SNES Mini Announcement

lilbud

But I would personally like to thank Nintendo, because of the low NES Mini numbers, we got so many new RetroPie users in 2017.

felleg

@lilbud Exactly. I am one of them! When I initially heard about the Raspberry Pi, I thought it was a gimmick not worth looking at, but the RetroPie project changed my mind and opened the door on an exciting DIY world. Obviously, I heard about RetroPie when I failed to get the NES classic. I am not excited about the blood bath that will take place on the Amazon pre-order page, but I am excited at the prospect of doubling the number of active members in our community. :)

lilbud

@felleg I heard about RetroPie back in 2014, I saw the page on Lifehacker about Retropie and making your own $35 retro game system. That got me to get a Pi and start tinkering. Though, at this point, I've probably put a hell of a lot more than $35 in to Retropie

Danorak1981

@PetroRie said in SNES Mini Announcement:

@Danorak1981 There are tons of video tutorials on Youtube, all you have to do is follow along. You really don't have to be a genius to follow a couple steps, it's not that hard. Some people do want to figure things out while others are lazy and will blame it on RetroPie itself. Most of the options are optional, all you need to do is install the image file onto the SD and you're ready.

@PetroRie But it is for some. You can't just pigeon hole everyone, thats just as narrow-minded as the people who slate RPi for emulation. Just because people choose the SNES over the RPi, doesn't mean they're lazy, and equally it doesn't then mean they're all about slating the Pi either. You have a negative take on it because you know you can get more for your money. But not everybody is fussed about that-and technically, they are then acquiring the games legally. How many people with these 'entire' collections, have a hard copy of everything they own?

At the end of the day, it's a choice. For some, people who don't have the inclination or skills to get into the RPi, then although a touch on the pricey side, the SNES is ideal. Had I not have owned a Pi already, I'd be in that category.

MrJordaaany

@Danorak1981 Pretty bang on in your post right there. And again, nostalgia is the rest of the reason. Nintendo pandering to the device you had as kid, back in a cute portable form. Just plug in 2 cables and a controller and you are good to go :)

PetroRie

@Danorak1981 said in SNES Mini Announcement:

@PetroRie said in SNES Mini Announcement:

@Danorak1981 There are tons of video tutorials on Youtube, all you have to do is follow along. You really don't have to be a genius to follow a couple steps, it's not that hard. Some people do want to figure things out while others are lazy and will blame it on RetroPie itself. Most of the options are optional, all you need to do is install the image file onto the SD and you're ready.

@PetroRie But it is for some. You can't just pigeon hole everyone, thats just as narrow-minded as the people who slate RPi for emulation. Just because people choose the SNES over the RPi, doesn't mean they're lazy, and equally it doesn't then mean they're all about slating the Pi either. You have a negative take on it because you know you can get more for your money. But not everybody is fussed about that-and technically, they are then acquiring the games legally. How many people with these 'entire' collections, have a hard copy of everything they own?

At the end of the day, it's a choice. For some, people who don't have the inclination or skills to get into the RPi, then although a touch on the pricey side, the SNES is ideal. Had I not have owned a Pi already, I'd be in that category.

Sorry but that entire legal statement doesn't make sense at all, it's not relevant. How many people here on the board who play MAME/Neo Geo games actually own the real cabinet? I bet none.

You know what I love the most about having entire romsets? Finding and discovering new gems, I've discovered many great games I never even knew about.

Go to YouTube, you will see how many music videos there are uploaded illegally. No one cares about it. If we would bust and fine people over this stuff, I bet almost every human being here on the planet who has acces to the internet would get fined. Whenever you visit a website your browser will save the pages and images on your computer, it means it's also going to copy copyrighted material on your harddisk. Does it mean you need to wipe your temporary internet browser files anytime you're done?

IMO the SNES mini is a waste of money. It's just an emulator with 21 games on it. A lot of people don't know about RetroPie so thats why they buy these out of the box products. Nintendo is just being greedy again and is trying to milk out their old succes.

Anyone I mean anyone can follow instructions from a video, all you have to do is what the instructor does in the video. You really don't have to be a whizzkid to figure that out, kids of nowadays who grew up with computers do know a lot about computers. There are tons of things you can learn only from free instructional videos on YouTube, the question is if some one wants to.

Riverstorm

@PetroRie said in SNES Mini Announcement:

IMO the SNES mini is a waste of money. It's just an emulator with 21 games on it. A lot of people don't know about RetroPie so thats why they buy these out of the box products

You might be surprised at the number of people that are willing to spend the money vs. actually building it. I would not even say they have loads of discretionary income.

I know a handful of people that are more than willing to fork over money to have me build one for them but I have no desire or inclination.

I gave my younger brother an arcade case, most of the Happ controls, Pi, etc. not quite everything but if he ever wants to actually build it I would finish it but I feel he should show some incentive.

I would agree with Danorak it's not sloth but maybe they have no interest beyond being an end user and just playing the games. I know many like that. I know for one that I enjoy clothing and wearing it too but I have no desire to make any, even with the perfect Youtube video! :)

Danorak1981

@PetroRie said in SNES Mini Announcement:

Sorry but that entire legal statement doesn't make sense at all, it's not relevant. How many people here on the board who play MAME/Neo Geo games actually own the real cabinet? I bet none.

You know what I love the most about having entire romsets? Finding and discovering new gems, I've discovered many great games I never even knew about.

Go to YouTube, you will see how many music videos there are uploaded illegally. No one cares about it. If we would bust and fine people over this stuff, I bet almost every human being here on the planet who has acces to the internet would get fined. Whenever you visit a website your browser will save the pages and images on your computer, it means it's also going to copy copyrighted material on your harddisk. Does it mean you need to wipe your temporary internet browser files anytime you're done?

IMO the SNES mini is a waste of money. It's just an emulator with 21 games on it. A lot of people don't know about RetroPie so thats why they buy these out of the box products. Nintendo is just being greedy again and is trying to milk out their old succes.

Anyone I mean anyone can follow instructions from a video, all you have to do is what the instructor does in the video. You really don't have to be a whizzkid to figure that out, kids of nowadays who grew up with computers do know a lot about computers. There are tons of things you can learn only from free instructional videos on YouTube, the question is if some one wants to.

My reference to owning entire ROM sets was based on your comment about owning entire ROM sets. Yeah, you might find hidden gems, but not everyone is fussed about that either. Casual gamers might just want to play the stuff they loved and have it remind them of their youth-this fits the bill!

Look, not everything is as easy for everyone as watching a video, Nintendo are milking their success because they're a business, yes they could have put more games on but they didn't-it will still be a cool little device that people will love, both Pi and non-Pi owners. You're not going to buy one so don't worry about it!

PetroRie

@Danorak1981 said in SNES Mini Announcement:

es they could have put more games on but they didn't-it will still be a cool little device that people will love, both Pi and non-Pi owners. You're not going to buy one so don't worry about it!

Weeeeeell, I was even surprised that they didn't include Super Mario All-Stars and DKC2 and DKC3. But they did include StarFox 2 which is a huge +. I wonder how long it's going to take for someone to dump it so I can play it on my Pi mhuahuaaaaaaaa.

space cadet

Looks cool but I don't want it. The pi does all this and more! Can't wait to see how much it will cost on the secondary market.

Eldrethor

@Danorak1981 That's the thing that bugs me: the cost-per-game argument comes up a lot whenever people compare the Pi to a NES mini, but people often forget that the cost of the Pi is only the hardware; the roms themselves are not free, and RetroPie is entirely community-driven, so no one is paying for the UI/UX, themes, emulators, etc.

Sure, the Pi is an absolutely way better deal if you're looking purely at the number of games you can get for your money, and the fuzz/feds (probably) won't go after you if you download roms, but those roms have always had costs that get ignored. And while some of us might not agree with Nintendo's business tactics, it's a legal route of getting the games you want. That and if you include the cost of software and the second controller, the SNES mini itself seems like a good value, considering that you're getting several amazing games, and a legit, official copy of Starfox 2.

Riverstorm

If social media is any indicator it's going to be an extremely popular item. Nintendo has made comment it will have a larger stock but will only ship until years end.

“We aren’t providing specific numbers, but we will produce significantly more units of Super NES Classic Edition than we did of NES Classic Edition,” Nintendo mentioned in an announcement despatched to Gamespot, amongst different shops.

“Super NES Classic Edition is currently planned to ship from September 29 until the end of calendar year 2017. At this time, we have nothing to announce regarding any possible shipments beyond this year,” Nintendo mentioned.

CodeDrawer

@Riverstorm MANANAMAMTRBMRRT HMMPTT!! WHY IS NINTENDO NOT MAKING THESE LONG LASTING LIKE THE SWITCH!???!?!?! THESE SELL IN LARGE AMOUNTS!!!! THESE MIGHT BE MORE SUCSESSFUL THEN THE MAJOR CONSOLES!!!!!

PetroRie

@CodeDrawer said in SNES Mini Announcement:

@Riverstorm MANANAMAMTRBMRRT HMMPTT!! WHY IS NINTENDO NOT MAKING THESE LONG LASTING LIKE THE SWITCH!???!?!?! THESE SELL IN LARGE AMOUNTS!!!! THESE MIGHT BE MORE SUCSESSFUL THEN THE MAJOR CONSOLES!!!!!

I was wondering exact the same, maybe they're trying to troll their fans lol. Nintendo has made a lot of weird decision in the past.

space cadet

Imo nintendo has lost a lot of fans these last couple years. I haven't been happy with them since the gamecube. Marketing for money!

Riverstorm

@space-cadet said in SNES Mini Announcement:

Marketing for money!

Such a fine line between maximizing profit as business and alienating your customer base. :) It would have been nice for them to take pre-orders to gauge demand and have sufficient supply to meet that demand. Instead they will be standing in some department store line with the local news interviewing while holding up the mini console talking about what brought out all these people out on this cold dark night.

For some reason they seem to value the idea of it being rare, expensive and hard to obtain. Like someone said earlier I would be curious the percentage that gets snatched up only to resell them at an exponential price point knowing it's a limited run of 3 months.

If sales are any indicator of declining popularity over the past 5 years then for sure they are loosing. I believe the NES was the best selling console and the Wii was close to being the worst.

backstander

@Riverstorm

I believe the NES was the best selling console and the Wii was close to being the worst.

The DS (not including the 3DS) is the most sold and the Wii U is the least sold. I think the Wii outsold the NES by about 20 million.

A Former User

I've lost track of how many times I've heard people writing Nintendo off. It's quite funny to watch since it has absolutely no relation to the real world, for example, regarding Wii sales : "As of March 31, 2015, the Wii has sold 101.52 million consoles worldwide". Make of it what you wish :)

Sure, they make some questionable moves - or moves that look questionable to Western people - and of course since PS/XBOX appeared on the scene there always was huge negative hype from fans of these consoles. The pre-Zelda/Switch hate is the best example - and yet it sells like hot cakes, normal people just don't really care about N4G/forum ragers.

For the record, I'm not a typical faNboy, never had NES/SNES, love Zelda but don't care much for Mario, etc. But facts are facts - they're doing just fine. The Mini-craze is just a skillfully played gambit and who can really blame them?

backstander

I always wonder how accurate these charts are but I thought this was interesting!

The Wii out sold both Xbox 360 and PS3!

Also I would have figured the Atari 2600 was 1st gen!

Riverstorm

@backstander said in SNES Mini Announcement:

The DS (not including the 3DS) is the most sold and the Wii U is the least sold. I think the Wii outsold the NES by about 20 million.

I was excluding handhelds but I stand corrected on the NES sales. Interesting info.

@arkive said in SNES Mini Announcement:

I've lost track of how many times I've heard people writing Nintendo off.

Not sure if that came across negative but I am neither that far left or right. Maybe slightly cynical ;) but I enjoy all points of view and don't loose sleep over it. I'm sure N's bottom line is operating in the black all other objectives being secondary.