Accessories maker Hyperkin is apparently working on a portable Nintendo 64 system.
The news comes from Hyperkin Senior Account Manager Ramon Navos-Moral, who (rather foolishly, it should be said) posted the following images of a functioning prototype system on his Facebook page:
The machine itself appears to be modelled on the N64 controller, with a screen built-in for portable play. There's a cartridge slot on the back.
We've since contacted Hyperkin for comment and they have revealed that action has been taken against Navos-Moral for distributing internal R&D projects online. Hyperkin has also confirmed that the device is indeed real but like many of the devices it produces behind closed doors, it's just a prototype and may not enter production.
Would you buy a portable N64? Let us know with a comment.
[source facebook.com]
Comments 62
Show it to Nintendo first maybe they can polish it and make it official if they give it a go (dont think so) .
Oh sweet babies yes.
As long as it works properly.
Oh my... "WCW/nWo Revenge" anywhere!
Mind you, I think it would fall apart playing "F-Zero X"...
Really don't understand how people can be so stupid. Who thought posting internal R&D online would be a good idea? Hope this pans out though. Use a correctly sized/resolution screen though, not like the portable SNES garbage. Only thing preventing me from buying one.
I'd definitely buy one if they can sort out a 4:3 screen for it.
"ha ha no one told me not to do it so I can do it, right?"
Famous last words.
Would love one, assuming it was a quality product that ran ok.
What an idiot though. I feel bad for someone losing their job and getting in trouble, especially at christmas, but I can't imagine how he thought this was acceptable.
I’m sure this was a planned leak. No-one is that dumb.
I’d really rather something official from Nintendo along the lines of the other Minis. They need to just ditch the cords though and include wireless. I’d definitely pay and extra 20$ if it came with a wireless controller.
Y'all are holding it wrong...
... #N64MasterRace!
They could call it the Hyperkin Ultra Boy, that would be a cool name since Ultra was suppose to be the actual name for the N64 anyways. Also they need to make a better analog stick. I know they want to be as close to the original as they could but the original analog stick on the N64 controller weren't that reliable and I could see the Hyperkin one being less reliable. Hopefully they take notes from Retro Fighters and just redesign it similar to that one.
Looks like a motion detector. They’re in the ceiling!!!!!
Unit looks nice, but this is the N64. I have a few cartridges lying around, but I'm not all that interested in a revival. There are fewer curiosities, and most of the top-tier games weren't enduring classics.
It'd be nice to have Pilotwings 64 portable though...
Finally, my dream of a properly portable Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon and Jet Force Gemini may be a reality!
I'd buy one, but only if it either includes actual N64 hardware to run all games properly, or its emulator flawlessly plays any existing game... I'm not sure which of those two is more unlikely.
Not really a fan of these outside created stuff but darn that looks cool.
I didn't think it was real b/c it's so darned ugly. Like made on a 3D printer. a really cheap 3D printer.
And who on earth would make that tri-handle design, just make it like every other "normal" game controller the last 20 years.
GBA, Vita, Switch, why make it look like this? Who wants to put that in their front pants pocket to carry around, some crazed Hentai demon maybe.
Isn’t that going to be pretty heavy including the cartridge. Not something I’d buy, but then I just want VC on Switch.
@rjejr
3D printing is pretty common for R&D prototype test products. This is even a step above the original prototype for the Wii U gamepad, which was literally just presented as cardboard and paper initially. Not that such information makes the leak any more or less valid.
And while I totally agree with you that more modern controller adaptations are both more practical and portable, these portable console using real cartridge contraptions are usually targeted at people looking for an authentic feel to the original product. In that sense, the "just strap a monitor onto a normal controller of the target system and call it a day" approach makes sense, if it doesn't become top heavy or something as a result.
16:9 N64? Really now?
Just give me n64 games on my switch
"No Mercy" on the go and kill WWE 18 with fire.
"Would you buy a portable N64?"
Day 1.
@subpopz I understand it’s so hard to get hold of 4:3 screens that it’s cheaper to use 16:9 screens even if very few of the games from that era supported that mode (a few N64 games did - including the little known game that me and my friends played a lot of called Goldeneye 007. Is it rare? I’ve still got my copy...).
Stretching the image though... philistines!
Personally I’ll be waiting for the inevitable mini. An Analogue NT 64 though. Now that’s something that might pique my interest even more.
I'd rather have these games come to the Switch. In some cases remasters would be nice, but I would be fine with emulation or direct ports for most N64 games.
Ideally, Nintendo would finally create a cloud platform for digital and retro titles allowing our digital library (along with save files) to instantly transfer to any future Nintendo console. Hey, I can dream!
Good god yes.
Got a small stack of Rare carts that will ne’er again see the light of day on a Nintendo console. Conker, Blast Corps, Jet Force Gemini and Perfect Dark on the go? Take my money now.
Ensure it’s got built-in controller pak memory for Snowboard Kids, Beetle Adventure Racing and WWF games, and maybe a port for the GB Transfer Pak for Mario Golf and Pokemon Stadium, and it’s perfect.
Though in terms of Ultimate wish list, let’s make sure it’s capable of outputting to HD TVs and lets you plug in 3 more controllers too...
Nintendo’s own approach to N64 VC has been painfully limited in scope on the Wii/U (albeit for valid reasons that the Switch will presumably also be subject to), I’ve had to keep the original console available for a small but essential library. Can’t see it ever being completely redundant, but this could be a nice parallel option for playing those games on the go.
Looks a bit bulky in my opinion. And there has to be a 4MB Expansion Pak somehow built in to the console, or else games like Majora's Mask or Donkey Kong 64 wouldn't be playable for it.
I love portable clone consoles like the SupaBoy and RGP.
I'd be all over this.
@retro_player_22 I have this controller coming.
Play my N64 regularly,id be interested in this for sure, but they need to have the cartridge facing the player.
I would love something like this i still have loads of n64 games floating around and would love to play them on the go as long as it could play the games flawlessly
Hopefully the guy not only gets fired but blackballed. That basically was standard for violating company trust when I was in a decade and a half ago. You leak, it gets around and no one hires you in the field again because you're an idiotic liability with no self control.
On the up side, it's real, good to see the chinese are deep into making a N64 clone that works. Hyperkin blows as they produce nothing, they just take chinese shovelware devices and put their brand on it.
I want this so very much.
Hi guys! Thank you for all your support and feedbacks because I am including it in my report while we are still in development. Hyperkin listens to all your ideas and concerns because it is you, the consumers who will be using it after all! I made a statement with my foolish post and sent a message accross so they will listen more to what the people want that’s why I put my job on the line and it worked. There was no NDA so guess what... I am still here rebelling for the community! Freeeedoooom! 😂🤗
I've bought 2 items from hyperkin and both were returned due to poor quality. While I like the idea of a portable N64, I'm not buying from them.
retrogaming8-bit.com
I wouldn't buy it anyways. Not going to play N64 games stretched to 16:9 proportions.
This guy probably got himself fired for this...
It would be a neat idea but it seems like it would be really bulky and probably heavy. Don't forget N64 game cartridges aren't exactly small.
@TheRamon We’d rather have a retron 6 with the ability to play N64 cartridges on HD TV (in 4:3).
I stand on my old post going off if this were real. But to be clear, I believe there's a 50/50 chance it was a bs PR stunt to tease the internet and stir up a response as I want to doubt someone would be that effing stupid to snap pics as an employee in an R&D area and think they'd get away with it.
I don't buy the #38 on a priority list. Sure, being the first company to put out a N64 clone, and yet a portable one at that being more than three dozen ticks down the priority list makes zero sense.
@cleveland124 As someone who used to play my N64 to death in the day, I remember 3rd party controllers usually being complete junk (although I swore on my clear turbo version), specifically the stick either breaking down, becoming loose or not centering anymore. Even Nintendo's were sometimes privy to this but the 3rd party ones went through this quicker. I can only imagine how a monitor attached to a controller would hold up. If the controller breaks down, even if the monitor works okay, it's a new system. Can't play a game if the controller's toast!
Slap a display onto a controller housing and pop in a cheap SOC running an emulator and call it done. Ugh. Plenty of YT videos under "N64 Portable" and many that look more polished. Back to the drawing board!
16:9 ratio screen for exclusively 4:3 ratio games? Yeah, no.
@Shiryu Go with the original Mario Party for a stress test of the controller. If it can survive that game, it would survive any of the others in the library.
it looks rather fugly. For me DS is N64 portable and have better games.
@timson72 Did you back the crowdfunding campaign for it? I didn't back it but I do want to buy it.
@strongest_link If only! VC is my biggest wish on the Switch! NES/SNES/GB/GBA/N64/GC games all on TV or on the go! It would be a dream come true for me!
Unless they can guarantee that the damned analog stick won't break, any sort of N64 classic is a no-deal for me. Always wore them out over the summer with multiplayer anythings. Was never much on the mid-late 90s era of 3d gaming, either way.
I feel like they really missed the window for this kind of thing these days. Anyone would would be seriously into something this niche would probably just be playing these games on their phone or something. I guess it could work like those new release versions of old Nintendo consoles that you see in Asian markets.
@retro_player_22 yeah,should be here early next year. They're looking to release coloured versions.
Will definitely get this if it becomes a real thing.
You could already do this on Android. Just buy a IPEGA gamepad, and you get a portable retro console.
@Heavyarms55 Agreed!
@TrixieSparkle "just strap a monitor onto a normal controller of the target system and call it a day"
Normal controller and non-normal 16:9 Either go authentic or improve everything, why pick and choose? And why choose that horrible controller design. Sorry, I've just never understood or accepted that controller design.
@rjejr
It's actually cheaper to get 16:9 screens rather than 4:3 screens these days for making products, due to mass production. 4:3 is a premium commodity item now. Newer products using 4:3 usually just block off the remainder of the 16:9 screen and render in the middle or something similar, like letting people toggle to the resolution they want to use. Even if the final version adapts 4:3 in some way (if there is a final version or if this is even a planned product), it makes sense for a prototype to be 16:9.
Between you and me, I'm a graphics heretic that routinely and deliberately plays 4:3 games in 16:9 for the extra screen real estate on small screens. Who would much rather play N64 games loaded from an SD card on a slim pocket sized device with a different button layout. I know where you're coming from, just trying to explain why this exists.
@TrixieSparkle I understand the cheaper part about the screen, but if they are going to change the screen b/c it's cheaper why not change the controller to make it better? Once you lose authenticity in 1 spot you've already lost in entirely.
Thanks for the explanation.
Doubt he did this without permission.
@Sinton All comments are considered including yours, boss! Who knows what we come up with next?
oh hell no make it go away
I am a hardcore fan of Minies. If Nintendo decides to make a N64 mini console, I will definitely buy two of them (As I did with NES mini and SNES mini).
This bulky N64 portable console is not my cup of tea. It must be heavy with an extra cartridge (If it cannot emulate games). And as a handheld console it will not offer this nostalgia feeling. If I wanted a handheld N64 console I would buy the retrobit N64 controller and pair it with my mobile via Bluetooth.
After all no handheld game console can surpass the GB collection...
I would give anything to own one of these
@roadrunner343 delete your account fiend
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