Tokyo — Nintendo is discovering that nothing sells like nostalgia. The Japanese gaming company is bringing back the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), the hit console that debuted in 1990, as a smaller device with 21 pre-installed classic games and two controllers. The retro SNES comes on the heels of the success of last year’s hit revival of Nintendo’s classic first-generation machine. While Nintendo has always been a shrewd marketer of long-running gaming characters such as Mario and Zelda, the classic consoles are more of a direct appeal to people’s childhood memories. Along with a line-up of smartphone games, theme parks and games for the new Switch console, the retro initiative is part of a wider push by the Kyoto-based company to capitalise on the success of products from the past. "What they’re doing is trying to create a lot of buzz for their games and generate nostalgia," said Atul Goyal, an analyst at Jefferies Group. "That nostalgia is very important to create su...

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