NINTENDO EAD1 and Other Internal Teams

I’ve reserved the main reason for acquiring a Nintendo console for the second part of this article. It’s true that this reason remains consistent with Nintendo, but it’s equally true that on their three-dimensional console, the internal development teams, directed closely by the brilliant Shigeru Miyamoto, offered the largest in-house production catalog in the company’s history. Some of these titles are absolutely unbeatable, such as Super Mario 64, Wave Race 64, Mario Kart 64, Lylat Wars 64, 1080º Snowboarding, Super Smash Bros., F-Zero X, and of course, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

While 3D in video games had been known for a long time, either simulated with isometric perspectives or through the use of polygons as in Star Fox for Super Nintendo, it wasn’t until the arrival of Super Mario 64 that we realized technology and pure fun could coexist without conflict. The solidity of the worlds shown to us by the Nintendo 64, compared to the jittery textures of 32-bit consoles, surprised me like nothing had ever before—not even Gandalf’s declaration compares.

If Rare had raised the bar to unimaginable heights, Shigeru Miyamoto decided to create the Citizen Kane of video games.

Just a step away from being considered the third remake of his classic Zelda, Ocarina of Time is simply the best game in history. Since its release in 1998, selling nearly two and a half million units in just one month, the game has continually received accolades for its incredible quality. It has been widely named the best game in history by magazines such as Famitsu, EDGE, IGN, Nintendo Power, Computer and Videogames, Next Generation, N64 Magazine, HobbyConsolas, and GameTrailers. Even when it doesn’t top lists of the best games in history, it is always ranked among the top ten.

It’s the rare case of an incredibly long game that never becomes tedious. Of course, it has its challenging parts, so challenging that since then, I refer to difficult sections in games as the Water Temple… and they curiously are WATER TEMPLES. In any case, it’s the game that generated the most hype and managed to live up to it effortlessly. Any attempt to remake it will have to face the long shadow of perfection.

FEATURES

When the Nintendo 64 hit the market, it was quite late. However, it did not offer the same as Sony with their PlayStation and Sega with their Saturn. This was because Nintendo already knew what Sony was going to offer, so they focused on presenting their own proposal, with all the risks that entailed.

• CPU: Custom MIPS 64-bit RISC CPU (R4000 series), Clock speed: 93.75 MHz
• Co-processor: RCP: Integrated SP (sound and graphics processor) and DP (pixel processor), Clock speed: 62.5 MHz
• Graphics Processor (GPU): Z-buffering, anti-aliasing, realistic texture mapping with tri-linear MIP-map interpolation, perspective correction, environment mapping.
• Memory: 36Mbit RAMBUS D-RAM, Transmission speed: 4,500Mbit/sec, maximum frequency 500 MHz
• Resolution: 256 x 224 to 640 x 480 pixels, flicker-free interlaced mode
• Dimensions: Width 260 mm, Depth 190 mm, Height 73 mm
• Weight: 1.1 kg (2.42 lb.)
• Color: True photographic image color (can display 16.8 million colors on screen) with 32-bit palette, 21-bit color video output.

Connections and Ports:

• Controller ports (4 controllers)
• RDRAM Expansion Pak memory port
• Game cartridge slot
• 50-pin expansion bay
• SNS A/V Multi-out audio-video output
• DC 12V/3.3V power input

The famous console offered a traditional gaming platform, but multiplied by 4. Did it use cartridges? Yes, and thanks to that, it could offer games without loading times, interactive sound, durable games, and greater collector value. Just compare the state of a Final Fantasy VII CD with a Zelda cartridge. The games that were not 32-bit ports were of high quality, and although it didn’t have the extensive catalog of the PSX, thanks to its exclusive hits, it sold more than 32 million consoles, which is undoubtedly a good ratio.

LIFE

For the Nintendo 64 to have had a chance against Sony, it should have been released simultaneously or a little later, but the reality was that it appeared on the market late, but with a high-quality catalog. Its launch titles included Super Mario 64, Pilotwings 64, Blast Corps, and Killer Instinct on the first day of its commercialization, which isn’t bad at all. It was released throughout 1996 in the markets of Europe, Asia, and America, and its last releases in 2001 were delayed to appear on the next platform, the GameCube, so the last titles for it came out in 2002, closing a great six-year cycle of intense life. It’s possible that Nintendo’s indecision to focus on developing its next platform (since the SNES was still selling excellently in Japan) and the hype created by titles like Zelda and peripherals like the 64DD precipitated the life cycle of a console that otherwise could have competed with the PSX head-to-head.

CONTRIBUTIONS

Although it’s only been six years since the last game was released for the Nintendo 64, its real life cycle ended almost eight years ago, and in this time, it’s unlikely we feel like playing a game. But one thing is true: its legacy lives on among us.

The Nintendo 64 was a console that played the same cards as the Super Nintendo, but in a very serious way, forever changing the world of video games, something Nintendo has managed to do again with the Wii in a very different but more successful way.

The N64 offered a revolutionary controller that, starting from the failed idea of the Virtual Boy, brought in elements you can recognize in any modern controller:

• An analog stick for greater precision in three-dimensional games.
• Vibration.
• A digital D-pad for classic-style games.
• Four controller ports instead of the usual two.

If we add to this the contribution of genres like three-dimensional platformers, the increase in resolution in home consoles, etc., it’s possible to see why I believe the Nintendo 64 was a great console, possibly treated very poorly by a large part of society. This undoubtedly led Nintendo to avoid repeating the mistake by creating, in less than ten years, a new console with which it tried to redefine its market, this time with the support of its fans.

Es el raro caso de un juego larguísimo que no es tedioso. Claro esta que también tiene sus partes peliagudas, tan peliagudas que desde entonces las partes complicadas de los juegos las suelo llamar el Templo de Agua… y cu