Nintendo to release Famicom Mini retro console, but only in Japan

30 Sep 2016

The Famicom Mini. Image: Nintendo Japan/YouTube

Just a few months after announcing the NES Classic Edition retro console, Nintendo is giving its compatriots exclusive access to a new console: the Famicom Mini.

The Famicom Mini appears to be a tribute to its Japanese homeland, with a console that fits right into a person’s hand.

Much like the NES Classic Edition revealed in July, it will allow players to play 30 of the NES’s classic games including Donkey Kong and, of course, Super Mario Bros.

However, it will differ from the one that will be launched in the rest of the world, as some games included in this bundle – such as Final Fantasy III – will only appear on the Famicom Mini.

Some other notable inclusions on the list of games made available over at IGN include: Pac Man, The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Dr Mario and Ninja Gaiden.

It also has the ability to have four different saved games on each one, to allow a family to create multiple saves of the same game.

Retro shell, modern components

While this is a given for almost any game released today, it would be the first time that many of these titles have had this ability.

As for the design of the console itself, the dark red and slightly off-white are certainly stylistically geared towards the 1980s, but the internal hardware all matches up with the present day.

Aside from the HDMI port, it also comes with two wired controllers that neatly fit on its sides, unlike the NES Classic Edition that comes with just one controller.

The console will be released a day before the NES Classic Edition on 10 November, but will cost the same, at a price of $60.

If gamers from elsewhere in the world are keen to get their hands on the Famicom Mini, they will have to be prepared to learn Japanese and shell out an additional $10 for an AC adapter.

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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