The Decade of the N64 131
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.
Meh? (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Uh Perfect Dark? (Score:5, Insightful)
List 'o memories:
-You killing Elvis' friend in the underwater mission. "Everything's going wrong!" while he tears at his hair in an eerily poignant moment.
-The amusing lines of other guards when you headshot someone in another room with a silenced weapon. "MY GOD! Whhhyyyyyy!"
-The bonus mission where you replay an earlier level but get access to other areas (alien suicide mission to blow up the spaceship so it doesn't fall into human hands). I always liked those "you should not be here..." wall textures in other early FPS.
-...and Morgan Freeman as "The President"
-Laptop sentry guns saving the day in combat simulator challenge missions
Re:Meh? (Score:2, Insightful)
I did finally trade in the 64 to get a Gamecube, but I believe I kept the Ocarina game for sentimental value. Or something.
Anyway, how dare they call the N64 'meh'!
Ahh, such a good console! (Score:2, Insightful)
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
First Meh Console? Virtual Boy! (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
N64! (Score:3, Insightful)
Simply stunning, no room for "meh"
Re:Meh? (Score:4, Insightful)
*deep breath*
Mario Party 1-3, Mario Kart 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Star Fox 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong 64, BlastCorp, Diddy Kong Racing, Killer Instinct Gold, Banjo-Tooie, Wave Race 64, Mario Golf, Super Smash Bros., F-Zero X, Hydro Thunder, SF Rush, SF Rush 2049, and that's without even trying.
You must have had your head stuck in the sand to not be able to find a good game, especially considering that the N64 had a much higher signal to noise ratio than the Playstation.
Re:Meh? (Score:2, Insightful)
Yeah, no kidding. Because the loss was internal to Rare. (Is there an echo in here?) Rare lost the programmers that made it Rare, then went down the tube quickly. There was nothing Nintendo could do except unload it. (There's that echo again.)
Re:It wasn't great, but Mencia wasn't entirely rig (Score:3, Insightful)
N64's Secret Gem (Score:1, Insightful)
Hats of to the Big N for their tennis excellence and I'll keep my eyes open for the first wii tennis game!
PS vs N64 (Score:5, Insightful)
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.