Japan’s New Mini Famicom is Adorable – Look At Its Little Wing-Controllers!

Remember how excited we were that Nintendo was coming out with the NES Classic Mini? Set for release in November, that little thing will be a good, nostalgic tie over until the Nindento NX. Now, true to form for any Japanese based gaming company, Nintendo is coming out with a mini console specifically for Japan, The Nintendo Classic Mini Family Computer. That's a bit of a mouthful so everyone's just calling in the Mini-Famicom and it is adorable.

The look of the North American NES is iconic, I will give you that much. The block shape of both the system and controller is recognizable the world over. However, there's just something special about the way the Famicom looks. I don't know if it's that tremendously 80s paint job or the fact that the controllers are stored on the side of the system effectively giving it spaceship wings. Maybe it's a fine combination of both. Either way, for a lot of gamers, the Famicom look is just as iconic if not a little bit preferred.

Growing up in the Philippines, I was in a weird spot when it came to gaming. We had stuff from America, sure, but sometimes we also had access to Japanese gaming goodness, too. The Famicom is a prime example.

It all came down to where your relative was when they decided they had the money to buy you a gaming system. For me, all my family was in America so I had gray NES box. For my friend across the way, his family was in Japan so he had the Famicom. I was always jealous of his Famicom because it always looked cooler to me. Also, way more convenient because you can just tuck the controllers with the system.

As Close An Emulation As Possible

Just like with the Mini-NES, the Famicom will be as close an emulation of the original system as possible. Just like the system, the controllers will be hardwired into the system itself. The cool bit of that? You get two controllers for the price of one. The drawback is that since they're wired in, you won't be able to use them for NES games for the Wii U. Another potential point of annoyance is that if the controller breaks, replacing them might be a little bit trickier as compared to the North American NES.

But controller wings still win!

Functionally speaking, it will be pretty similar to the Nintendo Classic Mini. Games will be pre-loaded and you plug the thing in via an HDMI cable. All that jazz. However, the Famicom Mini will have a few games that will be exclusive to the system. The one that jumps out to me the most is Final Fantasy III. That title never made it the states, unfortunately. Here's a full list of the games:

• Mario Bros.
• Super Mario Bros.
• Donkey Kong
• Ice Climber
• Excitebike
• Mega Man 2
• River City Ransom
• Balloon Fight
• Yie Ar Kung Fu
• Pac-Man
• Ghosts n Goblins
• Gradius
• Solomon's Key
• Tsuppari Oozumou (Sumo wrestling)
• Super Mario Bros. 3
• Final Fantasy 3
• Galaga
• Dr. Mario
• Atlantis no Nazo
• Kirby's Adventure
• Downtown Nekketsu Soreyuke Daiundoukai (Kunio sports)
• The Legend of Zelda
• Zelda 2
• Metroid
• Castlevania
• Ninja Gaiden
• NES Open Tournament Golf
• Super Mario USA (Super Mario Bros. 2)
• Double Dragon 2
• Super C

In staying on theme, the Famicom-Mini will be released first in Japan on November 10th. After that the Nintendo Classic Mini will make its debut. I'd stick with that one unless you feel like dusting off your old "Learn Japanese" text books.