Do you remember the 64Mate? It's an Australian-based project that's described as a "new add-on” for your Nintendo 64, sits neatly under your console, and can be used to house video upscalers, peripherals, and game cartridges.
The Kickstarter campaign has now officially gone live, and to reach its end goal, it requires AU$60,000 worth of funding (about $38,000 USD). The project currently has raised more than $5,000 at the time of writing, with 29 days to go.
Here's a bit about it:
It makes using an N64 console with ancillary hardware more convenient and space-effective, and has an aesthetic that not only fits the original console but is easily customizable and expandable.
The 64Mate will be available in two basic configurations:
'Standard Enclosure' model (designed around housing video upscalers and other electronic devices with an added front-facing artwork frame)
'Cart Caddy' model (designed with an open front and cartridge slots)
The units can be stacked to create a Nintendo 64 TOWER OF POWER!!
We are asking for your help to fund the initial production costs for a small run of 64Mates; in this way we can get these enclosures into the hands of N64 fans around the world!
There are multiple tiers you can back - all the way up to ($6,000 AUD), a bulk buy - and some have already sold out. The standard enclosure and the cart caddy will set you back $49 USD each. This product is expected to ship by this September.
For more details, check out the official Kickstarter game page and learn more about this product in our previous posts.
What do you think of this and will you be backing it? Tell us down below.
[source kickstarter.com, via twitter.com]
Comments 30
Whilst I appreciate the concept this is maybe a few years late to the party......
Looks big enough to hold all the N64 games worth owning and then some 👍
Unless this is like $10 or so, I could probably make something like this myself for about $10.
So, it is an expensive box?
@Moistnado unless I'm missing something, yes. It's a box that holds n64 peripherals and cartridges. I could see people buying it for 10 or 15 usd but 50$ seems like entirely too much.
$50 to store 8 games? Doesn't seem worth it, plus it looks ugly.
The guy in the video kinda creeps me out.
lol there isnt that many good games on 64 to fill in that tub of terror.
wooooooooooooooo!
This must work well with the old cartridges from Hollywood Video, with the names in sharpee on the spine...
@yuwarite - I wonder how many bodies that guy has under his floor boards.
unfortunately it is a few years too late.so, no thanks. however, if Nintendo made a N64 classic mini i may get that.
the storage system is nice, but for the amount of games it store and the amount of N64 games we have these days or the amount we may have had back in the day, the accessory is a waste of space.
the accessory should be updated so the user doesn't have to swap out game cartridges every time they want to play a different game.
the game case could always attach to the bottom of the N64 like the 64DD. the accessory can be setup so that the games are plugged into it with a switch that tells the system which game to load. and if needed a false game cartridge can be made to boot the system from the game case which has the different games in it.
so, who likes my idea?
@nimnio If they seriously put Wrestlemania 2000 in there ahead of WWF No Mercy, they’ve made a grave error.
@stevenw45 Now that is something I would buy!
@nimnio I’d say both ISS ‘98 and WWF Wrestlemania 2000 are still among the best football and wrestling games ever made. And if I’m not mistaken, IGN’s list was made before some rather good Nintendo 64 games were released, such as The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Banjo-Tooie, Paper Mario and Conker’s Bad Fur Day.
@Cool_Squirtle I suppose you could also use it to keep other things in it. Like all boxes. I imagine you could keep a few golf balls or some pens. Maybe it is compatible for storing gameboy cartridges...
@HobbitGamer Huh?
@Moistnado Use it as a crazy golf hole!
There is a huge market for storage like this. BitLounger has grown in sales ever year since it started in 2016, and just had it's best month ever in April. Good luck to them! Carts need storage love!
He wasn't really selling it to me, it seems like a N64-shaped box that he didn't really care about.
-but he tin foil background the had going on was kinda groovy!
$49 for something that probably costs him $2 to print.
Sorry but no thanks
“57 takes and that was the best one...”
@SalvorHardin
Super Mario 64, Wave Race, F-Zero X, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Extreme G, Shadowman, Turok, Turok 2, Goldeneye 007, Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong 64, Conker's Bad Furday, 1080 Snowboarding, Zelda - Ocarina of Time, Zelda - Majora's Mask, Blast Corps., Paper Mario, Star Fox 64, Doom 64, Jet Force Gemini, Killer Instinct Gold, Mario Kart 64, ... 🤷♂️
So it's just a special box? What's the point?
Yep. Still prefer my shoe box solution.
.... $49?! Are they high?
Well, there are dozens of other storage items available already. So why do we need this? Here is an ebay listing for an apparently OG N64 storage box.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Original-Nintendo-64-Storage-Cabinet-Case-Holder-12-Game-Cartridge-Drawer-N64-/223957221126?hash=item3424e3ff06
@Kriven While you listed probably the only games anyone remembers playing, it didn't have that huge third party catalog like Sony had. They solely relied on first party titles which 90% of what you listed are. I remember not enjoying my N64 as much as my PS1 and playing the PS1 much longer and having more games to play.
I won't deny people having the N64 as their favorite system, but most people say "the N64 didn't have any good games" is because they were all first-party and a lot of people didn't like them as they were geared more towards children. Sony had more adult-oriented games thus that meme doesn't exist with the PS1. Some people may have only like Mario and didn't care for Zelda or any other IPS thus only ever knowing that Mario games existed on the system and "there are no good N64 games" persisted. The N64 was weird like that. I remember friends only talking about the franchises they liked and didn't play anything else on it.
@ivory_soul PlayStation no doubt had more games than Nintendo 64, and they all seemed edgier or more mature like you said. I’d still say you’d get as much or more fun today out of the 25 best Nintendo 64 games as the 25 best orginal Playstation games.
@nimnio I was about to argue that IGN's list is invalid, but then I realized that we are talking about IGN and the year 2000 no less. Hence I rest my case.
PS: For posterity though ... any such list that does neither feature Star Fox 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Rogue Squadron, Wave Race 64 nor Conker's Bad Fur Day is wrong. 11 out of 10 scientists agree with that statement.
@Sinton Yes, but on PlayStation it continues way past 25. I have almost 200 PS1 games in my own library and only ever owned a total of maybe 10 N64 games. Not saying the N64 is bad, but there is still a stopping point with N64 early on. There are also "non-edgy" games on PS1 like Crash Bandicoot, Gran Turismo, Medievil, etc that were similar to the N64 games in terms of being less adult-oriented.
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