Nintendo Classic Mini is a "standalone" system and won't get more games

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That adorably tiny NES that comes with 30 games will remain with those 30 games for the rest of time, Nintendo has confirmed. the NES Classic Edition system will not be able to connect to the internet to download more games in the future, Virtual Console-style. And no, daydreaming me of 24 hours ago, you can't pop the cartridge lid open and plug in an old-school cart, like with some of those multi-game Sega Genesis numbers. That would be pretty tough since the slot doesn't actually open.

Best not to think of it as a games console; a Nintendo representative told Kotaku that the wee NES is intended as "a standalone device". You can buy an extra controller to play the included two-player games like Balloon Fight and Ice Climber, but that's about it. Amusingly, the $9.99 / £7.99 controllers themselves aren't standalone in that sense - you can also plug them into a Wii Remote and use them to play NES Virtual Console games on Wii and Wii U. Not a bad deal for some extra authenticity.

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Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar.