Nintendo explains why N64 was not #1.

[theaveng]

"The Nintendo 64 was a highly advanced piece of hardware. However, because it had such superior capabilities, developers probably felt as if it was a "challenge" for them to produce for it. Because of this, along with complicating software development, N64 gained a reputation of being a difficult system on which to develop games.

"Additionally, in response to the demand for new types of entertainment from users in the game trade, the scale of games became larger, and frequently special adjustments to software had to be made. This came back to haunt the developers in the form of development costs and it would not be an exaggeration to say that it made software development more challenging.

"This type of problem, if not solved, could have a dramatic effect on the success of the game business.

"We here at Nintendo decided to focus on solving this issue by creating the NINTENDO GAMECUBE with the purpose of realizing the highest level of performance and to enhance the productivity of software development. This is Nintendo's vision of what a next generation game machine should do.

"Instead of going for the highest possible performance, which does not contribute to software development, our idea was to create a developer-friendly next generation TV game machine that maintained above-standard capabilities."

Source: www.nintendo.com



Hmmm, no mention of the limited cartridge format. I think most of us agree that was the main flaw.

[Kroogah]

Yes, but they were HIGH-PERFORMANCE limited cartridges! BA HA HA HA HA HA HAA! :lol:

I love propaganda. Sure, sure, the N64 was "too advanced". That's why Pilotwings 64 hurts my eyes when I look at the graphics. That's why Super Smash Bros. Melee makes the original N64 Super Smash Bros. obsolete. :lol:

[Raedon]

I don't see any flaw in the N64. It has an excellent ratio of good to bad games. the 32bit 64bit first generation of 3D machines are going to be one of my favorate periods in the history of video games.. N64, Saturn, PSOne.. wonderful! You could literally live a lifetime just playing the games from just these systems. Nintendo has nothing to explain to the gamers. They didn't let anyone down, they showed us how platformers could be 3D!

N64=3d platforms perfection, Saturn=Fighting perfection, PSOne=RPG perfection.

They are also the last of the battle of the Bits systems.

[Raedon]

you two don't own N64's obviously..

play f-zero x and you will see that the N64 is pushing much more data the the PSOne and Saturn. It most certainly is more advanced then any machine of that era.

[Kroogah]

Hooray for processing power over gameplay! :shock:

[Raedon]

1080
teritsphere
Mario 64
banjo-kazooie
Rush
Mario Kart 64
CBFD
Goldeneye
Waverace
starfox 64
Zelda:OOT
f-zero x
blast corps

and so many others.. the N64 has some of the best exclusive games created during that period of consoles.

You are probably a gamer in your teens/early 20's who plays Anime turn-based FMV rpg's almost exclusively. I can understand the younger gen, who didn't grow up on Atari and INTV, thinking that a Cart system with 10% of the storage could be worth anything at all.

[Achika]

I have to agree with Raedon. The system may have had it's downfalls at points, but it was overall successful. Zelda OoT should be a reason in itself to buy the system. Also, the import Sin & Punishment is SO worth the money.

[Kroogah]

You're probably a gamer in your teens/early 20's who plays Anime turn-based FMV rpg's almost exclusively.

:lol: Good one! My favorite Anime turn-based FMV rpg, incidentally, is probably either Samurai Shodown 2, Super Metroid, or Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. :lol: Let me take another look at your list:

1080: I had more fun playing Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder, and that ain't saying much.

teritsphere: Good thing the N64 had all that extra power, otherwise it couldn't handle Tetris. :lol:

Mario 64: One of the few good games for N64, I agree.

banjo-kazooie: Boring, and the voices are terribly annoying.

Rush: If it's not F-Zero X or Outrun, I don't care. ^_^

Mario Kart 64: Ditto.

CBFD: Funny, but still boring.

Goldeneye: I'm not much for FPS games, but I've heard plenty of good things...

Waverace: Haven't played it.

starfox 64: Better than the original, one of the best games for the N64, but I still never play it.

Zelda:OOT: Duh. ^_^

f-zero x: Yaaaay!

blast corps: Give me Rampage. It's a more fun way to destroy buildings.

Yes, the N64 has a few good games, but.....I grew up with the NES and SNES (2 excellent systems for Anime turn-based FMV rpgs, by the way :lol: ) and I, along with many other people, expected so much more from Nintendo. There's a reason that the SNES costs more than the N64 (or the Playstation, for that matter) at Gamestop.


I can understand the younger gen, who didn't grow up on Atari and INTV, thinking that a Cart system with 10% of the storage could be worth anything at all.

OK...I've re-read this sentence about 5 times and I still can't figure out what you mean...isn't "the younger gen, who didn't grow up on Atari and INTV" the group of people that primarily BOUGHT THE N64????

[theaveng]

I don't see any flaw in the N64. It has an excellent ratio of good to bad games.


I agree, but investors don't. I'm sure they weren't happy to see PS1s outselling N64s 3 to 1. Hence the need for Nintendo to issue the statement: "...N64 gained a reputation of being a difficult system on which to develop games.... the scale of games became larger, and frequently special adjustments to software had to be made. This came back to haunt the developers in the form of development costs... This type of problem, if not solved, could have a dramatic effect on the success of the game business."

[Raedon]

@Captain Yashiro:
1) I guess I should have said that the N64 didn't have good fighting games.. but basically you're not the type of gamer to like the N64. :roll:
2) Tetrisphere is not tetris, don't talk about game you haven't played. :D
3)

I grew up with the NES and SNES (2 excellent systems for Anime turn-based FMV rpgs, by the way ) There was FMV on the NES and SNES? :shock:

@theaveng: I never consern myself with the finance of the gaming industry. I don't have stock in any of these companies.. And more often then not I buy the games/system's used so my money usually doesn't even support the makers, just the re-sellers. No, that's not something I'm proud of, but $50 a game? naaa..

[ubersaurus]

I love the 64, I played it, and still play it, more then the playstation. Once you get through an RPG, there's usually not as much incentive to go through again (especially since most of the rpgs on the playstation, well, suck). The 64 though, I played through Mario, Star Fox, Goldeneye, etc. so many times. Hell I can still go back and play them like the old days. It's a system I had lots of fun with, to be sure. I think what truly killed the system was the playstation head start, coupled with poor 3rd party support. I mean, cartridges may have been bad, but it seems odd that these cheaper cds were still being sold for nearly as much as those carts, and you don't need that much space to play a sweet game of Mario Kart.

[Atariguy]

Mario 64 was the first sign that the N64 wasn't as revolutionary as everyone said it was. The game wasn't bad, but it was definately a step down from the last 3 Mario games (SMB3, SMW, SMW2). I thought that maybe it was because that Nintendo was new at the 3d thing, then I played Occorina of Time. It managed to be double the dissapointment that Mario 64 was. This is why I will never consider the N64 one of the greats.

[Raedon]

see, many people, including myself, thought Mario 64 was a huge step up from SMB 3 and SMW. SMB 3 was a good game, but I wasn't blown away by the gameplay, it was just a refined SMB with mini-games. SMW was just SMB 3 with better graphics and.. better graphics.. both were fun.. but Mario 64 had a huge impact on me. It proved that the platform genre still had a leg to stand on in a 3D world.

[GENESISNES]

nobody mentioned perfect dark yet!

[jaybird]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but I can't believe AtariGuy thought Mario 64 was a step down from its NES days & Zelda was twice the disappointment.

Those two games are among the elite of N64 games produced & Zelda is many gamer's pick as the greatest game of all-time.

Having played nothing but 2-D my entire life, playing Mario 64 for the first time was something I'll never forget. That game is truly a memorable moment in gaming history.

[kainemaxwell]

So Nintendo was saying in other words, the N64 was too advanced for its time?! Nice PR going guys. Actually, the N64 did have some quality games and even though the cart format wa slimited, managed to pump out some high-tech games like Conker's, Perfect Dark, F-Zero X, Paper Mario and Resident Evil 2.

The cart for RE2 was a full 256meg (if I remember correctly) with ALL the fmv data from the PSX counterpart on the cart along with both character's games.

[Six Switch]

Yes, but they were HIGH-PERFORMANCE limited cartridges! BA HA HA HA HA HA HAA! :lol:



Ah man that is great.HIGH-PERFORMANCE limited cartridges!!!HAHAHHAAHHA,I am gonna call them that from now on.That is too funny.Go Nintendo! :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Kid Fenris]

One of the things that made the Nintendo64 a "disappointment" to many was its unavoidable comparison to the SNES and NES, both of which were arguably the premier systems of their respective eras (though the SNES shared the spotlight). The two consoles featured game libraries rich with all genres: RPGs, sports games, action/platformers, fighters, etc. And Nintendo wasn't the only company responsible for this fine selection, as third parties provided the Final Fantasy series, the initially exclusive Street Fighter II, and other examples of first-rate, system-selling software.

The Nintendo64, by contrast, had little to offer in the way of RPGs or fighting games, and even the fields in which it specialized were adequately represented on the PlayStation. Moreover, the PSX seemed to corral all of the third parties that had once bolstered Nintendo's status. While some buyers were loyal to the N64 for the first-party titles, others (including me) found that they could do without the big N as long as Namco, Squaresoft, Capcom, Konami. and EA were taking their best work elsewhere.

That said, the N64 isn't a bad system by any means. Rare and Nintendo gave it some truly remarkable games, and it also hosts hidden gems such as Ogre Battle 64, Jet Force Gemini, and the above-lauded Sin and Punishment. I'm not sorry that I eventually bought an N64, even if I'm disappointed that the system marked the proverbial end of the honeymoon between Nintendo and I.

[kainemaxwell]

No matter the system, Rare has always been known to produce high-quality and beautiful titles...intresting to see what Microsnot does with them too.

[nesman85]

the n64 is one of my favorite systems :) i can't think of anything bad to say about it.

[lionforce]

Its interesting to read everyone's opinions, oh yeah, I just recieved Command & Conquer for the N64 in the mail today :twisted:

[WiseSalesman]

Cartridge format = zero load time. That was the single best thing about the N64's format. The problem is, that there just aren't that many games for the system that are fun to play. And of the ones that are, very few have any replay value to speak of. I owned my N64 before my PSX, but I only have about 6 games for it. I have somewhere between 20 and 30 for my PSX.

[theaveng]

The cart for RE2 was a full 256meg (if I remember correctly) with ALL the fmv data from the PSX counterpart on the cart along with both character's games.


256 meg-what? Megabits? Megabytes? Megacrap?

No matter. It was 64 megabytes according to amazon.com. That's more memory than in my computer! No wonder N64 carts were so costly.

[BenT]

Kid Fenris is on the level.

Raedon: PSX actually surpasses N64 in some hardware specs. It is generally considered to be able to push more polys*, and its games almost always have more detailed textures. IMO the N64's main contribution to the console hardware world (besides the innovative controller) was its ability to process textures to eliminate sharp pixels (bilinear filtering). 'Course, when the textures aren't that detailed in the first place, this leads to the blurry scenery seen in so many N64 games.

*I said "generally" because Nintendo, to the best of my knowledge, never released an actual number for how many polys they thought the N64 could push per second. It's easy to see the discrepency for yourself though; PSX games, especially later ones, nearly always have more polygonal detail than comparable N64 games.

[theaveng]

That said, the N64 isn't a bad system by any means. Rare and Nintendo gave it some truly remarkable games, and it also hosts hidden gems such as Ogre Battle 64, Jet Force Gemini, and the above-lauded Sin and Punishment.

Atari expanded the Jaguar64 with a CD-ROM and CD-based games. It's a shame Nintendo didn't do the same with the N64. But then again, I guess they thought moving straight to the DVD-based GameCube made more sense. But I'm sure a N64 equipped with a CD-ROM would have some truly *amazing* games.

Me, I like the $10 used carts. That's the reason I bought a N64: Cheap entertainment. Just yesterday I bought 5 games off amazon.com for $60.

BTW, is there a nintendo64 specific user group similar to psxnation.com?

[Nature Boy]

To be honest I'm suprised they admit to anything being wrong at all. I guess they were looking for a way to tout the Gamecube.

I have heard the "too difficult to program the N64" argument before, and not just from Nintendo.

I've also heard the same thing about the PS2 (no simple method of anti-aliasing exists for example). However, it still sells like stink - perhaps because it still uses the CD/DVD format preferred by publishers? It's impossible to know for sure, but if the N64 had used a disc format who knows what would have happened. Maybe the third parties wouldn't have flocked to Sony's easy to code for, CD using machine in droves.

I personally don't care what format a machine uses. All I want are good games. And the N64 did have some good games.

[MankeyMan]

That said, the N64 isn't a bad system by any means. Rare and Nintendo gave it some truly remarkable games, and it also hosts hidden gems such as Ogre Battle 64, Jet Force Gemini, and the above-lauded Sin and Punishment.

Atari expanded the Jaguar64 with a CD-ROM and CD-based games. It's a shame Nintendo didn't do the same with the N64.
BTW, is there a nintendo64 specific user group similar to psxnation.com?

They released the 64DD in Japan. It was a flop, but was the first place that Doshin the Giant was released on. It also had an *amazing* F-Zero X track creator, and another Zelda called Ura-Zelda was planned for it. This didn't save it though.

I've also been looking for an N64 specific site for some time now, but to no avail.

[Kroogah]

Don't forget the 64DD versions of Mario Paint and SimCity!

[MankeyMan]

I didn't play them, so I can't say. But I heard that Mario Paint was pretty cool, and Sim City was a piece of crap.
Does anyone on this board actually have one?