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Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

nintendolife.com

71–80 of 268 posts

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#71
post #47
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?

Anyone who has cartridges that they would care to play has a console already. What possible business benefit is there to adding that in?

The original consoles won't last forever. It would be nice to have a backup option for when it dies.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#72
post #59

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/

> A model B Raspberry Pi or even a Zero (if you can get one) should play NES games perfectly fine

Last time I tried this, some of my favorite games were super laggy (Yoshi's Island, Super Mario RPG) presumably due to having to emulate additional processors (Super FX, SA-1, etc.)

edit: Oh wait, this is NES we are talking about. Nevermind, I'm sure NES runs fine. I'll leave my comment up for anyone wanting to talk about SNES emulation.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#73
post #27
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.

They do pretty well if you keep both the carts and the console clean. I have an original that works as well as it did when it was new. You had to blow on the games then too. :-) (By keep them clean I mean that you have to actively clean them periodically.)

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#74
post #54
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.

More likely it's just a regular Famiclone chip seen as that would cost a fraction of the price shipping even a "lite" version of 3DS internals

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#75
post #31
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.

I was just cheesing out, getting excited about playing Final Fantasy again, and then I remembered the process of buying 99 health potions, and how exceedingly tedious it was. I'm not sure that I'd have the patience to do that again as an adult.

Pro tip for Final Fantasy that I still remember: One of the easiest parties to play through the game with is 3 Fighters and 1 Red Mage. You can get through most of the fights with minimal damage, and the Red Mage has what you need for boss fights and the occasional enemy that is strong against physical damage but weak against certain magic. You'll find yourself never needing to buy 99 potions.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#76
post #49

I'm really interested in the architecture of this thing. I'm guessing ARM running a NES emulator (rather than ports of the games), since they've got such great experience doing that on the 3DS. If it's hackable, this would be a fantastic gadget. As a project box alone, it looks really pretty. HDMI out, USB power, and controller inputs make it really appealing. Depending on headers and connectivity inside, hacking a U…

> I'm guessing ARM running a NES emulator

Really surprised people expect it's anything more than one of these but with official licensing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System_...

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#79
post #60
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Well, I guess they do have a longer history if you count arcade games too. You're probably right on that front.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#80
post #37

I'm amazed at the ridiculous pricing for these games. On Wii U, all of these classic games would cost $5 each . $60 for a physical device and 30 games is extremely generous by Nintendo standards. Edit: if only it had River City Ransom...

TBH 5$ is pretty fair pricing- average user is only going to buy one, maybe two NES ports, and serious retro buy-all-700 games people already have it all. It's only overpriced by maybe a dollar or two.

But yeah, 60$ for the kit? Crike that's cheap.

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