In an interesting twist, the NES Classic Edition made it among the best-selling video game consoles for January. The rare mini NES Classic outsold all but two other consoles to place third on the list.
The NES Classic managed to reach the third spot in video game console sales last month behind the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. GamesBeat also stressed that the Xbox One had its best January so far but still failed to outsell the popular game console from Sony. As for Nintendo's little console, it banked on nostalgia, cheap price and supposedly some adept marketing strategies to outsell all other consoles.
There were speculations before that Nintendo was using an old marketing trick to spice up interest for not only the NES Classic but also for its upcoming Nintendo Switch hybrid console. Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima himself admitted that the reason for the lack of NES Classic Minis was that the company misjudged the retro console's popularity. It did not anticipate the demand from the younger generation of gamers. Kimishima also admitted that some of the parts used in the NES Classic were difficult to obtain making the backlog even worse.
Despite these issues, Nintendo managed to gradually make the miniature console available in retail stores to the point that it was the third best-selling gaming console for the first month of 2017. In fact, as Kimishima announced last Jan. 31, the NES Classic Edition sold an estimated 1.5 million units worldwide, a surprising feat considering fans have been complaining endlessly about its lack of stocks. Another interesting tidbit about the NES Classic Mini is that it has outsold the Nintendo Wii U during the few months it has been made available.
Despite rumors that the mini retro console will cease production, stocks of NES Classic getting replenished pop up from time to time. Only a few days ago, UK stores Tesco Direct and Smyths had some consoles in stock.
