NES Classic Prices Rise With End of Production, Mini Famicom Discontinued Too

Yesterday, Nintendo revealed that the Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition was discontinued in North America, after months where the system was hard to find at retail. In response, the price of the NES Classic on Amazon has risen overnight, going from the $59 asking price and $99 average to around $330 as the lowest price at this time of writing. Ebay prices are still lagging behind, coming in at around $250 to $300.

So Long NES Classic, and Thanks for All the Aggravation

Nintendo: Making Good Choices Since 1889™.

"NES Classic Edition wasn't intended to be an ongoing, long-term product. However, due to high demand, we did add extra shipments to our original plans," a Nintendo spokesperson explained yesterday.

That's little solace for folks who were still having trouble finding a system at retail and have just found their searches much harder.

Nintendo has also halted production on the Nintendo Classic Mini Famicom in Japan, according to Famitsu (via Kotaku). The official site notes the end of production, but doesn't commit to the product never coming back.

"Production of this product is ending temporarily. When manufacturing resumes, we will provide information at another time on this homepage," says the website.

I guess offering the vain hope of a return is better than nothing?

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#1 Mikki-Saturn A year ago

I have a feeling that this is just preparing the way for a new product - either a very similar product with different (longer term?) licenses or else some kind of enhanced product. Maybe one that can download new games from the virtual console or otherwise be extended. Given how popular this has proven to be, I doubt Nintendo is just going to walk away from the concept.

#2 swamped A year ago

The way this reads, I'm hoping this is because they're coming out with an improved model.

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#3 LBD_Nytetrayn A year ago

If they are planning to pick up where they dropped off, at least Japan was kind enough to say something to that effect.

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#4 photoboy A year ago

Given how Nintendo works, I think we can expect the Switch to be discontinued later today and at E3 they'll preemptively announce they're discontinuing their next console too.

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