Nintendo Says SNES Classic Production Will Significantly Outpace NES Classic

by Brandon Hill — Monday, June 26, 2017, 04:34 PM EDT

If the thought of an SNES Classic has you salivating in anticipation of retro gaming goodness, we have some good news for you. Nintendo appears to have learned from its mistakes with the limited production of the NES Classic, and will instead make available “significantly more” quantities of the SNES Classic later this year. The Japanese gaming giant says that it won’t provide specifics on production numbers, but the console should be much easier to obtain once it launches on September 29^th.

On the other hand, there is still a possibility that everyone that wants to get an SNES Classic might not have the chance. Nintendo is only committed to shipping the console “from Sept. 29 until the end of calendar year 2017,” according to a statement released to Kotaku. This is similar to the NES Classic, which Nintendo says that it had only planned to ship for the Christmas 2016 shopping season. However, demand was so great that the company produced a few more additional units before officially shutting down production — to the ire of many gamers.

“It’s important to recognize where our future is and the key areas that we need to drive,” Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé in late April. “We've got a lot going on right now and we don't have unlimited resources."

Nintendo also provided the following guidance for how it views side projects like the NES Classic and SNES Classic compared to its mainline products like the Switch:

Our long-term efforts are focused on delivering great games for the Nintendo Switch system and continuing to build momentum for that platform, as well as serving the more than 63 million owners of Nintendo 3DS family systems. We are offering Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Super NES Classic Edition in special recognition of the fans who show tremendous interest our classic content.

The SNES Classic will ship with 21 classic titles including Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country. It will ship with two SNES controllers, which thankfully have a relatively lengthy 5-foot cord (the NES Classic controller came with a restrictive 3-foot cord). The miniature console will also ship with a USB power adapter and an HDMI cable.

The SNES Classic is priced at $79.99, which is $20 higher than the MSRP for the NES Classic, however, the former comes with two controllers instead of one.

Tags: Nintendo, nes classic, tyo7974, snes classic

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

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