Nintendo has released its latest financial report, revealing that its Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) has sold over 4 million units, just four months since it hit the market.
These numbers include the console's Japanese version, as well as that of the U.S. and Europe.
This figure is considerably larger than the 2.3 million units recorded for the re-launch of the NES Classic Edition for the five months it was available in the market from late 2016. Nintendo pulled it out in April 2017 to give way to the arrival of the miniature SNES.
This comes as a bit of a surprise, considering the original NES released in 1983 sold 11 million units more than the original SNES, which was released in 1990.
Analysts, however, noted that the hard-to-find SNES Classic Edition still has relatively more stocks than its predecessor. Although with both consoles, Nintendo had a noticeable issue with inventory.
With the great success of the SNES re-release, though, Nintendo announced that it is bringing back the NES Classic Edition.
"We plan to continue selling NES Classic Edition and Super NES Classic Edition this year," Nintendo said in an official announcement. "We view them as an opportunity to garner interest in Nintendo Switch from those who have not interacted with video games in a long time, or ever."
There does not seem to be a clear connection between the company's desired end and means. It could be that Nintendo wants to invest in nostalgia to have people playing with video games again and when they could not get enough of it, be urged to buy a Switch console. After all, the Nintendo Switch is portable and can be played anywhere, while the NES and SNES could only be played at home -- or at least anywhere there is a monitor and a socket.
Meantime, for those hoping to play their favorite classic Nintendo games but are having a hard time getting ahold of an SNES or NES due to lack of stocks, BGR proposes a savvy alternative. The $34 Hyperkin Retron 2 plays any SNES and NES cartridge ever released.
