For many, it was a chance to re-live their youth, people my age or older looked at it as a chance to play games that we grew up with, for others it was a chance to be introduced to classic NES games. Some of the best the system had to offer, not all the best, but quite a few.
The system itself was essentially just an NES emulator built into a smaller NES style shell around the size of a large smart phone, it was nothing particularly special when you consider you are able to download emulation programs onto your computer at any point and that you were paying for the NES shell, controller, and official Nintendo licensing. That being said it was a great idea and Nintendo stood to make quite a bit of money from said creation and they did. The down side, it was always sold out everywhere, no one was able to keep the machine or its accessories in stock.
So why did I figure that with how much money this was making for Nintendo that they would discontinue the system before they officially announced it ?? Simple, I knew on March 3rd the company was releasing the Nintendo Switch and that would mark the official end of the NES Classic even though it wasn't announced officially until the other day. There was no way I thought Nintendo would continue production on a system that while it was making money was not going to be its primary focus going forward. They even stated they never planned on making it a long term supported/released machine.
With their Virtual Console on the Wii, Wii-U, and 3DS they were already selling old school NES, SNES, etc games, why release the Classic at all. Nintendo released the NES Classic for one reason, one huge reason....marketing and nothing else.
The company had just come off of their most abysmal console release since the Virtual Boy, the Wii-U while fun, was a commercial failure and it had backed Nintendo into a corner. With the PS4 and Xbox One having far surpassed the console to the point both the Wii-U and Nintendo not even being mentioned as a viable choice for gaming anymore. No one was talking about Nintendo the way they used to at all and to the supposed "giant of the game industry" for them to not be considered a true viable option for games anymore was a killer. Well, how do we get people talking about Nintendo again when they are still into their PS4's and XB1's ?? Nostalgia.
It is nostalgia that fueled the NES Classic, it is nostalgia that caused the NES Classic to sell so well and so constantly & consistently, and it is that same nostalgia that got people talking about Nintendo again. Right before they were going to release the Nintendo Switch.
Between the most anticipated Zelda game I can remember and the absolutely ridiculous Nintendo hype the NES Classic droned up for them, the Switch has sold like mad since its release on March 3rd. With it selling like mad and the company making money from their new system it's time to move on from past projects, Wii-U production is discontinued and so is the NES Classic now, and I figured this would happen.
I commend Nintendo for one of the most genius marketing strategies in quite awhile with the NES Classic, while it is unfortunate they are ceasing the production of them, worst case scenario you just have to download an emulator onto your computer again now. It may have been making them money and they may bring it back but the true purpose of the NES Classic has been fufilled, it got people talking about Nintendo and Nintendo games before the Switch and now that the Switch is selling well it is time to move on.
Like it or not, that's why I figured it was on its way out before Nintendo even announced it, hopefully we see it again but to me it's doubtful.