Super Nintendo Classic Edition

[Data]

As some people know already, the SNES Classic Edition was announced Monday June 26.  They say it will be available September 29 for 80 bucks American and will only be available until the end of the year.

Just like the NES Classic the hardware runs Linux for the Operating System and likely an emulator such as retroarch but unlike the NES, it will contain only 21 games instead of 30 that the NES had with a promise of "significantly more" SNES units than the meager 2.3 Million NES units.

The SNES Classic will contain the following games;

 

Contra III: The Alien Wars
Donkey Kong Country
EarthBound
Final Fantasy III
F-ZERO
Kirby™ Super Star
Kirby’s Dream Course
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Mega Man X
Secret of Mana
Star Fox
Star Fox  2
Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
Super Castlevania IV
Super Ghouls ’n Ghosts
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Mario World
Super Metroid
Super Punch-Out!!
Yoshi’s Island

Another thing the SNES shares with it's sibling is the usb port which can be plugged into a PC, giving access to the software.  Besides voiding you're warranty, having access to the operating system will make it easy to add some of you're old dusty games if you know how to dump them.  I have to say this is a gray area even if you own the originals but the fact is, this option will be available.

When Nintendo released only 200,000 NES Classic units in Nov 2016 they sold out immediately.  Scalpers bought them all and flipped them on Ebay for around 6 times the retail price.  After Christmas the final shipments totaling 2.3 Million units trickled out but scalpers and collectors bought them all.  Nintendo claimed they underestimated the demand for this toy but that is complete rubbish.  It is well known that Nintendo purposefully limits stock to increase demand and hype.  The Switch has sold 2.7M units as of May 17 and many stores can't keep them stocked and Amazon currently lists them for around 80 dollars above retail including the shipping.

Nintendo says they will create "significantly more units" of the SNES Classic compared to NES Classic.

NES Classic totaled 2.3M so significantly could mean anything between 2 and 10 times as many I would guess right?

So between 5 and 20 Million units.

Tell me what you're guess is.

 

The controllers are re-created by Nintendo and will be high quality feel in you're hands like all 1st party controllers made by Nintendo, not the counterfeit ones that everybody has today.

The NES Classic controller was 2 foot 6 inch and everyone hated this because the original was 7 foot 8 inch so Nintendo increased this to 4 foot 6 inch.

 

[kitsunebi]

4 hours ago, Data said:

NES Classic totaled 2.3M so significantly could mean anything between 2 and 10 times as many I would guess right?

So between 5 and 20 Million units.

Tell me what you're guess is.

Or else they could simply mean that the initial shipment will be significantly more than the NES Classic's original 200,000.  So a 100% increase in shipped units means 400,000 units shipped before Christmas, the majority of which will again go to scalpers, most likely.

Btw, the actual SNES only sold around 23 million units during its entire lifespan in North America, so the idea of Nintendo shipping 20 million SNES Classics is beyond unlikely.

[twiztor]

still on the lookout for an official NES mini controller. 

to everybody getting their hopes up, Nintendo refuses to learn its lesson on meeting demand.  i would expect nothing different from this short-term holiday item.

see: Wii, Amiibos, NES Classic, Switch.

[kitsunebi]

9 minutes ago, twiztor said:

to everybody getting their hopes up, Nintendo refuses to learn its lesson on meeting demand.  i would expect nothing different from this short-term holiday item.

see: Wii, Amiibos, NES Classic, Switch.

I think you're misinterpreting their actions as things they've unwittingly done against their own better interests that they should learn from, as opposed to things they've done with a clear and calculated purpose.  Nintendo has always operated under the tenet that demand surpassing supply is a formula for success.  This goes back to the original NES and Nintendo's completely fabricated stories of "chip shortages," which were a lie which allowed them to limit the supply of product and create a feeling amongst consumers that if supplies are limited, they should buy the systems/games as soon as they see them, lest they miss their chance when they sell out.

Nintendo isn't stupid, so I'm sure they do this because it works for them.  Even if it's annoying as hell from the consumer's point of view.

If they say they'll be shipping "significantly more" SNES Classics than the 200,000 units they launched the NES classic with, I believe them.  Of course, I also believe that "significantly more" could be a 50% increase, meaning 300,000 units, which is still well short of meeting the expected demand.  But insufficient supplies are what will make it a hot "must-have" holiday gift, after all.

[Data]

I don't believe the SNES is going to have the same appeal the NES classic had because normal people in 2016 simply wanting to enjoy the NES Flashback never got one and by the time it was out people either lost interest or simply protested against it. 

I would wager 4 Million of these SNES Classics could be sold by the end of the year because of the novelty mixed with the November - December Holiday season and the ability to add other games to it by way of PC.

Nintendo likely wants to generate hype for their Switch and online subscription to play "classic" games such as Balloon Fight and Super Mario Bros 3 across the network with friends so a re-release the NES Classic is out of the question and 4 Million SNES classics will likely be the limit.  They don't want to compete against themselves.

[kitsunebi]

1 hour ago, Data said:

I would wager 4 Million of these SNES Classics could be sold by the end of the year because of the novelty mixed with the November - December Holiday season and the ability to add other games to it by way of PC.

4 million SNES Classics sold by the end of the year would mean that in 3 months it would have sold nearly 3 times as many units as the Switch has sold in the 4 months following its launch.  I know it's the holiday season, but that seems awfully optimistic.  Unless you meant global sales and not North America.

[Data]

You know me bro, I always measure console sales worldwide and give prices in American even though I root for Microsoft and live 70 cents on the dollar.

You got to look at the price.  A switch costs as much as a Playstation 4 Pro right now which is over $400 with no game.

The SNES Classic is only $80 and comes with both controllers and lots of great games.  It will be an impulse buy for alot of people.

[kitsunebi]

4 million is still a lot, even worldwide.  That puts it equal with Switch sales thus far (and again, it would have to do it in 3 months as opposed to the Switch's 4 months.)  It's cheaper sure, but the audience for a retro system isn't as broad as the one for a new system. 

You're right about some sales being impulse buys, although maybe not in the exact way you meant.  If Nintendo can get people whipped up enough with the idea that the SNES Classic might end up quickly selling out like the NES Classic did, a lot of people will buy it on impulse when they see it just because they get caught up in the fervor of buying a hot ticket item that won't be on shelves long.  It's what happens with all hot Christmas "must-have" toys, and kids who didn't even ask for them end up getting Cabbage Patch Kids or Tickle-Me-Elmos from well-meaning parents who got excited when they found one in stock and bought it on impulse so as not to miss their chance.

I personally doubt Nintendo will actually manufacture 4 million units before Christmas though, so we'll probably never find out if it could sell that well.

[atik]

I really hope Nintendo manufacture way more Snes Mini's than they did Nes Mini's. I live in Ireland and the only Nes Mini's that I've seen are three boxed ones in a store called C.E.X. They're charging 215 euro's each for them and there's no way I'm going to pay that price.

Anyway on the day that Nintendo announced the Snes Mini, I went in to my local Game Stop + and handed over 20 Euro's and pre ordered one. I was told that quite a few people had already pre ordered one before I got there so whether I'll get one or not I don't know but here's hoping

[te72]

I don't need one, but I did say in another thread that if they included Yoshi's Island, I would buy at least one. Likely more, as gifts. Now, if Nintendo is smart enough to let me buy them, that's up to them. I'm not gonna hinge my life on their bullshit marketing, there are MANY other ways to play these games, as I've been doing for oh, I dunno, nearly 20 years now?

 

That said, I never had an SNES as a kid, yet it is one of my favorite systems to this day. I'll buy one if I have the opportunity.

 

Edit: I wonder what Gabe Newell's thoughts are on Nintendo's marketing strategies. I remember reading an interview with him where he said that piracy was a problem rooted in poor customer service. Give the customer a better way to buy, and they won't be as likely to pirate. Does Nintendo truly believe that making hardware unavailable is a better way to buy?

[kitsunebi]

Trailer for the Super Famicom Classic Mini.  First shows the games, then shows some of the system features. 

 

[te72]

Well, that just serves to remind us why the SNES was one of the best systems ever... looks fun!

[Ferneu]

On quarta-feira, 23 de agosto de 2017 at 11:20 AM, te72 said:

Well, that just serves to remind us why the SNES was one of the best systems ever... looks fun!

Truer words have never been said.

 

And by the way, did I see Star Fox 2 on the list of games? Was it ever released officially, back in the day?
 

[kitsunebi]

1 minute ago, Ferneu said:

And by the way, did I see Star Fox 2 on the list of games? Was it ever released officially, back in the day?

No, despite being complete, it was canceled shortly before its scheduled release, supposedly due to the impending release of the N64.

[Data]

[te72]

How would you prevent scalping for something like this? I've seen some unique approaches with concerts, but those are for a physical venue entry, not an item you buy.

 

Think directly from Nintendo, one per credit card or address?

[Data]

25 minutes ago, te72 said:

How would you prevent scalping for something like this? I've seen some unique approaches with concerts, but those are for a physical venue entry, not an item you buy.

 

Think directly from Nintendo, one per credit card or address?

In this particular case, the one item per customer rule is not enough because scalpers can order from a variety of different online stores as well as local stores such as Toys R Us and Gamestop.

Nintendo creates these artifical shortages for the same reason they do with their toy line, it establishes an artificial appeal for the product because of the shortage of supplies.

After the success of the NES Classic I said Nintendo should make a minimum of 5 Million consoles, I even left the upper limit to 20 Million because I saw the trend and I understand the popularity of Super Nintendo worldwide.

If Nintendo even had a business strategy like this then I would say they are incompetent.

[MisterXiado]

I'm just going to get an SD2SNES. Already ordering the empty cart for it, and thinking up label designs that don't look like ████. Almost everything Nintendo does drives me to spite them.

[te72]

I think 10 million would be reasonable enough to satiate most demand. If Nintendo wanted to create some customer goodwill, perhaps include the games that were on the NES Classic on the SNES version. Doubt they would do that, that would be doing right by your customer.

 

I want to give them my money, I really do. But if I can't buy their products for at or less than MSRP, I can either wait or do without. They have to meet the customer halfway here...

[sqwirral]

21 hours ago, Raijin Z said:

I'm just going to get an SD2SNES. Already ordering the empty cart for it, and thinking up label designs that don't look like ████. Almost everything Nintendo does drives me to spite them.

It can't run all the games that are on the SNES Classic, mind. (Kirby Super Star, Star Fox 1 & 2, Super Mario RPG, Yoshi's Island)

I got the SNES Everdrive instead because it was half the price and runs mostly everything the other one does.

[E-Day]

The SD2SNES has FPGA chips, which can be programmed to run like the custom chips used back in the day. So the SD2SNES may eventually be able to run SuperFX games, and is why it can handle some games that the EverDrive line cannot. It's on the developers to-do list.

[sqwirral]

Well good luck, it's been that way for what, 6 years now? And SA-1 was taken off the todo list a while ago, it's now on 'to be determined' whatever that means.

For the difference in price, you can buy a lot of the SA-1 and SuperFX games on cart to play now. (I would say you can buy a SNES Classic but, well, Nintendo...)

Edited August 28, 2017 by sqwirral

[MisterXiado]

15 hours ago, sqwirral said:

It can't run all the games that are on the SNES Classic, mind. (Kirby Super Star, Star Fox 1 & 2, Super Mario RPG, Yoshi's Island)

I got the SNES Everdrive instead because it was half the price and runs mostly everything the other one does.

Yeah, but I've been bitten for not future-proofing with odds and ends before. Buy once, cry once, as they say in the world of rifle scopes. While I'm not the biggest SNES fan, it's not like I can find shoeboxes full of decent games for a buck each at yardsales anymore.

[sqwirral]

The SD2 has other advantages too, eg the MSU-1 thing and faster loading. It's obviously the one to have if money is no object but just thought I'd point out you can save a fair bit and still play the same stuff with the Everdrive version.

[Jie]

On 7/2/2017 at 2:58 AM, Data said:

Nintendo claimed they underestimated the demand for this toy but that is complete rubbish.  It is well known that Nintendo purposefully limits stock to increase demand and hype.  The Switch has sold 2.7M units as of May 17 and many stores can't keep them stocked and Amazon currently lists them for around 80 dollars above retail including the shipping.

The NES Classic was really nothing more than a holiday item, hence why supplies were limited.

As for the Switch, can you really blame them after the fiasco that was the Wii U? Nintendo is a very conservative company, and this works for and against them. Their original projections for the Switch was around 8 million for the whole year; when the success caught them off-guard, they said they would increase the supply to 13 million. The problem is that the Switch is also using components used in the newest iPhone so they are competing with Apple for hardware components in this regard. And no one can really hope to compete with Apple in this day and age.