Rumors flew back in February that the NES Classic was being discontinued worldwide. I told you not to worry, because the news was false at the time and, frankly, I thought Nintendo would make the system for a good long while.
Whoops.
Nintendo of America has confirmed that they're pulling the plug. The miniature system, which had 30 classic Nintendo games like The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros. and Final Fantasy packed in, was a must-have item last holiday season.
In a statement to IGN, Nintendo says, "Throughout April, [Nintendo of America] territories will receive the last shipments of Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition systems for this year. We encourage anyone interested in obtaining this system to check with retail outlets regarding availability. We understand that it has been difficult for many consumers to find a system, and for that we apologize. We have paid close attention to consumer feedback, and we greatly appreciate the incredible level of consumer interest and support for this product."
You would think that an "incredible level of consumer interest and support" for a product would encourage a profit-oriented company to continue making said product, but it's 2017 and the world no longer makes sense.
A representative also told IGN: "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."
Nintendo is currently high on the early success of their newest console, the Nintendo Switch, so it makes sense that they want to focus most of their energy on that. Still, this decision seems short-sighted, as the NES Classic was an impressive mainstream success that did wonders for getting the Nintendo brand name in front of people.
I would not be surprised to see the NES Classic come back in some form in the future (possibly even this holiday season), and I personally predict that Nintendo will take the experiment further with a SNES Classic somewhere down the line. But for now, if you really want to feed your old-school gaming nostalgia with 30 classic Nintendo games, you should try to get one now.
