SNES Classic Edition (StarFox 2?) Release Day!!!

[RIP-Felix]

This morning I stopped by the local Walmart and struck out. They had a total of 38 and they were gone by 8am (They must have released at midnight). I have work and stress, so sleep is more important than disrupting my circadian rhythm to stand in line all night. I took an hour off work midday and headed to Game Stop when they opened at 10am. That's where I scored! I got the 5th to last one. They were all gone within the 20-30 mins it took to ring them all up.

You may ask how long the controller cords are. Well, they are 56 inches. That's pretty good. It's longer than my authentic super famicom controller! It came with the second controller too. The only this is, I like the colored buttons better than the US version, but the US version console is the one I remember. So it's authentically nostalgic.

[tthurman]

Sorry to crap on your thread, but I despise them at this point; I'm finished concerning myself with their products!

I'm glad you got one, but their marketing is nothing less than bollocks!

 

 

[RIP-Felix]

I can't say I blame you.

     Nintendo says they shipped more for this release than they did for the NES CE and that there will be regular shipments to follow. Only time will tell if they'll live up to that promise. The gal who rang me up at Game Stop did say they received more SNES units than they did of the NES classic. Supposedly, Nintendo will be re-releasing the NES classic soon too, but I'm not sure when (2018?). At least they seem to be trying to make up for their NES Classic debacle.

      I just played a session of Earthbound (Never tried it before). It's fun! I like this little SNES classic thingy. It brings me back to a time when games were simpler and TV's were smaller (Except now it's on my 55-inch in HD). Even with the 5 foot cord it's still ridiculously close. I think I'll get one of those 8-bitdo NES/SNES classic wireless controller receivers so I can play it with my NES30pro.

          One of my most recent e-bay adventures was to get my own SNES for the first time. Here is a side by side.

     My sister caught a look at the SNES classic and the first thing she did was to press the cartridge slot/eject lever. Neither move! She scoffed, realizing immediately this thing's flaw. The carts are a big part of the nostalgia, and their void is immediately felt. That was the problem with the NES classic and it remains with the SNES Classic. I intend to remedy this with my very own MiniSNES build (Eventually). My MiniNES build (NEStalgia) turned out quite nice in my opinion. I'm hoping to replicate that success with SNEStalgia. There is certainly room for improvement over what Nintendo offers with this thing. Wireless controls, working cartridges, retroachievments, emulating other systems, and the artistic touches that make it pop. The one thing that I just can't outdo, however, is the perfect injection molded case. Damit! Injection molding just beats the pants off my 3D printer, Bondo, sand paper, and spray paint. Oh well, we can't all have a plastic foundry at our beckoning call.

[tthurman]

Cool comparison shot!

So according to this, they're exactly the same on the inside.  Considering what others got the NES Classic to do, this is a good thing.

 

[RIP-Felix]

I just had a look at amazon and the scalpers are trying to sell theses for $100 markup ($185). There's even a NES + SNES classic bundle for $599. The day after? Very NES classic esk. Hmm...

EDIT:

Why I think the N64 classic wont happen:

      I honestly think that the community of emulator devs are more competent than any 1st party's in house programing team. Nintendo designs hardware to fit specific applications, not applications to fit specific hardware. It's a totally different game. NES/SNES are easy and existing emulators can emulate nearly the entire library of games 100% on minimal hardware with passive cooling. N64 is still hardware intensive in the mini category. It may require active cooling, thus noise and pose a fire hazard (which requires testing to ensure consumer safety). Emulation isn't near 100% for many games. They'd have to contract some serious talent from the emulation community, and cherrypick from the titles that emulate well. Nintendo's reputation would be on the line. Plus, hiring emulator devs would legitimize emulation. They would make them sign non-disclosure agreements or simply steal their work from their open source code. Nintendo of all companies is overprotective of their IP and reputation. I'm very skeptical that the N64 classic edition is coming anytime soon, but I'm irrationally hopeful. I hope I'm wrong.

[tthurman]

59 minutes ago, RIP-Felix said:

I just had a look at amazon and the scalpers are trying to sell theses for $100 markup ($185).

Yep, and Nintendo's marketing strategy not on fuels this, but seems to condone it!  It was after seeing this greedy behaviour yesterday that it occurred to me that it actually saved me from buying one. 

After two rounds of this, I hope they make millions of them in anticipation of a cash cow, and it backfires, basically becoming completely worthless and doesn't sell!  Nintendo needs to go away!

 

[RIP-Felix]

55 minutes ago, tthurman said:

...After two rounds of this, I hope they make millions of them in anticipation of a cash cow, and it backfires, basically becoming completely worthless and doesn't sell!  Nintendo needs to go away!

Harsh, but understandable emotionalism. Really, it's the scalpers that need to go away. So I agree that Nintendo needs to flood the market with these, just to make the scalpers go away.

     There's no way I'd be ok with the loss of future Mario, Donkey Kong, Metroid, and Zelda games because Nintendo went under. That's why I continue to buy these things 1st party. I want to support their efforts at pleasing niche markets created by fandom. I like the genuine thing. I enjoy emulating them, but I don't do it to spurn the industry. I may hate their BS tactics, but I don't want to see them fail. That's why I own what I emulate. Don't get me wrong. Emulation is a great way of playing games you never heard of and discovering hidden gems.  But if I enjoy a game I don't own, I eventually buy it on e-bay or amazon. I'm a slave to my conscience, even if the evil multinational video game conglomerates aren't. The companies get theirs eventually. So I pay my way when I like what they have to offer. That's my 2c.

[tthurman]

The scalpers would be a non-issue if it weren't for Nintendo's business practices. 

Nintendo made their success off the backs of hardworking people looking for a little fun.  They repay these same people by jerking them around and playing inventory games! 

I've "been" a proponent of them for years, but they are creating a shift in how consumers view them, just check out those Amazon comments.  Oh but wait, Amazon has taken the once star reviews left for availability problems off, and there were pages of them.

People are tired of this shit! 

[hansolo77]

So how is Star Fox 2?  Is it any different from the version previously only available via the ROM underground?  Nintendo never released it but a game called Star Fox 2 is available on the net.  I'm just curious if anybody has compared the two and can say anything about them.  It's the one game on that entire system I'd actually love to play.  And I agree 100% with what @RIP-Felix says.. emulation is ok if you have the original, but playing on the original is the best way to go.  I mostly emulate games and systems I own.  It just makes it easier at this point to play them, rather than having to dig out power cables and low-quality video cables, hope you have a good controller and a working game.  99.99% of the time, I'm playing the same games over and over anyway!  It's like when you're growing up, you recognized the gems and still continue to play them today!  The SNES Classic is an interesting piece of hardware I'd like to own (as is the NES Classic), but seeing as how the RPi3 is perfectly capable of doing the same thing plus more for 1/3 the cost, it wins the day hands down.

[RIP-Felix]

2 hours ago, tthurman said:

The scalpers would be a non-issue if it weren't for Nintendo's business practices. 

Nintendo made their success off the backs of hardworking people looking for a little fun.  They repay these same people by jerking them around and playing inventory games! 

I've "been" a proponent of them for years, but they are creating a shift in how consumers view them, just check out those Amazon comments.  Oh but wait, Amazon has taken the once star reviews left for availability problems off, and there were pages of them.

People are tired of this shit! 

Sadly, I have to agree. It's true enough. Nintendo keeps underestimating the demand. Despite what they claim, it's probably on purpose to drive a collectors craze and get publicity. If that's actually true, and it wasn't just a mistake, then they really are alienating their customers. But what do they care, they're peddling video crack. Gamers are addicts and Nintendo knows it. Remember kids, the NES/SNES classic editions are gateway consoles. Soon Nintendo will pressure you into "switching" to hard core games.

...Nintendo knows what they're doing! I however, keep hoping they'll live up to their promises.

Hopefully in the next few weeks the next batch shipments will come in and everyone who wants one will be able to get one before the holiday season. Unfortunately, it's a crap shoot now. If it goes like the NES classic, stores will just get them in and the only way to find one is if you're lucky enough to be there when they restock the shelves. Supposedly they'll keep them in production, so maybe after the holiday season pressure on supply will lessen. If they're still available then...and that is still an if, regardless of what Nintendo says...then the new year will probably be the best time to find them.

[RIP-Felix]

1 hour ago, hansolo77 said:

So how is Star Fox 2?  Is it any different from the version previously only available via the ROM underground?  Nintendo never released it but a game called Star Fox 2 is available on the net.  I'm just curious if anybody has compared the two and can say anything about them.  It's the one game on that entire system I'd actually love to play.  And I agree 100% with what @RIP-Felix says.. emulation is ok if you have the original, but playing on the original is the best way to go.  I mostly emulate games and systems I own.  It just makes it easier at this point to play them, rather than having to dig out power cables and low-quality video cables, hope you have a good controller and a working game.  99.99% of the time, I'm playing the same games over and over anyway!  It's like when you're growing up, you recognized the gems and still continue to play them today!  The SNES Classic is an interesting piece of hardware I'd like to own (as is the NES Classic), but seeing as how the RPi3 is perfectly capable of doing the same thing plus more for 1/3 the cost, it wins the day hands down.

I haven't played it yet. It's in a present box shaped icon until you unlock it by playing through the first level in Star Fox 1. I'm saving it for later. Currently I'm playing Earthbound for the first time.

Actually, what I'm currently doing is research on the...um...[Alteration]...that allowed the NES classic to play other systems and many more games. Apparently, the SNES classic is compatible too (tentatively, the devs of the [alteration] are currently testing. The SNES rom lineup can be expanded for sure, but we're waiting on an update to confirm and add other features). It has the same hardware and kernal. This lends credence to Nintendo's intention to re-release the NES classic, since the same PCB can just be placed into the reproduction NES classic shell. So all they have to do now is double up on PCB orders and put the NES Classic edition Shell molds back in use.

From my perspective, since I made my own NES classic and the SNES classic can be [altered] (Probably) to include the NES classic game lineup, there is less desire in me to get a NES classic when it finally drops next summer, except maybe to mod the case for use with a Raspberry Pi. I think you can even add Genesis and Atari 2600 games to the NES/SNES classic editions! It's a pretty cool device that has way more potential than Nintendo released it with. However, I really like the save states and Nintendo's GUI. The background music is very Nintendo too. I like it. I think it was a satisfying buy, even at $80.

I will say however. On the back of the console and controllers it says "Made in China" instead of the "Made in Japan" that became synonymous with Nintendo quality. Casualty of the modern world I guess.

[RIP-Felix]

I think this guy sums it up pretty well...

...and this guy too:

Now this guy is just funny (He grew up in PAL land!):

 

[RIP-Felix]

Sighted in the Wild    

     I just saw three SNES classics at Walmart today. Since I got one on launch day, I didn't get another. I was surprised to see them however. I have been checking each time I go just to see if Nintendo is living up to their promise of making more of them. Maybe I got lucky, but there were alot of people shopping for the holidays. They surly won't last long, but the fact I was able to see them in the display case is proof that they are out there to be had. Nintendo is quietly stocking them for the holidays and the scalper price is currently around $120. I could have scalped them, but I want to give the local community a chance to gift them. Some kid will be very happy I didn't!

[tthurman]

Surprising, and don't call me Shirley.