@Yosheel it wasn't the cartridge that was the "limiting" factor, it was the avail. hard memory size and cost, back then, which now a days is not an issue, a small hardwired chip of 256GB costs $5 (at PRODUCTION cost, not retail) and is the size of 4 small pieces of sand, so carts in a manner of speaking, the production cost of a 128GB cart would only cost the same as a 256GB Blu-Ray game disk, but has a damage resistance well worth the few extra pennies
in fact, with games getting bigger and bigger, but system memory not getting any better, I think the low costs are the reason physical carts will remain on the market and not go solid digital for many years to come
"If failure is the greatest teacher, how come we are not the most superior beings in the universe ???"
what killed the 64 was lack of games, it had great games, but the PSX had a number of games that was 4x more per year and the game costs were also far more friendly
"If failure is the greatest teacher, how come we are not the most superior beings in the universe ???"
The N64, much like the Gamecube was technically superior to the competition, but both suffered from the fact that the dominate console of the time was the weakest console. A quick reference for Gamecube would be to look at RE4 on Gamecube and then compare it to the PS2 release. Part of what won me over to the Gamecube from the PS2 was the graphics on Nintendo exclusive games (Metroid Prime, Star Wars: Rouge Leader, Super Mario Sunshine, and even Zelda: Windwaker).
I believe that is what finally pushed Nintendo to focus on gameplay over specs, and produced the Wii and DS. For two generations they beat the competition on specs but lost on marketing and hype.
@jhewitt3476
Yes of course. I'm not saying rom memory in a chip in general was limiting, or that cartridges themselves were limiting. I'm saying Nintendo's cartridges were limiting, at the time, compared to other options.
They came in a max size of 64mb and were expensive. As expected.
@ReaderRagfish " Nowadays it can be hard to tell which system looks better"
It's not difficult. Just compare Conker's Bad Fur Day and the best-looking PS game that you can find. It's like a generation difference.
The big limitation of Nintendo 64 (Ultra 64 before launch) was the cartridges, those are real cartridges unlike Switch flash memories. Real expensive cartridges with board and chips and limited memory. No pre-rendered cut-scenes and compressed audio to begin with. Good thing they didn't have massive loading times like CD-ROM consoles though. 64DD was designed to make up for it and include rewriteable function.
@dimi I am not sure, I know that Rare and Factor 5 did incredible things with the hardware but I don't know the answer to your question because Wikipedia does not specify but use the term "rarely". It would be interesting to know though.
@Darknyht Star Fox Adventures and Twilight Princess are two more examples. I don't think that Nintendo focused on visuals only but both visuals and gameplay, and that's why Nintendo was best on SNES, N64 and NGC. Wii U if it was released in 2006 and not in 2012 would have followed but last generation was when Nintendo focused in the "blue ocean" (my nickname is not because of that, I just realised), touch generation and marketing like you needed Brain Training to not get stupider and the Wii waggle fad.
Nintendo 64 is special for me because it was before all that and it's remarkable how Nintendo's first 3D game (not counting Starwing, Stunt Race FX and such) was so amazing! And still is. Super Mario 64. Better than Super Mario Odyssey released 21 years later... Yes, I said it. This is my opinion, obviously.
@BlueOcean Let's be honest, Star Fox and Stunt Race FX were amazing at the time because no one thought 3D was possible on a console then (1993). We look at it now and make fun of the frame rate and graphics, but that was a technical marvel at the time.
@Darknyht
it's like that with everything, modern day who grew up with a better evolution of everything, looks upon the prehistoric, caveman shnizzit older generations experienced early or begining
you make fun of the Model T Ford now, 4 cylinder, 2 stroke 177cu"(2.9L), 45mph(pushing it) 20HP and sounded like a shotgun wedding after party, but now you see Mini Cooper's 3 cylinder, 4 stroke, 91cu" (1.5L), 90MPH, 134HP and ya, no respect that that marvel of the Model T (or even more so, the model A), what about hard drives ??? in 1986 (the year the NES came out in the US), a top of the line, high capacity P.C. (single) hard drive held a tremendous 48MB , that same high end p.c. had 16MHz processor, 2MB RAM and screen resolution was 160p , was twice the size of your PS4 and cost a huge $2,400 U.S., but now you can pic up an RCA Voyager 7" tablet, 1.2GHz processor, 1GB ram, 1080 x 600 resolution, 16GB storage, 1/2" thick, 7" long, 4.5" wide and ONLY $40 !!!
the glorified hangglider with a lawnmower engine that the Wright Brothers took less than a football field, ect., yah, it's easy to dismiss and mock for today's people, but those of us who were there during those disrespected marvels know that the complacent generation of today will be saying the same thing 35 years from now, as we do,
too bad it will take that long too
"If failure is the greatest teacher, how come we are not the most superior beings in the universe ???"
@jhewitt3476 The world and society both change, and it is important for all generations to not just study history but to study it in the context of the culture/societies of the time. The early 80's was a time when writing code directly to the chip in machine language was still common and they worked within some real physical constraints for both storage and RAM. Yet there are some amazing things that was done with the technology.
We tend to forget that Wolfenstein 3D had only released the year before (1992). X-Wing would release at the same time (Feb 1993) and Wing Commander was still sprite based (and would be until 1994). Virtual Racing had only just reached arcades a few months prior, and there (along with PC) was mainly where 3D stayed for a few years.
@Darknyht Sure, they are. I don't mean that they are not but that Super Mario 64 is the first proper 3D world game by Nintendo.
Why did you read my comment in a negative way? I just said "not counting SNES games" because that's another kind, not implying that they were bad. I am super fan of SNES.
@ReaderRagfish Well, it's not opinion but a fact so they must be blind, it's technically impossible to create Conker's Bad Fur Day visuals on PS.
@KingMike I loved Stunt Race FX, I thought it was cool and I was impressed even by the really basic horses, rocks and rain. Obviously, SNES was not ready for 3D visuals but Stunt Race FX and both Star Fox/Starwing games (I played the second on SNES Classic Mini) are impressive for being 16-bit.
Nintendo 64 hardware is more recent and more prepared for 3D visuals and I really think that Nintendo's first effort, Super Mario 64, is a masterclass of 3D platforming and exploration that still is great.
@BlueOcean I apologize if that came across negative, it is just that even I was thinking about Star Fox in rose-colored glasses. I was remembering PC games that hadn't been released as being there first. Any while Wolfenstein 3D was a 3D shooter, even more than Doom, did it by trickery more than true 3D. Star Fox was the probably the first, if not one (X-Wing did release around the same time) of the first true 3D games in people's homes. At the time, that was something that only existed in the high-tech arcades on specialized boards.
Honestly, I feel that way even more since listening to an interview with one of the programmers. The most fascinating thing was the fact that the FX chip would have been built into the SNES (1991) had Nintendo discovered Argonaut a few months earlier. By the time they came to Japan however, the production process of the SNES had already kicked in and they had to settle for the FX chip. So the FX chip was something that started development before the SNES launch.
@BlueOcean if you consider the phrase "proper 3d", Nintendo did pretty damn good with giving "proper 3d" thanx to the assistance of the Mode 7 chip in the SNES, "3D" itself being very misleading, since (forgive my next word) in "reality", videogame 3D is an illusion and considering the tech at the time, there were several 3D games that were done very "proper"
"If failure is the greatest teacher, how come we are not the most superior beings in the universe ???"
@jhewitt3476 A textured modern 3D "WORLD" where you could go anywhere and explore, it is pretty obvious what I mean. Jesus. I wonder how Super Mario 64 would look on SNES with the Super FX2 chip...
@Darknyht It doesn't surprise me. Star Fox/Starwing is an early SNES game. The way SNES works let developers hide expansion chips in a cartridge as if it was a secondary motherboard in the console, instead of releasing physical add-ons like Sega for Mega Drive. Several chips exist but Super FX2 is the most advanced. Obviously, it creates an early version of 3D environments and are limited by SNES's own limitations but these chips also make the difference between NES and SNES even bigger. Granted, these games were impressive, but newer hardware was needed to make something more realistic, more natural and with a smooth frame rate.
@BlueOcean I don't fully agree as the Playstation had fully 3D games (Ridge Racer) before Mario 64, and Tomb Raider/Crash Bandicoot came out mere months after Mario 64 (which means it probably was in development at the same time). Most remember the Playstation/PC version, but the Saturn version was a timed exclusive.
What I will give Mario 64 is it perfected 3D Platforming, is a Master Class in level design, and was beautiful for the time.
@Darknyht That's why I said "Nintendo's". I know that Tomb Raider was released around the same time, earlier than Super Mario 64 in Europe actually. Crash Bandicoot is not an open world anyway. Ridge Racer is a racing game with narrow roads.
I'm sure Nintendo is not going to make a system with a cover disguising the control ports for two reasons, the NES & SNES mini do not have one and a cover that slides out is obviously poorly designed, you can see it has a whole lot of wiggle and the shape, length and how it pulls out would cause it to break REALLY easy and quickly
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Topic: Do you think the N64 Mini (if it is real) will be releasing soon?
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