The NES Classic, a mini recreation of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, was one of the most hottest Christmas gifts last year. Now, Nintendo Co. Ltd. is looking to repeat its success with SNES Classic, a mini Super Nintendo set to release on Sept. 29 for $79.99.

First released in Japan in 1990, the Super Nintendo became one of the best-selling game consoles of all time, with nearly 50 million units sold. The SNES Classic will come preloaded with some of the most popular Super Nintendo games, including Super Mario World, Street Fighter II Turbo and Super Metroid. The console also includes Star Fox 2, an unreleased direct sequel to the original Star Fox, which was allegedly scrapped in favor of developing Star Fox 64 for the Nintendo 64.

Although the games on the SNES Classic are decades old, the hardware itself is brand-new, using software emulation to essentially trick the games into thinking they are running on a real Super Nintendo. Software emulation has been a popular way to play old games on personal computers for a while, and game emulators have also started popping up as smartphone apps in the last few years. Until recently, however, many of these programs were created by hobbyists rather than the game makers themselves, and the programs are often used to play illegally downloaded games.

Now, game companies have started to realize how lucrative software emulation can be. Rather than going through the expensive and time-consuming process of porting individual games to a new system, game companies are choosing instead to create emulators of old consoles that can run hundreds of games with little additional work. This makes it easy for publishers to sell older games to both mature fans who are feeling nostalgic for the games of their youth, as well as to younger players who may have never gotten the chance to play on classic consoles.

Nintendo has already been using emulators for several years on its newer game consoles, but miniature hardware such as SNES Classic is a more recent trend, and it is not exclusive to Nintendo. Companies such as AtGames offer licensed miniature versions of classic consoles such as the Atari 2600 or the Sega Genesis. Atari itself has also confirmed that it is working on a new console, and many fans have speculated that it could be another retro console like the SNES Classic.

Photo: Nintendo