The last word from Nintendo indicated that production of the miniature NES Classic in North America has been discontinued, and soon enough existing supplies will disappear. But the Japanese game maker will be replacing the mini console with another retro gaming machine - the SNES Classic Edition, if rumors will prove correct.
In the coming weeks, the NES Classic will become harder to find as Nintendo confirmed that production of the device has been halted and no further shipments will arrive in the U.S. after April 2017. But the disappointment that greeted the news appears to be short-lived as word came out that later in the year a replacement console will hit the market.
"Nintendo is preparing to release a miniaturized version of the original Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)," Business Insider reported, adding that Nintendo has declined to issue a statement on the matter. That means the SNES Classic Edition coming out this 2017 remains unconfirmed.
Nonetheless, the same report speculated that in the event of the SNES Classic rolling out, which likely will happen in the holiday quarter or within the last three months of 2017, "it would be tiny like the NES Classic Edition - a smaller, near-identical version of the original hardware."
The original, of course, was the SNES that first came out in the 1990s and served as the upgrade to the first NES console.
And when the SNES Classic is indeed deployed by Nintendo, part of the deal will be built-in game titles. Business Insider said retro games that made their mark during the SNES era are likely to make a comeback with the resurrected console and among them: "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past," "Super Mario World," and "Donkey Kong Country."
The whole package will likely boast of around 30 game titles, just like the NES Classic and Kotaku, in a related report, made a list of the possible candidates that Nintendo will include.
The NES Classic debuted with a $60 sticker price, which likely will be the same price range of the SNES Classic Edition on release date. And hopefully too, there will be sufficient supplies to go by when the mini Nintendo console is finally out.