Nintendo Classic Mini Family Computer

[Raverrevolution]

So this past Friday I got my Famicom mini and reunited the brothers from other mothers.

I have to say that overall the NES is the much much better package.  The Japanese really got screwed over on this one which I would have thought to be the opposite.

The Famicom mini controllers are so incredibly small that it's barely playable.  You could sit there and give all the games a short play, but I can't see a marathon session being possible with those controllers.  I don't know why Nintendo didn't make the extension part of the console a connector like the USA controllers have.  Totally missed opportunity on that.

As far as the exclusive games, the NES has much much better ones although the Famicom games are fun.  I'd rather have Startropics, Punch Out, and Tecmo Bowl than Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundoukai, Atlantis No Nazo, and Yie Ar Kung Fu.  I'm not even saying this because I grew up in the USA.  I literally think overall those NES games are better and at least beatable.

Despite its shortcomings I still love this Famicom and I'm so glad I was able to snag one at retail from Amazon.

Question for anyone out there.  Was this supposed to come with limited edition post cards?  I never received any with my Amazon order.  Maybe they ran out as they were limited quantities?

[P]

Interestring to see one who has them both side to side to compare. Haven't played Startropics yet and Tecmo Bowl is probably only interesting for people from USA. Although Punch Out is a golden game, the Famicom version has Solomon no Kagi and FDS games, so I really don't think the Nes version has the better lineup. It's a matter of taste though.

The Famicom controllers does look small though, how big are they in centimeter?

I also wish the Famicom controllers had Classic Controller plugs. Apparently it's not a Wii, but a Linux-based system (Wii isn't Linux-based unlike the DS as far as I know) but it still uses the same Classic Controller protocol that the Wii does.


BTW the manuals can now all be downloaded from Nintendo's homepage. I think it's stupid that they couldn't wait to include the manuals in the system though.

Famicom Mini manuals:
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clv/manuals/ja/index.html

NES Classic Edition manuals:
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clv/manuals/en/index.html

Each manual comes with a note where it says that although it's a scan of the original manual, it may have been changed to apply for the Classic Mini. I couldn't find any changes from a quick glance though. And for example Excitebike still mentions it can save its tracks using the Family BASIC keyboard.

[Raverrevolution]

The controllers have to be like 5-7 centimeters, they're really that tiny.

Yeah I have no clue what Nintendo was thinking on the Famicom.  They could have easily added a port in the front to alleviate issues.

I've seen a couple of these being taken apart online and the insides are almost exactly the same.  I'm sure you could probably swap out the motherboards, but there's no way I'm ever going to take it apart.

Here's another little thing I noticed, the placement of serial numbers.  Each console has their serial underneath it, but the matching one on the box is in different spots.  The USA one has the sticker on the box itself whereas the Japanese one has the matching serial on the back of one of the manual papers.  Essentially you could buy any box then for the Famicom mini to complete it as long as you have all the paperwork.

It's really really unfortunate of the Famicom's controllers though.  I'm thinking that this is the reason it goes for much cheaper than the NES.

I couldn't be more ecstatic to have been able to get both and at retail price nonetheless.  For the NES I took the day off, woke my ass up early on launch day, and went to the lesser known Target by me only to be second in line and for the store to have only 2 in stock.  For the Famicom I refreshed the Amazon Japan page daily to which every once in a while they would shoot out retail price preorders.  I managed to snag one, had it sent to Tenso, and then went through them to proxy send it to me here in NY.

[manuel]

Great seeing them side by side!
I'm also looking for a North American one (anybody wanna trade?) to do the same thing.

[Raverrevolution]

FYI to anyone seeing this, Famicom Minis are back in preorder for retail price, https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01M1VMFUA/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=

I wonder how long that'll last.

Edit: It lasted a while, but not too long.  Sorry folks.

[P]

I wonder why Nintendo is doing this. It's like they underestimated how much it would sell.

[MWK]

I believe that's how you get it done now. Days when you produce 10+ millions upfront and got your warehouses full of unsold consoles are long gone. Nowadays even such corpos like the big N can't afford to do this anymore, preordering it's the easiest way to fulfil 100% of current consumers demand since you know exactly how many units to produce and you don't have to have a stashes of unsold ones. OR maybe I'm wrong and it's just because of this particular "season" product that N doesn't really gives a fuck priority about

[FamicomFreak]

I was mad at how scarce they were here in the USA. I was lucky to get them both as gifts but still.... A lot of people still don't have them. Will the same thing happen with the Switch?

[L___E___T]

 



Yes the Switch is basically all sold out of pre-orders now.  So that's a real likelihood for launch, but they will make them a lot faster after that.

[Raverrevolution]

Yeah, but the Switch pre-orders weren't sold out within minutes.  It took like 2-3 days.  Basically if you wanted a Switch you had more than enough time to order and guarantee yourself one.  This is not the same case as the NES Classic.  Even with a lot of effort most people couldn't get one.

[L___E___T]

 



Over here they sold out in under a minute on one store, but they just allocated more over the days.  Yes it would seem they made hardly any NES minis considering.  Especially for the holiday period.  

[UglyJoe]

I'll never understand how Nintendo calculates their demand.  Retail stores should have been flooded with these things for Black Friday.

[NintendoKing]

I still desperately want one but at original price then I am gonna install the boot system hack. It would be amazing to have my favorite games in HD with saves and multi filters running on a official Nintendo product.

I am so impressed by the fact people have managed to flawlessly add their own games to it. I will of course only download games I own.  

[Raverrevolution]

I'll never understand how Nintendo calculates their demand.  Retail stores should have been flooded with these things for Black Friday.

I was completely expecting that.  

I had a vision of walking into Walmart, grabbing one off the shelf, leaving, then going to Target next door, grabbing another one to keep closed forever.  I thought stores would have at least a good 50 each, that they would be sold out in a week, and that it would turn into a hot Christmas item.

Instead what happened is that I went to Walmart, waited at the door for 30 minutes with a good 10 other people wanting the same thing, then once the doors opened we learned that they only had 6 in stock to which I got completely shafted out of since employees there suck and gave one to everyone else.  Then I said, "Oh what the hell, I'll go to Target now", upon arriving was the second person in line waiting at the door to which I waited an hour and had the line grow to another good 10 people.  An employee comes to the door to say they only had 2 in stock which was a lie since each packing box holds 6.  Since I was second in line I was able to nab one.

I feel so lucky that all I had to do was wait an hour and in semi warm brisk fall NY weather and not wait 5-6 hours in freezing temps like some people are doing these days for one.

The sad part is that I'm pretty sure that at least 70% of the stock went to resellers.  There are so many scumbags on this earth who work as managers or are high ups in the department stores that received stock.  I know for a fact that a packing box holds 6 since I saw it with my own eyes them being taken out so when a store said that they had less than 6 in stock it meant that they got 6 exactly or 6+, decided to keep most for themselves, and allotted like 2 to the public to look like they weren't stealing.  I bet you most stores got around 16 consoles/2 boxes full of them which is still in itself inexcusable.

[L___E___T]

 



I am very surprised the US didn't have it for pre-order at all.  I mean, I get that they want people to go to stores, and that they would go right away to scalpers. 

But if they'd had pre-orders, they could have hurried up and made more.  And regardless, they mostly went to scalpers anyway right. 

Having said all that - the exact same thing happened to me when the Wii launched here - and I pre-ordered that too in store, because I knew someone there.

Even then they still had barely anything so I only just got one in the end, with the games and controllers factored in.  And it cost a lot for that privilege.

I pre-ordered the Switch like the NES mini the moment I could, to ensure I get one.  But actually, I'm not all that hyped about the Switch anymore.  I have very little time.