Nintendo may have discontinued its NES Classic Edition mini game console, but folks who are looking for a tiny replica of a classic game console may have another option on the horizon: Eurogamer reports that Nintendo is planning to launch a miniature version of the Super Nintendo (also known as the SNES).

Nintendo hasn’t confirmed details, but given how popular the NES Classic was (the company sold as many as it could make, and stores routinely sold out of inventory), this is as likely an explanation as any for why there are no plans to keep producing NES Classic consoles.

The appeal of these little systems is mostly nostalgia: you can use game console emulation software to run classic NES and SNES games on pretty much any computer, smartphone, or tablet on the market. But the NES Classic looked just like a cute, tiny Nintendo Entertainment System console and it came with 30 classic games pre-loaded, which meant you didn’t have to install anything, rip any games, or search the internet for illegal downloads.

Hackers also quickly figured out how to load games onto the system even though that wasn’t a feature that was officially supported.

On the one hand, it’s unclear if the SNES has the same nostalgia value as the original NES. On the other hand, as Eurogamer points out, it had better games.

Sure, Super Mario Bros is a classic. But the SNES had Super Mario World and the first version of Mario Kart. The NES had The Legend of Zelda. The SNES had A Link to the Past.

There’s no telling which games will be pre-loaded on the SNES mini, when it will launch, or how much it will cost. But I suspect some nostalgic gamers will be just as excited to get this year’s retro mini-console as last year’s.

Or you could just build your own or buy one of the existing knockoffs.

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6 replies on “Would you buy an SNES Classic mini?”

  1. Personally I prefer the freedom of retropi but I see a lot of my peers being very into the snes games over nes games. Mario cart alone is something that still gets broken out once in a while at house parties.

  2. I just don’t get why nintendo won’t just put some hardware similar to RPi into the controller, add an micro-HDMI-Port to connect screen to the controller and micro-USB for Charging/additional Controllers per OTG

    This is perfectly possible and fast enough to run (S)NES or even N64 in Emulation.

  3. Nah. I’d rather buy a gameboy mini, but one that could play games from all the old generations with a store to buy more from. So you know, basically a 3DS. Wish I gotten one of the $99 black friday ones.

  4. Maybe… if I could find one. I did just buy a Super Retro 3, so I’m looking to collect some actual SNES carts.

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