Nintendo's NES Classic Edition Is Making A Comeback, Here's When You Can Buy It
Nintendo has announced that the NES Classic Edition will again be available for purchase after a lengthy hiatus. So, if you missed out the first time around, or simply refuse to pay outrageous markups on eBay, mark June 29th down on your calendar. Although Nintendo doesn't give any indication of what retailers will be carrying the console, we'd imagine that the usual suspects like Amazon and Best Buy will have the console in stock.
#NESClassic Edition will return to stores on June 29! This system and the #SNESClassic Edition system are expected to be available through the end of the year. https://t.co/LclbG5m4ta pic.twitter.com/1PcXBI5qJC
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) May 14, 2018
According to Nintendo, the NES Classic Edition along with the SNES Classic Edition (which was launched last year) will be available for purchase through the end of 2018. The Japanese gaming giant confirmed back in September 2017 that NES Classic Edition production would be restarted during the summer of 2018, so this late June availability announcement fits squarely into that time frame.
Before it was originally discontinued, the Nintendo sold over 2.3 million units of the NES Classic Edition. However, Nintendo decided to end production because it had bigger fish to fry at the time (like meeting demand for the Nintendo Switch). "We had originally planned for this to be a product for last holiday," said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé in April 2017. "We just didn't anticipate how incredible the response would be. Once we saw that response, we added shipments and extended the product for as long as we could to meet more of that consumer demand."
“It’s important to recognize where our future is and the key areas that we need to drive,” Fils-Aimé added. “We've got a lot going on right now and we don't have unlimited resources."
When the NES Classic Edition originally was made available, it was priced at $59.99. However, the consoles are still regularly selling for around $170+ on eBay.
