NES Classic demand is crazy

[8BitMonk]

I swung by Best Buy to pick one up at 10, apparently there were 29 units and people had been lined up since 8:30!!?   

[TapeWormInYourGut]

That is crazy awesome.

[paigeoliver]

Give it a few months they will all be sitting unplayed with no demand.

[8BitMonk]

Give it a few months they will all be sitting unplayed with no demand.

I agree, it'll die down fairly quick. I wasn't super bummed, I only have a passing interest in one, I definitely wouldn't be standing in line. Amazon is going to start selling them at 2pm pacific, I might hop on and see if I can snag one. I know Target and Toys R Us sold out of their online pre-orders.

[JDFan]

I swung by Best Buy to pick one up at 10, apparently there were 29 units and people had been lined up since 8:30!!?

And of the 29 probably 25 went to employees before the doors opened that listed them for resale on Ebay auctions ! there's tons of them listed already !

[Malenko]

resale on Ebay auctions ! there's tons of them listed already !

Some of those people are smoking crack. One is listed for like $2,000

[JDFan]

resale on Ebay auctions ! there's tons of them listed already !

Some of those people are smoking crack. One is listed for like $2,000

$2,000 is one of the cheaper ones now ! (they're up to $10,000 now) - But they include shipping 

[8BitMonk]

And of the 29 probably 25 went to employees before the doors opened that listed them for resale on Ebay auctions ! there's tons of them listed already !

Yeah I'm a bit suspicious, I was there right at 10am when they open and there was one guy walking out with one and 2 people being rung up with one each. I would've expected to see 20 or so people checking out.

[Malenko]

Yeah I just dont see the point of pricing something just released that replaces something old, costing significantly more than all the old stuff combined many times over.

[8BitMonk]

Below is a good article attempting to describe the desirability. $60 is a fair price but why someone would pay a ridiculous marked up price on ebay etc. is beyond me.

http://www.polygon.com/2016/11/11/13598104/nes-classic-lines-christmas-sales-why-people-want-one

[thomas_surles]

I might pick one up from a bargain bin one day for my Nintendo collection. But I got a nes for 10 bucks and an everdrive for 60.

[yotsuya]

These are going to be sitting in closets for six weeks, and then be given out as Christmas presents. I'm really starting to get annoyed with a Nintendo fanboys the longer I stay in this Hobby. And this is coming from somebody who owns dedicated Nintendo cabinet and has like two Wiis in this house.

[vwalbridge]

Never underestimate the power of nostalgia. It's one of the major reasons we are all here after all.

Nostalgia can make a grown man pay thousands of dollars just to own a game he loved as a kid. It's cray-cray...

[8BitMonk]

These are going to be sitting in closets for six weeks, and then be given out as Christmas presents. I'm really starting to get annoyed with a Nintendo fanboys the longer I stay in this Hobby. And this is coming from somebody who owns dedicated Nintendo cabinet and has like two Wiis in this house.

Definitely not a fan of fanboys but I'm not sure how that plays into this. If they're being bought as Christmas gifts then it isn't fanboys buying them right? Are you saying their value is inflated solely because of fanboys? Trying to think of a time when a fanboy affected this hobby for me or when I've even encountered one and nothing comes to mind.

[harveybirdman]

they drive up prices and are easily fooled into thinking that a machine being inspected by "insert name here" is desireable from a "collectors" stand point.

[yotsuya]

they drive up prices and are easily fooled into thinking that a machine being inspected by "insert name here" is desireable from a "collectors" stand point.

Yeah, it's not just this particular instance, more of an observation made over time. But you pretty much nailed it.

[UEDan]

Just tried to pick one up on Amazon to flip... sold out in under a minute.

[8BitMonk]

I gave it a shot to, no go. I actually did get the add to cart and one-click buy buttons but they didn't work. Oh well, no biggie, they'll make more.

[DeLuSioNal29]

This one at $750 seems pretty reasonable though, compared to those other prices.   

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/vgm/5871399554.html

DeL

[thomas_surles]

I love how he says it's "going for" $1000. People can ask whatever they want, doesn't mean it's "going" anywhere.

[yotsuya]

Just tried to pick one up on Amazon to flip... sold out in under a minute.

Yep,  that's the problem.

[Automark]

Like anyone will pay 10k
Next week al the stores have them again, everybody knows that, its not a limited edition

[paigeoliver]

Nintendo fanboys are everywhere and most of them were too young to have actually had the Nes during its prime time. Nintendo fanboys have turned Nintendo VS. arcade games from trash to treasure. Have turned red tents from scrap metal to $800 "grails". They have turned Playchoice 10s from also ran to easy 4 digit values. They are driving the prices of common nes carts so high that it is pushing up the prices of Jamma boards. Contra was the most obvious one, but there have been others.

Most of the people in my local console collecting group are under 30, they all concentrate on Nes.

These are going to be sitting in closets for six weeks, and then be given out as Christmas presents. I'm really starting to get annoyed with a Nintendo fanboys the longer I stay in this Hobby. And this is coming from somebody who owns dedicated Nintendo cabinet and has like two Wiis in this house.

[keilmillerjr]

Dont worry. The nes classic is junk. It has a hella short controller cord (yes, no bluetooth), limited to 30 preinstalled games, and is hdmi only. I cant even connect this unit to my families tv! Its a sony trinitron, which is the type of tv these games were made for!

Buy a raspberry pi. Im so disapointed.

[MaseMan]

Dont worry. The nes classic is junk. It has a hella short controller cord (yes, no bluetooth), limited to 30 preinstalled games, and is hdmi only. I cant even connect this unit to my families tv! Its a sony trinitron, which is the type of tv these games were made for!

This was all pretty common knowledge before this thing was released.

[matsadona]

There is a craze over here in Europe (Sweden) as well. By some reason the hipster generation has turned in to retro gaming and are holding everything Nintendo 8-bit branded as hostages in their desire to be unique (which they seldom are since they are doing exactly the same as everyone else also trying to be a unique hipster).

There was a lot of retailers here that took pre-orders, without any idea of how many units they would get, and now a lot of people are wining about it whereever they can (online).

Me, well I built my own unit months ago. Eventually the official stuff turned out to be a Linux computer also - but less configurable...

[8BitMonk]

Dont worry. The nes classic is junk. It has a hella short controller cord (yes, no bluetooth), limited to 30 preinstalled games, and is hdmi only. I cant even connect this unit to my families tv! Its a sony trinitron, which is the type of tv these games were made for!

Buy a raspberry pi. Im so disapointed.

I wouldn't say it's junk, there's a lot to be said for it's design, form factor and ease of use. Defaulting to CRT connections would've been silly from a business standpoint, the majority of consumers have devices with HDMI they want to connect to and the niche audience that doesn't will buy an adapter.

[keilmillerjr]

Dont worry. The nes classic is junk. It has a hella short controller cord (yes, no bluetooth), limited to 30 preinstalled games, and is hdmi only. I cant even connect this unit to my families tv! Its a sony trinitron, which is the type of tv these games were made for!

Buy a raspberry pi. Im so disapointed.

I wouldn't say it's junk, there's a lot to be said for it's design, form factor and ease of use. Defaulting to CRT connections would've been silly from a business standpoint, the majority of consumers have devices with HDMI they want to connect to and the niche audience that doesn't will buy an adapter.

Cant connect to my tv. I say its junk. While most people have hdmi lcds, lots of people still have crt tvs. There is a reason why the rpi has that type of connection.

[vwalbridge]

lots of people still have crt tvs.

lol, no they don't.

[8BitMonk]

Cant connect to my tv. I say its junk. While most people have hdmi lcds, lots of people still have crt tvs. There is a reason why the rpi has that type of connection.

The market disagrees with you, saying it's junk based on it's appeal to a niche audience isn't really a fair assessment. Personally I'm happy Nintendo made something like this, for me the case alone to mod something cooler into is worth $60. There's also a chance some smart people are able to hack the hardware opening up all kinds of possibilities. I think off-handedly classifying it as junk is a little short sighted. That's just my ¢2.

[pbj]

If you have a CRT just a get Famiclone and a multicart and be done with it. 

That would have set you back all of $25 shipped on 11/11 from your favorite Chinese importers.

[Haze]

they're basically fashion statements, nothing more.

what's really sad is that the sound emulation on them isn't even correct, emulation authors 15 years ago would have been ashamed of it.

(yes, I know MAME's emulation of NES based platforms is still pretty awful too as it's rather old now, but for an official Nintendo product you'd expect better especially when people have been getting it right for so long)

[Malenko]

they're basically fashion statements, nothing more.

what's really sad is that the sound emulation on them isn't even correct, emulation authors 15 years ago would have been ashamed of it.

Mixed emotions. Its neat, I wouldnt mind having one. Im not a stickler so as long as the game is playable without any issues I personally wouldnt care if the emulation is 100% accurate or not (I know, different horses for different courses). $60 is the max I would spend and Im not in a rush to get one and I'd never spend what some of these eBay auctions are ending at. Cheaper to get a real NES and an everdrive.

To some it might be a fashion statement, for others, like me, its an easy device to put in my desk at work and kill some time during lunch replaying some childhood memories.

[Haze]

well you know how against things like the Pi I am, but in this case the Pi does a job many, many times better than this official product...

[JDFan]

$60 is the max I would spend and Im not in a rush to get one and I'd never spend what some of these eBay auctions are ending at. Cheaper to get a real NES and an everdrive.

Completely agree with you on this -- It's amazing that people are in such a rush to get one that they would spend $200+ on a $60 product that will probably be being sold for $30 in six months to a year, when those that get them for Xmas find they never play the thing. I'd probably pick one up if I found it at a local store for the $60 but it's more of an impulse buy than a must have right now product.

[pbj]

Anyone else remember when we paid $75 for SNES games 20 years ago?

All this bitching over $60 is comical.

[Ian]

Anyone else remember when we paid $75 for SNES games 20 years ago?

All this bitching over $60 is comical.

 

And I am not so sure these will be in the bargain bin anytime soon. You will still have a SNES one I am sure, plus copy cats such as Sega and even Sony. This is just the beginning folks. 98% of the population are unaware of rasberry pi AND if they were would not care to learn how to program the thing. This is the best option available for that 98%

[Retrogamer_68]

I use my Surface Pro with a wireless XBOX One controller (or two sometimes), HDMI out to TV and every game through emulation. I don't see the point in getting a system with 30 games and no way to add more. The ChatPad works as a keyboard too.

To be honest, I find myself using the XBOX One controller for just about every emulator these days. MAME, SNES, Genesis, Atari 2600, you name it.

[Ghegs]

The point is that it's a) an official Nintendo product and B) legal. Those things do carry a lot of weight for some people.

I probably would've bought one of these myself, but I already have all of the games I'm interested in as original Famicom carts. At the office we did talk about getting one for the break room, that could be fun, even if there aren't terribly many 2-player games on it. Blades of Steel or something would've been great.

[JDFan]

Looks like Nintendo uploaded all of the original manuals for the 30 games for download in pdf format

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clv/manuals/en/index.html