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Nintendo Also Temporarily Discontinues Classic Famicom in Japan
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Nintendo's official Japanese website announced on Friday that the company is temporarily discontinuing production of the Nintendo Classic Mini Family Computer (pictured right). The website will update with new information when production resumes.
Nintendo also revealed on Thursday that it will end North American shipments of its NES Classic Edition console (pictured below left). Nintendo of America territories will receive the last shipments this month. Although the company stated production will later resume for the Japanese version of the system in Japan, Nintendo of America did not state that it plans to resume production of the North American units later.
Nintendo of America's statement included an apology for the lack of availability of the console at retailers and noted the high demand for the product. The representative explained, "NES Classic Edition wasn't intended to be an ongoing, long-term product. However, due to high demand, we did add extra shipments to our original plans."
Nintendo released the original Family Computer (Famicom) console in the 1980s. The Nintendo Classic Mini Family Computer shipped for 5,980 yen (about US$55) in Japan on November 10. Kadokawa's game news source Famitsu reported that the system sold 262,961 units in its first four days of release from November 10-13. The system includes 30 classic games, some of which differ from the North American version of the system.
Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) originally in the 1980s. It relaunched the system on November 11 last year in North America and Europe for a retail price of US$59.99. Nintendo had shipped over 1.5 million units of the console worldwide as of the end of January, and the high demand for the product created shortages.
Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web via Hachima Kikō
