Fifteen Classic Game Console Design Mistakes

[NeoTechni]

I too feel the N64 thing was overblown. We don't need every system to be the same. Then we get all of the same games, and it defeats the point of multiple systems.

N64 being cart based resulted in games we couldn't have had otherwise, like Perfect Dark.

[CelticJobber]

I loved the cartidge format and hated to see it go after the N64 era.

[vivaeljason]

While I didn't agree with every criticism on the list (the N64's problems, for one), I will say that was a very well written article that thoroughly covered a lot of design mistakes that should be avoided if necessary.

[Akito01]

I loved the cartidge format and hated to see it go after the N64 era.

Don't count it dead just yet (although it may depend on your definition of a 'cartridge').

I think it is interesting that the upcoming DS game Ninokuni (Another World) is going to be on a 4 GB DS card -that is much larger than the 1.8 GB that a PSP UMD disc can hold. Consider what a change that is from when the DS was first rolled out. What does this mean on the console side? Well, if either Nintendo or Microsoft want to skip giving support to BluRay for their next console generation, it might be worthwhile to use some kind of flash memory based cartridge. By the times these machines roll out, the costs and capacities of this kind of memory storage could certainly rival that of BD.

[MASTERWEEDO]

I'm hoping this trend with discs ends soon, too many games get destroyed by rough handling(sometimes by the console or case it came in), i can still lay many nes that i've dropped, hell i flipped my explorer doing 70mph with a bunch of nes games in it, they all still worked when i picked up off the road.

[A Black Falcon]

Don't count it dead just yet (although it may depend on your definition of a 'cartridge').

I think it is interesting that the upcoming DS game Ninokuni (Another World) is going to be on a 4 GB DS card -that is much larger than the 1.8 GB that a PSP UMD disc can hold. Consider what a change that is from when the DS was first rolled out. What does this mean on the console side? Well, if either Nintendo or Microsoft want to skip giving support to BluRay for their next console generation, it might be worthwhile to use some kind of flash memory based cartridge. By the times these machines roll out, the costs and capacities of this kind of memory storage could certainly rival that of BD.

4Gb, that is Gigabit, not Gigabyte like Sony. That's ~512MB. (8 bits to the byte) Nintendo's still counting all of its cart/card-based games in bits, not bytes, as was done with most all cartridge-based systems in the past. CD systems generally use bytes. It makes the cart-based game sound bigger than they are...

But anyway, yes, direct download games and card-based games on DS definitely are nice to see, I think discs are okay but I really do like the better reliability and durability and load times of carts. Hard drives aren't as fast as carts, for sure, and not as reliable either (not even close), but at least they're faster than CDs, and probably more reliable than them if just because it's harder to damage them by accident.

[GarrettCRW]

That's still close to the amount of memory in a CD. It's thoroughly possible that games could push the Gig barrier by the end of the DS/DSi life cycle.

[Ze_ro]

N64 being cart based resulted in games we couldn't have had otherwise, like Perfect Dark.

I'm sorry... what? Aside from some added load times, I see nothing about Perfect Dark that could not have been done on a CD.

That being said, using cartridges has other advantages... like being able to jam extra hardware into there. Memory packs should never have been necessary, as games that were done properly simply had SRAM on the cartridge. And although the N64 didn't survive long enough to see such expansions, consider that the SNES would have never gotten any SuperFX games if it had been disc based (barring some SNES 32X type add-on).

Also, the fact that Nintendo designed the machine with kids in mind obviously had some impact on the choice of media. Kids would have a much harder time destroying a cartridge.

Lastly, I love the Jaguar controller, and I like the Xbox Duke controller... and I still don't understand the hate towards either of them. Were there actually people who refused to buy an Xbox based solely on the controllers being somewhat large? Plus, Microsoft dumped the Duke and switched the Controller S pretty quickly anyways.

--Zero

[Archangel]

It was a good read. A little much on the N64 cart thing which I really never thought was too much of a problem it was just their thing.

Also I have an original Xbox with the "Duke" controller and I highly prefered it more than the Type S when it came out.

Then again, I have big hands...

[j_factor]

That's still close to the amount of memory in a CD. It's thoroughly possible that games could push the Gig barrier by the end of the DS/DSi life cycle.

Yeah, but how old are CD's? And they're just now getting close?

[NeoTechni]

I think it is interesting that the upcoming DS game Ninokuni (Another World) is going to be on a 4 GB DS card -that is much larger than the 1.8 GB that a PSP UMD disc can hold

No, that DS card is 4 Gb, meaning 512 MB. That's 1/4 the size of a UMD. And there are a couple multi-UMD games. I know someone's said it before, but I don't want people falling for Nintendo's unit-trick.

DS will never catch up to PSP capacity wise, it will be dead before it gets the chance and devs won't use a PSP-sized budget on a DS game.
No DS game could ever need that space anyway considering how much worse the graphics/sound quality is, and that's what takes up the most space.

I'm hoping this trend with discs ends soon

If you know a better way to distribute 50 GB, I'm sure Sony/ISPs would love to hear it. The size of games is growing faster than what's convenient to download.

I'm sorry... what? Aside from some added load times, I see nothing about Perfect Dark that could not have been done on a CD.

It's more about the load times. It streamed data faster than what PS1 could handle. You got fully voiced enemies via MP3, large levels, high res textures.

Give credit where it's due. That game was a masterpiece. Then there was OOT.

I like the Xbox Duke controller

I had 3 of them. The people I played with wouldn't touch those S ones.
MS was stupid not to let you use XBOX controllers on 360. They were both USB for crying out loud.
They went out of their way NOT to let you use them. 360 still used breakaway cables for controllers, had they kept the same shape they would've been cheap adapters. But noooo. Douchebags had to go encrypt the data to prevent unlicensed controllers.

[Arkhan]

It's more about the load times. It streamed data faster than what PS1 could handle. You got fully voiced enemies via MP3, large levels, high res textures.

Give credit where it's due. That game was a masterpiece. Then there was OOT.

Uh. There was that low budget came on PS1... Broken Helix. It was more impressive than Perfect Dark IMO. Plus Bruce Campell is the main dude, so thats even funner.

and Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown?

both had voices/textures/large levels.......


the difference being, they werent sluggish like Perfect Dark.


Hell, duke nukem even had a JUMP button! WOO.

There were some other good first person games on PS1 that trump Perfect Dark. Jumping Flash 2 comes to mind.


The cartridge for N64 had obvious setbacks you could always see while playing. Turok had a draw distance of like, 3cm.

[Kiddo]

Uh. There was that low budget came on PS1... Broken Helix. It was more impressive than Perfect Dark IMO. Plus Bruce Campell is the main dude, so thats even funner.

and Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown?

both had voices/textures/large levels.......


the difference being, they werent sluggish like Perfect Dark.


Hell, duke nukem even had a JUMP button! WOO.

There were some other good first person games on PS1 that trump Perfect Dark. Jumping Flash 2 comes to mind.


The cartridge for N64 had obvious setbacks you could always see while playing. Turok had a draw distance of like, 3cm.

Half of this sounds more like complaining about a game you don't like than actually comparing technical merits/flaws. Especially since you're comparing Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown to Perfect Dark rather the more obviously comparable Duke Nukem 64. (And bringing up Jumping Flash 2 is essentially comparing a platformer with FPS elements to an actual FPS, which just drives that point home.)

Also, fog in Turok was used to reduce slowdown and has little to nothing to do with the cartridge format.

[TonyTheTiger]

Square was like the canary in the coal mine for the N64 - a trendsetter. Once Square made their decision a lot of other people must've felt "well, that settles it." Not just gamers, but executives too.

I think Square was more the messenger than anything else. The trend during the second half of the 90s was for gradually more cinematic experiences. FMV was the premier delivery method. People went crazy for that stuff.

It just so happened that Square, with Final Fantasy VII, delivered just the right thing at just the right time giving people exactly what they were looking for. Sony essentially got lucky. People interpreted FFVII as a sign that Playstation games were more cinematic and, particularly RPGs which were riding FFVII's coattails at the time, became synonymous with quality. And as nice as some N64 games looked, it wasn't FMV, regardless of how cinematic it was. And the Saturn had it's own issues preventing it from competing properly in North America unrelated to the games themselves.

Had Square sent FFVII to the N64 it might have been some other game with huge FMV sequences that did the job for Sony. I'm not sure that Square or FF, by nature of just being Square and FF, really made the difference. It just so happened they're the ones that did the job when it needed to be done.

[j_factor]

It's more about the load times. It streamed data faster than what PS1 could handle. You got fully voiced enemies via MP3, large levels, high res textures.

It came out in 2000. Even if the aged Playstation couldn't have done it (which is debatable), surely the Dreamcast's optical drive could've handled it, or it could've been done on PC CD-ROM.

[vivaeljason]

I think Square was more the messenger than anything else. The trend during the second half of the 90s was for gradually more cinematic experiences. FMV was the premier delivery method. People went crazy for that stuff.

It just so happened that Square, with Final Fantasy VII, delivered just the right thing at just the right time giving people exactly what they were looking for. Sony essentially got lucky. People interpreted FFVII as a sign that Playstation games were more cinematic and, particularly RPGs which were riding FFVII's coattails at the time, became synonymous with quality. And as nice as some N64 games looked, it wasn't FMV, regardless of how cinematic it was. And the Saturn had it's own issues preventing it from competing properly in North America unrelated to the games themselves.

Had Square sent FFVII to the N64 it might have been some other game with huge FMV sequences that did the job for Sony. I'm not sure that Square or FF, by nature of just being Square and FF, really made the difference. It just so happened they're the ones that did the job when it needed to be done.

I've been thinking about what would have happened if Final Fantasy VII had been an N64 game recently, and I've got to say that this post did a lot to change my opinion.

I had previously thought that the N64 would have done better with FF7, but I think this post raised a lot of good points. I still do think that Square jumping to the PS1 was a big deal, but yeah -- the PS1 would have still been huge regardless of whether or not the jump happened.

[mnbren05]

I always loved the duke for the original Xbox I had mine from launch and never saw a problem with it (and my hands are medium sized at best). Other than that I always found N64's controller to be awkward, but I loved the carts (something about the cart will always make it more interesting to own than a disc).

[Sonicwolf]

Here is my least favorite design mistake: The ZIF push down cartridge slot on the Nintendo Entertainment System has been the bane of my existance for a long time now. I wish they had just used a straight off cartridge slot and slimmed the console a bit in the process. Damn thing is massive compared to the Famicom.

[kupomogli]

What, because only a delusional N64 fan could possibly dare to say that the PSX didn't have the best gameplay of that generation? Only a hardcore Sony fan and Nintendo hater would say such a ridiculous thing...

I disagree. It wouldn't take a Sony fanboy to see that Nintendo had a smaller amount of actual good games on the N64 compared to the PSX. Just like the Wii in comparison to the PS360.

The N64 did have quite a few good games though but there's no doubt that some of these would have looked better on the PSX(Mischief Makers and Ogre Battle 64 for example.) The 3d prerenderings would have looked much better. They're sort of blurred in both Mischief Makers and Ogre Battle 64.

I'm also curious as to whether the increased size would have any effect of the quality of the music, or was that just how Masaharu Iwata redid the Ogre Battle/Tactics Ogre music regardless of size. Even if it had lower quality I think the soundtrack is overall the best soundtrack on any game other than Tactics Ogre.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOt7BWc4BQs&fmt=18 (N64)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI7Acv12ssw&fmt=18 (SNES and PSX)

When Tactics Ogre was released to the PSX in the US, the music didn't get any CD quality music such as Ogre Battle Limited Edition did. So that music is the same you'd hear on both the SNES and PSX. Makes me think the music could have sounded much better if Ogre Battle 64 had been released on a CD format. Keep the same style of reworking it, just higher quality sound.

[Arkhan]

Half of this sounds more like complaining about a game you don't like than actually comparing technical merits/flaws. Especially since you're comparing Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown to Perfect Dark rather the more obviously comparable Duke Nukem 64. (And bringing up Jumping Flash 2 is essentially comparing a platformer with FPS elements to an actual FPS, which just drives that point home.)

Also, fog in Turok was used to reduce slowdown and has little to nothing to do with the cartridge format.

technical merits/flaws?

have you played Broken Helix? It does everything Goldeneye/PD does and it did it a few months earlier. It's much smoother, and has all of the "merits" you said 007 has. The cutscenery is also far superior. I don't think I need to bring up the awesome scene in 007 where he jumps off that dam.

Before that even, was Disruptor. Its way smoother than 007 and PD. The only thing the n64 games have going for it that really trumps the PSX is the multiplayer.

Maybe I could have compared DN: TM to DN:64, but does that really change anything? Perfect Dark isn't some glorious piece of gaming nirvana. I thought it and goldeneye blew when they were new, and still think they blow.

They're both overrated.

All of the shooter games are sluggish, and have muddy textures. They aren't doing anything the PSX didn't do. No credit to give since it isn't due.

as for Turok, the fog has everything to do with the cartridge format, and the console in general.

Thats not to say the PSX wouldn't have the same problem, but there was no turok on PS1 to compare it to.