New Letter Details Why Donkey Kong 64's Innovative "Stop 'N' Swop" Feature Was Removed

I read the article twice and still have no idea what stop n swop is. Also the letter seems to say "stop n swap".

Can we get a quick explanation on what it is?

Cool. Mystery solved.

@Rhaoulos

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/12/feature_20_years_after_the_release_of_banjo-kazooie_we_speak_to_the_guys_who_made_it

@Rhaoulos The idea was you'd unlock something in one game, then swap the cartridge for a different game and it would be available in that second game. Think it was proposed to work with Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie. Didn't know about DK64.

@Rhaoulos It was a way to connect Nintendo 64 cartridges, by removing the cart while the console is still on, and replacing it with another, because memory stays on the console for a while, allowing one game to unlock content on another, it was intended for Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie and Donkey Kong 64.

The feature was removed from the final versions because it could damage the Nintendo 64, and hardware revisions made it impossible.

Edit: I took too long typing.

@BulkSlash me too

Another thing is that for years, Banjo-Kazooie fans tried to solve the mystery of Stop 'N' Swop on their own, still believing that maybe the feature could be accessed, maybe it was still hidden in the game, but eventually they gave up on that part because it's like a key without a lock to insert it, the feature was straight up removed from the final versions of DK64 and Tooie, the hidden items still exist in the first Banjo-Kazooie but are useless.

Haha man dk64 really pushed the N64 to it's limit.

@victordamazio I find the whole story fascinating. How bizarre that Rare included an unlockable section in the original Banjo that gamers probably never even got to play!

Also, the Xbox 360 versions of Kazooie and Tooie added back the Stop 'N' Swop functionality, with Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts also being compatible, but it didn't came as it was originally intended, the rewards were pretty meh.

@Rob3008 With cheat devices you could access them, and then they learned you could get the items with the built-in cheat codes.

But in the original N64 version of Banjo-Kazooie, the hidden items are useless.

@victordamazio @Donnerkebab @Clyde_Radcliffe Thanks for the detailed explanation guys. I never heard of this before and it's pretty insane for a dev to exploit a glitch to make it a feature.

@RupeeClock You assumed wrong. I played it as a kid, just never finished it 100%.

@RandomNerds Wow, this is incredibly useful. What a quick explanation, especially when you search "swop" in the page and nothing comes up. Too bad they don't sell humain brains on eBay, I could give you the URL.

This is another example of Nintendo's greed and evil nature. Rare should have been allowed to do whatever it wanted.

It sounds like a good way for Nintendo to get sued, as would have inevitably happened when someone broke their N64 using the "feature". Seems like something that could have been easily handled by just using the Controller Pak for storage and swapping between games.

Reading between the lines, they sound a bit miffed in that last paragraph. "Next time, ask us first, idiots." I can't blame them - IIRC this was a feature already publicized to consumers. It was a bit irresponsible of Rare to advertise this feature before they knew it was safe. Still, nature of the beast - Rare was always pushing the envelope on hardware limitations and that was part of what made them great.

I have never heard of direct evidence of damage to the N64 and I have done this many times but its likely more of an anti-cheat stance. I have never heard it called this but it could be correct. We just called it cart swapping.

Did they never consider just using the Controller Pak instead?
Was there some reason not to?

@Burning_Spear "This is another example of Nintendo's greed and evil nature." How exactly was Nintendo benefiting from removing this?
Do you understand what this feature was? It was encouraging users to QUICKLY power-off the console, removing one cart, insert another, and power on.
What do you think is going to happen when have a game feature that encourages users to rashly handle their games, especially children? They are going to yank the old cart out and try to smash the new one in as roughly as possible. Stuff is going to get broken.
@Zidentia Isn't the N64 like other cart-based consoles of the time, in that the cart is part of a circuit as it contains the instructions the CPU is to operate? (I mean, I thought it should, but then later I heard N64 copies part of its ROM to RAM. Which should explain why the N64 has 4MB of RAM, which is a huge amount for a cart-based console of its day. Even though reading directly from the ROM was the real speed advantage of having a cart console.)
So when suddenly the CPU can't access the code... crash. Not to mention just short-circuiting electronics in general is bad.

@Rhaoulos I'm sorry I let you down random person from the internet.

If they required a controller pack to use that feature but not for anything else in the game then that might mean they’d have to put a little Controller Pack required logo on the package and then they would have to explain why that was need and it wouldn’t be a super secret extra. And N64 controller pack space was precious.

@KingMike I was being facetious and playing to the sentiments of the angry mob that finds everything an affront.

@Burning_Spear I picked up on that sarcasm, well done, lol. "Boycott Nintendo!!!"

Why didn't they consider a Controller Pak method?

@Menardi I hereby recruit you to the fold. Every thread must have this response at least once.

was this article ever going to explain what Stop n Swop was? even the hyperlinked text leading to an interview doesn't explain it.

@RandomNerds It's ok. Every community has someone like you on the internet. Also there is a really useful feature called "ignore". And you guessed it, don't bother replying to my comments in the future

@Rhaoulos Yes sir.

@Donnerkebab the idea itself wasn't bad and has been used quite a bit since then, it's just that the method that they wanted to use was.
@DrDaisy it might not of worked as well given that they wanted to use 2 different games and the n64, as far as i know, couldn't unlock things though having save files 2 different games of the same console like consoles.
only games that really worked like that with the 64 only did so between the n64 and and gameboy games via transfer pak, most notably the 2 pokemon stadiums.
odds are, they would of had to make an accessory that would allow synchronicity between the 2 games or go though a different kind of programming hell that wasn't worth it for an old save bonus at the time.

I remember the utterly feel of third wall breakig magic that came over me when I first discovered this in BK. Such a GREAT TIME TO BE A VIDEOGAMER goddammit.
Back then it felt like EVERYTHING was possible and mysteries like these, especially as a teenager, felt like some Illuminati kind of *****. So good.
Today's audience probably would be like "meh, grampa, move aside and lemme play fortnight" but back then, this was the real deal

@victordamazio you switched the console off before swapping buddy.

@KingMike you switched the console off before swapping buddy.

@Donnerkebab you switched the console off before swapping buddy. The N64 the RAM didn't clear for 10seconds after switching off, by the time Banjo Kazooie was releasing in 1998 in following production runs it was reduced to 4 seconds and lower after that.

The 64 had memory cards. Why not use that

Wth lol. This is something a crazy person would come up with. Let's make a feature that only works if you do what EVERY freaking gaming system ever tell you to never do....pull out the game cartridge while your playing it. Good Lord, I believe whatever that nonsensical idea was it eventually turned into what it sometimes called "code linker" or "code linked" games where it's password oriented. Lol nice piece of history tho

@liveswired Hey, I would have switched it off. But what I meant is I'm sure there are people (again, especially children and rather less technically-minded people) who would try it without switching off. Likely those people are who Nintendo was thinking of.

I guess I don't see the purpose. Banjo saved to cart and there were alternative controller memory cards. Couldn't they have enabled saving some data to a memory card and back again on another cartridge and accomplish the same thing?

@Burning_Spear Nope, they had two valid reasons, the Stop 'N' Swop could damage your console, and it was not going to work on all Nintendo 64 models.

@Donnerkebab Thanks for the 'straight to the point' explanation my guy