Reggie Discusses NES Mini Demand, Offers Apologies

Megalith

Megalith

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The president of NOA spoke with Time about the "unprecedented demand" of his company’s tiny NES and suggests that the reason for discontinuation is lack of resources. Reggie says it was just meant to be a holiday product and had no idea it would be that popular. How hard could it be to make these things?

…Fils-Aime did suggest the reason why the company pulled the brakes on a system amidst unprecedented demand. "Even with that extraordinary level of performance, we understand that people are frustrated about not being able to find the system, and for that we really do apologize," he said. "But from our perspective, it's important to recognize where our future is and the key areas that we need to drive. We've got a lot going on right now and we don't have unlimited resources."
 
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Honestly Nintendo hasn't had a hit in years and finally when it does , it lets it main consumers down badly . . . Real reason the 30 year old nes system is going to kill switch sells . Even when sales are showing what Nintendo is doing right and what they're are doing wrong , they cant make a winning choice. Nintendo just die already
 
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The NES classic and the Switch are not really competitors, though. I guess you could argue that continuing to make the NES classic takes away from manufacturing resources for the Switch, but Nintendo has a shit ton of money, so even that seems like a lame excuse.
 
MavericK said:
The NES classic and the Switch are not really competitors, though. I guess you could argue that continuing to make the NES classic takes away from manufacturing resources for the Switch, but Nintendo has a shit ton of money, so even that seems like a lame excuse.
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Let's be honest I've heard a ton of people who would like to get there hands on both systems , but if the choice between the two existed nostalgia would win for most gamers and non gamers for the nes mini. Most people grew up on the Nes it honestly started the gaming revolution.
 
MavericK said:
The NES classic and the Switch are not really competitors, though. I guess you could argue that continuing to make the NES classic takes away from manufacturing resources for the Switch, but Nintendo has a shit ton of money, so even that seems like a lame excuse.
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Kinda is a competitor to their switch's online store where they want to sell older titles.
 
I love mine, but I thought the real reason was they were hacked to put any number of games onto them and Nintendo couldn't "patch" them since they were offline consoles so it just killed it off instead.

It's as logical a reason as to protect switch sales, considering how well switches are selling as well.
 
important to recognize where our future is and the key areas that we need to drive.
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If there was ever any solid example on why Nintendo makes some of the silliest decisions, it's this.

They're going to put aside a device that is cheap to make (or at least it should be), in high demand, and probably easy for a manufacturer to produce in scale to "focus on key areas they need to drive." Like R&D into things people don't want?

You see the demand for nostalgic old games. People are willing to pay you to allow them to play the classics. Instead of fulfilling that organic product demand, you're going to focus elsewhere. They're being handed a market! For fucks sake... They could literally release an RPi in a box with a controller and an app store (another idea, put it on the Switch as well) to buy official copies of their classic ROM libraries for $.99 to $2.99/ea and roll in the cash.

If there was any question on why the Seattle Mariners suck, you have you answer to that too.
 
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the_real_7 said:
Honestly Nintendo hasn't had a hit in years and finally when it does it lets it's main customers down badly... The real reason for this is that the 30 year old NES system would kill switch sales.
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That was exactly what I got from the 'apology,' particularly the bit about 'recognizing their future.'
 
Spidey329 said:
If there was ever any solid example on why Nintendo makes some of the silliest decisions, it's this.

They're going to put aside a device that is cheap to make (or at least it should be), in high demand, and probably easy for a manufacturer to produce in scale to "focus on key areas they need to drive." Like R&D into things people don't want?

You see the demand for nostalgic old games. People are willing to pay you to allow them to play the classics. Instead of fulfilling that organic product demand, you're going to focus elsewhere. They're being handed a market! For fucks sake... They could literally release an RPi in a box with a controller and an app store (another idea, put it on the Switch as well) to buy official copies of their classic ROM libraries for $.99 to $2.99/ea and roll in the cash.

If there was any question on why the Seattle Mariners suck, you have you answer to that too.
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Could be why they killed it. Just testing the waters. They were selling them for $60 and people were reselling them for $250+. If they put out a system like you suggested and charged / title, they would make a lot more money.
 
Spidey329 said:
If there was ever any solid example on why Nintendo makes some of the silliest decisions, it's this.

They're going to put aside a device that is cheap to make (or at least it should be), in high demand, and probably easy for a manufacturer to produce in scale to "focus on key areas they need to drive." Like R&D into things people don't want?

You see the demand for nostalgic old games. People are willing to pay you to allow them to play the classics. Instead of fulfilling that organic product demand, you're going to focus elsewhere. They're being handed a market! For fucks sake... They could literally release an RPi in a box with a controller and an app store (another idea, put it on the Switch as well) to buy official copies of their classic ROM libraries for $.99 to $2.99/ea and roll in the cash.

If there was any question on why the Seattle Mariners suck, you have you answer to that too.
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You are forgetting to biggest cost. The licences they have to pay out for every game on there that isn't Nintendo property. They probably had a contract for a certain amount of systems and went back to get more and rights owners maybe demanded a great deal more since the classic was such a success. Hell after everything they could be only making $5 off each unit sold which wouldn't be worth it to them to cut into their production line or set up new ones.
 
I would have bought one. I know several other people. If I ever run a business and have a product that people want to buy (not just a few, but many!) - and I'm stupid enough not to sell it, I would request someone hit me in the head with a shovel. It's not like its a limited edition watch or fine art. It's a game system! Shrugs.
My Raspberry Pi still works just fine...
 
I actually just saw a Nintendo classic at target the other day. I was actually surprised they had one still.
 
Lack of resources? Horseshit.

The hardware is on par with a raspberry pi 2 which sells for $30. There was nothing special about the hardware. It was off the shelf quad core arm and ddr RAM. These are parts found in millions of phones. Even the software was nothing special as they were emulating their own games.
 
Sorry. Not Sorry. That's what he should have said.

Nintendo simply doesn't care. Whether it's charging $79 for a controller, or teasing us with the NES Classic, they don't care. SNES Classic will no doubt debut at $100.
 
vegeta535 said:
You are forgetting to biggest cost. The licences they have to pay out for every game on there that isn't Nintendo property. They probably had a contract for a certain amount of systems and went back to get more and rights owners maybe demanded a great deal more since the classic was such a success. Hell after everything they could be only making $5 off each unit sold which wouldn't be worth it to them to cut into their production line or set up new ones.
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So put only nintendo titles on it. Allow other titles to be added via stick at the $ they can negotiate. If the publisher is stupid and demands too much then their game will not sell. They had a gold mine and dropped it.
I watch a youtube channel called SimplyAustin, and he has a miniture Sega Genesis that apparently was a usb hub. They fit a Raspberry Pie in it and have an Genesis .iso there was talk of also having NES, and SNES support. Check it out.
 
it must be another one of their dead bosses wishes he wanted to come true from beyond the grave.

seriously FUCK nintendo.
 
We've got a lot going on right now and we don't have unlimited resources."

Thus sell more NES Mini's so you can have more resources. Duh.
 
They probably outsourced the production of this console for a set amount of pieces and can not buy additional production lines as the company moved on to make other stuff for other clients to make more.
 
Denpepe said:
They probably outsourced the production of this console for a set amount of pieces and can not buy additional production lines as the company moved on to make other stuff for other clients to make more.
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If you can do it once it can never be done again, or can it.
 
These classic consoles will be Nintendo''s 'tickle me elmo' each year.

My concern is how these releases will affect the Switch''s Virtual Console release schedule.

I could see Nintendo purposely holding off certain game releases depending on which nostalgia console is being released that year. Perhaps after console stock is dried up, Nintendo will then release a batch of the classic consoles games for the Switch.
 
Real truth is that Reggie is just a shill face for the Japanese overlords. He doesn't make the manufacturing decisions, he just relays information. It wasn't his call.
 
I think Nintendo and BP graduated from the same school of Crappy Hollow Apologies. (Gulf Coast resident here who still thinks BP can go eat a barrel of fresh shit)
 
I wish he commit seppuku* to show his true apologizes and keep his honor.


*Not really. I mean, I don't want the guy to die. Maybe, lob off an arm or something. Mini NES are serious business and deserve a serious apology.
 
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