NES Classic Edition Teardown

Megalith

Megalith

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While you are waiting for Nintendo to restock these after manufacturing a pitiful amount, check out this inside look at the NES Classic.
 
It's a freakin Allwinner SOC that boots Linux and literally uses the same roms you find on pirating websites. Nintendo literally went on pirating websites to get the games for this thing. WTF even? You could do this on your PC. For $8 you can even get the controller to get the same feeling.

https://www.amazon.com/Classic-USB-NES-Controller-PC/dp/B002YVD3KM

71jW9hmmHpL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
 
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Some people don't even understand how to even start with roms. the retro market is insane. they did do a good job with packaging it up. im uncertain if I want to keep mine or not.
 
People are so fake.

Emulators have been a thing for what, 20 years now? Anyone actually interested in the system and games could've easily satisfied their thirst. This thing offers nothing but some "look at me, I am a cool nerd". No, you're a fucking tool.
 
Jesus, the hate here is incredible. This is a stocking stuffer for the family member we ALL HAVE, who stopped playing video games after the NES. That's all this is and it serves a fine purpose. It's not for us nerds. Its for them. They just want a cute little reliable box that recreates what they once had. That's why it is selling gangbusters.
 
dgz said:
People are so fake.

Emulators have been a thing for what, 20 years now? Anyone actually interested in the system and games could've easily satisfied their thirst. This thing offers nothing but some "look at me, I am a cool nerd". No, you're a fucking tool.
Click to expand...

Part of what makes consoles attractive is the ease of two player split/same screen multiplayer. That's why this is a great device.

Is it possible to accomplish this via emulator? sure, but it isn't easy for the average user.

This is a great little machine, but don't get me fucking started on this fake ass scarcity marketing bs that Nintendo is pulling.

I may hold off buying this particular one, but if they ever release an SNES or N64 model I'll be all over them.
 
dgz said:
People are so fake.

Emulators have been a thing for what, 20 years now? Anyone actually interested in the system and games could've easily satisfied their thirst. This thing offers nothing but some "look at me, I am a cool nerd". No, you're a fucking tool.
Click to expand...


That's your perspective and damn short sighted.

I'm pretty stoked to throw this is under the tree for my kids and play the shit out of it Christmas morning with them. Absolutely priceless that they will use a corded controller and and sit on the floor. I'm ecstatic.

Sure, I can snag the roms if i want but to simply power on and play with ease is just so, so simple.
 
NeoNemesis said:
Part of what makes consoles attractive is the ease of two player split/same screen multiplayer. That's why this is a great device.

Is it possible to accomplish this via emulator? sure, but it isn't easy for the average user.

This is a great little machine, but don't get me fucking started on this fake ass scarcity marketing bs that Nintendo is pulling.

I may hold off buying this particular one, but if they ever release an SNES or N64 model I'll be all over them.
Click to expand...

If they release the N64 version I will be all over it. I can't believe I let mine go so many years ago.
 
thekipper said:
That's your perspective and damn short sighted.

I'm pretty stoked to throw this is under the tree for my kids and play the shit out of it Christmas morning with them. Absolutely priceless that they will use a corded controller and and sit on the floor. I'm ecstatic.

Sure, I can snag the roms if i want but to simply power on and play with ease is just so, so simple.
Click to expand...

This. I have the usb to nes adaptor for my pc, and while it's fine and all I want something just plug and play easy. Turn it on and play the games. I don't want to spend 100$ making a pi system, coding it, getting a box that looks like an nes, getting controllers, and so on. With this it just works and at 60$ I like the price.

But nintendo decided it wanted to have a "no one can find it" system for this year and congrats to them. They would have been better off with a "system that makes them a ton of money" vs "a system where the buzz around it is no one can find it" .

At my store we had 78 people call or show up asking for it yesterday. We got 6 in to sell. At 60$ a pop, that's over 3 grand in sales they lost because, well, because. Yeah, that makes since.
 
pretty cool tear down video. I already see a hack of sorts that fits under the "just because i can and want to do it" hack hehe. I'd yank those proprietary controller sockets and open the control pad and go usb cable and ports. I know they sell wireless but I enjoy this kind of modding and tinkering.
 
dgz said:
People are so fake.

Emulators have been a thing for what, 20 years now? Anyone actually interested in the system and games could've easily satisfied their thirst. This thing offers nothing but some "look at me, I am a cool nerd". No, you're a fucking tool.
Click to expand...

My goodness, you insufferable human being - grow up.
 
azuza001 said:
This. I have the usb to nes adaptor for my pc, and while it's fine and all I want something just plug and play easy. Turn it on and play the games. I don't want to spend 100$ making a pi system, coding it, getting a box that looks like an nes, getting controllers, and so on. With this it just works and at 60$ I like the price.

But nintendo decided it wanted to have a "no one can find it" system for this year and congrats to them. They would have been better off with a "system that makes them a ton of money" vs "a system where the buzz around it is no one can find it" .

At my store we had 78 people call or show up asking for it yesterday. We got 6 in to sell. At 60$ a pop, that's over 3 grand in sales they lost because, well, because. Yeah, that makes since.
Click to expand...

Nintendo has always been like this. Japanese market is always first. They lose day 1 dales in the NA market but frankly don't seem to care. I wouldn't say it's 3k in lost sales because those people will without a doubt be picking one up when supply is increased.
 
azuza001 said:
This. I have the usb to nes adaptor for my pc, and while it's fine and all I want something just plug and play easy. Turn it on and play the games. I don't want to spend 100$ making a pi system, coding it, getting a box that looks like an nes, getting controllers, and so on. With this it just works and at 60$ I like the price.

But nintendo decided it wanted to have a "no one can find it" system for this year and congrats to them. They would have been better off with a "system that makes them a ton of money" vs "a system where the buzz around it is no one can find it" .

At my store we had 78 people call or show up asking for it yesterday. We got 6 in to sell. At 60$ a pop, that's over 3 grand in sales they lost because, well, because. Yeah, that makes since.
Click to expand...


Hmm I don't really blame Nintendo releasing a smaller amount. Who knew how many would sell. They probably didn't wanna pull an atari and bury extras in the desert if the extra sales were lackluster.
 
Nintendo certainly wanted to hedge their bets on this one. I was fairly confident that it was going to be a hit after i saw the ebay pre-orders go nuts.
 
I still think Nintendo/Sega are quite idiotic for not just releasing systems to play the cartridges. Or heck, release something that can purchase download titles from the internet AND play cartridges. This system is a step in the right direction, but they definitely don't fully understand the money making potential they are missing out on by not offering more.

Shit; From a retail perspective they could make a fucking killing by releasing a NES system w/ a slot that reads 're-released' game cartridges that amount to nothing more then just big plastic cartridges w/ an SD card in them w/ the appropriate game ROM. They could easily re-sell these old games in such a format for $20-$30 a pop, and i'm sure the brick and mortar retail chains would love it as well.
 
dgz said:
People are so fake.

Emulators have been a thing for what, 20 years now? Anyone actually interested in the system and games could've easily satisfied their thirst. This thing offers nothing but some "look at me, I am a cool nerd". No, you're a fucking tool.
Click to expand...

What this offers is a legal way to play these games. As someone older with disposable income I don't mind supporting Nintendo buying something like this as a legit way to play the old classics. Sure, I have a hard drive laying around somewhere with every Nintendo ROM on it, but I don't particularly enjoy running an emulator on my computer. For $60 I get a device that plugs into one of my TV's and gives me 30 games. That's $2 a game and I don't have to deal with setting up a computer/laptop to play them. It also comes with a well built NES controller that I can use on my Wii U for playing other stuff that I have on it.
 
Mchart said:
What this offers is a legal way to play these games. As someone older with disposable income I don't mind supporting Nintendo buying something like this as a legit way to play the old classics. Sure, I have a hard drive laying around somewhere with every Nintendo ROM on it, but I don't particularly enjoy running an emulator on my computer. For $60 I get a device that plugs into one of my TV's and gives me 30 games. That's $2 a game and I don't have to deal with setting up a computer/laptop to play them. It also comes with a well built NES controller that I can use on my Wii U for playing other stuff that I have on it.
Click to expand...


Bingo. When I was 20 I thought differently then now in my 30s. Convenience for under $100? Worth it every fucking time. I'm sure younger me would find every excuse why this is wrong. Older me realizes though shit this is done nice enough for me to spend the expendable income and be entertained by it for a bit.


I do credit Nintendo. The only universal nitpicking I see is the short cord on the controller but otherwise people are going gaga over it. Looks like it's gonna be another tens to hundred millions in extra liquid bank they will roll up into their already crazy bank account.

It will be funny if this outsells the Saturn and dream cast just for nostalgia purposes of that old rivalry.
 
dgz said:
People are so fake.

Emulators have been a thing for what, 20 years now? Anyone actually interested in the system and games could've easily satisfied their thirst. This thing offers nothing but some "look at me, I am a cool nerd". No, you're a fucking tool.
Click to expand...
People are so fake? Maybe you should step outside of your little bubble and try to get some perspective.

No one gives a shit about emulators, roms, configuring anything, putting something together to run them on a TV, putting roms on an SD card, etc. The fact that people do not want to put any effort into researching a project(because they may have more important or interesting things to be doing) while wanting to play some retro games does not make them "fake". What you have done however is come off as an elitist asshat who seems to assume that no one deserves to play retro games unless they're willing to attain the same level of knowledge about the topic as you have. The funniest part about that? It has ZERO effect on you. It's not as if this product prevents you from doing whatever you want with emulation. Hell, there are people interested in buying it specifically so they have a chassis for a mini computer project rather than buying someone else's crap on etsy for just as much, or having to invest in a 3d printer(and still having to finish sand, and paint the damned thing).

Get over yourself.
 
Merc1138 said:
People are so fake? Maybe you should step outside of your little bubble and try to get some perspective.

No one gives a shit about emulators, roms, configuring anything, putting something together to run them on a TV, putting roms on an SD card, etc. The fact that people do not want to put any effort into researching a project(because they may have more important or interesting things to be doing) while wanting to play some retro games does not make them "fake". What you have done however is come off as an elitist asshat who seems to assume that no one deserves to play retro games unless they're willing to attain the same level of knowledge about the topic as you have. The funniest part about that? It has ZERO effect on you. It's not as if this product prevents you from doing whatever you want with emulation. Hell, there are people interested in buying it specifically so they have a chassis for a mini computer project rather than buying someone else's crap on etsy for just as much, or having to invest in a 3d printer(and still having to finish sand, and paint the damned thing).

Get over yourself.
Click to expand...

To actually make cookies from scratch, you must first create the universe. Anything less is building off of someone else's work to a degree.

You really see this attitude from many elitist hobbyists. I myself want one of these nintendos, i even have a boxed Pi that I configured. But plug and play is so much easier than making sure you shut the pi down correctly so it doesnt corrupt the file system, and sometimes having to grab a keyboard to change something etc etc.

Playing nintendo games shouldnt be harder or more complicated than it was originally.
 
Bigbacon said:
buy another one, get an ever drive. solved.
Click to expand...

I have an Everdrive for my TurboGrafx 16. Best idea ever!

And yes, I do own a ton of original games as well as CDs for the system.

But having all the ROMs on a single cart with a menu. Absolutely awesome!

I also still have an N64. I should get an Everdrive for it as well.
 
Darunion said:
To actually make cookies from scratch, you must first create the universe. Anything less is building off of someone else's work to a degree.

You really see this attitude from many elitist hobbyists. I myself want one of these nintendos, i even have a boxed Pi that I configured. But plug and play is so much easier than making sure you shut the pi down correctly so it doesnt corrupt the file system, and sometimes having to grab a keyboard to change something etc etc.

Playing nintendo games shouldnt be harder or more complicated than it was originally.
Click to expand...

With an emulator on a computer.. it isn't.

1. Download complete ROM pack.
2. Download any of a number of NES emulators.
3. Unzip the ROM pack to your desired location.
4. Launch emulator and use with whatever controllers you have for your computer.

Original NES
1. Hook up to TV.
2. Insert cart.
3. Turn on.
4. Find that the game isn't getting good enough contact.
5. Turn off.
6. Remove cart.
7. Blow on cart.. maybe clean contacts with an eraser or q-tip and alcohol.
8. Repeat steps 2 - 7 until it finally works or you get too fed up and decide to play something else.
 
cyclone3d said:
With an emulator on a computer.. it isn't.

1. Download complete ROM pack.
2. Download any of a number of NES emulators.
3. Unzip the ROM pack to your desired location.
4. Launch emulator and use with whatever controllers you have for your computer.

Original NES
1. Hook up to TV.
2. Insert cart.
3. Turn on.
4. Find that the game isn't getting good enough contact.
5. Turn off.
6. Remove cart.
7. Blow on cart.. maybe clean contacts with an eraser or q-tip and alcohol.
8. Repeat steps 2 - 7 until it finally works or you get too fed up and decide to play something else.
Click to expand...

Except the emulator doesnt recognize your controllers properly, you need a unsigned experimental bluetooth driver to make the controllers work, spend 15 minutes setting up inputs, play for 10 minutes, then the controller assignments get reverted to what they were at the beginning(up = down, R1 = R2, etc), then you just give up
 
cyclone3d said:
With an emulator on a computer.. it isn't.

1. Download complete ROM pack.
2. Download any of a number of NES emulators.
3. Unzip the ROM pack to your desired location.
4. Launch emulator and use with whatever controllers you have for your computer.

Original NES
1. Hook up to TV.
2. Insert cart.
3. Turn on.
4. Find that the game isn't getting good enough contact.
5. Turn off.
6. Remove cart.
7. Blow on cart.. maybe clean contacts with an eraser or q-tip and alcohol.
8. Repeat steps 2 - 7 until it finally works or you get too fed up and decide to play something else.
Click to expand...

haha i don't miss the cart blowing days lol.
 
86 5.0L said:
Except the emulator doesnt recognize your controllers properly, you need a unsigned experimental bluetooth driver to make the controllers work, spend 15 minutes setting up inputs, play for 10 minutes, then the controller assignments get reverted to what they were at the beginning(up = down, R1 = R2, etc), then you just give up
Click to expand...

Oh and you have to use different emulators for different games because some just cant seem to get the sound right, or it won't launch at all. So you have to double your configuration time.
 
86 5.0L said:
Except the emulator doesnt recognize your controllers properly, you need a unsigned experimental bluetooth driver to make the controllers work, spend 15 minutes setting up inputs, play for 10 minutes, then the controller assignments get reverted to what they were at the beginning(up = down, R1 = R2, etc), then you just give up
Click to expand...

Huh? I never had that problem. Then again I used wired controllers.

Darunion said:
Oh and you have to use different emulators for different games because some just cant seem to get the sound right, or it won't launch at all. So you have to double your configuration time.
Click to expand...

I only ever used Nesticle for pretty much all NES games. There were a few that I think I used another emulator for. Been a long time since I even messed with it.
 
99% of these will collect dust after an hour (at most) of usage. You know it's true.

I have an actual Famicom somewhere. Do you want it? I am not using it. Nestopia is 10x better. Love me some Dr. Mario with the wife. There are countless brand new Famicom clones still being sold to this day of which Nintendo is very aware as they pay license fees. Same with SEGA Mega Drive machines.

Unless you didn't know about those, you're posers in this particular case. If pointing that out makes me immature, then so be it. I never take shit from adults anyway.
 
I would be in if the controllers were cordless. I like the retro games, but not sitting 5 feet away from the tv.
 
dgz said:
99% of these will collect dust after an hour (at most) of usage. You know it's true.

I have an actual Famicom somewhere. Do you want it? I am not using it. Nestopia is 10x better. Love me some Dr. Mario with the wife. There are countless brand new Famicom clones still being sold to this day of which Nintendo is very aware as they pay license fees. Same with SEGA Mega Drive machines.

Unless you didn't know about those, you're posers in this particular case. If pointing that out makes me immature, then so be it. I never take shit from adults anyway.
Click to expand...

You won't take shit, but you'll sit here talking it?

Why are people who have ZERO interest in reading up on an emulator or third party product from some company they've never heard of, "posers" just because they want to play some classic games for a bit? What effect do these people have on you that you're so willing to piss and moan about them? What I can tell you for sure is that actually giving people this silly attitude out of the blue will certainly turn them away from ever wanting to give a damn about doing anything on their own if they were to ever get more interested in playing something other than the 30 or whatever games this thing comes with.

JFC people. It's a box for people to plug in and play some games on for a bit, they're not cheating against you in a poker game.
 
Merc1138 said:
You won't take shit, but you'll sit here talking it?

Why are people who have ZERO interest in reading up on an emulator or third party product from some company they've never heard of, "posers" just because they want to play some classic games for a bit? What effect do these people have on you that you're so willing to piss and moan about them? What I can tell you for sure is that actually giving people this silly attitude out of the blue will certainly turn them away from ever wanting to give a damn about doing anything on their own if they were to ever get more interested in playing something other than the 30 or whatever games this thing comes with.

JFC people. It's a box for people to plug in and play some games on for a bit, they're not cheating against you in a poker game.
Click to expand...

We sure are defensive. Can't have people sharing their opinions on a forum, huh?

Some people are posers because they had ZERO interest in the same thing (clones) or the better alternative (emulators with modern joypads, options, and whatnot) until said thing was heavily marketed and everybody else was also made aware how cool it is.

Telling me to step out of my bubble, then explaining how people don't give a shit retro gaming has been a thing for a while in the very next sentence.

You're the one who needs to calm down, bruh
 
azuza001 said:
This. I have the usb to nes adaptor for my pc, and while it's fine and all I want something just plug and play easy. Turn it on and play the games. I don't want to spend 100$ making a pi system, coding it, getting a box that looks like an nes, getting controllers, and so on. With this it just works and at 60$ I like the price.

But nintendo decided it wanted to have a "no one can find it" system for this year and congrats to them. They would have been better off with a "system that makes them a ton of money" vs "a system where the buzz around it is no one can find it" .

At my store we had 78 people call or show up asking for it yesterday. We got 6 in to sell. At 60$ a pop, that's over 3 grand in sales they lost because, well, because. Yeah, that makes since.
Click to expand...
I wonder how many stores across the world ad a similar stock and interest level? 2000-3000? If you figure out area has 100 people that would buy it, that is a lot of money.
I tried to buy one for my kids. I already have a Raspberry Pi, roms, emulators, etc. I've had these for years. The appeal to me is that it looks cool, less roms can be better, and they also have a nice looking user interface that might be easier to use.
Shrugs. I would like to know why I can't pre-order from Amazon? This is dumb. After Christmas, demand for these will wane. The $60 is a sweet spot for gifts.
 
Yeah yeah yeah ........ we get it, you can download an emulator and the roms and do all this for free. Ok, enough.

There is a lot of value in a stand alone all in one turn-key package.

I went out early and was able to buy 8 of these. 6 from a Walmart and 2 from a Gamestop. Let me tell you, people are going crazy trying to buy one. Sold the first 2 for $250 each, 1 for $200 to an older women, a mom who was buying this for her son and decided to hang on to the rest to see how crazy things get.

Also, you can spend $49 on the Pi 3 kit with case and AC adapter and install Retropie and then another $30 for the 8BitDo NES30 Bluetooth controller and build something better than the NES Classic Edition. Vert easy to do!

Educate yourself.
 
dgz said:
We sure are defensive. Can't have people sharing their opinions on a forum, huh?

Some people are posers because they had ZERO interest in the same thing (clones) or the better alternative (emulators with modern joypads, options, and whatnot) until said thing was heavily marketed and everybody else was also made aware how cool it is.

Telling me to step out of my bubble, then explaining how people don't give a shit retro gaming has been a thing for a while in the very next sentence.

You're the one who needs to calm down, bruh
Click to expand...

LOL, yeah ok. I'm defensive because you want to go ballistic over people being able to play some games for $50.

Not everyone knows retro gaming has been a "thing". Yes, people on hardforum know, we are not the majority of the population. Yes, you're stuck in your little bubble where you assume people either simply just know this shit, or shouldn't bother. Whether you like it or not, there are people interested in it who give zero fucks about how to do it simply because they don't care. I'd hate to see what happens when you go to a store and see someone buying a computer instead of building one. Do you start frothing at the mouth about how much of a poser they are and repeatedly tell them that if they'd just build it they could save money? Afterall, they have ZERO interest in computing if they aren't willing to put it together themselves.

I never said you couldn't share your opinion. There is however a difference between sharing an opinion and just repeatedly complaining about something for no damned reason at all.
 
Merc1138 said:
LOL, yeah ok. I'm defensive because you want to go ballistic over people being able to play some games for $50.

Not everyone knows retro gaming has been a "thing". Yes, people on hardforum know, we are not the majority of the population. Yes, you're stuck in your little bubble where you assume people either simply just know this shit, or shouldn't bother. Whether you like it or not, there are people interested in it who give zero fucks about how to do it simply because they don't care. I'd hate to see what happens when you go to a store and see someone buying a computer instead of building one. Do you start frothing at the mouth about how much of a poser they are and repeatedly tell them that if they'd just build it they could save money? Afterall, they have ZERO interest in computing if they aren't willing to put it together themselves.

I never said you couldn't share your opinion. There is however a difference between sharing an opinion and just repeatedly complaining about something for no damned reason at all.
Click to expand...

Lol I can't help but notice how similiar dgz response was to an agreement of why trump won :) . -that libs were so sure that middle America was stupid, uneducated and worth less than them that they could be ignored. That only the they, the liberals, had the smarts and know how to handle the situation.

Dgz what I see is most people offering a counter argument to add to the discussion. I don't know if you are liberal nor do I care. But as soon as you start labeling people which you immediately did by saying? "people are fake, people are tools" you instantly went on the offensive. Of course people are gonna be defensive because you instantly put someone and all their family, friends, colleagues on a tier Lower than you because you know how to steal software.
 
Last edited:
trentchau said:
Lol I can't help but notice how similiar dgz response was to an agreement of why trump won :) . -that libs were so sure that middle America was stupid, uneducated and worth less than them that they could be ignored. That only the they, the liberals, had the smarts and know how to handle the situation.

Dgz what I see is most people offering a counter argument to add to the discussion. I don't know if you are liberal nor do I care. But as soon as you start labeling people which you immediately did by saying? "people are fake, people are tools" you instantly went on the offensive. Of course people are gonna be defense because you instantly put someone and all their family, friends, colleagues on a tier Lower than you because you know how to steal software.
Click to expand...

Wow politics in a nintendo thread...

And no.. his comment had nothing to do with him thinking people were stupid. Rather it was about people not knowing or wanting to custom build/hack a retro game system.

People make this choice every day millions of times, you included. Do you make everything from scratch? I highly doubt it. Quite honestly you can't, we don't have enough time in the day to do everything ourselves. Heck it might cost some people MORE to setup the "free" retro gaming rig. Heck if it takes me 2 hours to figure it out then I lost money.

I build my own computers but don't change my automotive oil. I mow my own lawn but hire out furnace maintenance. Why? cause while I certainly could learn how to do many things for less $$, I choose to pay for it to be done so I can save time and use it on things I DO LIKE.

I completely agree someone that doesn't realize that people value things differently, could be "stuck in their little bubble". One may value building a retro system on their own, while others are willing to pay for one pre-made. Sure pointing out similar systems for cheaper is helpful but that is nothing new either...
 
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