

Though these games are over three decades old, to have them wrapped in such a slim, light form factor still feels oddly magical.Īt a time when our phones can do everything a gigantic room-sized computer would have done decades ago, it takes a lot to be impressed by technology. But I might now, if only because it’s so easy to pop this new Game & Watch in my back pocket and power it up at a moment’s notice. I’ve never beaten Zelda II or Link’s Awakening.
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The latest strategy is tying back catalog titles to its Nintendo Switch Online service, a practice unpopular with a vocal minority but good enough for 32 million subscribers.īut whereas previous anniversary releases would often be ROMS printed to a disc (as was the case with both The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s re-release on GameCube and Super Mario All-Stars’ ignoble fate on Wii), now Nintendo is aiming to take its classic franchises beyond your television - to your LEGO box, your local movie theater, and indeed, in your hands. Then came the NES and SNES Classics, miniature plug-and-play boxes with a couple dozen titles. The Wii, Wii U, and 3DS offered robust virtual consoles with individual downloadable titles.
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In the intervening years, Nintendo has experimented with how to sell its old games. (To list even a smattering of Nintendo’s attempts to mine its past would take up more words than my editor afforded.) The company’s success in a turbulent and unpredictable industry is in part due to its remarkable ability to tap into players’ memories in a way that feels intimate and personal. Nintendo has something its gaming competitors do not: a long history. It’s always in high demand, and the only supply chain issue is within our weakening neocortex. But nostalgia is a strange and powerful thing. You can buy cheaper controllers with modern features to use with old games. That same authenticity is why so many forked over the same fifty dollars to hold a Nintendo 64 controller or Sega Genesis controller in their hands again (or both). That’s what Nintendo is selling with these retro devices - memories made tangible at mass-market prices. The design and manufacturing polish are spot-on and provide a spark of recognition to those who were around for the G&W’s heyday. The face of the device is coated in something that looks like brushed metal, with the “Game & Watch” logo embedded in its own silver tile. The screen and buttons are a Hyrulian green that makes every pushable or viewable surface pop. The first time I took it out of the package, I was surprised at how vibrant the unit itself looked. If I’m making fun of anyone, it’s myself and my ilk. And in our modern age of cynicism and myopic anger, I have not yet heard one complaint. For $49.99 (the same price as a year of Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack), you, too, can buy both a “Game” and a “Watch” that, let’s be honest, will likely return to its shelf after a ten-minute session on Day One. He’s not alone in his enthusiasm for the darling pocket-sized toy all release day my Twitter feed was lined with people’s photos of the thing: on their desks, in their hands, turned around to show off the rear-side Triforce that glows. “If I’m making fun of anyone, it’s myself.” “ I love this thing,” tweeted out GamingBible’s Head of Content Mike Diver, sharing pictures of his new device that plays three games he undoubtedly already owns in several formats. And like it’s done many times, Nintendo successfully convinces millions of people to buy something they don’t need - and those fans are utterly delighted to do it.


This year, it repeated the trick with Zelda, Link, and Ganondorf, selling a Game & Watch that plays the original Legend of Zelda, its sequel Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and the Game Boy classic The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. In 2020, Nintendo blew the dust off the old molds and manufactured a special Super Mario Bros.
