From today until Friday, November 18, Walmart will be offering “limited quantities” of the NES Classic Edition on its website at 5 p.m. ET each day. This means that quantities will be even more limited than if Walmart offered them all at once, but if you happen to not be near a computer one particular day, you’ll still have a chance to snag a console the next day.
NES Classic Edition systems are currently in such hot demand that resellers are listing them for $240 — a 400-percent markup — and they’re currently completely out of stock from Best Buy, GameStop, Toys R Us, and Target. Even the controllers, with cords so short that a typical gaming setup would require users to sit directly in front of their television, are unavailable. Fortunately, third-party manufacturers were quick to jump in and solve this problem with their own lines of accessories, including a Nyko-made wireless conroller with 30 feet of range, an extension cord, and the longer-wired My Arcade “GamePad Retro.”
While we had our problems with the controller’s short cord length and a few technical hiccups, we were very impressed with the NES Classic Edition overall. It comes bundled with 30 of the best games for the original Nintendo Entertainment System, is remarkably affordable (when you can find it), and its “suspend” function enables you to keep your progress on games like Super Mario Bros., which was released before the advent of cartridge batteries that could create save states in titles like The Legend of Zelda.