Nintendo'64 Information, Specifications and Accessories
The Nintendo 64, often referred to as N64, is Nintendo's 3rd home video game console for the international market, following the NES and SNES. Named for its 64-bit central processing unit, it was released in1996 in Japan and America, and then the year after 1997 in Europe, Australia and Brazil.
As part of the 5th generation gaming wars, the system competed primarily with the PlayStation and the Sega Saturn. The Nintendo 64 launched with 3 games: Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64 and Pilotwings 64.
As part of the 5th generation gaming wars, the system competed primarily with the PlayStation and the Sega Saturn. The Nintendo 64 launched with 3 games: Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64 and Pilotwings 64.
!The Nintendo 64 remains one of the most recognized video game systems in history and its games still have impact on the games industry today. Designed in tandem with the controller, Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time are widely considered by critics and the public to be some of the greatest and most influential games of all time. GoldenEye 007 is one of the most influential games for the early shooter genre.
A total of 388 games were released for the console, although there were a few that were exclusively sold in Japan. For comparison, rivals PlayStation and the Sega Saturn received around 600-1'100 games!
However,as mentioned, the Nintendo 64 game library included a high number of critically acclaimed and widely sold games. Super Mario 64 is the best selling game of it's generation, The game also received much praise from critics, and helping to pioneer 3-dimensional control schemes. GoldenEye 007 was important in the evolution of the first-person shooter, and has been named one of the greatest in the genre!. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time set the standard for future 3D action-adventure games and is considered by many to be one of the greatest games ever made!.
A total of 388 games were released for the console, although there were a few that were exclusively sold in Japan. For comparison, rivals PlayStation and the Sega Saturn received around 600-1'100 games!
However,as mentioned, the Nintendo 64 game library included a high number of critically acclaimed and widely sold games. Super Mario 64 is the best selling game of it's generation, The game also received much praise from critics, and helping to pioneer 3-dimensional control schemes. GoldenEye 007 was important in the evolution of the first-person shooter, and has been named one of the greatest in the genre!. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time set the standard for future 3D action-adventure games and is considered by many to be one of the greatest games ever made!.
Nintendo 64 games are ROM cartridge based. Cartridge size varies from 4 to 64 MB with many cartridges include the ability to save games internally.
Nintendo cited several advantages for making the Nintendo 64 a cartridge-based console. Primarily cited was the ROM cartridges' very fast load times in comparison to disc-based games. While loading screens appear in many PlayStation games, they are rare on the Nintendo 64. Also cartridges are far more resistant to physical damage than compact discs, and Nintendo also cited the fact that cartridges are more difficult to pirate than CDs.. Too true.
On the downside, cartridges took longer to manufacture than CDs, and the cost of producing a Nintendo 64 cartridge was also far higher than for a CD. Publishers passed these expenses onto the consumer. Nintendo 64 games cost an average of £10 more when compared to games produced for rival consoles.
As 5th generation games became more complex in content, sound and graphics, games began to exceed the limits of cartridge storage capacity. Nintendo 64 cartridges had a maximum of 64 MB of data, whereas CDs held 650 MB.
Due to the cartridge's space limitations, full motion video was not usually feasible for use in game cut-scenes. When it was present, it was heavily compressed to fit on the cartridge and usually of very brief length.
Nintendo cited several advantages for making the Nintendo 64 a cartridge-based console. Primarily cited was the ROM cartridges' very fast load times in comparison to disc-based games. While loading screens appear in many PlayStation games, they are rare on the Nintendo 64. Also cartridges are far more resistant to physical damage than compact discs, and Nintendo also cited the fact that cartridges are more difficult to pirate than CDs.. Too true.
On the downside, cartridges took longer to manufacture than CDs, and the cost of producing a Nintendo 64 cartridge was also far higher than for a CD. Publishers passed these expenses onto the consumer. Nintendo 64 games cost an average of £10 more when compared to games produced for rival consoles.
As 5th generation games became more complex in content, sound and graphics, games began to exceed the limits of cartridge storage capacity. Nintendo 64 cartridges had a maximum of 64 MB of data, whereas CDs held 650 MB.
Due to the cartridge's space limitations, full motion video was not usually feasible for use in game cut-scenes. When it was present, it was heavily compressed to fit on the cartridge and usually of very brief length.
The controller was shaped like an "M", with a joystick in the center. It's quite evocative of some type of alien space ship. With the unique shape of the controller, the separate grips allow different hand positions for various game types, and fits very nice in to your hand whilst playing.
A number of accessories were produced for the Nintendo 64, including the Rumble Pak, the Transfer Pak and the Expansion Pak.
Nintendo released a eagerly awaited add-on platform called the 64DD, the DD stands for Disk Drive. Connecting to the expansion slot at the bottom of the system, the 64DD turns the Nintendo 64 console into an Internet appliance, a multimedia workstation, and an expanded gaming platform. This rather large add-on allows players to play Nintendo 64 disk-based games and capture images from an external video source.
In terms of its memory, or RAM, the Nintendo 64 is one of the first modern consoles to implement a unified memory subsystem, instead of having separate banks of memory for CPU, audio, and video, for example. The memory itself consists of 4 megabytes of RDRAM. The RAM is also expandable to 8 MB with the Expansion Pak.
The system allows for video output in two formats: composite video and S-Video. The composite and S-Video cables are the same as those used with the earlier SNES and later GameCube systems.
The Nintendo 64 supports over 16 million colors. The system can display resolutions from 320 × 240 up to 640 × 480 pixels. Most games that made use of the system's higher resolution 640 x 480 mode required use of the Expansion Pak RAM upgrade, there were a number however which did not. The majority of games used the system's low resolution 320 × 240 mode. A number of games also support a video display ratio of up to 16:9 using either Anamorphic widescreen or Letterboxing.
It was one of the first gaming consoles to have 4 controller ports. Nintendo opted to have four controller ports because the Nintendo 64 was their first console which could handle a 4 player split screen without significant slowdown, such as found on Mario Kart 64.
The system allows for video output in two formats: composite video and S-Video. The composite and S-Video cables are the same as those used with the earlier SNES and later GameCube systems.
The Nintendo 64 supports over 16 million colors. The system can display resolutions from 320 × 240 up to 640 × 480 pixels. Most games that made use of the system's higher resolution 640 x 480 mode required use of the Expansion Pak RAM upgrade, there were a number however which did not. The majority of games used the system's low resolution 320 × 240 mode. A number of games also support a video display ratio of up to 16:9 using either Anamorphic widescreen or Letterboxing.
It was one of the first gaming consoles to have 4 controller ports. Nintendo opted to have four controller ports because the Nintendo 64 was their first console which could handle a 4 player split screen without significant slowdown, such as found on Mario Kart 64.
The N64 comes in several colors. The standard N64 is dark gray, nearly black, and the controller is light gray. Various colourations and special editions were released.
Most Nintendo 64 game cartridges are gray in color, but some games have a colored cartridge. 14 games have black cartridges, and other colors (such as yellow, blue, red, gold and green) were each used for other games. Several games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, were released both in standard gray and in colored, limited edition versions.
Most Nintendo 64 game cartridges are gray in color, but some games have a colored cartridge. 14 games have black cartridges, and other colors (such as yellow, blue, red, gold and green) were each used for other games. Several games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, were released both in standard gray and in colored, limited edition versions.
With 32.93 million units worldwide, IGN named it the 9th greatest video game console of all time, and in 1996, Time magazine named it 'Machine of the Year'.
See Information,Specifications and Reviews on N64 Games
See Information,Specifications and Reviews on other Retro Consoles
See Information,Specifications and Reviews on N64 Games
See Information,Specifications and Reviews on other Retro Consoles