Why We Want the NES Classic

It seems that the accusations of opportunism that fans have leveled at the Big N have taken their toll and Nintendo has announced that the NES Classic Edition will soon be back in stock at your local store. We try to explain to you the reason for a decision that did not seem possible a few months ago.

IPTV with a Raspberry Pi

After announcing that it will fight against the speculation that has been generated by the low stock of its SNES Mini Classic Edition and against the abuse that smart people make of limited items, Nintendo will satisfy its most die-hard fans by producing more units of the LEGO Nintendo set for 2018. The truth is that these two pieces of news come after a long series of accusations against the Big N by its followers, who called it an opportunist for creating products with a very limited stock.

This led to an increase in the prices of the NES Classic Edition (and the SNES Mini Classic edition as well), well above the recommended cost of the product.

So it’s possible that Nintendo has listened to the fervent criticism of its angry fans or that, in a display of common sense, it has decided to make peace with its conscience and satisfy the retro gluttony of the market. In this article we will try to understand and explain the reason for this surprising decision by the Japanese.

Chronicle of an announced return

Nintendo announced in April that the NES Classic Edition was going to be a limited product, after opting for its discontinuation. In other words, Nintendo had no intention of making any more units of the mini-system despite initial consumer complaints.

That is why the news that concerns us has caught us somewhat by surprise, which suggests that Nintendo could have already planned to “resurrect” the sales of the NES Classic Edition by realizing the popularity achieved by its mini-consoles.

In an interview with the prestigious Time, the President of Nintendo America, Reggie Fils-Aimé, apologized that frustrated fans were unable to find any NES Minis available, claiming that the company had other goals in mind and that its resources were not available unlimited.

After statements of such size, it seems difficult for a company of the caliber of Nintendo to go back on his words. But as you can see, the Japanese have reconsidered resuming the manufacture of their NES Classic Edition, so we assume that the future that Reggie mentioned has changed in these 5 months.

The customer is always right

It is very possible that one of the reasons why Nintendo has been able to “rethink” its future is the tremendous avalanche of complaints and accusations received from its fans after learning that no more NES Classic Edition would be manufactured, despite the fact that the console was experiencing great popularity and many consumers wanted to get their hands on one.

Probably, this mismanagement of the NES Mini sales by Nintendo influenced the company’s decision to produce more units of its new SNES Mini Classic Edition and manufacture the new shipment of NES Classic Edition, thus avoiding a new chapter of anger and accusations.

This behavior is interesting, as it may (just may) be that for once consumers have won the battle against industry corporatism and their angry “prayers” have been answered. This fact seems to be reinforced by the return of the forgotten Metroid saga that the nintenderos demanded so much, as well as the rebirth of important titles with Yoshi or Kirby as protagonists. 

Not to mention that Nintendo has “pushed” the arrival of Pokémon on the Switch despite the reluctance of The Pokémon Company.

Is this a new phase for Nintendo in which listening to its fans is of vital importance or will it be a short-lived fad? We hope it’s the former although, as history dictates (which always repeats itself), it will end up being the latter (as much as Palutena doesn’t want it).

Living craving for retro gaming

Any company worth its salt does market research to see if the products it is going to put up for sale are economically viable, that is, if they have enough sales so that they do not represent a loss for the company.

After the worldwide flop of Wii U sales, and the most recent hit with the groundbreaking Nintendo Switch, the Big N seems more willing to sit back, watch, listen and act. Therefore, that the sales and reservations of their NES and SNES Mini have been a complete bombshell, they have had to open their eyes wide and they have visualized a great truth: The retro market is in fashion.

Thus, the company has not wanted to miss out on a juicy opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. On the one hand, more sales means more profits that can be used for new projects. On the other hand, making fans happy and having their approval also means more sales, and of course, enjoying a better image and greater popularity. If there is something that Nintendo (and other companies like Disney) does not like, it is to give the image of exploited and opportunistic.

With this bath of reality, Nintendo wins twice and if it knows how to handle the situation, its image will be strengthened in the face of fans, who will see the decision to produce more consoles as a clear movement in favor of consumers.

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