NES Classic Edition Returns to Stores Next Year

Game Rant

By Jasmine Henry

Published Sep 12, 2017

Nintendo confirms that it will be bringing back the NES Classic Edition next year, after initially announcing that the retro console had been discontinued.

Earlier this year, Nintendo announced that the NES Classic Edition had been discontinued. The retro console had been a hot ticket item during the holiday 2016 shopping season and many were furious that no more units of the NES Classic would be made available by Nintendo.

Luckily, there is now some hope for those that didn't manage to get their hands on an NES Classic Edition the first time around. Nintendo has now confirmed that it will be bringing back the console in the summer of next year. "New shipments" will be made, explains Nintendo, with more information about the console's return (including its return date) to be "announced in the future."

For fans who missed out during the console's initial run, this is fantastic news. The NES Classic Edition was initially so difficult to get that some were forced to pay ludicrous prices on sites like eBay just to get one. Considering that the console was meant to retail for under $100, the prospect of paying as much as $1,000 (and even more in some cases) was dizzying.

Many would-be NES Classic players were also disappointed to see expensive NES Classic bundles surface after the console had been discontinued. Although nowhere near thehigh prices on eBay, the console bundles were being sold for more than its retail price. Fans demanded the chance to buy the console on its own, without the bundled products that they didn't want.

During its original run the NES Classic sold over two million units but that paled in comparison to the demand and Nintendo's willingness to manufacture adequate quantities. Earlier this year, the SNES Classic sold out similarly as fast and drew even more frustration from fans, despite Nintendo saying it would try to meet demand.

But Nintendo has yet to clarify exactly how many more NES Classic units it will be producing and sending out to stores next year, meaning that fans could still be forced to take part in the wild rush to get one. But for the moment fans should be happy to know the console is coming back, and we will wait and see how difficult it is to acquire.