Nintendo 64 (N64)

Nintendo's third home gaming console hit the streets of Japan on June 23, 1996, with a North American launch date of June 1, 1997. As part of the 32/64-bit generation of gaming machines, the Nintendo 64 was in direct competition with the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn, as well as the less successful Atari Jaguar and Panasonic 3DO.

The gaming world was abuzz with rumours and speculation about Nintendo's next generation machine well before its release. Back in the company headed by Shigeru Miyamoto, it was first codenamed "Project Reality", sending the industry into a whirlwind of discussion about possible virtual reality-type gaming. Eventually, the big N revealed its 64-bit video game console as the "Ultra 64". This "Ultra 64" branding can be found on the arcade versions of Cruisin' USA and Killer Instinct, titles said to be powered by Nintendo's 64-bit console. In the end, however, the company decided to name the machine the "Nintendo 64", or N64 for short, and the name stuck.

Perhaps the most memorable title to ever hit the N64 was also one of the only two games available at launch (Pilotwings 64 being the other). Super Mario 64 revolutionized the industry. It was not the world's first 3D platformer, but it clearly popularized the genre.

This was a huge jump from the side-scrolling days of the SNES, allowing gamers to explore expansive environments in three-dimensions. The goal of the game, as with virtually every other Mario adventure title out there, was to defeat Bowser and save the Princess, but the game play was radically different. Instead of providing a linear stage-to-stage obstacle course to follow, Super Mario 64 gave gamers a chance to make a few of their own decisions, emphasizing exploration and diversity. In this way, the action-adventure platformer borderlined on the RPG genre.

Instead of the usual grey that was found on the NES and SNES, the Nintendo 64 was black and was less "boxy." Four controller ports could be found on the front of the console, emphasizing multi-player capabilities (four-way deathmatches and races became incredibly popular in Goldeneye 007 and Mario Kart 64). The cartridges were loaded on the top of the machine, much like on the Super Nintendo. There was no backwards compatibility.

The controller is three-pronged, with the traditional directional pad on the left, an analog stick in the centre, and six face buttons on the right (A, B, and the four C buttons). In addition, there are the L and R shoulder buttons, as well as the Z button found on the underside of the controller behind the control stick. By and large, most games were played using the tilt-sensitve control stick -- for example, in Super Mario 64, if a player tilts the control stick just a little, Mario walks very slowly; if a player tilts it all the way, Mario runs at full speed. Also, the controller has a large port in the back for peripheral attachments.

Along the way, peripherals released for the Nintendo 64 included:

• Controller Pak: a memory card inserted directly into the controller
• Rumble Pak: released in tandem with Star Fox 64, it introduced force feedback to the controller
• Expansion Pak: a memory expansion that plugged into the console, providing it with an extra 4MB of RAM

Largely in an effort to avoid piracy, Nintendo opted for the ROM cartridge format. This provided for faster load times compared to compact discs, but had far less storage space. The increased cost of manufacturing cartridges -- $25, compared to 10-cent CDs -- turned many third-party developers away. This resulted in a smaller selection of N64 games, as well as a higher retail price compared to equivalent Sony PlayStation titles.

Nintendo 64 marked the dawn of a new era in video games. Simple 2-dimensional graphics -- be them top-down or side-scroller -- became things of the past, for the most part, paving the way to the realm of 3-dimensional gaming. Because many third-party developers shifted their focus away from Nintendo, a significant proportion of the titles found on the Nintendo 64 were either developed in-house, or by "second-party" companies like Rare. Here is a list of some of the most popular games found on the N64.

• Cruis'n USA
• Goldeneye 007
• Jet Force Gemini
• Killer Instinct Gold
• Mario Kart 64
• Mario Party
• Mario Tennis
• Pokemon Stadium
• Star Fox 64
• Super Mario 64
• Super Smash Bros.
• Wave Race 64
• WCW vs. nWo: World Tour

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