The internet exploded this week when Nintendo announced the NES Classic Edition. Not quite a game console, the Classic Edition comes preloaded with 30 touchstone … ...

It’ll also include a gold commemorative NES cartridge, though it's sadly nonfunctional. Come on Nintendo! Make that thing functional so I can sell it for $175,000 in 30 years.

Nintendo’s NES Classic is, at its core essence, a Nintendo-approved NES emulator that comes with 30 ROMs. It feels very similar to the sort of thing people have been building for ages by running ...