The NES Classic Edition was a huge success for Nintendo, but it could have been a much bigger success if enough units of the tiny console had been manufactured for the launch. Instead, the NES Classic sold out almost immediately, and new stock was limited to a handful per store and sold out in minutes.
Hopefully Nintendo will learn from this mistake and realize how much profit it left on the factory floor. The NES Classic shipped with 30 games and no option to add more, leaving the door wide open for a NES Classic 2. However, a new trademark suggests Nintendo could be jumping to the next generation and providing us with a SNES Classic Edition instead.
As noticed by Go Nintendo, the Twitter account @trademark_bot logged a trademark filed by Nintendo for a Super Famicom controller image. That's pretty mundane on the face of it, but why file such a trademark now? It could just be a way of renewing protection for the controller design, but with Nintendo already revisiting the NES and profiting from it, the more likely reason is a new Super Famicom/SNES product is in the works.
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So, for now, we can hope that this trademark is indeed the first public hint that a SNES Classic is being worked on. It seems unlikely we'll see it appear in early 2017 as Nintendo will have all its focus on marketing the Switch before, during, and after its March launch. However, a SNES Classic launching in time for the holidays next year makes sense as it is the perfect stocking filler gadget.
The most difficult question Nintendo must be trying to answer if the SNES Classic does indeed exist is: which 30 games do we include? Mario, Zelda, Kirby, F-Zero, Metroid, Mario Kart, and Star Fox are all obvious inclusions, but what other games would make it on to the shortlist to ensure this is another "must have" gadget? We know what our Top 10 are.