Nintendo’s newest NES Classic Edition is a miniaturized replica of the 1985 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is a plug-and-play box that comes with 30 pre-installed NES games including Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Zelda, Metroid, Kirby’s Adventure, etc., which gives an amusing nostalgia trip for all the fans of Nintendo. After 33 years, while everyone is going wild with Niantic’s Pokémon Go, Nintendo is bringing something to adrenalize the old-school gamers.
NES, or also known as the Family Computer (Famicom), is the exemplary of every gaming console system today. If you are a millennial, you are most likely familiar with what really an NES is. It is an 8-bit device that is powered by a 1.79MHz processor. If you think that this is too small to run a device, you are right! A Smartwatch has better processing power than the classic NES, but it is the first gaming platform of popular video game characters that remain popular till date such as The Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, Mega Man, and Legend of Zelda.
NES uses cartridges to run the game; it is a storage device that is older than the conventional tape. Its controller has only five buttons as compared to the PlayStation 4 Dual Shock 4 Wireless Controller. This is so far the simplest gaming console ever, but it is more than enough to allot hours of 2D fun.
The return of the retro!
NES is making its comeback! The new Classic Edition still feels like the real NES console that once dominated the gaming world. But instead of the old yellow RCA port, it now uses an HDMI cable so you can play it on your whopping Ultra HD TV. It also doesn’t use cartridges now since there are already 30 NES games pre-installed in the console. It is still the same size as the original, but the traditional red and white color was changed to black-white-gray-red design.
The NES Classic Edition still looks the same as the shrunken-down Family Comp, but the design was mostly cosmetic. You cannot open the front cartridge door, and all the ports are different now. It has HDMI and Micro-USB ports at the back, and it is packed with one wired controller. Although connecting a second controller is possible, it is not included in the package. You can purchase one for $10. You may find the first controller annoying since it has very short cable. Again, an extension cord was sold separately in Nintendo.
The power button will start up NES and can also reset. However, switching games on the console may seem odd because there is no controller button that you can press to return to the home menu. There are four save slots for every game; this is something that we cannot do to the original NES games. Now, you can save your game progress and just pick it up again anytime. But to be able to save your game, you need to press the reset button again. You cannot save just by pressing the Start or even the Select buttons. Nevertheless, it’ll auto-save if your system stays untouched for a longer period and it will shut down automatically to conserve power.
NES officially hit the stores last November 11, 2016, but as of this time, it is very hard to find this gaming console. NES Classic Edition was supposed to cost only $60, but it gets sold out immediately and rapidly made its way to eBay. It now averages up to $200. If you missed out the sale in the last few months, it would be available again starting on December 6, 2016, at Urban Outfitters. Toys R Us is also making their Christmas sale bonanza starting today until December 10, 2016.
