Skip to main content

Nintendo promises ‘significantly more’ SNES Classics than NES Classics — but there’s a catch

Nintendo promises ‘significantly more’ SNES Classics than NES Classics — but there’s a catch

/

No guarantees after 2017

Share this story

SNES Classic

Didn’t grab the NES Classic last year? Your chances of getting an SNES Classic are going to be better. But don’t sleep on the console: the mini SNES may have the same fate as its predecessor.

In a comment to The Verge (and first reported by Kotaku), a Nintendo representative confirmed that the company will ship “significantly more” Super NES Classic Editions than the notoriously limited run of the NES Classic Edition. However, there’s a catch.

According to the statement, Nintendo will ship Super NES Classic Editions from the hardware launch on September 29th to the end of 2017. “At the this time,” the statement continues, “we have nothing to announce regarding any possible shipments beyond this year.”

While it might sound backwards for a business to discontinue a massively popular product, Nintendo isn’t issuing an empty warning. The company discontinued the NES Classic Edition in April of this year, just months after its release. “We’ve got a lot going on right now,” said Reggie Fils-Aimé, president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America, in an interview with Time, “and we don’t have unlimited resources.”

Fils-Aimé was referring to the company’s other manufacturing focuses, including the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS family of portables, all of which are regularly sold out in stores and online.

Nintendo’s statement on the SNES Classic concludes with a nod to this manufacturing juggling act:

Our long-term efforts are focused on delivering great games for the Nintendo Switch system and continuing to build momentum for that platform, as well as serving the more than 63 million owners of Nintendo 3DS family systems. We are offering Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Super NES Classic Edition in special recognition of the fans who show tremendous interest our classic content.

The Super NES Edition may be easier to get than the NES Classic Edition, but Nintendo could make good on delivering the rarest type of video game limited edition: one that’s actually limited.