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Nintendo 64

The Nintendo 64, commonly called the N64, is Nintendo's third home video game console. The N64 was released on June 23, 1996 in Japan, September 29, 1996 in North America and Puerto Rico, 1 March 1997 in Europe/Australia and September 1, 1997 in France. It was released with only two launch games in Japan and North America (Super Mario 64 and PilotWings 64) while Europe had a third launch title in the form of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (which was released earlier in the other markets). The Nintendo 64 cost $199 at launch in the United States.

The N64 was first publicly introduced on November 24, 1995 as the Nintendo Ultra 64 at the 7th Annual Shoshinkai Software Exhibition in Japan (though preview pictures from the Nintendo "Project Reality" console had been published in American magazines as early as June, 1993). The first published photos from the event were presented on the web via coverage by Game Zero magazine two days after the event. Official coverage by Nintendo soon followed a few weeks later on the nascent Nintendo Power website, and then in volume #85 of their print magazine.

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During the developmental stages the Nintendo 64 was referred to by its code name, Project Reality. The name Project Reality came from the speculation within Nintendo that this console could produce CGI on par with then-current supercomputers. Once unveiled to the public the name changed to Nintendo Ultra 64, referring to its 64-bit processor, and Nintendo dropped "Ultra" from the name on February 1, 1996, just five months before its Japanese debut due to the word "Ultra" being copyrighted to another company.

After first announcing the project, two companies, Rareware (UK) and Midway (USA), created the arcade games Killer Instinct and Cruis'n USA which claimed to use the Ultra 64 hardware. In fact, the hardware had nothing to do with what was finally released; the arcade games used hard drives and TMS processors. Killer Instinct was the most advanced game of its time graphically, featuring pre-rendered movie backgrounds which were streamed off the hard drive and animated as the characters moved horizontally.

Nintendo touted many of the system's more unusual features as groundbreaking and innovative, but many of these features had in fact been implemented before. The first game console to bill itself as "64-bit" was actually the Atari Jaguar (although the truth of this is disputed, as the Jaguar merely had two 32-bit processors- albeit its graphics processor was 64-bit). The Vectrex in fact had introduced analog joysticks, while the first to feature four controller ports was the Bally Astrocade. Regardless, the Nintendo 64 was the first popular system to have these features.

The system was designed by Silicon Graphics Inc., and features their trademark dithered 32-bit graphics. The early N64 development system was an SGI Indy equipped with an add-on board that contained a full N64 system.

The Nintendo 64 was the last mainstream home video game console to use ROM cartridges to store its games. (Although the last real cartridge based system to have still continued production was SNK's Neo Geo MVS hardware until 2003) Nintendo's choice had several advantages:

 

  • ROM cartridges have very fast load times in comparison to disc based games. This can be observed from the loading screens that appear in many PlayStation games but are virtually non-existent in N64 versions.
  • ROM cartridges are difficult and expensive to duplicate, thus resisting piracy (albeit at the expense of lowered profit margin for Nintendo). While unauthorized interface devices for the PC were later developed, these devices are rare when compared to a regular CD drive as used on the PlayStation.
  • It is possible to add specialized support chips (such as coprocessors) to ROM cartridges, as was done on some Super Nintendo games.
  • 4. Most cartridges store individual profiles and game progress on the cartridge itself, eliminating the need for separate and expensive memory cards. Storing data at first required a cartridge battery whose energy would diminish over time, though the battery generally lasted for years, and in subsequent games EEPROMs were used instead.

 

While Nintendo chose the cartridge format for the N64, the company originally signed a contract with Sony in 1988 to develop a CD-ROM drive add-on for the SNES. When Hiroshi Yamauchi read the (already signed by Nintendo) original 1988 contract between Sony and Nintendo and learned that it allowed Sony 25% of the profits from the machine, he was furious. He deemed the contract totally unacceptable, and secretly cancelled all plans for a joint Nintendo-Sony SNES CD attachment. Indeed, instead of announcing their partnership, at 9 AM the day of the CES, Nintendo chairman Howard Lincoln stepped onto the stage and revealed that they were now allied with Phillips, and were planning on abandoning all the previous work Nintendo and Sony had accomplished. Lincoln and Minoru Arakawa had (unbeknownst to Sony) flown to Phillips headquarters in Europe and formed an alliance.

In addition to the CD-ROM add on, Sony would release a combination Super NES/CD-ROM system in one unit, which would have been called the PlayStation. Initially, Nintendo's abandonment of the joint project caused Sony to consider halting their research, but ultimately the company decided to use what they had developed so far and make it into a complete, stand alone console. This led to Nintendo filing a lawsuit claiming breach of contract and attempted, in U.S. federal court, to obtain an injunction against the release of the PlayStation, on the grounds that Nintendo owned the name. The federal judge presiding over the case denied the injunction.

Graphically, benefits of the Nintendo cartridge system were mixed. While N64 games generally had higher polygon counts, the limited storage size of ROM carts limited the amount of available textures, resulting in games which had a plain and flat-shaded look. Later cartridges such as Resident Evil 2 featured more ROM space, which demonstrated that Nintendo 64 was capable of detailed in-game graphics when the media permitted, but this performance came late in the console war and at a high price.

At that time, competing systems from Sony and Sega (the PlayStation and Saturn, respectively) were using CD-ROM discs to store their games. These discs are much cheaper to manufacture and distribute, resulting in lower costs to third party game publishers. As a result many game developers which had traditionally supported Nintendo game consoles were now developing games for the competition because of the higher profit margins found on CD based platforms.

The cartridge vs. disc debate came to an infamous climax during the release of Final Fantasy VII. Despite the fact that all six previous Final Fantasy games had been published on Nintendo systems, the series' producer, Squaresoft, chose to release Final Fantasy VII on the Sony PlayStation. This incident provided a highly-publicized denunciation of Nintendo's cartridge-based system which caused negative publicity for Nintendo. The incident also led to Square and Nintendo not working together on a project until Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles was released on the Nintendo Gamecube in 2004.

The cost of producing an N64 cartridge was far higher than producing a CD: one gaming magazine at the time cited average costs of twenty-five dollars per cartridge, versus 10 cents per CD. Publishers had to pass these higher expenses to the consumer so Nintendo 64 games tended to sell for slightly higher prices than PlayStation games did. While most PlayStation games rarely exceeded $50, N64 titles could reach $80.

Despite the controversies, the N64 still managed to support many popular games, giving it a long life run. Nintendo 64 took second place for its generation of consoles while the PlayStation finished first, with 40% and 51% of the market respectively. Much of this success was credited to Nintendo's strong first-party franchises, such as Mario and Zelda, which had strong name brand appeal yet appeared exclusively on Nintendo platforms. The N64 also secured its share of the mature audience thanks to GoldenEye 007, Resident Evil 2, Shadow Man, Doom 64 and Quake II.

In 2001, the Nintendo 64 was replaced by the disc-based Nintendo GameCube, although even with this system they refused to use mainstream CD/DVD technology, opting for the DVD-based but incompatible GameCube Optical Disc. The Nintendo Revolution uses "12 cm discs" for storage, which are just encrypted DVDs, thus making it the first Nintendo console to use a standardized storage format.

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Bomberman 64

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£40.00
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£40.00

The evil Altair is using the Omni Cube to drain the energy from Planet Bomber. With the aid of a mysterious helper, you must defeat Altair, and restore peace to the world.

Top Gear Hyper Bike

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£20.00
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£20.00

Big air. Fast tracks. Snarling competitors. Whether you're into high-flying motocross racing or knee-scraping street bike action, Top Gear Hyper Bike opens the throttle on gritty, two-wheeled fun. Strap on your brain bucket and test these features: Four incredible modes of play, Track Editor to create your own mind-blowing tracks, race on the street and in the dirt using 16 authentic race bikes from Kawasaki, Yamaha and Honda, unlock hidden bikes and bonus courses by winning race seasons in Championship Mode.

Jeremy McGrath Supercross 2000

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£30.00
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£30.00

The ONLY Supercross game with Jeremy "Showtime" McGrath! Totally customizable bikes and racing modes, plus free-ride practice environments and variable weather conditions. All-new engine featuring state-of-the-art graphics and bike physics. Design your own tracks with the custom 3D track editor. 16 Supercross stadiums and licensed Motocross tracks. 250cc and 125cc bikes plus Create-A-Rider. Sick freestyle motocross competitions exclusively featuring Travis Pastrana!

Supercross 2000

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£0.00
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£0.00

Ride, Race, and Fly with Style! Choose from 24 top Supercross and Freestyle riders. Awesome handlebar-to-handlebar racing! 16 real stadium tracks develop grooves and ruts as the race develops. Realistic motorcycle handling in Pro mode or easier control in Beginner mode. Multiple game modes: Quick Race, Single Race, Season and Freestyle Jump-Off! Two-player split-screen gameplay and spectacular hi-res graphics!

Hot Wheels Turbo Racing

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£48.00
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£48.00

Stunts, speed and crashes combine for wild racing fun! Race 40 classic Hot Wheels - including Twin Mill and Red Baron. First ever killer stunt moves - 360's, barrel rolls, mid-air spins! 8 Hot Wheels tracks - Loop-the-Loops, Danger Changers, and more! Multi-player action so you can race against your friends! Three ways to win - speed, stunts, or crash cars off the road! Shortcuts, hidden cars, and power-ups!

Cruisin World

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£18.00
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£18.00

The fastest, craziest and most furious of all races has begun! Take part in a journey around the world you'll never forget! Crash into the wall of China, fight a speed duel on German highways, attempt risky manoeuvres on the fast lanes of the African prairie, win a runaway victory on New York's city courses or a wild two-wheel ride through Hawaii's unique underwater tunnels - in this game anything goes!

San Francisco Rush 2049

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£300.00
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£300.00

Three action packed games in one. Race mode: Compete on futuristic San Francisco street tracks. Stunt mode: do gravity defying tricks. Battle Mode: Eight killer battle arenas with weapons galore. Thirteen selectable cars for use in 1 to 4 player modes. Nineteen all new tracks. New wing feature: Glide your car in midair to execute stunts and tricks Jump ramps and hit triggers to unlock the short cuts. Unique RAM pack bonus features. Hurray!

Top Gear Rally 2

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£32.00
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£32.00

If you're ready to step up to a realistic racing game, TG Rally 2 is the one to beat. This is the first and only game on the N64 to feature point to point rally course and authentic rally races from Toyota, Suburu and Mitsubishi. If you survive the rigors of ARSG Rally School, you’ll earn racing certification for races around the world, on courses through every imaginable environmental condition. This isn’t just simply the most realistic rally game on the planet – it’s also the best.

Road Rash 64

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£34.00
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£34.00

Intense pack brawling, including grudges and alliances. 200 miles of interconnected tracks and environments. New weapons and moves like the dreaded pool cue spoke jam. Over 25 bikes and characters to choose from. Multi player modes for up to 4 players including Deathmatch, Cop Mode and Tag. Trashin’ Soundtrack featuring Kid Rock, Sugar Ray and more.

World Driver Championship

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Develop a long racing career as you compete for job offers with each of the 15 World Driver Teams. Ten tracks located throughout the world: Hawaii, Black Forest, Las Vegas, Kyoto, New Zealand, Les Gets, Sydney, Zurich, Lisbon and Rome. Twenty challenging events across two different levels of competition. Over thirty highly detailed, exotic cars with realistic physics and handling. Race head-to-head in two player split screen mode. Save replays on the controller pack to analyse your driving skills from multiple camera angles.

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