Target’s early morning website meltdown should have made it painfully clear buy now, folks: you’re not going to be able to buy an NES Classic Mini for Christmas.
Rather than sitting around hoping that a friend or relative has somehow achieved the impossible — and will gift a console to you rather than marking it up 250% on eBay — it’s time to get realistic. Here are five other options that’ll give you the joys of the NES Classic Mini without actually owning one.
1. Wii U and/or 3DS and the Virtual Console
While they mightn’t offer every game available on the NES Classic Mini, the Wii U and 3DS Virtual Consoles have more titles to choose from anyway.
You can take a look at Virtual Console titles here.
If you’re lacking a Wii U or 3DS to play titles on, EB Games’ Mad Monday sale today has a couple decent deals:
- Wii U with Mario Kart 8, NintendoLand, Rayman: Legends and Super Smash Bros.: $428 AUD
- 2DS with Mario Kart 7: $99 AUD (the same price as the NES Classic Mini at retail!)
2. A real NES
If you’re checking eBay for the NES Classic Mini, be prepared to part with $250-$450 AUD. Yikes.
Instead, why not trawl eBay for an ACTUAL NES? They’re more reasonably priced, hovering around the $200 AUD mark.
Check here for a decent eBay search.
3. The RetroN 5
On the topic of a real life, old-school NES, the RetroN 5 is a new console that plays old game cartridges.
The console can play cartridges from the following: NES, Famicom, SNES, Super Famicom, Genesis, Mega Drive, Game Boy, Game Boy Colour and Game Boy Advance.
4. Sega Genesis Classic Game Console
Yeah, we know: it wasn’t called “Genesis” here. Still, this mini-Genesis replica is like an NES Classic Mini, only with classic Sega titles.
Games include the likes of Alex Kidd, Altered Beast, Columns, Comix Zone,Golden Axe, Mortal Kombat, Shinobi, Sonic the Hedgehog and more.
5. “Other” options
We’re not certain of the legalities of buying devices like a Raspberry Pi with ROMs installed, but they certainly exist.
Priced around $100-$150 AUD on eBay, there certainly seem to be a number of options available. Buyer beware.
Check here for an eBay search.
Anything else we’ve forgotten? Sound off the in the comments area, below.
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