NES Classic Edition Officially Returning This Summer

Back in late 2016, Nintendo got its retro audience excited with the NES Classic Edition, an all-in-one gaming machine that featured 30 classics from the console’s 8-bit era including Super Mario Bros. 3 and The Legend of Zelda. It sold incredibly well, only for Nintendo to drop the bad news that the system was being discontinued.

Many fans cried foul over this, noting that they didn’t get a chance to pick up this beloved system before it went away. As a result, Nintendo vowed to bring it back, even though it would take a little time to replenish. Good news, gaming fans — that time is nearly upon us!

Following its announcement back in September that it would return, Nintendo has updated the official NES Classic Edition website to confirm that it will be back sometime this summer.

The information can be found near the bottom, with the words “NES Classic Edition will return Summer 2018.” There’s no specific date as to when it will return, but we could possibly learn more in a few weeks — maybe even as a surprise announcement during E3 2018.

The system will continue to sell for $59.99 and will include the 30 games it originally released with, along with a classic NES controller made specifically for it. You can also purchase an additional controller for just $9.99, which is ideal for two-player games such as Bubble Bobble.

We reviewed the system shortly after it released in 2016 and found it to be an incredible blast from the past, with an easy-to-use menu and a variety of games. Some favorites may be missing, but there’s more than enough variety here to keep you hooked for hours — and you can always try to hack it to add extra games if you prefer.

Here are some of the features you’ll find in the system:

Save Your Game With Suspend Points

Pick up right where you left off with four Suspend Point slots for each game. Just press the Reset button while playing to return to the HOME menu and save your progress to a slot. Have a perfect run going? You can lock your save file and resume at a later time so there’s no danger of losing your progress.

Choose Your Look With Display Modes

• CRT filter: Looks like an old TV, scan lines and all.
• 4:3: Gives you the original NES game look, with a slight horizontal stretch.
• Pixel Perfect: Each pixel is a perfect square, so you see the games exactly as designed.

We’ll keep you informed if Nintendo announces a sale date for the NES Classic Edition — and then we can get ours as well. (We need one at the office for, uh, research. Yeah, that’s it.)