Nintendo hit the big time in the home video game console space thirty years ago with the beloved Nintendo Entertainment System and while the company has been re-releasing its greatest hits such as Super Mario Bros. 3 and The Legend of Zelda on the Virtual Console service for the Wii, Wii U, and Nintendo 3DS, there's a large startup cost involved if all you really want to do is play Mega Man 2.  Nintendo is cutting through that expense this November with the release of a cute little micro version of the classic Nintendo Entertainment System control deck dubbed the Nintendo Classic Edition.  Priced at $59.99 and packed in with thirty solid, popular games (no Urban Champion here!), the NES is primed to take over living rooms all over again.  The new hardware offers HDMI out and even uses new NES controllers with Wii remote connectors on them so Wii and Wii U owners can use them for the Virtual Console service.  Read the press release for all of the details.  Here's the list of games that are built into the new console.

• Balloon Fight™
• BUBBLE BOBBLE
• Castlevania™
• Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest™
• Donkey Kong™
• Donkey Kong Jr. ™
• DOUBLE DRAGON II: THE REVENGE
• Dr. Mario™
• Excitebike™
• FINAL FANTASY®
• Galaga™
• GHOSTS’N GOBLINS®
• GRADIUS™
• Ice Climber™
• Kid Icarus™
• Kirby’s Adventure™
• Mario Bros. ™
• MEGA MAN® 2
• Metroid™
• NINJA GAIDEN
• PAC-MAN™
• Punch-Out!! ™ Featuring Mr. Dream
• StarTropics™
• SUPER C™
• Super Mario Bros.™
• Super Mario Bros. ™ 2
• Super Mario Bros. ™ 3
• TECMO BOWL
• The Legend of Zelda™
• Zelda II: The Adventure of Link™

This is a phenomenal idea and I'm surprised Nintendo hadn't acted on it sooner.  This product hits every basic type of gamer demographic: casual, lapsed, and core.  It will be a popular gift this holiday season for sure.  Even if you discount the cost of the hardware itself, you're paying $2 per game which is a much better deal than the Virtual Console's $5 per game.  Just imagine all of the modern parents who grew up with the NES buying one of these to both play themselves and to share the fun with their young children.   I still have my original NES from thirty years ago hooked up to my media room television, although the muddy visuals from running an old fashioned signal through coax cables and RF adapters looks horrible on my modern HDTV.  I also own a variety of the built-in games on the Virtual Console for both Wii U and 3DS, but I can't resist the nostalgic draw of this mini console.  I think it's time my bedroom TV had a NES of its own.