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10:55 AM on 10.17.2007

51 comments
This is the end, my only friend: Nintendo drops NES support
Nex

This is the end, my only friend: Nintendo drops NES support screenshot

After 22 years (24 if you're pedantic and Japanese) the NES is finally being retired by Nintendo. As of October 31st, Nintendo plans to drop support for the ol' girl, wreaking havoc with the plans of twenty-something nostalgists the world over. In further gloomy news, Nintendo has revealed they will be ending support for the SNES, Nintendo 64, Gameboy and Gameboy Pocket lines in the near future.

Obviously this signals the end of an era, but unlike the final episode of M.A.S.H., this news is probably going to go unnoticed by all but the hardcore gamerati. All those ancient NES' sitting in dorm rooms and basements belonging to those who don't already know about Street Fighter 4's announcement will eventually die, and when people cry out for help, Nintendo will no longer be there to hold their hands, wipe their chins and do that insane "here comes the airplane" thing with a spoon full of peas. You can't fault them for not servicing the console indefinitely, but as CVG worried, this almost guarantees a jump in the number of faulty consoles floating around the murky, electronic waters of eBay.

Caveat emptor ... or learn to clean gold plated connectors. 



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Dtoiders have posted 50 comments:

glipe's Avatar
glipe at 10/17/2007 10:52

This sort of story actually makes me sad. Good night, old friend.

*sniffle*
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 10/17/2007 10:52

In unrelated news, expect the rise of guides to fix your NES from guys "who totally know what they're doing, don't worry, fuggedaboutit."
DanGale's Avatar
DanGale at 10/17/2007 10:54

FUCK! Was just about to buy a NES as well.
Alaphic's Avatar
Alaphic at 10/17/2007 10:55

They still supported the NES? Really?
Snaileb 's Avatar
Snaileb at 10/17/2007 10:59

"that insane "here comes the airplane" thing with a spoon full of peas."

I thought I was the only one! The insanity!!!

Good stuff Nex!
thelowestpartisfree's Avatar
thelowestpartisfree at 10/17/2007 11:00

Good night sweet prince.



Seriously though, I thought this happened a long time ago? How are all these company's able to make bootleg nes&snes machines?
Aerox's Avatar
Aerox at 10/17/2007 11:03

nademagnet's Avatar
nademagnet at 10/17/2007 11:04

*looks at NES* Don't you ever give me any problems... Or you're DONE! No repairs for you.
Upgrayedd's Avatar
Upgrayedd at 10/17/2007 11:06

If some other company makes the connectors (84-pin I think, whatever the main thing that goes bad on them is), I think people will still be Ok as far as getting an NES up and running.

Might make quality machines harder to find though.
Johnny Blaze's Avatar
Johnny Blaze at 10/17/2007 11:06

Man that fucking sucks ass. Know I can understand why the old cherish their beloved 8tracks..

* runs away crying*
galagabug 's Avatar
galagabug at 10/17/2007 11:10

when i was your age games came on cartridges!
king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 10/17/2007 11:15

That sucks so much... what if i need new pins???
MechaMonkey's Avatar
MechaMonkey at 10/17/2007 11:16

Had I known they still offered support, I'd call them up to blow in my slots.
FuriousGeorge's Avatar
FuriousGeorge at 10/17/2007 11:17

Nintendo doesnt care about the NESes
Holyetheline's Avatar
Holyetheline at 10/17/2007 11:20

Wow that's actually pretty sad. WHY????
dprime's Avatar
dprime at 10/17/2007 11:22

I didn't know they were still servicing them. But this makes me sad.
JohnnyWadd's Avatar
JohnnyWadd at 10/17/2007 11:31

Wow who even knew they still supported the good old NES?
Jetsetlemming's Avatar
Jetsetlemming at 10/17/2007 11:33

I'm amazed they're still servicing NES's, actually.
Analog Pidgin's Avatar
Analog Pidgin at 10/17/2007 11:48

Jetsetlemming:

They'll never be servicing another grey box's gameslot ever again.

What will granny do now?
Analog Pidgin's Avatar
Analog Pidgin at 10/17/2007 11:49

About her NES, I mean... of course. O_o
Knives's Avatar
Knives at 10/17/2007 12:04

I need to find my broken NES and get it fixed before this happens.
jerrt's Avatar
jerrt at 10/17/2007 12:12

the nes will no longer be supported, but someone will still make pin connector replacements. that is seriously all that ever went wrong with them that didn't involve a total break.

still sad news.
JonDarkwood's Avatar
JonDarkwood at 10/17/2007 12:13

Wow I thought I saw an announcement about this several years ago.
TheDude234's Avatar
TheDude234 at 10/17/2007 12:36

This quite depressing indeed. The NES was what began my gaming career and really made me who I am today. Why would they do this? It's not like they are putting out any new Wii games. All they do is push them back. They should stick to the systems that are good (NES, Super NES, and the DS).
Velt's Avatar
Velt at 10/17/2007 12:47

Is sad, the NES was my first gaming console back in the day...

They probably think is cheaper to sell the thing on the Virtual Console and rape you two times.
Cheeburga's Avatar
Cheeburga at 10/17/2007 12:53

Never4get.
Sharpless's Avatar
Sharpless at 10/17/2007 13:04

What the hell? They still supported it? News to me.
sleepingagain's Avatar
sleepingagain at 10/17/2007 13:05

so i can get my... super Nintendo fixed?
donkeykong's Avatar
donkeykong at 10/17/2007 13:10

Home repairs on the NES are not that hard, and step by step guides exist on the internet. The only thing you'd have to worry about is one of the connecting pins actually breaking. I'm not sure how likely that is though, I've had my NES for 18 or 19 years now and I've only had to adjust the pins once. And it was fun. And none of them broke.

What I'd really like to know is how I can get my copy of Double Dragon III to work. I bought it at a garage sale and I've never been able to make it run. Most of the connectors look eroded, I wonder if the previous owner tried to clean it with something stupid.
Anarpis's Avatar
Anarpis at 10/17/2007 13:13

I wonder if this has anything to do with the NES' game library starting to be offered through the Virtual Console?
grrza's Avatar
grrza at 10/17/2007 14:17

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Shit, I'm gonna get on the ball and hoard as much snes surplus hardware while I can. I don't what I'd do without that...
Bryan-'s Avatar
Bryan- at 10/17/2007 15:11

Nevar forget.

:(
UNDERSTAR's Avatar
UNDERSTAR at 10/17/2007 15:22

I didnt even know they still repaired the little wonder box. Now Im gonna buy me a Nintendo system off of ebay cause IDK where my been for the past 10 years. Hear' hear'!!
GrayFox's Avatar
GrayFox at 10/17/2007 17:28

I had no idea they still supported the NES. This still makes me sad though.
Burnt Meatloaf's Avatar
Burnt Meatloaf at 10/17/2007 21:02

Keep in mind that it's much easier to service old consoles, and most of the problems are things like capacitors and solder joints. The chips are very solid and reliable.

Modern hardware is a nightmare to service by comparison, so it doesn't surprise me that Nintendo is killing service for the SNES and N64 at the same time.

As for parts, well, N64 and even some Gamecube parts haven't been in stock on Nintendo's web site for a while.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 10/18/2007 00:09

ZOMG NINTENDO DOESN'T CARE ABOUT IT'S CUSTOMERS!!!
Fading_Star's Avatar
Fading_Star at 10/18/2007 02:49

@Mxyzptlk

Yes, they're evil bastards!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I guess I can buy some NES cords or a used NES system package if I really want one.
CaffeinePowered's Avatar
CaffeinePowered at 10/18/2007 07:53

Somewhere, somehow, someone will learn how to fix them and make replacement parts
XCWarrior's Avatar
XCWarrior at 10/18/2007 11:43

A sad day indeed. I'm just glad mine still works.

Here's to hoping that doesn't change, otherwise they better really extend that VC list.
dprime's Avatar
dprime at 10/18/2007 21:20

Those evil corporate fasists, endng support of a system that has been out of production for barely more than a decade! They should support it for two decades after it's out of production, at least.
KyleGamgee's Avatar
KyleGamgee at 10/19/2007 02:06

my NES top-loader still works. I think I'm good.
brainpower4's Avatar
brainpower4 at 10/19/2007 15:52

honestly how often do any of your NESes see the light of day. Nintendo hasn't given up on the system they just is in the process of transferring it to the sexy wireless younger brother
Lord_Satorious's Avatar
Lord_Satorious at 10/19/2007 16:11

I dug my NES out of the attic in which it's been for several years a few days ago and it works fine. A pain in the ass to get the games running, but that's due to the poorly designed front loading tray, not the hardware of the system or the cartridges themselves. Seriously, the only way you're going to break a NES is to either drop it from a great height, hit it with something heavy, or set it on fire. There's not a lot in that little plastic box that can go wrong.
Orionsaint's Avatar
Orionsaint at 10/20/2007 05:20

Yes Alaphic, but not support as in making games, but for example if your NES broke. Ninrendo could repair it or controller broke. Nintendo could replace it for you. For a fee of course. Not anymore. That's history now. You'll have to go on Ebay.

This isn't an uncommon practice in the gaming industry. In the late 80's and early 90's. I bought some Atari 5200 controllers from Atari and even some games they never sold in stores, but selling from their stock warehouse. The game Gremlins I got that way from a computer printed catalog I sent for from Atari. The game was $9.95. A game that was never sold in stores, because the 5200 was abadoned before it was released.

Orionsaint's Avatar
Orionsaint at 10/20/2007 05:24

Not that anyone cares, but you can see the game in this old youtube clip of mine, about 25 seconds in,

Behold! My Video Game Collection
dfssdfxcvb324's Avatar
dfssdfxcvb324 at 05/01/2008 00:27

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dfssdfxcvb324's Avatar
dfssdfxcvb324 at 05/07/2008 03:57

sabrina sabrok big tits


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