Following last week's announcement NES Classic production has ended in the US, Nintendo has, somewhat inevitably, confirmed the mini console has been discontinued in Europe too.
However, in its statement to Eurogamer, Nintendo stopped short of saying the NES Classic has disappeared from our shelves forever.
The firm said: "We can confirm that we are no longer manufacturing the Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System.”
But here’s the kicker.
"If production resumes in the future, an update will be posted on the official Nintendo website," the firm added.
That sounds an awful lot like Nintendo isn’t consigning the console to history, and why would it?
The NES Classic was the most sought-after tech product of 2016 holiday season. Nintendo could bring it back at any time and create a similar chase, perhaps coupling it with a SNES Classic?
While Nintendo has offered a slither of hope for folks unwilling to pay eBay prices, it has not explained why it curtailed the console’s run in the first place.
There are theories the profit margins on the console were so slim, it wasn’t doing too much to affect the firm’s bottom line.
Also, with the company also facing issues in meeting the demand to produce the Nintendo Switch, those manufacturing resources would clearly be better spent elsewhere.
Nintendo could also be concerned about the possibility of confusing consumers by having two consoles next to each other on store shelves.
It’s also probable the company could make more money selling NES games on the Switch’s Virtual Console anyway.
