Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console • Hacker News Board

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#51

Post by fredoralive » Thu, Jul 14, 2016, 1:32 PM UTC

smaili wrote: post #4

> Sadly you can't use your original NES carts with the console - something even the most basic "Famiclone" offers - and there doesn't seem to be any means of getting new games onto it. Would it really have been that much extra effort to make the console backwards compatible?

> Would it really have been that much extra effort to make the console backwards compatible?

Depends if it's a NES on a chip type system like most clones, or if it's something like an ARM SoC device running an emulator[1]. If it's the former it would be possible with just space issues for the slot, the latter would be quite hard, certainly more trouble than worth for a cheap novelty device.

[1] It uses Wii controllers and has save states so it seems a bit more than the average clone at least.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#52

Post by fhood » Thu, Jul 14, 2016, 1:33 PM UTC

You know, if the controller or lack of some game really bothers you just get a raspberry pi.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#53

Post by chipsambos » Thu, Jul 14, 2016, 1:34 PM UTC

spydum wrote: post #27

smaili wrote: post #4

> Sadly you can't use your original NES carts with the console - something even the most basic "Famiclone" offers - and there doesn't seem to be any means of getting new games onto it. Would it really have been that much extra effort to make the console backwards compatible?

Don't you recall how unreliable that media/interface was? I don't think most carts aged well.

But blowing the cart and hoping it would work was part of the fun.

I hope (and assume) it could be updated somehow though e.g. usb or micro sd

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#54

Post by davb » Thu, Jul 14, 2016, 1:34 PM UTC

chongli wrote: post #19

HDMI out? I wonder if they're going to simulate NTSC TV artifacts such as colour bleed and dot crawl. These artifacts are important for correctly rendering NES games according to their original design [0]. [0] http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/KylePittman/20150420/241442/C...

I'm guessing they'll use the same emulator design as they have on the 3DS, where a number of the listed games are available.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#55

Post by vlunkr » Thu, Jul 14, 2016, 1:34 PM UTC

janvdberg wrote: post #40

I understand the aesthetic value but to be really useful/fun a wireless controller would be better.

It says you can use the wii Classic controller, which is wireless

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#56

Post by gh02t » Thu, Jul 14, 2016, 1:35 PM UTC

Kurtz79 wrote: post #33

Haul4ss wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I played a bunch of old NES games on an emulator in the early '00s. Two things stood out: (1) the graphics really were pretty lame, and (2) games I was addicted to as a kid seemed a lot more tedious as an adult. Not saying the classics don't stand the test of time, but some of those old games are better as a memory.

For me there has been huge leap between the NES and the SNES in terms of graphics and game complexity. Most of SNES games have aged much better than their NES counterparts, Super Metroid, Zelda, Chrono Trigger are still terrific games that I could play even today, while I agree that most NES games feel too old.

Probably because the SNES was where I'd say "modern" games came into being. By this I mean games with complex plot and/or diverse game mechanics etc. The NES had games where we started to see that, like Final Fantasy or Super Mario 3, but the hardware was super limited and the NES was in a lot of ways more like an extension of the old arcade systems, while IMO the SNES was where Nintendo had something that was powerful enough to make games that were substantially different from arcade games.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#57

Post by JustSomeNobody » Thu, Jul 14, 2016, 1:35 PM UTC

smaili wrote: post #4

> Sadly you can't use your original NES carts with the console - something even the most basic "Famiclone" offers - and there doesn't seem to be any means of getting new games onto it. Would it really have been that much extra effort to make the console backwards compatible?

At this point, just rerelease the original?

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#58

Post by mathgeek » Thu, Jul 14, 2016, 1:36 PM UTC

sur5r wrote: post #21

Am I the only one to miss Tetris from the list of games?

You should look up the history of Tetris on the NES. It's an interesting story and probably still why it can't be included here.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#59

Post by _b8r0 » Thu, Jul 14, 2016, 1:37 PM UTC

I'm amazed noone here has mentioned RetroPie[1]. A model B Raspberry Pi or even a Zero (if you can get one) should play NES games perfectly fine. You can get USB NES controller adapters pretty cheap or some knock-off USB NES controllers instead. I have a SNES-USB adapter for my setup that takes two SNES controllers.

[1] - https://retropie.org.uk/

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#60

Post by foldor » Thu, Jul 14, 2016, 1:37 PM UTC

Bahamut wrote: post #39

chongli wrote: post #19

HDMI out? I wonder if they're going to simulate NTSC TV artifacts such as colour bleed and dot crawl. These artifacts are important for correctly rendering NES games according to their original design [0]. [0] http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/KylePittman/20150420/241442/C...

They probably have an emulator already built, given that they sell NES Virtual Console games & have quite a history having ported their games to various platforms (goes as far back as the Game Boy Color I believe with having ported Super Mario Bros. - that is over 16 years ago).

If we're counting ported games, I might count Donkey Kong on the NES as their first attempt, though I'm sure someone can find an earlier example.