R.I.P. NES Classic. We hardly knew ye.
No, really. The pint-sized, 30-games-in-1 recreation of Nintendo's O.G. video games console launched on Nov. 11, 2016 in the United States. It's been sold out just about every day since then. Today, a hair over five months later, the company confirmed production will cease.
SEE ALSO:All 30 NES Classic Edition games, reviewed (in 30 words)Before we look at the news of the day, it's important to understand how we got here.
The NES Classic was one of the hottest holiday items of last fall. At $60, its form factor -- an adorably miniaturized NES console -- and its mixed lineup of classics and deep cuts made it an irresistible gift for people of all ages.
Consumers responded. With Nintendo offering no official pre-order options and shipping only a limited number to retailers, nostalgia-fueled hype led to a near instantaneous sell-out around the globe.
Everyone wanted a Classic, but only a lucky few -- and I do mean lucky, unless you happened to work in retail -- managed to get one. It was very much a "right place, right time" situation.
In my case, I got one after I saw a tweet about Amazon's Prime Now delivery service having them in New York. I leapt on it immediately and simultaneously told a friend who, unfortunately, missed the tiny sliver of time when it was available.
By the time Nintendo started showing off its new Switch console in early Jan. 2017, consumers wanted answers. Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime explained to Wiredwhat had happened with the Classic launch and how the company intended to address the supply issues.
"[The NES Classic] was a situation where the global demand was well in excess of anything we had anticipated, and that’s what created shortages," Fils-Aime said.
"The good news, at least for consumers in the Americas, is we’re going to continue to make the NES Classic available. With the ongoing level of supply, the ongoing demand is going to be met. We know the concern."
Again: that was January. A few weeks later, Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima issued an apology and pledged to address the product shortage (h/t Nintendo Life).
In November last year, we brought back the nostalgic Famicom and NES home consoles in palmsized versions and shipped the entire quantity of Nintendo Classic Mini Family Computer units we initially prepared for each market. We apologize to our consumers and retail partners for the inconvenience caused by product shortages. Some parts require time to procure, but we are working to increase production. We also see the nostalgic interest in these products as an opportunity to draw consumers' attention to our latest game system, Nintendo Switch.
Then, in March, Fils-Aime addressed the misstep in an interview with GameSpot. He claimed that Nintendo had underestimated the demand.
"When we looked at that proposition what we believed was the adults, 30-40 years old, who grew up playing NES as a kid, 10 years old or so but had stepped away from the gaming category--that was going to be the buyer [of the NES Classic]," he said.
The company quickly learned that both NES-era gamers andthe "more active gamer" -- as Fils-Aime puts it -- were interested.
"That was the marketplace disconnect that happened," he said, adding that NES Classic supply issues had been "largely addressed." At the time -- as had been the case since November -- the mini-console continued to be sold out at all major retailers, except for rare, blink-and-you'd-miss-it re-stocks.
Now we can turn again to the present. Here's Nintendo's statement confirming the death of the NES Classic:
Throughout April, NOA 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.
There's one thing missing here: an explanation.
After five months of apologies and promises to do better, Nintendo's answer is to give up without explaining why. Just the briefest of apologies and some self-promoting corpspeak about how the company "paid close attention to consumer feedback" and appreciates "the incredible level of consumer interest and support for this product."
Nintendo, I say this to you directly: your fans deserve more.
For five months, customers have made it clear that they want NES Classic. Here, allow me to show you.
This is what high demand looks like for a $60 item:
Credit: ebay screenshotThat's just a rundown of seller listings, though. Are people actually buyingthe NES Classic at these exorbitant prices, all of them marked up by more than 100 percent?
You betcha. Take a look at what was paid on recently-sold NES Classics.
Credit: ebay screenshotI'm stunned, and you should be, too. That the company would discontinue a popular product is hardly unheard of. But to do so after months of promising exactly the opposite? Without any explanation as to why?
It's insulting. Contrary to what today's statement asserts, this is not a company that has "paid close attention to consumer feedback." Instead, this is a company that has decided -- for unfathomable reasons -- to give every single fan that still craves an NES Classic the official statement version of the middle finger.
The statement might as well say: "We don't care that you still want NES Classic. We're discontinuing production and we're not going to tell you why."
You should be mad. You have every right to feel that way. And you should let Nintendo know -- respectfully -- that you want answers.
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