The New Zen of Playing Old Video Games

On Sept. 29, a new Tickle Me Elmo arrived in online stores--and then quickly vanished. That same day, Nintendo's new Super NES Classic, a Lilliputian version of the '90s-era game console compatible with today's television sets, sold out in minutes. The wee machine proved popular partly because it comes with some 20 classic games built in, including a never-released version of cult favorite Star Fox. But mostly it went so fast because retro game boxes are like fidget spinners for nostalgic grownups. A line of plug-and-play set-tops crammed with Atari's iconic games has been around since the early 2000s.