Amazon Teases NES Classic Edition Availability In The Coming Week For Frantic Retro Gamers
Amazon made the announcement last night with a simple tweet:
NES Classic fans: we've got a couple exciting announcements to make in the coming week. Stay tuned for more info soon!
— Amazon Video Games (@amazongames) December 7, 2016
For now, that’s all we have to go on. Will Amazon drop additional hints over the next few days, or will people simply hit refresh on the NES Classic Edition’s product page until the “Add to Cart” button finally shows up? Whatever the case, your chances of getting an NES Classic from Amazon are probably a lot greater than the epic fail that transpired yesterday when Urban Outfitters opened up orders for a limited number of consoles.
The launch of Nintendo’s NES Classic Edition was supposed to be a joyous occasion. Those of us who grew up with the console salivated over the chance to relive 1980s gaming nostalgia with a relatively cheap $60 price tag. However, we should have known that we were in for a bumpy ride when Nintendo wouldn’t even allow pre-orders for the console.
Nintendo is purposely limiting supply — seriously, have you seen the rather simple design and construction of the device — and gamers are paying the price. A product like the NES Classic Edition is practically a license for Nintendo to print money, yet the folks that are making out like a bandit are the scalpers that were able to miraculously score a console and flip it for insane profits. It doesn’t have to be this way — especially during the holiday shopping season. And what about Nintendo’s pledge to provide a “steady flow” of stock through the holidays?
The Nintendo NES Classic is priced at $59.99 and comes with a single wired controller (albeit with a cord that is comically small compared to the original), although you can purchase an additional one for $9.99 (good luck finding that in stock too). Third-party manufacturers have solved the cord length problem by going wireless, as witnessed by solutions from Nyko and 8bitdo.
The console also comes with the following 30 games preinstalled:
- Balloon Fight
- Bubble Bobble
- Castlevania
- Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
- Donkey Kong
- Donkey Kong Jr.
- Double Dragon II: The Revenge
- Dr. Mario
- Excitebike
- FINAL FANTASY
- Galaga
- GHOSTS'N GOBLINS
- GRADIUS
- Ice Climber
- Kid Icarus
- Kirby's Adventure
- Mario Bros.
- MEGA MAN 2
- Metroid
- NINJA GAIDEN
- PAC-MAN
- Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream
- StarTropics
- SUPER C
- Super Mario Bros.
- Super Mario Bros. 2
- Super Mario Bros. 3
- TECMO BOWL
- The Legend of Zelda
- Zelda II: The Adventure of Link