Nintendo's $80 mini Super Nintendo is going to be impossible to find - so here's a solid alternative
Nintendo's got another new video game console on ther verge of being released - except this time it's a throwback to the early '90s.
In just under one month, Nintendo plans to re-release its Super Nintendo console.
When the SNES Classic Edition launches in late September, it'll cost $80 and be very, very hard to find. Such is the case with Nintendo's hottest products. When the NES Classic Edition launched in late 2016, it was near-impossible to find until it was discontinued a few months later. Then it became outright impossible - unless you were willing to pay double or triple the price to re-sellers.
The SNES Classic Edition is almost guaranteed the same fate. It's scheduled to launch on September 29, and is expected to end production by the end of 2017. It's going to be a popular holiday gift and a limited-edition item - a perfect mix of high demand and short supply.
But there's another option, albeit one that's slightly less cool-looking than the Super NES Classic Edition.
Behold: Hyperkin's Supa RetroN HD - a Super Nintendo that plays cartridges, and uses the original gamepad, but does it all with modern technology.
The Supa RetroN HD doesn't have a price, nor does it have a release date beyond "soon," but we do have a few more details care of Engadget. Like the NES version of this console, the Supa RetroN HD will have a physical switch so you can toggle between 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios (the SNES existed before HD TV existed, so it displayed in a different ratio). It'll also plug into modern TVs via HDMI and get power via micro USB; it will also have two controller ports (just like the original SNES).
Though there's no release date or price for Hyperkin's Super Nintendo alternative, we'd guess somewhere in the $50 to $80 range. Hyperkin isn't saying just yet (we asked).
Of course, more than just the adorable miniaturization factor, Nintendo's SNES Classic Edition comes with a brand new, never-before-released game in "Star Fox 2." If nothing else, this differentiates Nintendo's offering over Hyperkin's. But with just 21 games built into the SNES Classic Edition, the Supa RetroN HD offers far more flexibility in what you play - as long as you still have some old Super Nintendo games lying around, that is.