Subj : Nintendo Classic Mini consoles
To   : All
From : Nightfox
Date : Tue Jun 24 2025 09:30:21

I wondered if this could go in the Retro Tech area, but I thought this area would be fitting too..

Around 2016, I think, Nintendo released their NES Classic Mini, a small console that looks like an original NES but it's a small computer running an emulator, pre-loaded with a set of NES games.  A couple years later, they did the same with their SNES Classic Mini.  Other companies followed suit: Sega similarly released a mini Genesis, Sony released a mini Playstation, and I also recall there being a mini TurboGrafX-16.

These were limited releases, and they're no longer made.  I wanted the SNES mini, and I thought I missed the boat, but Nintendo released a new batch in 2018 (I think), and I was able to buy one.  Almost immediately, I hacked it (using the Hakchi2 software) and added more games to it, including SNES and several other consoles.  A couple days ago I added some more games to it, and I remembered how cool this device is.  There are many ways to emulate old console games, but I think this one is unique in that it was an official Nintendo product, looks like a little SNES, and it has a pretty nice user interface.  I'm wondering now if it's possible to copy the UI software from it and run it on other devices (such as a Raspberry Pi)..

Since these are no longer made, I recently decided to buy another SNES Classic Mini from eBay as a spare.  For a while, people were selling them for more than their new price; new, they were about $80, and people have been selling them for $100 or $120 or more, but I found a seller with a small batch of them selling them for about $63 each with free shipping.  The listing says it's an open-box item (customer return) and shows the box, manual, and everything is included; I hope it's in good working condition.

Nightfox
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