Start getting those wallets ready N64 fans

[Greg2600]

It's almost ready....

http://64drive.retroactive.be/index.php

http://64drive.retroactive.be/img_cart_1.jpg

[Trebuken]

Very Cool.

Pricey, but I guess it makes sense compared with similar drives and given that it is for a more modern system.

128 GB memory card support? How much do you actually need for every ROM image (without too much duplication)?

[ImBob]

I'm definitely getting one of those

[RP2A03]

128 GB memory card support? How much do you actually need for every ROM image (without too much duplication)?

Nowhere near that much since the largest games were only 64 MB. 128 GB is enough for 2048 copies of Resident Evil 2. That right there is more zombies than you can shake a stick at.

[j_factor]

For the price of this and a suitable memory card, you could probably buy 75% of the N64 library.

[buzz_n64]

Puts the N64Myth to shame!

[bend]

For the price of this and a suitable memory card, you could probably buy 75% of the N64 library.

Not unless you were buying 75% of the library at a $1 a piece.

[Leo_A]

Not sure the name they choose was such a great idea. It's going to possibly create confusion having a Everdrive 64 and a 64Drive.

Has anyone done a comparison of the two? Or is the Everdrive 64 still too early in development to know particulars of its performance?

Either way, it sounds great. I think I'm sold.

[c0ldb33r]

Has anyone done a comparison of the two? Or is the Everdrive 64 still too early in development to know particulars of its performance?
This.

I'm pretty excited about the n64's library. It's important that the flash cart be able to save an load easily. I assume this can.

[Oobgarm]

Pretty awesome, but I don't think I can stomach $199 just to play N64 games I'd likely not play otherwise. I mean, I already have the games I like on cartridge.

Still though, this thing is pretty awesome.

[megasdkirby]

Pretty awesome, but I don't think I can stomach $199 just to play N64 games I'd likely not play otherwise. I mean, I already have the games I like on cartridge.

Still though, this thing is pretty awesome.

This.

The price...the price! Way too much for my tastes. For that amount of cash, I can get a plethora of games to add to my collection!

If it was $99 then i would understand. But $199? Unfortunately, I will pass.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I concur. $199 is a really tough pill to swallow. There are only a small handful of N64 games I don't already own that I'd consider worth owning, and I could probably get them all for another $50-60. Perhaps the price could be lowered to something in the range of the Retrozone Powerpaks, $135-145? That's still a lot of money, but at that price I would consider it and I think so would a lot of other people.

[Mayhem]

Anyone know what the two games that don't work on it are? Also why use CF and not SD? Licensing costs? Still, it does look mighty impressive...

[Rob2600]

For the price of this and a suitable memory card, you could probably buy 75% of the N64 library.

The 64Drive costs $200. Buying 75% of the N64's library on cartridge (roughly 225 games) would cost more like $2,000.

[Clownzilla]

Nice product but as others state I would only pay around $100 for this. Then again, I'm not going to buy a PS3 until I can buy one new for $150. I guess I'm just thrifty (ie. cheap).

[SparTonberry]

The 64Drive costs $200. Buying 75% of the N64's library on cartridge (roughly 225 games) would cost more like $2,000.

You could probably buy the lower-demand 75% cart-only (the top 25% being all Nintendo/Rare games, Ogre Battle 64, the Goemons. And I'm not really sure what the other high-priced third-party N64 games are, but I don't imagine there's many)
$2000 / 225 = about $9.
$9 each for a ton of random sports and racing games?

[Rob2600]

$2000 / 225 = about $9.
$9 each for a ton of random sports and racing games?

No, an average of $8-$9 per game for titles like Rayman 2, Tonic Trouble, Rocket: Robot on Wheels, Iggy's Reckin' Balls, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, 007: The World Is Not Enough, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Glover, Mission: Impossible, Winback, Space Station Silicon Valley, WWF No Mercy, etc., as well as sports and racing games.

[c0ldb33r]

Also why use CF and not SD? Licensing costs? Still, it does look mighty impressive...
Someone asked the same question from the maker of the Powerpak. I guess CFs are faster.

[jonebone]

The 64Drive costs $200. Buying 75% of the N64's library on cartridge (roughly 225 games) would cost more like $2,000.

As an avid N64 collector, that's a high estimate. I put the entire N64 cartridge only library around $2k. One sold for that price last year, but then again, one was listed at $1.5k starting bid 5-6 months ago that didn't get any bites.

Now if you bought them one at a time and paid $4 in shipping on each one, then $2k might be a good number. But if you are buying in lots and saving money, you can get it for much cheaper.

[Rob2600]

if you bought them one at a time and paid $4 in shipping on each one, then $2k might be a good number. But if you are buying in lots and saving money, you can get it for much cheaper.

Okay, $1,000 for 75% of the N64's library when purchased in lots. That's still five times J_factor's $200 claim.

[MyTurnToPlay]

This is way too much money.

I'm sticking with Krizz. That guy has consistently made top notch products at much more affordable prices. Screw this thing, I'll just wait for his Everdrive 64.

[Flack]

128 GB memory card support? How much do you actually need for every ROM image (without too much duplication)?

IIRC, when I bought my CD64 (long after the death of the N64) it came with a complete (at the time) collection of N64 ROMs. I believe it was around 5 gig in size and spanned 8 CD-Rs.

Yeah, 128 Gig should do it. ;)

[Flack]

This is expensive.

I guess. I paid $300 for a (new) Z64 copier back in the day. I'm pretty sure I paid about the same price for my Dr. 64, and $150 or so for a CD64 about five years ago. Two of those three use CD-Rs (the Z64 uses zip disks). None of them support long file names.

This new 64 Drive looks convenient and a one-stop solution for playing ROMs on authentic hardware. $200 doesn't seem all that bad, compared to what I've paid for other copiers in the past.

[Greg2600]

Price I think is a reason that Krikzz has gone SD. Powerpak loads directly from the card into RAM and then the console reads it via CF. The CF transfer rate is much faster. Krikzz writes to ROM and the console reads from there. His ROM is much cheaper than RAM chips. I love Krikzz's stuff, too, but he's got to do something different than his current SD to Flash rom solution, because it will take several minutes to load a game.

8 GB card should be more than enough to cover all N64 games. Also, Jet Force Gemini and Banjo Tooie won't work, because they used a CIC chip that is beyond the capacity of the one he's installing. JFG supposedly has been hacked to work on the NeoMyth so it should work on this too. Banjo won't.

As for the price, not long ago it was supposed to be around $150. $200 is quite a lot, especially when Krikzz readies his Everdrive 64. The one thing though is that Marshall did exhaustive development and testing of the cart, including supporting all forms of N64 game saving. It's going to take Igor probably quite a while to do that, if he does.

[StoneAgeGamer]

The EverDrive64, both board only and our Deluxe Edition will both be cheaper than the 64drive. Although IMO $200 isn't a bad price. I was originally expecting the EverDrive64 Deluxe to be around that price. However now that Igor has much better idea of board cost I will be able beat the $200 with the Deluxe.

EverDrive64 is much farther a long than most people think. He already ordered the PCBs awhile ago. Once he gets them he will then need to finalize development. I've already begun work on the label, insert, and manual for it.

It supports all save formats just like the 64drive and its game load times should be comparable to the 64drive.

It will be SDHC compatible, so you won't be limited to the 2GB limit of previous EverDrives.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Guys, you do realize that the FPGA alone costs $100 right? There's a reason why this will be expensive. Lesser multicarts such as the Everdrive series lack the FPGA, which is why their compatability, loadtimes and several other factors make them inferior to FPGA flashcarts. On the other hand, FPGA is expensive.

What I don't get is why this will be $199. It should be $140ish. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this thing basically amounts to:

FPGA + shitload of RAM + Nintendo CIC + small CPLD + CF slot + shell taken from a N64 cart mold.


Yup, sounds just like the Powerpaks to me. No reason for the extra $60.

[StoneAgeGamer]

Guys, you do realize that the FPGA alone costs $100 right? There's a reason why this will be expensive. Lesser multicarts such as the Everdrive series lack the FPGA, which is why their compatability, loadtimes and several other factors make them inferior to FPGA flashcarts. On the other hand, FPGA is expensive.

What I don't get is why this will be $199. It should be $140ish. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this thing basically amounts to:

FPGA + shitload of RAM + Nintendo CIC + small CPLD + CF slot + shell taken from a N64 cart mold.


Yup, sounds just like the Powerpaks to me. No reason for the extra $60.

I assume its because the guy is trying to make a profit? Plus cover all the R&D that went into it.

[Greg2600]

Well you have labor costs. Why are any of several of the flash carts over $100? It's time, and time is money. I'm not going to poo-poo Marshall over his pricing, that's up to the marketplace to decide. He's a college student, looking to parlay this into money for that. If the FPGA is really $100, when you add in the other components, is it worth his time for $40? Wouldn't be worth mine, that's for sure. I'm just saying that I think he'll lose a LOT of potential buyers with such a high price, first. Second, even if you can afford it, is it justifiable? Most of the unreleased N64 roms available stink, and luckily there aren't a lot of unobtainable N64 games. Conker can be had for a reasonable price, and it's one of the most expensive official releases.

I'm really stunned at the speed of development by Krikzz on the E64!

[StoneAgeGamer]

I'm really stunned at the speed of development by Krikzz on the E64!

Competition brings out the best sometimes. I know once he saw how far a long Marshall's was he really hit developing in EverDrive64 hard. He had already started on it like a year ago, but kind of put it on the back burner for awhile as he worked on other carts.

So its probably best to wait and see. Marshall's price may come down when Igor's comes out and then consumer's can compare and see which they feel would be a better product for the money.

However if you just have to have a N64 flash cart right now, I am sure the 64drive will be great.

[fahlim003]

I guess. I paid $300 for a (new) Z64 copier back in the day. I'm pretty sure I paid about the same price for my Dr. 64, and $150 or so for a CD64 about five years ago. Two of those three use CD-Rs (the Z64 uses zip disks). None of them support long file names.

This new 64 Drive looks convenient and a one-stop solution for playing ROMs on authentic hardware. $200 doesn't seem all that bad, compared to what I've paid for other copiers in the past.
All things considered the price for this device and it's advantages over said copiers with inflation is pretty reasonable. That's not to say $200 is chump change but you're paying for what you get, access to nearly every N64 game on one well developed cartridge. The problem is people who might be interested may already own a sizeable N64 library and therefore cannot justify a cartridge like this for the few games they do not already have. This lends itself to the fact beyond the copiers mentioned above getting N64 software alternately in past had been sparse leading many people to just go out and get the games. As has been addressed the majority of the library is quite affordable and beyond a couple games nothing is truly expensive that is very popular, at least looking domestically. Once the import factor is included the expense goes up and if you want to have access to nearly everything, I think the cost is justified.

[joshnickerson]

I'm a bit amused that it's the same price that the N64 itself was when it launched.

I don't think this is something the average gamer, or even an N64 fan would really need, but I can see how it might be attractive to programmers.

And I gotta give kudos to the guy for including this in his FAQs page...

I wouldn't pay more than $40 for this.
You probably wouldn't buy it anyway.

[StoneAgeGamer]

I'm a bit amused that it's the same price that the N64 itself was when it launched.

I don't think this is something the average gamer, or even an N64 fan would really need, but I can see how it might be attractive to programmers.

And I gotta give kudos to the guy for including this in his FAQs page...

I wouldn't pay more than $40 for this.
You probably wouldn't buy it anyway.

Haha yeah I love his FAQs. There's a couple funny ones.

[ShinobiMan]

Pretty awesome, but I don't think I can stomach $199 just to play N64 games I'd likely not play otherwise. I mean, I already have the games I like on cartridge.

Still though, this thing is pretty awesome.

Yeah THIS.

I already own every N64 game I've ever really cared about. I too would find little to gain. $199... eh. What is cool is having every game you've ever wanted to play in one place, and import games like Sin & Punishment that I never got to own.

[Blitzwing256]

I hated the 64 with a passion back in the day with exception to one or two games (pokemon snap and gauntlet) but i'm pretty tempted to pick one of these up to try ALL the games I stuck my nose up at back then. (who knows maybe i'll find a game that doesn't suck in the piles of turd?)

[allyourblood]

...i'm pretty tempted to pick one of these up to try ALL the games I stuck my nose up at back then.

I read this as "ALL the games I stuck up my nose back then."

[StoneAgeGamer]

Guys, you do realize that the FPGA alone costs $100 right? There's a reason why this will be expensive. Lesser multicarts such as the Everdrive series lack the FPGA, which is why their compatability, loadtimes and several other factors make them inferior to FPGA flashcarts. On the other hand, FPGA is expensive.


EverDrive64 uses FPGA. The other EverDrives used CPLD.

[StoneAgeGamer]

The EverDrive64 PCB:

[Leo_A]

I think $200 is a fair price.

Does this or the Everdrive support saving memory pack games directly to the multicart itself? That would be nice, if possible. There is far too little space in a Nintendo 64 memory pack.

Wish someone would create a similar Atari Jaguar device. A few have started out only to be driven away by a handful of nuts at a few of the more popular Jaguar forums out there.

[WanganRunner]

I absolutely do not understand the point of this thing.

If playing on the original hardware is so important, than isn't playing on original carts just as important?

And if not, why limit yourself to the original hardware when emulation is so far superior technically? Get a fast PC, an adaptoid, and a nice big LCD and play in crazy resolutions with all original peripherals, etc. Project64 is so good there's little benefit to being on the original hardware except for a *few* images, and for $199 you could just buy those in hardcopy.

His answer for "Why GBA flash cards are so cheap and this is so expensive" seems subpar, because his invention is more complicated?


I like to both use the original stuff and emulate, the latter primarily for high-res texture packs, etc. Why pay $199 for a goofy compromise?

[j_factor]

I absolutely do not understand the point of this thing.

If playing on the original hardware is so important, than isn't playing on original carts just as important?

And if not, why limit yourself to the original hardware when emulation is so far superior technically? Get a fast PC, an adaptoid, and a nice big LCD and play in crazy resolutions with all original peripherals, etc. Project64 is so good there's little benefit to being on the original hardware except for a *few* images, and for $199 you could just buy those in hardcopy.

His answer for "Why GBA flash cards are so cheap and this is so expensive" seems subpar, because his invention is more complicated?

I like to both use the original stuff and emulate, the latter primarily for high-res texture packs, etc. Why pay $199 for a goofy compromise?

Maybe you don't care about the merits of legitimate copies versus piracy, but still want to play the games in their normal state. For all its enhancements, Project64 doesn't have a mode that precisely emulates how games look on normal hardware.

[Greg2600]

The EverDrive64 PCB:Woah, so much less hardware on there than the 64drive.


I think $200 is a fair price.

Does this or the Everdrive support saving memory pack games directly to the multicart itself? That would be nice, if possible. There is far too little space in a Nintendo 64 memory pack.

Wish someone would create a similar Atari Jaguar device. A few have started out only to be driven away by a handful of nuts at a few of the more popular Jaguar forums out there.Probably far too difficult to convert controller pak saving to cart-based saving. Problem with Jaguar device is there's such a small community to buy it.


I absolutely do not understand the point of this thing.

If playing on the original hardware is so important, than isn't playing on original carts just as important?

And if not, why limit yourself to the original hardware when emulation is so far superior technically? Get a fast PC, an adaptoid, and a nice big LCD and play in crazy resolutions with all original peripherals, etc. Project64 is so good there's little benefit to being on the original hardware except for a *few* images, and for $199 you could just buy those in hardcopy.

His answer for "Why GBA flash cards are so cheap and this is so expensive" seems subpar, because his invention is more complicated?

I like to both use the original stuff and emulate, the latter primarily for high-res texture packs, etc. Why pay $199 for a goofy compromise?If you're not into playing on original hardware, then this device and others like it are not for you. In very rare cases are there games that cannot be played in emulators (one is Bounty Bob Strikes Back for 5200). I agree that emulation these days has gotten so good, you can definitely play on a PC or certain consoles and never notice a difference. For systems like Playstation and Nintendo 64, you can even get superior graphics with the help of graphics cards and software. Yes they are not required, but people like the flash carts, and they like playing on the original hardware. It's likely a small percentage of classic gamers. But if you're into the originals, then these carts are often very valuable. $200 valuable, I'm not sure.

[WanganRunner]

If you're not into playing on original hardware, then this device and others like it are not for you. In very rare cases are there games that cannot be played in emulators (one is Bounty Bob Strikes Back for 5200). I agree that emulation these days has gotten so good, you can definitely play on a PC or certain consoles and never notice a difference. For systems like Playstation and Nintendo 64, you can even get superior graphics with the help of graphics cards and software. Yes they are not required, but people like the flash carts, and they like playing on the original hardware. It's likely a small percentage of classic gamers. But if you're into the originals, then these carts are often very valuable. $200 valuable, I'm not sure.

I guess I can't understand wanting to play on original hardware but not also wanting to play original carts.

You could score a huge N64 library for the price of this thing and the card.

[Jorpho]

And if not, why limit yourself to the original hardware when emulation is so far superior technically? Get a fast PC, an adaptoid, and a nice big LCD and play in crazy resolutions with all original peripherals, etc. Project64 is so good there's little benefit to being on the original hardware except for a *few* images, and for $199 you could just buy those in hardcopy.I understood that Project64 is far from perfect - that's why the development team decided to stop and slowly redo it from scratch, or so I understand.

[bobotech]

I guess I can't understand wanting to play on original hardware but not also wanting to play original carts.

You could score a huge N64 library for the price of this thing and the card.

I used to be a big proponent of using the original hardware but my opinion has changed over the years. First of all, emulation has gotten so good that quite often its better to play on a computer or modern console or whatever compared to playing on the old hardware. A good example is the 5200. Those controllers are horrid no matter how much money you pour into an Atari 5200 stick. And even the N64 might be a good example considering that the Nintendo brand n64 sticks are known to go bad over time and there isn't much you can do about it.

Now with that said, accruing a large collection of games is great for my collector mentality but you know, in the end, I just want to play games. A nice flash cart makes it much easier to play a bunch of games compared to having to buy a bunch of individual possibly rather expensive games. The logistics of using a flash cart is just plain easier than using a bunch of individual carts.

For me these days, the systems I would enjoy getting a flash cart for would be my Nintendo DS and the Vectrix. The Ds just because it makes perfect sense to have a portable gaming system with almost all the games with you at all times and the vectrix just because its a vector system. I don't care about buying a bunch of DS carts just to have them since its a system I never bothered officially "collecting" for and the vectrix carts are just so damned rare in the wild.


So if it were up to me, I would want to buy a flash cart over buying all the individual games if I wanted to play on the original hardware and controllers.

[Leo_A]

I absolutely do not understand the point of this thing.

If playing on the original hardware is so important, than isn't playing on original carts just as important?

Nope, it's the exact same code so I don't care. I just care about playing that code on the original hardware with original controllers while sitting in front of my television. I don't care if I look down at the system and don't see the label for whatever game I'm playing.

I have 90% of what I ever wanted for the system (Must be around 65 games or so, forget the exact count). But this device is worth it just for the convenience factor, trying out games I'd of never of bought otherwise, and playing PAL games on a North American N64 (It sure sounded like it allows that).

And unless something drastic happened over the past 2 years, N64 emulation still has a good way to go before it approaches something like the quality, consistency, and ease of use of something like Atari 2600 emulation which is in a very advanced state these days.

So I'll happily be adding it to my collection of reprogrammable multicarts. Ever since I fell in love with the Cuttle Cart II, I've been eagerly awaiting seeing similar devices created for other systems.

[theclaw]

I absolutely do not understand the point of this thing.

If playing on the original hardware is so important, than isn't playing on original carts just as important?

And if not, why limit yourself to the original hardware when emulation is so far superior technically? Get a fast PC, an adaptoid, and a nice big LCD and play in crazy resolutions with all original peripherals, etc. Project64 is so good there's little benefit to being on the original hardware except for a *few* images, and for $199 you could just buy those in hardcopy.

His answer for "Why GBA flash cards are so cheap and this is so expensive" seems subpar, because his invention is more complicated?


I like to both use the original stuff and emulate, the latter primarily for high-res texture packs, etc. Why pay $199 for a goofy compromise?

GBA flash cards are so cheap because they are subpar. There's good reasons few users of sites like this give most GBA ones the light of day.

The old kind often had cripplingly limited storage room and used annoying writer software. Later types solved that thanks to removable cards, yet their internal memory was too slow to keep up with the access time many GBA games need.

[StoneAgeGamer]

His answer for "Why GBA flash cards are so cheap and this is so expensive" seems subpar, because his invention is more complicated?


Its more because its a niche market item for an already niche market (classic gaming). He isn't going to sell a million of these even at $10 a piece. There is only a limited market. Limited runs of PCBs is exponentially more expensive. Plus a lot of this stuff is done by hand by them, these aren't made in some sweatshop somewhere.

Really I am not understanding your problem with the price when you wouldn't even buy the product at any price it seems. Which is fine, its not for you, but a lot of other people enjoy them.

There's a lot more that goes into the price of something than just the cost of the parts to make it. Cost of parts/packaging, time to produce, marketing/promotion, R&D, and supply/demand are all things to be considered.

[Cryomancer]

I guess I can't understand wanting to play on original hardware but not also wanting to play original carts.


Wonder Project J2, in English, on hardware.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

The old kind often had cripplingly limited storage room and used annoying writer software. Later types solved that thanks to removable cards, yet their internal memory was too slow to keep up with the access time many GBA games need.

Sorry, not to derail the topic, but it's funny, there's that theory/concept again about GBA cards having "slow" internal memory again!

I recall being "educated" a few months back (can't remember by who) that that concept isn't scientific. Something along the lines of ram is ram and it can not be "slower" or "faster".

Which is odd, since I've seen so many who have different version GB and GBA flash cards that complain that on the cheaper cards some techologically advanced games run "slower" - a complaint which I agree with.

I have a few GBA flash carts that will NOT run Mario Kart at full speed, and I've always personally thought that was attributable to slow internal memory/ram.

At this point, since there seem to be continuing conflicting theories that I have yet to sort out, I'll just believe that there are magical elves living in my flash cartridges that make them work, and the only ones that do good work/run the games at full speed are the ones in the EZ Flash brand carts.

On topic, if this N64 cart has a high level of compatibility, it's roughly the cost of 4 N64 games at their original MSRP. Being able to have a fullset on one cart for that cost is completely reasonable IMO.

[kedawa]

There are literally thousands of different varieties of RAM, and they most certainly don't all have the same latency.

I'm definitely interested in this, but at that price, it had better be top quality.

Other than an N64 ROM set and homebrew games, what else would you put on this thing? Are there any decent emulators for N64? Other types of software?
Will it play 64DD games?

[c0ldb33r]

Will it play 64DD games?
Good question. I'll buy whichever device (this or the everdrive 64) that supports 64DD games.

[buzz_n64]

Good question. I'll buy whichever device (this or the everdrive 64) that supports 64DD games.

I would say no, they would have to do extensive hacking in order to reconfigure and redirect the system to do that.
Another point, you obviously would need the 64DD unit as well because of the 32-bit coprocessor.

[Greg2600]

I guess I can't understand wanting to play on original hardware but not also wanting to play original carts.

You could score a huge N64 library for the price of this thing and the card.
It's a valid point, no question about it. Like Stone Age said, too, it's a very small niche market. I think most buyers are more interested in seeing the success of the technology than some kind of convenience. The fact is guys like Marshall, Krikzz, Retrousb/bunny boy, classics/Atari Max, aren't making all that much off them. There's just not enough buyers. Although I suspect SNES and Genesis Everdrives have sold very well.

[Gameguy]

Wonder Project J2, in English, on hardware.
That's the only reason I would be interested in this flash cart, I still don't want to pay $200 though so I won't be getting it.

[MarioMania]

That the only reason I'm not buying the Everdrive, Load a game in like 9 seconds..

On the PC with Fusion loading Super SF2 is a second, Krikzz chose the slow route, SD Cards

[StoneAgeGamer]

That the only reason I'm not buying the Everdrive, Load a game in like 9 seconds..

On the PC with Fusion loading Super SF2 is a second, Krikzz chose the slow route, SD Cards

According to Igor EverDrive64 load times should be comparable to 64drive.

[MyTurnToPlay]

That the only reason I'm not buying the Everdrive, Load a game in like 9 seconds..

On the PC with Fusion loading Super SF2 is a second, Krikzz chose the slow route, SD Cards

that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. You can't wait 9 seconds??

seriously, this is exactly what's wrong with kids these days. nothing but a bunch of bratty selfish pricks who sit on their lazy fat behinds. go play with your stupid xbox or ps3

[Leo_A]

I would say no, they would have to do extensive hacking in order to reconfigure and redirect the system to do that.
Another point, you obviously would need the 64DD unit as well because of the 32-bit coprocessor.

Nothing in the 64DD is used to run the software itself. The hardware present is just to operate the disk drive functions and handle the connection with the N64, not to run the actual code contained on the disk. The software code runs off the N64 itself (along with the necesary ram expansion pack).

So it doesn't seem impossible, although I'm not sure what the point would be.

I'd rather see someone hack F-Zero X to add the track editing program and the additional cups and new music for the DD expansion to the NTSC rom image in order to run it off a multicart. I'm pretty sure that is most all of the content anyone would ever actually want to play from the disk drive more than once.


Other than an N64 ROM set and homebrew games, what else would you put on this thing? Are there any decent emulators for N64? Other types of software? Will it play 64DD games?

This picture on their site seems to be of some sort of a NES emulator for the N64.

http://64drive.retroactive.be/img_action_4.jpg

[TKO]

From all the info that I have at this point , I've decide to go for Everdrive64 on this one. The other carts are too expensive.

[Clownzilla]

It's a valid point, no question about it. Like Stone Age said, too, it's a very small niche market. I think most buyers are more interested in seeing the success of the technology than some kind of convenience. The fact is guys like Marshall, Krikzz, Retrousb/bunny boy, classics/Atari Max, aren't making all that much off them. There's just not enough buyers. Although I suspect SNES and Genesis Everdrives have sold very well.

I think people need to realize that this is a niche product that isn't for everybody (including myself) especially given the price. The price is probably fair given what the product does and the cost of production+profit but I don't think they ever expected this thing to sell in mass quantity. Now, make a high quality cart for Gameboy Color or Atari Lynx and I will probably shell out some cash:)

[Greg2600]

From all the info that I have at this point , I've decide to go for Everdrive64 on this one. The other carts are too expensive.
You don't even know what it will cost yet.

[Flack]

That the only reason I'm not buying the Everdrive, Load a game in like 9 seconds..

On the PC with Fusion loading Super SF2 is a second, Krikzz chose the slow route, SD Cards

Hah!

The Z64 (a N64 copier that uses Zip Disks) takes about a minute to load games. That's better than the old Super Nintendo copiers. Those used to take up to a minute per disk, and many games spanned two or three disks.

[StoneAgeGamer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmJjDtpF6UY

[alec006]

I would love that especially for beta games or modifications of games running on actual hardware.