Last week, Nintendo announced that it was discontinuing the immensely popular NES Classic Edition in the US. Today, the company confirmed that the mini console will be discontinued in Europe as well. That probably isn't the most surprising news given its discontinuation in the US, but now we've got official confirmation from Nintendo.
Bad news for those of you who have been looking for an NES Classic Edition since November: Nintendo has officially pulled the plug on the mini console. The company says that retailers will be receiving their final shipments throughout April, and after that, you'll have to rely on third party resellers if you want to find one. Nintendo, as many of you already know, has had major issues keeping the NES Classic in stock ever since its November launch.
![NES Classic Edition in stock? Not so fast… [WARNING]](https://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/stocker.jpg)
Over the past week it’s come to our attention that a new scam has come about, targeting those gamers in search of the elusive NES Classic Edition. This gaming console was released late last year by Nintendo and met with ravenous hordes of consumers. This console sold out extremely quickly across the United States, only to be replaced with stock-seekers and flippers - and not the good dolphin kind. The value in the device is in attaining for the original price - anything else is bonkers.
In recent days, we've discovered that the Joy-Con controllers for the Nintendo Switch have compatibility with more devices beyond the console they're intended for. We can add one more to the list today, as 8bitdo and Analogue are making them compatible with the NES Classic through their previously released Retro Receiver.
It might be strange to see to the words "NES Classic Edition first impressions" in the title of this article when the infamous mini console has been out for more than four months now. Like many of you, I've spent those months looking high and low for one, only to be greeted by "sold out" notifications everywhere I looked. I was finally able to get one last week, and since it was first hooked up to the TV, it's seen almost constant play. I'll share my opinion on whether or not the NES Classic Edition was worth the four month wait later (more on why that particular article will be delayed in a bit), but for now, I thought I'd share my early thoughts on it.
![NES Classic Edition in stock now at Best Buy [Update: Sold out]](https://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/stocknesclassic.jpg)
We've got some big news for you if you're still trying to snag an NES Classic Edition - at the time of this writing, the nearly impossible to find mini console is back in stock at Best Buy. As always, you'll want to act fast to secure one for yourself, because there's no telling how many Best Buy has to sell. If the past is any indication, then Best Buy's stock will sell through quickly regardless of how many are on hand.
It might be hard to believe since it's impossible to find, but Nintendo has revealed that the NES Classic Edition has sold 1.5 million units globally. What was once expected to be a niche item has turned into something of a sensation, with stock selling out immediately upon launch back in November. Ever since then, any new stock retailers get in has been snatched up instantly.
We haven't heard too much from the NES Classic Edition since around Christmas time, but it seems that Nintendo is still working to produce more. GameStop announced today that it will have the NES Classic Edition in stock this week at its US stores. They're available beginning today, but it sounds like you'll still need luck on your side if you want to sang one.
Though the NES Classic Edition and its Japanese counterpart, the Famicom Mini, shipped with a mere 30 games on them, we all knew it wouldn't be long before they were hacked. Sure enough, that happened over the weekend, with one hacker posting video proof that they had added more games to their NES Classic. Today we're hearing more interesting things from the people who have looked at the code for these new consoles, with one hacker taking to Reddit to share a secret message he found hiding in the Famicom Mini.
There has never been a lack of hacks and DIY projects surrounding Nintendo’s most beloved classic gaming systems, but Nintendo itself kicked off renewed interest when it launched the Famicom Mini in Japan and the NES Classic to the rest of the world. There have been some interesting work trying to replicate those mini consoles using a Raspberry Pi or, more recently, hacking into the box to make it support more than the fixed 30 games inside. This latest one to come straight from Japan is, perhaps, the craziest and best one yet, which practically puts a NES inside a GameBoy. Behold, the “Famicom Pocket”!
Despite launching in the last few months of the year, Nintendo's NES Classic Edition turned out to be one of the hottest devices of 2016. But other than being incredibly hard to find over the holiday season, the only real drawback of the tiny retro game console is that it's limited to the 30 titles that come pre-installed. Fortunately modders and hackers have been hard at work at rectifying that problem, and the latest successful trick manages to add another 30 games over a USB cable.
The Nintendo Switch is still a couple of months off at this point, but that isn't stopping Snakebyte from announcing a slew of accessories for it. Snakebyte has all of them in tow at CES 2017 this year, being the first manufacturer to announce an accessory line for the incoming console. On top of all that, Snakebyte has a couple of accessories for the hugely popular NES Classic Edition in the works as well.