scanlines would be so awesome for this thing!

[Little Nemo McFly]

(yaaawn - can't sleep)

 

Just found a really good vid that seriously showcases the difference between what the Virtual Console spits out and what the original consoles output. LOL - sorry if it seems like I'm beating a dead horse here, but (shrugs) I think it's interesting to have it up so one can actually see the hub-bub...bub.

 

This is taken from the video description:

 

This is a video comparison between the picture quality of NES and SNES games from the Wii U Virtual Console and RGB from the actual consoles.

 

Some things to note:

 

1. NES games on the Wii U Virtual Console have considerably faded colors, which cause the games to appear 'murky'. Colors are much more accurate on the SNES VC games than NES VC games.

 

2. The NES Virtual Console games have been stretched a tiny bit horizontally, so you'll notice that text may appear a bit fatter than it does on RGB. Additionally there is cropping going on with NES VC games. You'll notice that the extraneous picture information (in the instance of Super Mario Bros 1 and 3) has been cropped out in the VC versions. i.e. in Super Mario Bros. 1 this is in the form of a border the same color as the sky.

 

3. Both NES and SNES Virtual Console games on the Wii U actually run a tiny bit slower than the games do on real NES and SNES consoles. Originally I thought I was having trouble syncing up both videos, but noticed that no matter how perfectly the videos started out on the exact same frame, the Virtual Console video always fell behind a tiny bit. Check out the last comparison, Super Metroid, and notice that I actually started the Virtual Console video a tiny bit early, and initially it runs ahead but by the end of the video, it has fallen behind the RGB video.

 

Virtual Console footage recorded via HDMI from my Wii U. RGB footage was recorded from my RGB modified NES and standard 1chip SNES via HDMI from my XRGB Mini Framemeister.

 

He just lets the intros sit, till the sizzle reels loop - so if you'd had enough, just skip ahead 10 seconds or so to the next game. SMB3 @ 2:17 defines exactly what I mean by...head-scratching.

 

 

I gotta feeling that after the Classic Mini releases, the VC quality-issue will become a bit...louder, there will be an 'emulator update'. It would make sense that when the Mini arrives in November - outcry for proper emulation on VC should be reaching max-octaves around December / January. With the NX arriving in March - boasting an improved VC would totally make sense as an excellent incentive to get people to jump in.

[The NZA]

that said, the VC emulators are still some of the best official ones being used - you're not gonna get much better without other compromises elsewhere, it's why i use original hardware. and even then, if you don't have the system RGB modified, colors are gonna be "muddy" because NES' composite is particularly awful, plus without proper upscaling (or playing on an old school CRT) you're gonna have a stretched out image either way.

 

if you're looking for something that's close to authentic & will fix much of this, check out the retroUSB AVS:

 

 

 

 

 

 

it's $180 (far cheaper than my RGB modded NES + upscaler), and the tech is FPGA which basically means cycle-perfect emulation, so you're not getting any closer to the real thing without actual hardware. ive been keeping an eye on that tech this last year because this guy (kevtris) is developing a system that'd use it for Neo-Geo, arcade & other stuff that's well outside of my price range, but i wanted to minimize compromises on the hardware.

 

honestly, i thought nintendo built an amazing library with the Wii's virtual console (particularly loved seeing Turbografx/Neo geo/rare import stuff that played awesome) but the WU & 3DS shows they're kinda done with that for the time - i don't doubt they'll give it another go with the NX, but the chances of them going back & doing anything with existing titles (past trying to get more on the WU screen & resell them) seems very low to me.

[Little Nemo McFly]

Ooooo - that looks gooood. I'd pay that for a machine that properly upscales - but I only own a hand-full of NES carts - between this price n' how much it would cost to physically match cartridges w/ the ROM library I've...stumbled upon on google throughout the years - I'd be up a creek. Hmmm - I think I read this has a USB port? Could you input ROMs into this thing and it output properly? Eh, probably not...

 

I currently have my ol' launch-day Wii set-up to play dem ROMs - but they're still a bit off. (Tho - way better than what the VC is currently outputting - NES-wise...not SNES or GBA-wise. For those, VC is still my option-of-choice. They look fantastic. I have a pretty sizable VC library, btw - NES, SNES, GBA, N64 - which I've been building since the Wii days)

 

If I was cpu/tech-savy, which I absolutely am not (what I set-up on Wii, I've gotten from deciphering half-ass tutorials on youtube...still can't figure out how to connect my PC to my HD tv), I'd have invested in building a bad-ass retro game center, years ago. Totally jelly you got a RGB-modded NES. Super-excited for this Mini-NES.

 

Still want to play arcade games on my tv - but I haven't been able to wrap my brain around how to rig-up an original XBOX to be MAME-able. I hear that's the console-of-choice for MAME emu. I let it go after bumping into too much conflicting info and tech jargon. With all this retro-gaming buzz- I think I'm gonna try again to understand. If that Kevtris is coming out w/ a system that plays Arcade ROMS - I'd totally invest in that.

 

Oh! Coincidentally, VC got Turbo16's Bonk n' Adventure Island last week. Outta nowhere - Turbo is back on VC.

[Little Nemo McFly]

 

 

 

[Little Nemo McFly]

It's out today! Of course, stores were limited to like, 12 - 15. None were taking pre-orders. First come, first serve. Amazon started selling @ 5pm today...w/ 'limited supply' - sold out within minutes. I tried my best, couldn't nab one.

 

Nintendo put out a statement today saying their going to meet w/ demand asap. (shrugs) I can wait - I see another Amiibo situation. If you got one, I envy you...hard.

 

[Iambaytor]

Guise. Srsly.

 

http://www.emulator-zone.com/doc.php/nes/