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The Decade of the N64
1up is running a piece looking back at the ten years since the N64's launch. The start of Nintendo's slump, the N64 still managed to come out of the console wars with some great and lasting memories, like GoldenEye, Smash Bros., and Ocarina of Time. From the article: "Nintendo certainly gave players plenty of time to get all 120 stars. By the end of 1996, the N64 still had fewer than a dozen games, and even that anemic library was glutted with mediocrity like Mortal Kombat Trilogy and Cruis'n USA. Sure, there were gems like Mario Kart 64 and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, and there was the stubborn optimism of Nintendo of America President Howard Lincoln (who insisted N64 games sold more than 250,000 per title), but industry commentators were starting to see through the emperor's clothes. Meanwhile, Sony was turning up the heat with massive blockbusters like Final Fantasy VII." The Press the Buttons blog has some additional commentary on Nintendo's first 'meh' console.
Those other games mentioned in the summary are great, but Perfect Dark was the best action game for the N64, more so then Goldeneye. 5 page article and only one mention of it.
Even though I got my Nintendo 64 two years before I had a Playstation (imagine the N64 kid, but a bit more sedate), I only owned 4 games for the system - Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Super Smash Bros, and TLOZ:OOT. Granted, I spent a lot of money getting games at Blockbuster, but with a few exceptions (Goldeneye, Starfox 64) I had every game I ever wanted to play for more than a weekend. When I finally got a Playstation, I went on to buy at least a dozen games.
I'm not at all saying that there weren't good games made for the N64...but rather, the amount of "must-own" games was tragically small.
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I'm not following this sudden 'meh' comment. The N64 was a great machine with a lot of great games. Its only real failing was that it was bloody expensive due to its cartridge format. Nintendo still had a solid base going into the Gamecube. It's just too bad they pissed it away with a poor launch lineup, loss of third party support, and a rather small library of *good* games.
Probably the biggest blow, however, was the loss of Rare and its properties. Rare carried the N64 with its Donkey Kong, Banjo & Kazooie, and Conqeror titles. Unfortunately, the loss was internal to Rare, so there wasn't much Nintendo could do other than unload it.
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I find it quite fitting that we've seen 10 years of mediocrity. This will put a cap on a decade where the Big N was not so big. Sure, there were great titles here and there for the N64 and the Cube, but let's face it, we saw so much better in the NES and SNES. The potential that the Wii has is extremely high. If it lives up to even half of its hype, it will be the console to beat.
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It wasn't a 'meh' console, it was simply one that had had quality and not quantity. I'd still play mine if the controllers weren't prone to get that wobbly joystick feeling after almost no time. I guess that's my only complaint, the controllers sucked in terms of quality.
It all began with the fone phreaks. Damn hippies.
They already updated it on xbox?
the other star wars game that was good yet I can't remember the name of
Shadows of the Empire? Good thing they opened with a flightsim level or I'd never have bought it. The Hoth and Asteroid Field levels were fun, but the third-person levels had awful play control. They eventually got it right with Starfighter and Jedi Starfighter on PS2, though.
Will any game ever be better than F1 World Grand Prix? I seriously doubt it. If there is a better game in existence, it's probably GoldenEye, or Ocarina. The N64 kicked ass.
oh, and by the way, does anyone else here prefer the cartridge format? No danger of scratches, quick load-times, generally a physically strong media.
With today's cheap and expansive flash memory, shouldn't someone be thinking about bringing cartridges back? Surely 1-2GB is enough for passably good graphics
The English word fart is one of the oldest words in the English vocabulary.
My favorite game for the N64 was also the same one that I worked on at Infogrames (now Atari): Duck Dodgers! I went on to be a lead testers for multiple titles on the GameCube and GameBoy Advance since Nintendo wasn't cool to PS2/XBox jockies. Love Nintendo but they were a pain in the ass to work for since a lot of their stuff was documented and you had to learn from past mistakes to know what's official and what isn't.
I really thought the N64 was a fun system. For many years I got a game for my birthday and a game for christmas, and built up a pretty decent library. Honestly, I can't say that the single player was worth repeating in many of those games. But, the multiplayer almost always shined, at least with the games I bought. Mario Kart, Goldeneye, Smash Brothers, Starfox, Perfect Dark, and more were just really, really fun when you could get lots people to play with you, which was easy for me since I had 3 siblings.
The system did have it's problems, but every system does. The controller was "weird" at best, and it was pretty expensive. It was also hard to separate the crap from the games you'd want to buy. I managed about 20 games before the system went out of date, but man it took some looking. You also saw a lot of experimental games on the N64, which were later refined for next gen systems. Harvest Moon wasn't a great game, but it was intresting. I've heard there's a Gamecube version of the game. I'd like to see how that shaped up sometime.
Then again, the N64 was the last console I bought. I didn't buy a gamecube, any portable systems, nothing. So, I may be little biased towards the 64, especially since I still play it. I have a computer. It's not the fastest, but the video card cost me less than a console and graphics look at least as good. I don't count the entire cost of the computer, because the rest of the hardware I'd have anyways.
"I do a grep for shit, bollocks, and tits before checking in code. I'm professional..." -RECURSIVE_META_JOKE, reddit.com
I'd say that Nintendo's first released flop was the Virtual Boy. It wasn't quite portable, but it wasn't quite a home VR system either. Sales were horrible, people had headaches, and games all in red just look bad!
I personally think that the N64 was pretty darn good! Mario 64 was great, as were the Zelda games. Ok, it wasn't a huge library of tons and tons of games, but quite a few were very high quality. Nintendo was thinking outside the box a bit with Smash Bros, and started on the 'party game' thing again, something that Sony only got a bit of with DDR and guitar hero, and MSFT has been left out mostly on IMHO. Sure Sony/MSFT can put out a lot of pretty games, but nintendo makes just fun ones that still are fun, and to my eyes don't look that dated, as they weren't made to be 'the super pretty hyper-realistic games'. They were meant to be fun. There's a reason that I still have a 8 bit, and 16 bit nintendo sitting around, AND two game boy advances. I also have a PS2, but I don't have an Xbox/Xbox 360, or a PS1. Nor will I have a PSP, etc. I just want fun games.
Of course Nintendo's first super stupid major flop, was the falling out with Sony while developing the PS1.
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Rare actually owns the IP rights for Conker. Unfortunately, a few years ago Microsoft bought Rare and with it they got the Conker's franchise... and they released a visually updated (and slightly less challenging) version of the same game from the N64 on the XBOX. For note, there were a couple changes from the N64 to XBOX version but mostly it was in multi-player.
ART on dA
The Star Wars game you're thinking of is probably Shadows of the Empire (or maybe Rogue Squadron, but SotE was the bomb)
The first time I saw the Nintendo 64 was when SGI was giving demos of it at UIUC. I was a freshman or sophmore that year, and they were showing it off on a very large projector screen in 1320 DCL (the old CS department building).
:(
The graphics, for the time, were excellent, but what convinced me to go buy one when they hit the market was some bad game playing in Mario 64.
The demo person from SGI was showing off the first level where you jump into a cannon and fire yourself off to a floating island in the sky. I thought that idea was pretty cool. Unfortunately, his aim was off, and he missed the island completely. From my perspective, I saw myself (as Mario) slow down, then stop midair, and then watched in horror was the ground started rushing up towards me.
A video game had never felt so real before.
That was cool; had I not seen it on a big projector screen, I don't think it ever would have felt real, and I never would have bought one.
That said, I'm not much of a game player: I still haven't collected all 120 stars.
This was a pretty rare thing because usually Nintendo has the tightest censorship issues, and the lack of censorship is in part what has sold so many XBoxes.
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and they released a visually updated (and slightly less challenging) version of the same game from the N64 on the XBOX.
Admittedly I haven't played through the entire game yet, but it seems to me that the gratuitous sprinkling of those fookin' spikey barrel guys throughout the game--not to mention the changes that keep the camera close to and behind Conker more than previously--make Conker: Reloaded MORE challenging than the original, rather than less.
I got my NES with my paper route money as soon as it came out and could afford it. As a kid I loved Zelda and company. The Super NES came out when I was in High School but I was too busy spending my money on other things to purchase that. While I was in the Marines the Play Station came out and I was seriously impressed. Still I had my loyalty with Nintendo and bought the N64. I regretted that. While there were some mature games it seemed to me that Nintendo was focused on saving the princess type games while my buddies were rescuing hostages and watching tangos heads explode with their PlayStation. If I were to buy another gaming console, I now realize that I am in no mood for another installment of Mario. Maybe I'm wrong and the Wii will have more games for a 30 year old, but I suspect most games will still be in the kill the Koopa vein.
It's alive and still kicking. Although zip disks are very expensive. Friends and I still play Micromachines 64 though.
The Nintendo DS handheld video game system takes DS Game Cards for official games and, with an adapter that sits in the GBA slot, CompactFlash or Secure Digital cards for homebrew games.
Has it really been 10 years since I was in college? Wow.
I remember the day the N64 came out, my roommates and I rented one (and Mario,) and played Mario non-stop until we finished it. Different roommates would take over as others had to go to classes. But we finally finished it. Four days later. We played through the night, a few of us even skipping a class or two. That game was played for about 96 hours straight. It was cool.
Hopefully Wii can bring back that feeling.
Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com."
The purpose of that site was not known.
Brilliant, I got mine with Goldeneye, a fantastic game and still the gold standard for FPSs, Then there was Zelda:OoT, a perfect game, stunning in every way, then Majora's mask - even better. The best game ever. In fact it was one of the best systems I've ever owned, and my first downloads on the wii back game system will be n64 games.
Simply stunning, no room for "meh"
*''I can't believe it's not a hyperlink.''
What if Final Fantasy 7 came out on the Nintedno64, because they did show a tech demo of a final an=fhyfsafsafadkjksdjhf omg i dont feel like typing the rest.,wfgjrgvdfv
Fair enough SONY fanboy, you mis your first nintendo,
I'll buy my first. (non potable that is)
Enjoy SONY control over your brain!
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I think he mean Rouge Squadron
I have a shitty sig!
At least one place... swimming through the dangerous spinning blades... each MUCH much easier with the ability to place the camera so that it's essentially parallel to the line of the blades. Much less floating bloody squirrel meat chum in the water...
Still, the voice acting remained absolutely horrendous. Conker mugs like the boys in my middle school drama club.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
Speed Demos Archive has just posted a new run of Mario 64 that collects all of the game's stars in about 2 hours and 10 minutes. How long did it take you when you first played the game 10 years ago?
I really hope the Wii version is an improvement (unlike the purple lunchbox one *shudder*).
They call me the wookie man, I guess that's what I am
Paper Mario was a huge game - with a lot of play time. My kids got me hooked on it...how come none of you have mentioned it?
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N64 was my first console ever, and also my last (although I am considering buying a Wii). I played my fair share of games for SNES, GameCube, and PlayStation 2 at friends' houses but I never owned any of those systems. I bought the N64 a couple weeks after launch. As I was only 12 at the time, my friend and I pooled our money together to buy one and he had to trade in his SNES. (Eventually we pooled our money to buy a 2nd one so we each had one.)
So perhaps I am a bit biased in my opinion, but I always thought N64 was an underrated system. Who could forget such great games as:
Super Mario 64
Starfox 64
Goldeneye 007
Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Super Smash Bros.
Donkey Kong 64
Mario Kart 64
Perfect Dark
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
I also got many hours of enjoyment out of the following games, even though most people considered them to be mediocre:
Mario Party 3
Mario Tennis
Waverace 64
Blast Corps
Gauntlet Legends
Diddy Kong Racing
Misson: Impossible
NFL Blitz
Quest 64
With the exception of NFL Blitz and Gauntlet Legends, all of those titles were exclusive to N64. In the past 10 years, I have only seen 4 non-PC games that would make me want to give up my N64 for a different console:
Guitar Hero (PS2)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
Super Smash Bros Melee (GameCube)
Mario Party 7 (GameCube)
I am not going to deny that there weren't other good console games out there, but I certainly wasn't exposed to them....
While there were some mature games it seemed to me that Nintendo was focused on saving the princess type games while my buddies were rescuing hostages and watching tangos heads explode with their PlayStation.
I played the original Zelda on the NES but never got into it, but Ocarine of Time on the N64 blew me away, in terms of scope, challenge, mix of puzzle solving and action, subtlety, etc. It's still my favorite game.
By contrast, I've come to associate "watching tangos heads explode" with immaturity, not maturity — the sort of thing college frat kids revel in.
On the other hand, a lot of Nintendo's current hits are just too cartoony for me; OoT although cartoonish, was just sophisticated enough to avoid that, and I think Twilight Princess will be better in that regard.
With the possible exception of Pong - Nintendo has ruled console Tennis games with an iron fist. First was Super Tennis for the SuperNes - still the best tennis game around - followed by N64 Mario Tennis. Not that anybody has really noticed seeing as Tennis games are just so rabidly popular... I have played just about every console tennis game (it's a quirk of mine) and I can honestly say that most developers forget to include gameplay (especially H2H) in their game design.
Hats of to the Big N for their tennis excellence and I'll keep my eyes open for the first wii tennis game!
Tech demo linkee here, for those that don't know...includind video. http://www.fantasyanime.com/finalfantasy/ff6/ff6ff 7.htm
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Sure, Tony Hawk (1 & 2) didn't come out on the N64 first, but they sure looked better than on the PSX. Other games that ruled were Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and all the THQ WCW and WWF wrestling games (No Mercy, Wrestlemania 2000, and etc).
This will probably never get read... but if you see a bargain bin, buy Star wars episode one racer (Pod racer) for the 64.
This game is incredible. High speed racing, with damage. It's like wipeout except you can control it. It will be worth the 4 bucks it costs. It also can take advantage of the extra memory packs.
"Bullseye" Navior FTW!! that or Neva Kee
I think he mean Rouge Squadron
Or one of its highly successful followups: Concealer Brigade or Siege at Mascara.
I'll give you every other game on your list. And agree 100% with you about Perfect Dark vs Halo I & II. But Turok: Rage Wars? I & II were a lot more fun than Rage Wars... Rage wars was like playing Unreal Tournament on the 64. Never enjoyed it. What did you like about it so much?
This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
I am 41 and in the past I have spent all night playing Doom, DoomII, and other FPS with friends on a network.
Frankly I love fun games now. Mario Kart Double Dash is great fun with my wife. If you want hard core Pick up Resident Evil for the GC.
The GC is lacking a good racing game but over all the quality of GC games really impresses me. I don't think they are lacking compared to my PS/2.
I can hardly wait for the Wii. I might get a 360 after a price drop and them maybe a PS/3 when they come down in price and they have any games that I want.
What I really want is new version of Harpoon for my PC:(
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
I wonder how much say Nintendo America has in the hardware for the Revolution (Wii) because of that.
My bad!
..but I'm buying a Wii sometime in the future. The N64 was a flop, almost like the Dreamcast. Both had their pleasant moments, and I personally prefer the Dreamcast because of its superior graphics and plethora of side-scrolling shoot 'em ups. Shenmue > Zelda IMHO, and as for Perfect Dark and Goldeneye they were stellar in their day, but I really don't see myself playing either in an emulator. So many better FPS's are already out there so why the bother. Oh and Turok was hardly groundbreaking. Pretty at the time, but hardly groundbreaking.
PS: 50+ copied games
played 8 of them
replayed 3
heavily played 1
N64: 12 games, many rented
played 11
replayed 9
heavily played 3
The best game of the period, Mario Kart 64:
Priceless.
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That should be enough to put the N64 on a pedestal forever. I haven't seen anything like it since.
This article seems to miss the point that the N64 introduced a number of new things that Sony shamelessly copied - take the Rumble Pak and analog stick for example.
The games are different from the PSX - Mostly "meh" titles, and maybe a dozen games that were to die for.
I'm currently developing homebrew for the N64, and from a hardware standpoint, the design is very forward-looking. The RCP 3d coproccessor was fully upgradable - the game transferred microcode to the RCP to tell it how to draw polygons, for example. This was a very sensible design choice - as Nintendo optimized their Fast3D microcode, you got better speed in the game you were developing.
Unfortunately, Nintendo neutralized that advantage by not making microcode tools available until it was too late - some developers did some amazing things by writing their own microcode (Boss Games, and Rare for example)
It was a pretty solid design, the only glaring limitation I can think of is the small (4KB) texture cache and high memory latency (making the N64 fill rate limited, instead of polygon limited.)
It's a shame Nintendo didn't make it easier to develop for - it seems they kinda pulled a Sega with it, and lost some 3rd party support. In any case, it's quite an adventure to learn about.
No question in my mind...
Perfect Dark had sims, which were cool, and better game modes, but Goldeneye had far better levels and weapons, and ran at a more acceptable framerate most of the time.
I found the levels in PD cluttered and hard to navigate by comparison.
Ah, those were the days, 4 player Goldeneye on license to kill with no-one able to move more than a few metres in the level without being exposed to grenades, rockets, or a hail of RPC-90 fire... and our games would end on scorelines like 20-19-19-19 with disturbing regularity.
Still my favourite FPS, and I have Half Life 2 on my PC.
Read Pynchon.
To this date, I think the n64 is probably the console I had the most fun with. The quality of the games was superb. PS1 was great fora single player experience, but I was still in university at the time, in a house full of roommates, so the n64 got at least 20x the play time of the PS1.
There were genres that were invented on the n64, as well as techniques that redefined existing genre's. There still has not be an FPS on any console that compares to Goldeneye or Perfect Dark, either one. This is not nostalgia speaking, I still play these games occasionally. For all the framerate issues and decreased graphics, they are just that good.
In some ways, I think GC was more disappointing. It hasn't produced nearly as much that has invigorated console gaming. All the innovation and newness has been on the PS2, with GC and Xbox presenting a lot of the same old, same old. Of course, I suppose that's to be expected, the PS philosophy is to keep throwing rice at the wall, and eventually something will stick.
And now, in handhelds, the DS is doing what the n64 and PS2 did before it, it remains to be seen which of the 3 upcoming (or 2 upcoming +1 existing) consoles will actually move videogaming forward.
just some guy
If I'm not mistaken, that story was about Sega Dreamcast, not N64
Did you ever try the code that allowed you to use 2 controllers in pod racer?
You used 1 for each pod, so you could fly like Anakin. Closest thing to flying a real pod racer that I will ever come....
10 years ago today I received my Nintendo 64. I was almost as excited as the infamous Nintendo 64 kid on youtube when my mom walked in the house with it. Of course my TV only had RF input so I couldn't play it until I got an adapter, but that's long forgotten.
I remember playing Super Mario 64 for the first time, holy crap that was incredible. Still is incredible. I even loved playing Shadows of the Empire even though it's probably unplayable today. Mario Kart 64 came out in March of '97, easily the greatest racing game of its time.
I really loved the N64. Harvest Moon 64 (one of the greatest sequels ever), Wonder Project J2 (import only), Star Fox 64 (do a barrel roll!), Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Zeldas (Majora's Mask was better), all the Rare games (including Blast Corp), Beetle Adventure Racing, Mischief Makers, Super Smash Bros...
Holy crap I'm gonna plug my N64 in tonight and play some Mario. And maybe shed a few tears.
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.