In a rather unexpected turn of events, Nintendo has now announced that they will be discontinuing the production of their miniature replica gaming console, the Nintendo NES Classic. The announcement came as a surprise for most fans given that the console itself is extremely successful worldwide.

The console was so successful in fact that there has been a shortage of units since its launch back in November of last year. In its first few months alone, the company reportedly sold more than 1.5 million NES Classis consoles worldwide. According to ARSTechnica, the shortage itself continues to be a problem ever since its release up until its cancellation this month.

Unfortunately, Nintendo hadn't really provided any reason for the cancellation. The company merely apologized to its customers and encouraged them to check various retailers and outlets should they want to get their hands on the system.

"We understand that it has been difficult for many consumers to find a system, and for that, we apologize. We have paid close attention to consumer feedback, and we greatly appreciate the incredible level of consumer interest and support for this product." Nintendo had released a statement to IGN.

The company also revealed that it will be shipping a couple of batches of the NES Classic console throughout the month of April. Several outlets in North America should be receiving some stocks. However, the new stocks are expected to immediately fly off the shelves, as with what had happened at Best Buy late last month.

Nintendo also reiterated that they hadn't really intended for the NES Classic to be a long-term product. The company initially planned for the system to be a nostalgic one-off product that was targeted at customers who were between the ages of 30 and 40. Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime even explained that they prepared stocks based on the possible demand from the particular age group and didn't really expect that there would be such as a remarkable following from younger customers.