Nintendo Classic Mini announced

[atarilovesyou]

"I... Can't... Get... No...

Sa... Tis... Fact... ion...

But I try, Yes I try...

Can't get no...

Da-da-da, da-da, da-da, da-da-da..."

 

Somehow I think they still enjoy playing it as much as we still love hearing it!

 

...well, they try..and they try..and they try...but just imagine that you have to play that song every show, every single show, every time you play a concert (considering the band, just think of how many times they played this song!)...back in 05 when I saw them they gave a pretty good effort, but you can tell that they give zero fucks about that song. Yet if they play it lackluster, everybody cries. It's a no-win for the artist.

 

 

Happiness alone doesn't put money in Nintendo's wallet and sex on their kitchen table.

 

 

Anyway, Nintendo doesn't give a shit about the kind of person that has zero interest in modern gaming because Nintendo is still a modern software and hardware gaming company.

 

I wonder what kind of sex Nintendo would have on any given table...hmm. Things to think about.

 

Also, the second point: I think the market for the Mini was exploited by scalpers, period. Especially in the days after the release date...I saw nothing but fans in the line up when I bought mine on release day. Nintendo was up against a wall, really...you can't price this thing too high, or people won't buy (after tax in Canada, Walmart had this thing at 90 bucks). So while early on scalpers were fetching double the retail price, now it's settled down to 150 or so. I wouldn't pay that for this. Yet the official controller is the real kick in the teeth: thing retails for like 15 bucks but on the scalper market, it's six times the amount! Nintendo really should have released the system with two joysticks, period. Raise the price to 100 bucks, and I'm in. Now, I just have to be patient (and super friggin lucky) if I want to track one down at a reasonable price.

 

In my mind, I think this: I am a guy who will pay Nintendo a modern price for a retro game. I think that there are many people who would be willing to pay that for a quality, NES-era game. I can't be sure, and I'm sure there's plenty of opinion about this to the contrary, but I'm not talking homebrew: I mean a real, NEW NES game. If they made a special, one-off Final Fantasy game that plays like the first one, sell it on the Virtual Console, they'd find out quickly that it would SELL. And collectors would go crazy for the physical copy of the game.

 

Why Nintendo (or others) haven't acknowledged this untapped market is beyond me. Hipsters and Millenials are all over the place, throwing money at this kinda stuff. Why not at least try to capitalize? And in the process, make me a 'new' modern customer? I'd almost by a Switch if I new the VC would get NEW games, just made in the old style! It would take comparatively little work to do, but would require some developers who really CARE about that era, to deliver a quality experience.

 

The Classic really shone a light on how much people want this kind of gaming experience. And with the rumours (far-fetched at this point, but who knows) of a mini SNES and how people will go apeshit over that (trust me, retro gaming conventions sell SNES at a FAR higher price than NES on average...it has a much bigger following, even though I prefer NES), can't they see this is a viable option? It won't cut into Switch sales: these are two different kinds of gamer, just like record companies target at different demographics (well, at least they used to).

 

Here's another reason why I think if they did offer new, old-style games for the VC (or ultimately, physical copies for sale), you can just look at the furor over the Classic to see the tip of the iceberg: if a mini SNES comes along, is produced in quantities to match demand AND it's a success? Why can't this happen? Remember, ten years ago when the Flashback 2.0 came out, there was plenty to go around. Yes, you got the guys like us buying it..and with ease. It was in the big retail stores, and was around for a good while. Atari games didn't generate the kind of mass appeal back then, even though we're as nostalgic as hell, we still LOVE those games. It's a hard sell though to younger folks.

 

That's why this NES Mini is so frustrating, to me...there's so much untapped potential for a resurgence in new, old-style developed games! I'm waiting to throw my money at whoever provides this gaming experience for me on the NES...just like I did when buying homebrews for the VCS here at the AA Store. But the only 'new' games I've seen worthwhile for the NES are the Battle Kid games...definitely a step in the right direction.

 

I mean...vinyl records are a thing again. Think about how absurd that notion was 20 years ago, hell even 10 years ago! Yet here we are, and people are buying 30 dollar records to enjoy today. The only reason Nintendo wouldn't do this is that the margins are probably too slim, and not enough money to be made. Fair enough, and somebody already mentioned that. But for crying out loud, the timing isn't going to get any better than 'these days' for this to happen. Flashback series for Atari is still around, and somebody is making money off it. Why not at least try? They've done risky things before (Power Glove? Virtual Boy? ..and by the way, somebody here mentioned how 'nobody asked or wanted a Virtual Boy from Nintendo"...I disagree: VR was THE thing back in the early 90s, we ALL wanted that experience! Just not in the colour red, exclusively )

 

Nintendo...Just Do It.

[Flojomojo]

You like modern retro? Put your money where your mouth is, and buy these games immediately. They are all available right now, all great.

 

Blaster Master Zero

Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove

Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap

 

You say, "Nintendo, just do it." They already did, and continue to put out great neo-retro stuff. The Switch is an awesome little system.

[godslabrat]

FWIW, I downloaded Epic Dumpster Bear this past weekend and love it.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Speaking of potatoes ... I totally agree. $200 coffee table book aside, Apple DGAF about ancient computers. One could argue that they don't much care much about the Mac, either.

Notice how they gracefully skipped the entire early PC era. 1998-2017.

 

Do not click the spoiler tags if your username starts with "K" and rhymes with "Cheetah."

I think Keatah would be more than upset there's no mention of the Apple II, or even the Apple I that started it all. If anyone gets Keatah for AA Secret Santa in 2017, gift idea, hint hint. Oh, wait...

 

 

Maybe AtGames has sold that many ersatz Sega and Atari units over the years, maybe not ... maybe some people like Sonic more than Mario, or not ... fighting over it seems about as pointless as imagining whether Star Trek or Star Wars is better.

Star Wars 100% Movie SciFi over TV scifi any day! (ducks for cover)

[Andromeda Stardust]

That's a real pisser because I wouldn't mind picking up a few more older 1st and 2nd generation iPods. They were simple, they worked OOTB, and they didn't need to be online nor did they bother with streaming bullshit.

 

Sometimes I believe Apple (and other progressive tech companies) innovate themselves out of markets they previously created. It's exactly what they did with the II series when the IIgs had the potential to be better than the Mac. Heh.. well had Apple continued supporting and developing the II you can bet I would have stayed with it as my main platform.

 

But I thought differently and switched to PC!

I hear you old-computer dudes like flash cartridges. Here's a flash cartridge for ye olde hard-drive based iPods. I'll bet you could find a vintage ipod with a dead drive and bring it back to life with this.

https://www.iflash.xyz/launched-iflash-dual-the-ipod-dual-sd-adapter/

As much as I wanted to like the old iPods, they had one major setback: syncing. I had all my media arranged into folders on my hard drive via genre \ artist \ album \ title. I wanted to preserve this folder structure on my media device, and I didn't give two squats about anything DRM. And add stuff from multiple sources. Drag and drop. Secondly, being the geek that I was, I ripped my entire CD collection to Vorbis 50%. Why? While it had a comparible signal to noise level to mp3 at equivalent compression bitrates, the Vorbis distortion sounded like white noise while the mp3 distortion sounded like mud farts. So basing my encoder preferences on this, I ripped my media as OGG Vorbis.

 

So I needed a media player that:

(A) supported Vorbis audio codec.

(B) preserved my file structure, via instant drag/drop access

(C ) I could add content from anywhere, at any time, without wiping previous existing content. "Syncing" does not allow for this, because theywant to control what you put on your device.

 

iPod met none of my requirements, so circa 2005, I opted for the 60Gb Cowon A3 instead. It did all of these things, was 100% DRM free, plus the audio fidelity is far beyond any portable digital media device I've owned before or since. 800x480 non-touch capable LCD (you navigated using a tiny 5-way thumbstick and side buttons) with beautiful contrast beyond anything I'd ever witnessed in a portable device, circa 2005. Eff smartphones and eff DRM. I wish they still made dedicated Cowon media players. Cowon / iAudio still exists, but their current media players are just generic overpriced Android tablets now...

[Andromeda Stardust]

I wonder what kind of sex Nintendo would have on any given table...hmm. Things to think about.

QFT.

 

Nintendo...Just Do It.

Only on the kitchen table (or floor, as some kitchens don't have tables)!

[Keatah]

Your music is still files in folders on your hard drive. You can manage them with anything. THINK!

 

Playlists are just XML lists. https://support.apple.com/kb/PH19491?locale=en_US

 

They better be!

Well that was interesting. I thought to take an interlude and examine the finer points of the M3u and XML playlist exportation and what information is saved and how it could potentially be imported into other programs. And how that can also damage an existing playlist's labels. Like if you re-import an M3U iTunes will go an rename ALL the songs elsewhere in other playlists to what is in this new list. It'll even eliminate dupes, which is NOT what I want.. Bahhhgg!

 

But it works fine with re-importing XML or TXT. playlists. You just get a dupe of the playlist, as expected.

And for some god-forsaken reason, WMP needs to "update" the file you just played, if you're using that player. Just leave the damn thing alone. Solution there is to make the files read-only. Don't go messing with my tags!

 

Anyways I got a good understanding of the XML file and what exactly iTunes puts into it. And what parts are proprietary. Making a mess of my perfectly configured library of rips and purchases the wife and I had been curating for the past 12 years. Playlists disorganized, shit double named, all over. So I restored from last week's backup in moments by putting all the iTunes data files back to what they were before I went on this little escapade! A thing of beauty 2 B SHURE.

[Schizophretard]

I wonder what kind of sex Nintendo would have on any given table...hmm. Things to think about.

 

The kind you eat.

 

 

Also, the second point: I think the market for the Mini was exploited by scalpers, period. Especially in the days after the release date...I saw nothing but fans in the line up when I bought mine on release day. Nintendo was up against a wall, really...you can't price this thing too high, or people won't buy (after tax in Canada, Walmart had this thing at 90 bucks). So while early on scalpers were fetching double the retail price, now it's settled down to 150 or so. I wouldn't pay that for this. Yet the official controller is the real kick in the teeth: thing retails for like 15 bucks but on the scalper market, it's six times the amount! Nintendo really should have released the system with two joysticks, period. Raise the price to 100 bucks, and I'm in. Now, I just have to be patient (and super friggin lucky) if I want to track one down at a reasonable price.

 

In my mind, I think this: I am a guy who will pay Nintendo a modern price for a retro game. I think that there are many people who would be willing to pay that for a quality, NES-era game. I can't be sure, and I'm sure there's plenty of opinion about this to the contrary, but I'm not talking homebrew: I mean a real, NEW NES game. If they made a special, one-off Final Fantasy game that plays like the first one, sell it on the Virtual Console, they'd find out quickly that it would SELL. And collectors would go crazy for the physical copy of the game.

 

Why Nintendo (or others) haven't acknowledged this untapped market is beyond me. Hipsters and Millenials are all over the place, throwing money at this kinda stuff. Why not at least try to capitalize? And in the process, make me a 'new' modern customer? I'd almost by a Switch if I new the VC would get NEW games, just made in the old style! It would take comparatively little work to do, but would require some developers who really CARE about that era, to deliver a quality experience.

 

The Classic really shone a light on how much people want this kind of gaming experience. And with the rumours (far-fetched at this point, but who knows) of a mini SNES and how people will go apeshit over that (trust me, retro gaming conventions sell SNES at a FAR higher price than NES on average...it has a much bigger following, even though I prefer NES), can't they see this is a viable option? It won't cut into Switch sales: these are two different kinds of gamer, just like record companies target at different demographics (well, at least they used to).

 

Here's another reason why I think if they did offer new, old-style games for the VC (or ultimately, physical copies for sale), you can just look at the furor over the Classic to see the tip of the iceberg: if a mini SNES comes along, is produced in quantities to match demand AND it's a success? Why can't this happen? Remember, ten years ago when the Flashback 2.0 came out, there was plenty to go around. Yes, you got the guys like us buying it..and with ease. It was in the big retail stores, and was around for a good while. Atari games didn't generate the kind of mass appeal back then, even though we're as nostalgic as hell, we still LOVE those games. It's a hard sell though to younger folks.

 

That's why this NES Mini is so frustrating, to me...there's so much untapped potential for a resurgence in new, old-style developed games! I'm waiting to throw my money at whoever provides this gaming experience for me on the NES...just like I did when buying homebrews for the VCS here at the AA Store. But the only 'new' games I've seen worthwhile for the NES are the Battle Kid games...definitely a step in the right direction.

 

I mean...vinyl records are a thing again. Think about how absurd that notion was 20 years ago, hell even 10 years ago! Yet here we are, and people are buying 30 dollar records to enjoy today. The only reason Nintendo wouldn't do this is that the margins are probably too slim, and not enough money to be made. Fair enough, and somebody already mentioned that. But for crying out loud, the timing isn't going to get any better than 'these days' for this to happen. Flashback series for Atari is still around, and somebody is making money off it. Why not at least try? They've done risky things before (Power Glove? Virtual Boy? ..and by the way, somebody here mentioned how 'nobody asked or wanted a Virtual Boy from Nintendo"...I disagree: VR was THE thing back in the early 90s, we ALL wanted that experience! Just not in the colour red, exclusively )

 

Nintendo...Just Do It.

 

The market for new retro style games you are talking about already exists. That is what a lot of indie games are. They are either retro style in gameplay and/or in graphics with pixel art or other non-photo realistic styles. Most of the games announced for the Switch are of this type. There are also actual retro games already without the Virtual Console like NEOGEO games, as examples. Then there are Nintendo's first party games that are retro style in gameplay like they always have been and relative to PS4 fans' standards also retro in graphics too. In other words, if the Switch gets Nintendo games, Virtual Console games, actual retro games but not within the Virtual Console, and most of the third party support is from indie games instead of AAA developers then it would look like a retro gaming Heaven made up of both the old and new.

[Flojomojo]

FWIW, I downloaded Epic Dumpster Bear this past weekend and love it.

 

Whoa, look at that crazy thing. Shades of http://www.enviro-bear.com

[godslabrat]

 

Whoa, look at that crazy thing. Shades of http://www.enviro-bear.com

It plays like Sonic, but with the polish of Mario. I was expecting something that felt like a shareware game, but was pleasantly surprised.

[Flojomojo]

It plays like Sonic, but with the polish of Mario. I was expecting something that felt like a shareware game, but was pleasantly surprised.

 

It's got that art style that looks like ass in screen shots, but likely fine in motion. Here's another:

 

 

It's hard to keep an open mind when there's so much other stuff to play, but it's cool to be surprised like that.

[bradhig1]

punch out is laggy like crazy.

[atarilovesyou]

You like modern retro? Put your money where your mouth is, and buy these games immediately. They are all available right now, all great.

 

Blaster Master Zero

Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove

Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap

 

You say, "Nintendo, just do it." They already did, and continue to put out great neo-retro stuff. The Switch is an awesome little system.

Haven't heard of any of these. Must check out....

 

EDIT...

 

Blaster Master Zero!...I SHALL HAVE IT!

 

Now that's what I'm talking about, but I still wouldn't mind if the graphics went a bit more 8 bit rather than 16. The music is perfect! I don't want to watch much more of the Switch trailer so as not to ruin any surprises. It looks pretty similar to the first one, which I absolutely love. I have a 3DS, so it looks like it's out on that?

 

That said, I'd still prefer something that would actually run on an NES, if this were the case. But I'll take this too. I hope it's popular enough to get a trend going...I died when I saw the Sunsoft logo in the intro! Awesome stuff!

 

2nd EDIT!

 

The wonder boy game isn't what I'm looking for. 8 Bit game play with 32 bit graphics...don't do it for me. I'm sure lots of fans will love it though. The graphic style is still too advanced, too 'clean'. But I see what they're going for and it's better than nothing...but not interested in this one.

Edited April 22, 2017 by atarilovesyou

[Tanooki]

Wonderboy has an 8bit audio and video mode but a game like that is a ripoff at $20. Blaster Master is pushing the high end at $10 but is very worth it.

[ubersaurus]

How is it a ripoff? The actual Dragon's Trap cart is like $20-30 bucks. And they're full games.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

They better be!

Well that was interesting. I thought to take an interlude and examine the finer points of the M3u and XML playlist exportation and what information is saved and how it could potentially be imported into other programs. And how that can also damage an existing playlist's labels. Like if you re-import an M3U iTunes will go an rename ALL the songs elsewhere in other playlists to what is in this new list. It'll even eliminate dupes, which is NOT what I want.. Bahhhgg!

 

But it works fine with re-importing XML or TXT. playlists. You just get a dupe of the playlist, as expected.

And for some god-forsaken reason, WMP needs to "update" the file you just played, if you're using that player. Just leave the damn thing alone. Solution there is to make the files read-only. Don't go messing with my tags!

 

Anyways I got a good understanding of the XML file and what exactly iTunes puts into it. And what parts are proprietary. Making a mess of my perfectly configured library of rips and purchases the wife and I had been curating for the past 12 years. Playlists disorganized, shit double named, all over. So I restored from last week's backup in moments by putting all the iTunes data files back to what they were before I went on this little escapade! A thing of beauty 2 B SHURE.

Sounds like the Cowon A3 is getting more attractive by the minute. Drag and drop, baby!

 

For instance, suppose I have the following folder structure:

 

Music/Artists and Bands/Rock/ACDC/Highway to Hell/01 Highway to Hell.mp3

 

I could play the single track Highway to Hell (since files sort by alphabet, it is always wise to start the track name with the track number followed by the title). Or I could play the "Highway to Hell" full album from beginning to end. Or shuffle it. Or I could shuffle all of ACDC. Or shuffle all of my "Rock" tracks. All without importing a single m3u file. In fact the folder system worked so well, I never bothered creating m3u playlists.

 

I used Quintessential Media Player to rip all my CDs, so I could select the format and bitrate (OGG Vorbis 50% is sonically superior to MP3 LAME VBR 50 IMO with less audible artifacts and good bitrate), then how to organize them. My preferred layout was Artist / Album / [track #] [song Title]

 

Then after ripped, I drag the entire folder into the appropriate genre. I had an "artists and bands" category to differentiate it from Instrumental, Soundtracks, and compilations. iTunes rips your entire CD or downloads collection into a giant arsed folder with potentially thousands of tracks all mixed up. Amazon MP3 on the other hand, divided them into folder structures similar to the Quintessential Media Player, preserving my folder based hierarchy.

 

It's a completely different way of organizing one's media collection, and IMO far superior. Keetah, if you don't like the syncing process, might I recommend picking up an old Cowon or iAudio media player on eBay? Just plug into a USB port, absolutely no proprietary software required.

[Tanooki]

How is it a ripoff? The actual Dragon's Trap cart is like $20-30 bucks. And they're full games.

Because the similarly priced old game is tangible which you control and can use forever. The other is a limited time rental subject to network removal and changes at any time. I value ownership control when I buy. With no control that rental is sharply devalued. Charge me $30 put it on a Switch card and I'd own it today. They do a $10 sale I'd bite.

[thadsilverfox]

Looks like Best Buy will be restocking these for tomorrow so anyone wanting one better go get in line now.

[+GoldLeader]

Haven't heard of any of these. Must check out....

 

EDIT...

 

Blaster Master Zero!...I SHALL HAVE IT!

 

Now that's what I'm talking about, but I still wouldn't mind if the graphics went a bit more 8 bit rather than 16. The music is perfect! I don't want to watch much more of the Switch trailer so as not to ruin any surprises. It looks pretty similar to the first one, which I absolutely love. I have a 3DS, so it looks like it's out on that?

 

That said, I'd still prefer something that would actually run on an NES, if this were the case. But I'll take this too. I hope it's popular enough to get a trend going...I died when I saw the Sunsoft logo in the intro! Awesome stuff!

 

2nd EDIT!

 

The wonder boy game isn't what I'm looking for. 8 Bit game play with 32 bit graphics...don't do it for me. I'm sure lots of fans will love it though. The graphic style is still too advanced, too 'clean'. But I see what they're going for and it's better than nothing...but not interested in this one.

 

 

Strangely I think I know what you're saying (or said earlier)...If Nintendo (Or anyone for that matter) made a true old school game, be it homebrew or an actual NES cart, or even VC, I would Love it! But I'm looking for something that grips me like playing FAXANADU in 1989! I want atmosphere, and gameplay, and story...Kind of tough when you want it all...

[0078265317]

One last time.

 

https://nintendowire.com/news/2017/04/23/best-buy-confirms-nes-classic-edition-restock-tomorrow-424/

 

BestBuy is getting more nes classic tomorrow.

[+GoldLeader]

One last time.

 

https://nintendowire.com/news/2017/04/23/best-buy-confirms-nes-classic-edition-restock-tomorrow-424/

 

BestBuy is getting more nes classic tomorrow.

 

0078265317,

 

My advice to you IF you have a Best Buy in town, unless you have work or something going on, making it impossible...Is to get up early tomorrow. Just grab coffee and go. Be there 3 hours before they open so that when they hand out vouchers you get one of the 6 or 12 they might be getting...And honestly I look forward to you posting that you got one,...And We'll all celebrate with our favorite beers.

 

Cheers!

[0078265317]

 

0078265317,

 

My advice to you IF you have a Best Buy in town, unless you have work or something going on, making it impossible...Is to get up early tomorrow. Just grab coffee and go. Be there 3 hours before they open so that when they hand out vouchers you get one of the 6 or 12 they might be getting...And honestly I look forward to you posting that you got one,...And We'll all celebrate with our favorite beers.

 

Cheers!

 

I don't have the energy to get up that early. I was just sharing incase anyone else is interested. Plus where I live is crowded. There is going to be a mile long line anyway so no point.

[Atariboy]

You've been posting about stock shortages for months, yet you're not going to take advantage of perhaps your last chance to get one?

 

Your life, but it seems odd to me.

Edited April 24, 2017 by Atariboy

[0078265317]

I would love to but not getting up at 6am. Tried once at gamestop and there were already 2 guys waiting in line 1 hour before opening. And then I drove to another location and they had 1 but a guy was already waiting. If it is limited like the article said it wil be crazy busy tomorrow. Would love to get one. But getting up at 6am. But wanted to share incase anybody else was not aware.

[thadsilverfox]

If I didn't have to get the kids up and to school in the morning I would go stand in line for 0078265317. I would only charge what I paid plus shipping.

Edited April 24, 2017 by thadsilverfox