Nintendo proves that fans’ love for the NES is timeless.

Nintendo announced yesterday that it would be releasing a miniature replica of the NES on November 10 for $59.99 USD / $99.95 AUD. The box will come pre-loaded with 30 timeless NES games, including Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong, PAC-MAN, Kirby’s Adventure, and more (full list here). Nintendo keeps calling this the “Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition,” which sounds rather redundant and long-winded to me. They should have just stuck with “Mini NES,” or “Nintendo Classic Mini.” At any rate, this thing is going to sell like crazy, and initial reactions to the announcement have been overwhelmingly positive if not a little confused. The general consensus is pretty much this: I don’t need it, but I’m definitely buying three of them.

“We wanted to give fans of all ages the opportunity to revisit Nintendo’s original system and rediscover why they fell in love with Nintendo in the first place,” said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “The Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition is ideal for anyone who remembers playing the NES, or who wants to pass on those nostalgic memories to the next generation of gamers.” The idea is completely brilliant, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Kimishima was behind this one. I’m sure on the inside it’s composed of components left over from a bunch of old Wii’s, or else it has the same guts as a 2DS and Nintendo figured this was the best way to make $60 off of $10 worth of plastic and silicon.

It is a great deal for retro game lovers, though. If you think about it, the average NES game costs $5 through Nintendo’s virtual console service. With this box we’re getting $150 worth of the best NES games, some of which aren’t even available through the virtual console, all for $60. On top of that we get an incredible NES replica that comes with a beautiful, classic NES controller. And speaking of controllers: if you take a look on the front of the console, you’ll notice that the controller ports match the port on the bottom of your Wii remote. Nintendo has confirmed that the Wii’s “Classic Controller” and “Classic Controller Pro” both work with the Mini NES (screw it, that’s what I’m calling it from now on). Alternatively, that sweet NES controller that comes with the box will also work when playing NES games on the Wii or Wii U virtual console. Thanks, Nintendo. You just get us.