Print this article  |  E-mail this article  |  Comment on this article

Nintendo to End Support for Original NES

By BetaNews Staff, BetaNews

November 2, 2007, 5:01 PM

Nintendo has reportedly decided to stop all repairs of the original Nintendo after 24 years of support, Agence France Presse reported on Friday. A spokesperson said that the company has decided to end support due to increasingly short supplies of replacement parts. The iconic game system was sold as the Nintendo Entertainment System in the US and Europe, and as the Famicom in Japan.

Nintendo's Ken Toyoda said that while the company is sad to turn its back on the NES, the company wanted its legions of loyal fans to focus on the Wii, currently the best selling next-generation console worldwide. Nexgenwars.com, a tracker of game console sales, says the Wii has shipped 12.26 million consoles, compared to 12.2 million for the Xbox 360 and nearly 5.08 million for the PS3.

Add a Comment (66 Comments)

BetaNews reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Foul language and personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Name (required):

E-mail (required):

Enter Your Comment:

By bbfc

posted Nov 5, 2007 - 1:18 PM

When me and my mates get together around someones house - the SNES is always there and so is Super Mario Carts - its an old classic that never gets boring!!

Score: 0

By slinkys_delsol

posted Nov 5, 2007 - 10:35 AM

My Next new car purchase, I am going to take this article with me and when they start talking about "Extended Warranty", I am just going to be like:

Hey, Nintendo did 24 Years, you can to!

Score: 0

By Ramhound

edited Nov 5, 2007 - 6:17 AM

The powerglove didn't work with the NES how would it work with USB.

This is a joke, it actually did work, but only when the moons were aligned and enough virgins were sacraficed to the God of War.

Score: 0

By ingram091

posted Nov 5, 2007 - 6:34 AM

good point...

Score: 0

By ingram091

edited Nov 4, 2007 - 7:42 AM

Yet another reason I emulated all my Nintendo carts years ago. I did the same with Sega master and genesis.. I knew eventually those consoles would not wok and it would be impossible to repair them. so making Cart backups was the best option for emulation. Now I just plug in my control pad into USB and I can still play all my old games. I think thats fair... Having to Rebuy a subscription to play games I own originally on the Wii, is a bit much IMHO. I know thats what they expect you to do, but its not worth it.

I did get a piece of equipment from Japan that allows me to load up a 2GB SD ram card and play all my backed up carts from Nintendo and sega on the gameboy advanced. And for that matter the Gamecube GBA addon, if I want full screen in a console again. Thats was acceptable. IDk Why the GBA player is not offered in the USA. But its prob the best investment I ever made for my GBA to secure my old games for the future.

BTW... I have had zero success trying to get eh powerglove to work via USB... anyone else?

Score: 0

By iceing

edited Nov 5, 2007 - 7:07 AM

emulation will make this system live forever. emulators are readilly available. roms are easy to get on p2p

Score: 0

By Hollywood__

posted Nov 5, 2007 - 12:23 PM

... or newsgroups. Or you can pay like $15 for a whole bunch of arcade and console ROMS on DVD.

Score: 0

By yountmj

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 12:25 PM

Well, for those that have broken consoles with no hope of repair, there's still a use for all of those cartridges:

http://www.de-frag.us/Zelda_Drive/index.html

If the drive doesn't mount the first time, unplug it, blow on the USB port, and reinsert. Also, be sure to hold down your PC's power button when you unplug the drive to make sure data is saved properly. :)

Score: 0

By Banquo

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 3:05 PM

Destruction of a perfectly good game. :(

Score: 0

By yountmj

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 11:22 PM

I know... I winced the first time I saw it.

Score: 0

By PSXp-ONE

edited Nov 3, 2007 - 12:19 PM

Score: 0

By Banquo

edited Nov 3, 2007 - 11:25 AM

This is why Nintendo is a great company. 24 years of support, outstanding. For those with broken consoles though there is a recipe that you might enjoy:

Take one Dreamcast, one blank CD, and NesterDC. Sprinkle CD liberally with NES roms, mix in NesterDC, shake well. Bake in Dreamcast for as long as you like, enjoy!

You can substitute an xbox or other recent console but those require modding. Makes it a bit more difficult (and expensive).

Score: 0

By iceing

posted Nov 5, 2007 - 7:08 AM

i played nes on xbox years ago

Score: 0

By PSXp-ONE

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 12:19 PM

HAHAHA, I did that long time ago with the Dreamcast now I just do it with my PSP!

Score: 0

By wjrandon

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 11:02 AM

RIP NES

Score: 0

By GoodThings2Life

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 9:24 AM

NES, rest in peace, my friend... rest in peace.

I really enjoy the Nintendo Wii... Super Paper Mario is surprisingly fun, and so is Zelda and Metroid, and I'm looking forward to Mario Galaxy.

That said, I do think it's a mistake to not have a hard drive option for it, because it limits the chance of really high capacity games like Final Fantasy XIII from being ported to the Wii. Though, I'm still hoping a jump to Xbox could happen.

Nintendo seems to repeat this storage mistake over and over, since it was N64's lack of CD support that drove Squaresoft away in the first place.

Score: 0

By 9h0s7

edited Nov 3, 2007 - 12:10 PM

friends..loved ones.. we are gathered here to day *insert crying in background* to morun the passing of our beloved console... and a few words from NES's younger brother.. Wii..'all your roms are belong to us'

*edited because some of us don't read what we type until after someone points it out* :)

Score: 0

By yountmj

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 10:20 AM

"All your ROMs are belong to us"

Engrish FTW! :)

Score: 0

By GoodThings2Life

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 9:26 AM

It's "mourn" the loss not moron. Sorry to nitpick, but there's a huge difference, and you just called our sacred platform a moron.

Score: 0

By Mystiqq

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 2:14 PM

Morun.

Score: 0

By Joey Deacon

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 9:04 AM

Make Microsoft's 24 months of Xbox support look a little pathetic.

Score: 0

By yountmj

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 12:12 PM

Leave it to you to completely misunderstand the topic at hand.

This wasn't a 24-year warranty on the NES.

Score: 0

By SlapShot

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 10:45 AM

there's crazy 8

Score: 0

By Hollywood__

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 9:11 AM

Also makes PS3's one year warranty look pathetic compared to the XBOX 3 year warranty. Hats off to Nintendo.

Score: 0

By Joey Deacon

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 1:58 PM

Obviously, as proven many times, you are an idiot.

The Xbox360 does not come with a 3yr warranty, it comes with a 1yr warranty, extended to 3yr for a specific issue.

If your Xbox360 starts scratching discs after 13months, you are sh1t out of luck.

Score: 0

By Hollywood__

posted Nov 4, 2007 - 4:13 PM

Nope it's 3 years even if you throw it in a swimming pool. Sorry Joey, you're wrong again.

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

edited Nov 4, 2007 - 6:17 AM

It's still better than the PS3's 1 year warranty. You don't need a warranty for the PS3 anyway. Once you beat Residents there's really no need to use the PS3. Unless your unlucky and it breaks before you can beat it.

Score: 0

By dlab21

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 12:02 PM

maybe if it was a full 3 yr warrenty it would.

Score: 0

By Alpha258

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 8:27 AM

whhaaat! 24 years of support, now thats an example of real dedication.

My parents threw out my NES but I still have my SNES and I will not even let them touch it. Problem is that im missing a power lead, but at least I have my games and my memories.

I was happy with the SNES when I got it because the new controller had no corners, which was a big thing back then! lol

Score: 0

By PSXp-ONE

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 8:11 AM

Lol...damn I didn't even know they still were doing that.

Score: 0

By Sven123456789

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 6:52 AM

Who knew they still supported that old classic. Wow, Just when you thought there was no cust. service left in the Universe.

Score: 0

By bmh67wa

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 3:46 AM

Thanks to this article I once again have that hypnotic music from Super Mario Brothers stuck in my head. It took years for it to go away the last time...

Score: 0

By yountmj

edited Nov 3, 2007 - 10:31 AM

Haha, that's been my ringtone for a couple of years now. I've given up. :)

I used Nestopia to log WAV files from various classic games, converted to MP3, and transferred them to my phone with Motorola Phone Tools. Works great!

Score: 0

By zim-hosein

posted Nov 2, 2007 - 7:55 PM

24 years of product support? That has to be some kind a record no?

Score: 0

By PSXp-ONE

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 8:11 AM

No kidding!!

Score: 0

By khetos

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 9:16 AM

:0 this is why nintendo rules!

Score: 0

By yountmj

posted Nov 2, 2007 - 6:47 PM

To be honest, I never knew they were still supporting it this long.

I remember it was a fairly big deal when the patents ran out allowing other manufacturers to make NES clones. Not much became of that, though... sadly.

Thank you Nintendo for providing some of the best memories of my teen years. You picked up where Commodore left off.

Score: 0

By preinterpost

posted Nov 5, 2007 - 10:44 AM

"Thank you Nintendo for providing some of the best memories of my teen years".

Are you US American? You are prob speaking out of the heart of many contemporaries and it would explain many things the rest of the world is so baffled about these days...

Score: 0

By Alex Stevens

posted Nov 2, 2007 - 8:07 PM

I don't think the patents ran out. These other companies have just reverse engineered the NES and created a chip that can emulate it (like how Compaq reverse engineered the IBM BIOS to create a PC clone). The emulated chips are far from perfect though. Graphics glitches, wrong colors, some games won't even work at all.

Score: 0

By yountmj

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 1:21 AM

Yep, I believe you're right Alex. I did a little searching after I posted that out of curiosity.

It seems that not all of the patents in the console have run out. Simply because patents have expired doesn't mean the trademarks and copyrights aren't enforceable. Nintendo is perfectly within their right to go after anyone who infringes on their IP.

http://www.gamasutra.com.../20051111/boyd_01.shtml

Perhaps that's why not too many 3rd-party NES-like consoles made it to market. I think some manufacturers jumped the gun without enough research. :)

Thanks!

Score: 0

By alphatrigon

posted Nov 2, 2007 - 6:43 PM

forever gone the days of us sitting there click clicking that cartridge up and down trying to get our almost dead systems to still connect with the cartridge...lol

Score: 0

By cranbers

posted Nov 2, 2007 - 11:14 PM

Let's not forget the blinking light and having to blow on the game contacts to get it to work.

Score: 0

By AaronDobbins

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 1:13 AM

Which actually hurt the system in the long run as the water vapor in our breath evaporated off the circuits and damaged them further. God that was awesome though wasn't it?

Score: 0

By poeg

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 7:58 AM

To this day I've never seen another electronic "anything" take so much abuse as ye old nine-ten-go! My girls beat the living crap out of it and still it hobbled on. The thing even went on camping trips, residing in a dining tent for the kids to pound on and outlasted the 13" Toshiba TV it was mated to. All it ever took was rain water, dish soap and 3 days worth of drying time to cure all wounds. Ah the good old days.

Score: 0

By Shadow Rider 540

edited Nov 3, 2007 - 1:56 AM

I remember actually spitting a little into the cartridge when blowing wasn't enough. I also remember myself and none of my friends having a lid on the cartridge slot from getting mad and slinging the controller at the console.

Mario, Mario 2, Mike Tysons Punchout, Zelda I and II, Karnov, Bionic Commando, Castlevania, Ryagar. All my favorite games. Oh yeah, 3D world runner was pretty sweet too.

I remember one time my cousin and I were playing some dumb game we had rented. It was a really low budget game and had no save capability or password function to resume your game. That meant if you wanted to beat the game you had to play from start to finish without stopping. Well, it took us about 10 hours to get to the final boss and neither of us could beat it. For awhile we were taking turns but one time after dying my cousin just wouldn't give up the controller. I told him "give it up dude or I'm gonna hit the power button". He says "do it. I DARE you." So I did.

He was stunned. I was about 11 at the time and he was 13. Before I knew what happened he was off the couch and knocked me out cold with a jab from nowhere. When I woke up he was standing over me shaking me screaming "wake up man! I'm sorry!! Don't die!!!"

Score: 0

By AaronDobbins

edited Nov 3, 2007 - 11:24 PM

How can you beat "The Wizard" with Fred Savage, which was a movie, or should I say entire marketing campaign for when Mario 3 came out. How else would we have found the flutes for that game?

Speaking of favorite games though, I have to go with Castlevania, good call on Bionic Commando, Metroid of course, Ninja Gaiden, TMNT. Too many good ones to name.

Speaking of good stories though, I remember when my brother and I, and two of our friends spent all day beating Metroid over and over again hoping we could see some 8-bit nudity. After a few wins she just started changing color. I'm still bummed about that.

Score: 0

By PSXp-ONE

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 8:10 AM

HAHAHA! Awesome story...wow, brings back memories of my rage with the old NES...aaah the days.

Score: 0

By smarterthanyou

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 2:44 AM

Did the new NES that looked like the Super Nintendo game system fix the problem with having to blow into the cartridge? I thought the problem happened on the original NES design from leaving the lid open all the time.

Score: 0

By extremely weII

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 10:58 AM

Yes, the problem was the constant bending of the contacts as you popped cartridges in and out. The top loader took care of the problem; unfortunately it came after the SNES was out and not many were made so they cost a lot now if you can even find one. Another big problem is they removed the AV output, it only has RF which is horrible. I think the best NES you can get now is the Japanese AV famicom.

Score: 0

By smarterthanyou

edited Nov 3, 2007 - 10:26 PM

If only it were possible to display the Gameboy Advance classic NES game versions on a TV screen without an additional game system or unofficial mod. That would be nice.

As for the lack of an A/V output, it's really no big deal. All NES games only have mono audio anyways.

Score: 0

By SlapShot

posted Nov 2, 2007 - 6:16 PM

happy trails NES

Score: 0

By romanski@pdx.edu

posted Nov 2, 2007 - 6:12 PM

Many happy memories, inspirations, and dreams were brought from the inner hearts of noble fans to the outer world where even today they take root to make even more beautiful works of creation.

I believe the NES and its legacy are apart of our global civilization.

Score: 0

By darkzero63

posted Nov 2, 2007 - 6:04 PM

So long NES, It was nice knowing you.

Score: 0

By Ryusennin

posted Nov 2, 2007 - 6:01 PM

Abandonware at last!

Score: 0

By dkratter

posted Nov 2, 2007 - 5:51 PM

I can't imagine anyone's NES would still work at this point. There's only so many times you can blow the dust out of those old game cartridges! ;)

Score: 0

By Alex Stevens

posted Nov 2, 2007 - 8:02 PM

Blowing in the cartridges damages them. It's not blowing dust out, it's creating moisture on the contacts and that creates a better connection, until it eventually corrodes them. Notice you have to do it every time, and it gets harder and harder to get it to work.

The toaster tray was a flawed design, best bet is to get a top loader if you can find one for a reasonable price. There are clones all over now but they use an emulation chip and they all pretty much suck.

Score: 0

By Deadly Ramon

edited Nov 3, 2007 - 3:32 PM

The Game Genie for the NES, if permanently left in place, served as a means of preserving the system by keeping one from always having to insert and push downward a cartridge. And it helped you cheat your way to the final levels of some games that had no save or password mechanism.

And I certainly do remember my little brothers getting in fights over their NES game performance, particularly on Bubble Bobble. The sound of someone's head getting slapped could be heard from across the house!

Score: 0

By GBH

posted Nov 2, 2007 - 7:13 PM

My NES still works, I don't use it because I have a Wii and a PC with an EMU, but it still works - had to prove that fact to my wife a few weeks ago when she wanted to throw it out. (along with the rest of my console collection)

Score: 0

By yountmj

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 1:27 AM

Don't let her do it!!! :)

I have far too much sentimental value attached to all of my consoles to allow someone to just throw them away (and they've tried in the past... tried and failed).

There are too many fond memories with friends and family throughout the years on that vintage hardware to just toss them out. I treat my Atari 2600 like others would treat their first car.

Score: 0

By sacaripasa

posted Nov 2, 2007 - 6:27 PM

so true!

Score: 0

By Dixon_Butz

posted Nov 2, 2007 - 6:35 PM

Use an emulator :D

Score: 0

By matthewc

edited Sep 30, 2008 - 11:11 AM

I would just play my nes games at http://originalnintendo.net or virtualnes (vnes). The 8-bit games are just so much fun. Especially Duck Hunt, Maniac Mansion, and River City Ransom. Oh the memories.

Score: 0

By yountmj

posted Nov 2, 2007 - 6:43 PM

Already a step ahead! :)

Score: 0

By khetos

posted Nov 3, 2007 - 10:04 AM

ah i had to sell mine, but i have the memories, and i got a good deal, and now another one, that is brining back their past, can play it..@

Score: 0

By bmxfelon420

edited Nov 4, 2007 - 6:57 PM

When mine kept screwing up i just bought a new cartridge slot, now it works like new.

This is exactly why all of my games are emulated now and i dont touch the NES. Dont want to spoil it, in it's fully functional, pop-the-game-in-and-it-just-works glory.

Score: 0

By rhaimus

edited Nov 5, 2007 - 8:13 AM

My strongest memory of the nes isn't a good one. It was playing FF1 and I had just gotten the new character classes and my friend kinda bounced a little on the floor. The next thing you hear is the release of the catch in the NES and the game no longer loaded. When we restarted the NES the save was corrupt and we had to start over. However I do remember many many hours playing Rygar and those were good times.

Score: 0

Oct 13 - 5:11 PM ET FCC report opens the door for white spaces devices

Oct 13 - 1:03 PM ET Final Silverlight 2.0 to ship tomorrow

Oct 13 - 11:57 AM ET CBS goes after Hulu by aligning with YouTube

Oct 13 - 11:25 AM ET Microsoft finds published exploit of Vista privilege elevation hole

Oct 11 - 11:16 AM ET Things left unsaid, in a recent interview with Sony's CEO

Oct 11 - 11:03 AM ET EU regulations block Italian ISPs from blocking Pirate Bay

Oct 11 - 10:55 AM ET Making it to Apple's App Store by staying out of court

Oct 10 - 7:43 PM ET Wal-Mart changes its mind, leaves existing DRM servers up

Oct 10 - 7:05 PM ET Hands on: An amateur photographer tests out Adobe's latest Lightroom

Oct 10 - 6:52 PM ET Mobile service providers brace for the economic storm