Nintendo had one of the best selling consoles in November.
The NES Classic Edition sold 196,000 consoles in November in the United States, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. That was the throwback console’s first month on the market. While that’s a large number, it wasn’t nearly enough to meet demand. The NES Classic, which is a miniaturized version of Nintendo’s NES that includes 30 games, is consistently sold out at retail locations and online. Nintendo has promised to ship more units to its retail partners before the gift-giving holidays, and GameStop announced today that it has some in stock today. The retailer will likely sell through those NES Classics almost instantly.
“In its debut month, the NES Classic Edition sold 196,000 units, leading the retro console segment,” NPD analyst Sam Naji said in a statement.
With demand so high for the NES Classic, it’s likely that Nintendo could sell even more units in December if it is able to get more product into retail channels. But it may struggle to do that as it is still catching up with orders that consumers placed in November.
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This is more evidence of the power of Nintendo nostalgia. Yesterday, Google revealed that the NES Classic Edition was the most-Googled gaming console of the year. And GameStop published a survey of its customers that revealed the Nintendo 64, NES, and Super NES are the top-three most desired retro systems. With this momentum behind it, you can likely expect Nintendo to continue riding this retro wave into 2017 and beyond.
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