N64 fans know that out of the box, the console doesn't exactly give you the best possible picture – which is why we've seen aftermarket options appear like RGB mods or external HDMI adapters.
However, the king of the hill has to be the superb Ultra HDMI mod, which allows your dusty N64 to deliver astonishingly pin-sharp visuals to your HD television. The big problems with this solution? It's expensive at around $150, and you have to install it yourself, so soldering skills are required (getting it done by a third-party usually adds hundreds of dollars to the cost of the board itself). Oh, and the board is produced in very limited quantities so actually getting your hands on one is easier said than done.
Taking all of this into account, it's easy to see why so many retro fans got unreasonably excited by the news that a company by the name of Intec Gaming was bringing a new HDMI-ready option to the market via the wonders of Kickstarter.
The Warrior 64 uses an original N64 motherboard and boasts a Hori-style pad, but it all comes housed in a new case design and ships with HDMI output as standard. The cost? Around $150, which is what the Ultra HDMI board costs on its own, without installation. You can also buy the HDMI mod board yourself for around $95 and install it to your console.
If this all sounds too good to be true, that's because it is. Retro YouTuber Metal Jesus Rocks was lucky enough to get early access to the machine and has discovered that the HDMI output is vastly inferior to what you'd get from an Ultra HDMI mod.
Intec Gaming has responded to Metal Jesus Rock's concerns and has stated that it will be releasing a revised version of the Warrior 64 when the Kickstarter ends. At the time of writing, the campaign has raised over $49,000 of its original $29,986 target with 9 days remaining. It's not clear if the people who have already pledged will get the chance to upgrade to the revised model, but if you've already put money down for this, we'd recommend you get in touch with Intec Gaming and ask.
Comments 35
I’m getting excited about the UltraPIF region free mod from Wills Console Mods. Got one on order. Also got my UltraHDMI HW2 on order. Can’t wait to game like it’s 1996 again but in pure digital HD baby!
Uses an original N64 board? Is that legal? I thought these clones had to reverse engineer the tech and make it themselves.
@Heavyarms55 Ya I don't think they can legally do that if they are using the original board.
@Heavyarms55
That does sound dubious. It would be another matter if you were supplying the donor system but that's clearly not the case here.
@Heavyarms55 The closest I see on the Kickstarter Rules page is on the Prohibited Items page: "Projects that share things that already exist, or repackage a previously-created product, without adding anything new or aiming to iterate on the idea in any way."
Debatable whether this counts as "adding anything new" or "aiming to iterate on the idea in any way".
@KingMike Well yeah, but presumably the question of legality would be from Nintendo's point of view, not the terms and conditions of Kickstarter.
So I was really interested in this when it was announced in September. With the announced HDMI option there was a glimmer of hope that it would at best be a clone of the UltraHDMI, but as they started releasing more info it became more clear what this was.
Basically this appears to be nothing more than an RGB mod that outputs over an HDMI adapter board. I also strongly doubt that the N64 motherboard was going to be included. It looked to be something you would have to build yourself, similar to other RGB or HDMI mods using your existing N64. The problem is that a lot of people lack the soldering ability to do this type of mod. But sending out review kits I'm sure that they salvaged a few from existing N64's, which there is nothing illegal in doing so.
I think the BIG problem with Warrior's solution is that it appears to be analog RGB signal being sent to an onboard HDMI adapter. UltraHDMI taps directly into the digital signal off of the N64 motherboard. So the signal will never be as clean and clear as UltraHDMI as this is a different solution. At best you are getting something similar to an aftermarket N64 HDMI adapter, but one that taps into the RGB signal on the N64 motherboard. All of Warriors' published pictures and Youtube videos show that it is inferior to UltraHDMI, and this is likely precisely why.
I think I’m getting old. He’s showing differences between it and ultra hdmi, and I can’t tell the difference.
I’m sure if you paused the game and pointed at individual pixels I could tell, but meh.
Using actual boards might have been feasible a few years back but secondhand 64s cost nearly 100 by themselves now
Just cancel pledge on kickstarter.....easy.
@Clammy If you’re looking at the side by side shots, that’s not UltraHDMI, but a $30 Hyperkin product it’s being compared to. The UltraHDMI is around the 2:50 mark, and it looks phenomenal, imo.
@Clammy It's hard to tell the difference on a compressed Youtube feed, but the UltraHDMI since it taps into the digital signal you can do things like disable the N64's native anti-aliasing. The picture is sharper on the UltraHDMI for sure, though N64s 240p image can look a bit muddy or blurry even with the UltraHDMI. I do think the UltraHDMI looks a bit better than the Hyperkin HDMI cable, and to Metal Jesus's claim you can always change the color saturation on your TV if needed. But I'm with him and don't know if I'd want to pay or put the work into this RGB mod with HDMI adapter for the N64.
I'm really interested to see if they reverse engineer the UltraHDMI and can get another variant of it out on the market. The UltraHDMI is great, but I've had my name on a waiting list for nearly a year to be able to buy one that I would have to install. We need options, and I'm glad to hear others are interested in competing with UltraHDMI (though the Warrior 64 isn't a direct comparison).
I played the N64 to death first time round and it was a marvel but I have no desire to return to it, HDMI or otherwise.......it’s a bit like bumping into the fit girl you went school with 25 years later in Tesco and being sorely disappointed by what you see.
Better to just have the memories!
@JasonLee99 : I’m talking about the ultrahdmi section. I even went looking for other ultra hdmi comparison videos.
.. difference is tiny to my eyes. But then, I’m not really bothered about small visual changes, far more interested in if game is fun and decent frame rate.
If I’m having fun with a game, I won’t notice minor visual differences, certainly not enough to make my enjoyment more or less.
Ho hum.. I’ll file this under “things I’m too old to understand”
I think Intec Gaming is the factory that manufactures the Capcom Home Arcade for Koch. They certainly make the Bluetooth mod for it.
@Heavyarms55
You can buy a Car, modify it and resell it.
Why shouldn't you be able to buy Electronics, modify it and resell it?
Pretty much called it, though I do love the idea of something like this being widely available to consumers. The UltraHDMI mod is not so easy to obtain these days. Here's hoping somebody makes an FPGA based N64 clone someday that works as well as other options on the market like the AVS and the MegaSG.
This will still ship before the Polymega though
Imagine not playing any pre-seventh generation consoles on a CRT TV, that's what they we're all made for, not HD 😂
I’m really disappointed. Had high hopes for this.
@Heavyarms55 Selling used hardware has never been illegal. Its the reason gamestop is in business. Clone manufacturers couldn’t manufacture their own brand new boards that are exact copies of Nintendo patents. There has never been anything stoping clone manufacturers from using original hardware and reselling it. In fact some projects have done this in the past with NES and Gameboy. Its just usually more expensive and there is a limited supply, when considering using used hardware.
It would be great if there was a good HDMI n64.
I know some people were having there n64 moded and with very good results there was one on YouTube said he preferred his mod version.
I'll uhhh... just get a new N64.
@Tim_Vreeland That makes sense.
How about the ENKKO N64 Control Stick kickstarter you reported on here in Nintendo Life some years ago?
The difference with this and the UltraHDMI mod is very visible. MetalJesus is one of the best reviewers on YouTube, very honest. If you ever want to buy a game or a console, go to him, you'll hardly find better advice than his.
The controller ports on this looks kinda like a 2007 Alfa Romeo Spider
@Clammy reason i bought serious s the diffrences between the old two without glasses were nothing
@Clammy if you want to see the differences (in general) between UltraHDMI and regular output/other outputs, check out My Life In Video Games YT channel...pop some popcorn, and prepare to sit for a couple of hours, but they go really in-depth.
Check out this video, for example ... the whole thing is worth watching, the part about UltraHDMI starts here:
https://youtu.be/qpy1M6v2_MI?t=700
This is disapointing. Hopefully the proper HDMI mod will get more accessible.
Yes again our videogame lord and savior the MetalJesusRocks had come to our rescue and save us from this bogus Kickstarter scam. Hallelujah indeed.
@KillerBOB Yeah Polymega put on their website that their console will launch in November 2020, well it's November 2020 now. If they hadn't shipped it yet they now only had 3 weeks to get that done.
You did not do a proper side by side with the HDMI Ultra - swiping back and forth there wasn't much difference. Also for the Kickstarter thing it did not look worse than the $30 cable, in fact it did look better though not much. Also, with red saturation would have been easier to see if you froze the image. Just really poor example video...makes me wonder if you are just taking out a grudge?
@Nico07 From reading their kickstarter, there are two main options that are available. The first is a $95 DIY kit that comes with a new replacement case, one new controller, and the DIY rgb hdmi board that would need to be soldered in. The second option is the $150 package, and that one comes with a new case, a rgb hdmi modded N64 motherboard (it's a real n64 board and not a clone), two controllers, and all the cables. The second option already has the DIY rgb hdmi kit already installed for you. Any option you pick from their kickstarter comes with free shipping included in the price.
I just saw this comparison video of the warrior 64 versus regular av out. Seems pretty clear to me that the warrior looks much better than the original av out that most people would have tried using with their hdtv's.
https://youtu.be/gSYhthphc0M
I'm going to back this kickstarter to get the full package. My old n64 was damaged a few years ago during a basement flood, but thank God all my game carts were safe. This will allow me to play those old carts again. By the way, I read on their kickstarter that the warrior 64 console is compatible with the Everdrive cartridge. WooHoo!
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