Nintendo 64
The is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the N64 was the last major home console to use ROM cartridges as its primary storage medium. As a fifth-generation console, the Nintendo 64 primarily competed with Sony's PlayStation and the Sega Saturn.
Development of the N64 began in 1993 in collaboration with Silicon Graphics, initially codenamed Project Reality and later tested as the Ultra 64 arcade platform. The console was named for its 64-bit CPU. Although its design was largely finalized by mid-1995, the console’s release was delayed until 1996 to allow for the completion of the console's launch titles: Super Mario 64, Pilotwings 64, and the Japan-exclusive Saikyō Habu Shōgi.
The N64's original charcoal-gray console was later joined by several color variants. Certain games required the Expansion Pak to boost system RAM from 4 to 8 MB, improving both graphics and gameplay functionality. The console supported saved game storage either on cartridges or the optional Controller Pak accessory. The 64DD magnetic disc peripheral offered additional storage for game content and enabled the Randnet online service. However, due to a delayed launch, the 64DD was a commercial failure and was released exclusively in Japan.
In 1996, Time named the N64 its Machine of the Year, and in 2011, IGN ranked it as the ninth-greatest video game console of all time. The N64 was acclaimed and sold more than 32 million units globally. It sold well in the United States but underperformed in Japan and Europe, and its sales lagged behind the PlayStation. It was discontinued on April 30, 2002 following the release of its successor, the GameCube.
History
Background
Following the video game crash of 1983, Nintendo revitalized the industry with the release of its second home console, the Family Computer, launched in Japan in 1983 and later introduced internationally as the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. Both the NES and its successor, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, achieved significant commercial success. However, SNES sales declined during the Japanese economic recession. At the same time, competition intensified with the arrival of the Sega Saturn, a 32-bit console, which outpaced the aging 16-bit SNES and highlighted the urgency for Nintendo to upgrade its hardware or risk losing market share. Additional competition came from Atari's 5200, 7800, Lynx, and Jaguar systems.In an effort to extend the SNES’s lifespan, Nintendo explored the development of a CD-ROM peripheral through partnerships with CD-ROM technology pioneers Philips and Sony. Despite the creation of early hardware prototypes, both collaborations ultimately collapsed, and no games were released by Nintendo or its third-party partners. Philips retained limited licensing rights and used them to release original Mario and Legend of Zelda games on its competing CD-i device. Meanwhile, Sony leveraged its progress to develop what would become the PlayStation console. During this period, third-party developers also expressed growing dissatisfaction with Nintendo’s strict licensing policies.
Development
, a long-established leader in high-performance computing, sought to expand by adapting its supercomputing technology into the higher volume consumer market, starting with the video game industry. To support this shift, SGI redesigned its MIPS R4000 CPU family, reducing power consumption, and aimed to lower unit cost from up to to approximately. SGI developed a video game chipset prototype and sought an established industry partner. SGI founder Jim Clark first pitched the concept to Tom Kalinske, CEO of Sega of America, who said they were "quite impressed." However, Sega’s Japanese engineers rejected the design, citing technical issues, which SGI later resolved. Nintendo disputes this account, claiming SGI ultimately favored Nintendo because Sega had demanded exclusive rights to the technology, while Nintendo was open to a non-exclusive licensing agreement.In early 1993, Clark met with Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi. By August 23, during Nintendo's annual Shoshinkai trade show, the companies announced a joint development and licensing agreement for what they called "Project Reality." They projected an arcade debut in 1994 and a home release by late 1995, targeting a retail price under. Michael Slater, publisher of Microprocessor Report highlighted the significance of the partnership saying, "The mere fact of a business relationship there is significant because of Nintendo's phenomenal ability to drive volume. If it works at all, it could bring MIPS to levels of volume never dreamed of."
SGI named the console’s core chipset "Reality Immersion Technology", featuring MIPS R4300i CPU and the Reality Coprocessor for graphics, audio, and memory management). NEC, Toshiba, and Sharp would provide manufacturing support. The chipset was a collaborative effort between SGI and its subsidiary, MIPS Technologies. SGI and Nintendo also partnered with Rambus, designing a bus architecture to transfer data at 500 Mb/s using its proprietary RDRAM. Rambus hoped the partnership would encourage RDRAM adoption in PCs.
Image:SGI-onyx.jpg|thumb|SGI Onyx like those used for early development
To enable game creation before the hardware was finalized, SGI offered a development platform based on the Onyx supercomputer to simulate expected console performance. The Onyx was priced at up to. It included a RealityEngine2 graphics board and four 150 MHz R4400 CPUs. Once the chipset was finalized, the supercomputing setup was replaced by a simulation board integrated into low-end SGI Indy workstation in July 1995. SGI's early performance estimates proved largely accurate; LucasArts, for instance, ported a prototype Star Wars game to the final hardware in just three days.
On June 23, 1994, at the Consumer Electronics Show, Nintendo announced that the upcoming console would be named the "Ultra 64". The console design was shown, but its controller remained under wraps. The most controversial detail was Nintendo’s decision to use limited-capacity ROM cartridges rather than the increasingly popular CD-ROM format, despite previous development work for a CD-based SNES. Nintendo defended the decision, citing the performance advantages of cartridges. The Ultra 64 was marketed as the world’s first 64-bit console. Though Atari had previously advertised the Jaguar as a 64-bit system, its architecture used two 32-bit coprocessors and a 16/32-bit Motorola 68000 CPU, falling short of Nintendo’s full 64-bit implementation.
Later in 1994, Nintendo signed a licensing agreement with arcade giant Williams. The company's Midway studio would develop Ultra 64-branded arcade titles, including Killer Instinct and Cruis’n USA. However, these arcade machines used hardware distinct from the home console: they lacked the Reality Coprocessor, used different MIPS CPUs, and relied on hard drives instead of cartridges to store game data. The expanded storage enabled games like Killer Instinct to incorporate pre-rendered 3D character sprites and full-motion video backgrounds.
In April 1995, it introduced its "Dream Team" of developers. Graphic development tools were provided by Alias Research and MultiGen, while Software Creations provided audio tools. Game development studios included Acclaim, Angel Studios, DMA Design, GameTek, Midway, Paradigm, Rare, Sierra On-Line, and Spectrum HoloByte. Despite the initial hype, the Dream Team did not live up to expectations. Some studios like GameTek failed to deliver games, while only a few, including Rare, Acclaim, and Midway, made a significant impact.
Nintendo originally planned to launch the console as the "Ultra Famicom" in Japan and "Nintendo Ultra 64" internationally. While rumors claimed trademark conflicts with Konami's Ultra Games prompted a name change, Nintendo denied this, citing a desire for a unified global brand. The final name "Nintendo 64" was proposed by EarthBound creator Shigesato Itoi. Still, the original name lived on in the console's model numbering prefix "NUS-", widely believed to stand for "Nintendo Ultra Sixty-four."
Announcement
The newly renamed Nintendo 64 console was unveiled to the public in playable form on November 24 at Nintendo's Shoshinkai 1995 trade show. Eager for a preview, "hordes of Japanese schoolkids huddled in the cold outside... the electricity of anticipation clearly rippling through their ranks". Game Zero magazine disseminated photos of the event two days later. Official coverage by Nintendo followed later via the Nintendo Power website and print magazine.The console was originally slated for release by Christmas of 1995. In May 1995, Nintendo delayed the release to April 21, 1996. Consumers anticipating a Nintendo release the following year at a lower price than the competition reportedly reduced the sales of competing Sega and Sony consoles during the important Christmas shopping season. Electronic Gaming Monthly editor Ed Semrad even suggested that Nintendo may have announced the April 21, 1996, release date with this end in mind, knowing in advance that the system would not be ready by that date.
In its explanation of the delay, Nintendo claimed it needed more time for Nintendo 64 software to mature, and for third-party developers to produce games. Adrian Sfarti, a former engineer for SGI, attributed the delay to hardware problems; he claimed that the chips underperformed in testing and were being redesigned. In 1996, the Nintendo 64's software development kit was completely redesigned as the Windows-based Partner-N64 system, by Kyoto Microcomputer, Co. Ltd. of Japan.
The Nintendo 64's release date was later delayed again, to June 23, 1996. Nintendo said the reason for this delay, and in particular, the cancellation of plans to release the console in all markets worldwide simultaneously, was that the company's marketing studies now indicated that they would not be able to manufacture enough units to meet demand by April 21, 1996, potentially angering retailers in the same way Sega had done with its surprise early launch of the Saturn in North America and Europe.
To counteract the possibility that gamers would grow impatient with the wait for the Nintendo 64 and purchase one of the several competing consoles already on the market, Nintendo ran ads for the system well in advance of its announced release dates, with slogans like "Wait for it..." and "Is it worth the wait? Only if you want the best!"