Happy 10th Birthday N64 (Sept.29) ... link also ...

[dseal]

"Has it been 10 years already? Call the family, 'cause we're celebrating! While Nintendo's third console had its share of ups and downs, one thing is for sure: it produced a lot of industry standards. Here's a look at a few key N64 features that pushed gaming into the 3D age."

http://www.gwn.com/articles/article.php/id/788/


Ah, the memories. My friends still play smash brothers.

[DigitalSpace]

I expect an average at best retrospective on 1UP around Sept. 29th. LOL

I remember seeing Super Mario 64 for the first time on on a kiosk at Toys R' Us. Later on, my cousin let us borrow his N64 and SM64 and I played it any chance I got.

I didn't own an N64 myself until 2004, but my brother did. When they dropped to $99 new, he saved up for one, even putting together a yard sale. Even though the N64 wasn't mine, I did get two games I still have in my collection now - Mario Kart 64 was a birthday gift, and Diddy Kong Racing for Christmas one year. I also had Zelda: Ocarina Of Time, but gave it to my brother when I got the Zelda Collector's disc for the Gamecube.

In early 2004, a friend of mine decided to sell his N64 and his games, and I bought it. It came with Goldeneye, Pokemon Stadium, and a bunch of wrestling titles. I sold and traded off the wrestling stuff but I still have the other two games.

Today, I have 36 games total, and about half of them are racers.

My favorite N64 games:

Mario Kart 64
Super Mario 64
Diddy Kong Racing
Pokemon Snap
Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
Paper Mario
Beetle Adventure Racing!
Goldeneye 007 (one of the few FPS games I can actually enjoy)
The Cruis'n series (Exotica's my favorite, followed by USA and then World)
Mickey's Speedway USA
Micro Machines 64 Turbo
Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth

[MegaDrive20XX]

Man, N64 needs more respect on Sept 29th for sure, 10 years man...I can't believe it's been that long since I remember seeing the first Kiosk...and that was one of the best Christmas years imho.

[segarocks30]

One of my childhood consoles I grew up with. Happy 10 years N64.

[Jumpman Jr.]

My friends still play smash brothers.

"My friends" he is referring to, happens to be me. 8-)
And yes, I pwn his ass every day.

10 good years of N64ing behind me. Still today, my second favorite system (behind NES, of course). Lots of great games.
I better fire up a game of Super Mario 64 before I go to bed.

[Hounder]

You got to be kidding me. It's already been 10 years?! Wow....where has time gone @_@ And I still don't own one yet.

Oh, well....happy birthday N64! You will be mine one day :D

[Captain Qb]

Happy birthday N64 or as I say "nipakuusnelonen" ^.^
And, yes it is 10 years old, damn. Time goes fast.

Still haven't got Paper Mario. -.-

Love, Captain Qb.

[AMG]

I'll never forget the first time I sat down and played Super Mario 64. I was completely blown away.

Happy B-Day N64. 8-)

[WanganRunner]

The N64 is probably my favorite system of all time, it's certainly the system I'm most attached to.

I had always been a gamer, but the N64 turned me into a SERIOUS gamer and a collector.

Mario 64 remains my favorite game of all time, and I still probably play for about an hour a week, trying new stuff, etc...

(of course now it's emulated, 1600x1200 at 60fps, played with an N64 USB Adaptoid)

I own three copies of the cart though....I've got the one I picked up when I bought my system, I have a MIB "Shindou Edition" JPN copy with the rumble compatibility, and I've got an unopened Player's Choice copy.

The N64 is also what got me into emulation, I think of any system it best benefits from emulation in that the visuals take a HUGE leap with the higher resolutions. The push to re-texture map old N64 games are an indication that the emu community agrees with me.

I actually collect anything N64 promo related, including JPEGs of original photos from Shoshinkai and E3 when it was all just getting released.

[itobandito]

I got my system shortly after its release. I was poor back then and couldn't afford to buy a game with it so I went to blockbuster and rented Wave Race 64 and Mace. Both which I enjoyed throughly. Shortly after I got a job at KB Toy Works and bought tons of N64 games with my discount. Was never a huge wrestling fan at all but I thouroughly enjoyed having four friends over and playing Goldeneye, Star Fox 64 WCW VS NWO and later Revenge (my fav wrestling game). Oddly enough it wasn't until a few years ago when PS2 was already out for 2 years or so that I bought Mario 64. A local mom and pop video rental store was closing and was selling there N64 game for DIRT cheap, complete in box, no stickers on them at all. I think I got it for something like 5 dollars as well as a bunch more. Man I really missed out on playing that sooner. For whatever reason I just never played it when it came out, which I found odd because I had played all the other Mario games to death for previous consoles. The system actually holds one of my fondess memories for me. Being in high school hanging with my friends. Great times. Happy Birthday 64.

[suppafly]

The first time I saw the n64 was around 10 years ago, when a friend paid 450 dollars here in mexico to get one with several games.

I was totally blown away when I first saw mario 64, and the same with shadows of the empire. Its too bad that NIntendo didnt choose a cd based media solution, I wouldve liked the n64 to be a far more successful console..

[SarKenobi]

The N64 was the first console I ever bought my own games for. I got it for christmas one year, except I saw it in my mom's trunk before christmas so I kinda got spoiled. The first games I bought for it was both Zeldas. Spent many a summer battling in Mario Kart and Goldeneye with my step siblings and friends. I still own the very same N64 I had gotten and the Zelda games are still boxed!

[Kamisama]

Nice. Didn't know its the 10th birthday today.

Sadly, i never really liked it. But I got one from a friend some years ago. Favorite game should be Zelda Ocarina of Time i guess. I should pick up Mario 64 some time ^^

[tom]

I still remember the UKs N64 magazine (from Future Publishing) claiming the N64 is the first console with 4 joystick ports, first Analog control, first 3D game....yeah right.....how we laughed.

[tom]

gwn, what a crappy website, they can't even spell 'Philips' right.
And the SMS was popular in UK, Europe, were it easily outsold the NES.

[PentiumMMX]

I love my N64...though I finally know what everyone ment about fuzzy graphics when I played Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest on my Gamecube (HOLY CRAP!).

Otherwise, I still like the N64 (It's 3D, though fuzzy, looks a lot better then PSX (zomg majoras mask pwns final fantasy 9!))

[8bit4life]

Man time flies. 10 years!

[MegaDrive20XX]

10 years ago, Nintendo's first venture into the 3D world, had to be the most interesting 5 years I've ever seen Nintendo at. They managed to piss off alot of companies by sticking with just carts only instead of going CD based. Yet regardless, this is one of my favorite systems to play, because of how much fun it was and really revolutionized FPS (i.e. Goldeneye). It perfected Adventure 3D games after countless mess up with bad camera angles in games before Mario 64 came out. Sadly, some still can't learn this in today's modern gaming.

It revolutionized multiplayer gaming to go into 4 player (Mario Kart, GoldenEye, Mario Party series, Pokemon Stadium), and gave birth to the first true 3D Zelda that became so legendary, that it made sure the N64 could get into the history books by far.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/Akumajo22/N64.gif

So here's to you, cheers N64. 10 years old and still being resurrected thanks to your new brother, the Wii.

One honorable mention, is what got me to get an N64 was the announcement of DOOM 64. Since I was already crazy about DOOM on PC and PSX at the time, I knew I had to get one.

Let's also not to forget the mad respect for the import N64 game, "Sin and Punishment" which really pushed the N64.

Star Fox 64 still stands up surprisly well even after so many sequels now honestly. I also felt that Miyamoto finally achieved what he wanted to do with Star Fox when it arrived on N64

[tom]

I wouldn't go as far as to say 'they pissed off a lot of companies because they stuck to carts'.

Companies just didn't care for that format anymore.

[MegaDrive20XX]

I wouldn't go as far as to say 'they pissed off a lot of companies because they stuck to carts'.

Companies just didn't care for that format anymore.

Yeah, but this is japanese businessmen we're talking. They hold a grudge no matter how minor.

[Niku-Sama]

get em while their hot!

N64 is at its lowest price point it'll ever be at games like game crazy and eb games, in fact its aleady gained by $5 at these places.

its pretty much all up hill for it now, its stopped being "the old system" and is now considered retro i have noticed

[PDorr3]

OK I will admit I cant even remember the last time I played my N64 (probably over 2 years ago) but goddamn it was one awsome system, zelda, smash bros, mario 64, mario kart, diddy kong racing, snowboard kids, harvest moon 64, the list goes on.

[The Grumpy Hatter]

Woah. 10 years. That pust things into perspective. I was 4 years old when the N64 came out. 4 years. Really freaks me out.

I remember that my cousins got it near the release date. My family didn't get one for two or three years. But I remember some great times. The one thing that comes to mind first was using two people so you could put in the code in Shadows of the Empire. That was absolutely insane. When we finally got one, it was Christmas. OUr parents got it and Super Mario 64. First console game I had ever owned. When I replayed it in SM64 DS, brought back so many memories. Probably my favorite system, too this day. Happy belated birthday, N64

[BocoDragon]

I remember the N64 was, at the beginning, the console for kids, fanboys and others who didn't get the message that the real successor to the NES and SNES was the PSX.

Of course, a couple of A++++ titles, a general Nintendo level of quality fun, and 10 years of nostaliga have turned the N64 into one of the "all time great consoles". I don't really know what happened there, but the most disrespected console among hardcore gamers has turned into another gooey memory on messageboards and such. (and it's not just the kids who grew up on it)

I guess the lesson that a console could be great with only Nintendo titles had not been learned yet, and the lack of Square, Capcom and Konami's greatest titles burned too much among serious gamers of the day. Mario 64 and the Zeldas seemed to ease that pain, and now the N64 library looks tiny but golden.

[Slate]

Ahhh, Nintendo 64, happy birthday.

I only got mine 3 years ago, I think on memorial day. First Console i bought.

And you know what, i didn't pick up mario 64 until about a month ago. (I played the DS version, but never played the original)

However i got paper mario on Christmas '03 and WOW, that game is AWESOME! I first played it as a rental, And it is still my favorite N64 game. ANytime i see a copy of it (Even if it's complete for $10) I will pick it up, Because it is such a good game and i have only seen 4 or 5 copies of it. Mine, one in gamestop, and 3 in a rental store.