Report: SNES Classic Edition is on the way

[Update: Nintendo just announced the SNES Classic Edition, a $79.99 throwback that comes with 21 Super Nintendo games and, a welcome change, two classic gamepads instead of one. You can read all about the console here.]

Eurogamer is reporting that a SNES Classic Edition is on the way to replace the recently discontinued NES Classic Edition.

“The SNES mini (or, to continue Nintendo's official branding, likely the Nintendo Classic Mini: Super Nintendo Entertainment System) is currently scheduled to launch in time for Christmas this year,” Eurogamer states. “Development of the device is already under way, our sources have indicated.”

The sourcing is thin, but the release of a Super Nintendo Classic Edition is one of the possible — if not likely — reasons we came up with for the discontinuation of the NES Classic Edition. Nintendo has enough classic systems and games to keep each release smaller than demand, guaranteeing artificial scarcity and headlines for years.

The hardware in the NES Classic Edition was already overpowered when it comes to emulation, giving the included chips plenty of room to emulate other systems.

“If you're not fluent in the world of ARM-powered systems on a chip — isn't everyone, though? — [the NES Classic Edition hardware] is a lot more powerful than an NES (duh) and it's even more powerful than a 3DS,” we explained. “While it surely doesn't have to be this powerful, the market-based realities assure that buying a new chip at volume will be cheaper than designing a custom chip or something with less of a market.”

Eurogamer also has a decent track record for Nintendo rumors, detailing many aspects of the Nintendo Switch back in July of last year that turned out to be accurate. While there aren’t many details about the SNES Classic Edition hardware given in the story, the source of the rumors give them a bit more weight than they would have coming from other outlets or sources.

So what would we like to see from a SNES Classic Edition? The first improvement would be more inventory at launch with better replenishment in the first few months of availability, or at least a pre-order program to help fans get their hands on the damned things. Longer cables on the controllers would also be welcome, as would standard USB connections rather than the Wiimote port for the controllers. Using a proprietary connector was silly last year, and it’s silly now. If Nintendo wants to keep it proprietary, why not just use the original SNES controller port so our existing controllers work?

And, for the love of all that is holy, make sure you put ActRaiser on the damned thing.

This seems like a no-brainer from Nintendo, but Nintendo is a company that seems to drop the ball on many of its no-brainers.