Nintendo 64

The Nintendo 64 (Japanese: ニンテンドウろくよん, Nintendō Rokuyon) was Nintendo's third major home video game console. Project Reality was the code-name of the console being worked on by Nintendo and Silicon Graphics (SGI) in April 1993 to create a next-generation 3D console. The console leaped from 32 bit, sprite based graphics into a polygon world thanks to its 64-bit GPU, thus giving the console its name. The Nintendo 64 was the last home console to use cartridges, though the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance after it would continue to support the format.

The decision to choose cartridges over CDs did make quite a few software developers turn away from the system all together. Not only were cartridges more expensive, but it meant that Nintendo would be the only supplier, enforcing their grip on licenses. Nintendo's defense was to say that cartridges were still the media of choice for home consoles because they did not suffer from slow load times and were more practical than CDs.

The Nintendo 64 first released in 1996 on June 23rd in Japan, was the first system with 64-bit graphics and built-in four player gaming potential. Masterpieces such as Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Smash Brothers and Goldeneye 007 helped sell over 32 million N64 systems worldwide, though wasn't enough to surpass the juggernaut that was the PlayStation. Nevertheless, the Nintendo 64 did make its mark on history with its innovative controller and true 3D capabilities.

History
Initially in 1993 the Nintendo 64 was started as Project Reality. This venture, with the help of Silicon Graphics, was intended to create a graphics processor that would send video games into the 3D realm, confident that it would appease fans of CGI, specially since movies like Jurassic Park and Terminator were becoming increasingly popular partly because of this new technology. Nintendo had recently cut off a deal with Sony to create a CD based console called the PlayStation due to the fact that Nintendo wouldn't have full control over it, and thus went back to the "tried-and-true" cartridge route, thus disappointing both fans and developers alike.

The next year Nintendo changed the name to the Ultra 64, though because Konami, another game developer, had already copyrighted the name for various NES titles, Nintendo had to drop the title and thus changed it to a simple Nintendo 64. Nintendo had hoped to release the console in 1995, though had to delay it, causing it to be released long after the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation had been released. It wasn't even playable until late 1995 in Japan and a few months later in America at E3.

When a small stream of video games were announced for the console compared to that of the PlayStation's, Nintendo delivered the ever popular "quality vs. quantity" statement. Arguably this was true - many of their games have been highly praised, with even The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to this day being the highest rated video game of all time on GameRankings, and Super Mario 64 close behind it.

The aforementioned Super Mario 64 complimented the launch of the console along with other titles that were dwarfed by the shear scale of the newest Mario platform video game that set the standard for all future 3D platformers and, in a since, the entire action adventure genre as well with its fantastic camera. The Nintendo 64 along with Mario, Pilotwings 64 and the negligible Saikyo Habu Shogi were all present during the Japanese launch of the game, which proved successful enough. It was even more successful in America with an appealing $199 price tag as well as plenty of other games that would be released throughout the year that sported popular brand names including Star War, Mortal Kombat, Turok, Killer Instinct and Wave Race.

Because of the aforementioned titles, but primarily Super Mario 64, it sold out entirely in America. The street day was unfortunately for the company broken and the consoles were sold approximately three days earlier than scheduled.

Games
See: List of Nintendo 64 games

Top Ten N64 Best Sellers

 * Super Mario 64
 * Mario Kart 64
 * GoldenEye 007
 * The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
 * Super Smash Bros.
 * Diddy Kong Racing
 * Pokemon Stadium
 * Donkey Kong 64
 * The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
 * Star Fox 64

Nintendo 64 DD
The Nintendo 64 DD is an expansion system for the Nintendo 64. Named Dynamic Drive, it plugs into the N64's expansion port on the base of the system. It was much hyped around the time of the N64's launch, but it was never released outside of Japan.

Hardware
The following are the technical specifications for the Nintendo 64.


 * CPU: 64-bit R4300i RISC (93.75MHz) / 64-bit data paths, registers with 5-stage pipelining
 * Co-processor: 64-bit RISC (62.5MHz)
 * RAM: 4MB (36Mb) upgradeable
 * Graphics: Pixel Drawing Processor (RDP) built into co-processor
 * Colors: 16.7 million (32,000 on screen)
 * Polygons: 150,000 per second
 * Resolution: 640x480 pixels and 320x240 pixels
 * Sound: 16 to 24-channel 16-bit stereo (up to 100 PCM channels possible)

Colors
The Nintendo 64 hardware has four controller ports, which led Nintendo to develop different colored controllers to assist players who may find it difficulty to know which controller is in which slot. Nintendo did not release different colored controller in the previous generation. The initial batch of colors were completely solid and included the standard grey, red, dark green, yellow, black and dark blue. As time went on Nintendo started to release other colors, some of which featured two different colors such as the black and grey one that was released alongside Mario Kart 64 (the top half was black while the bottom half was grey).

The success of different colored controllers can be attributed to Nintendo's decision to develop different colored consoles. Nintendo found it particularly successful to release transparent systems and controllers. Some of the transparent systems even had different colors, such as the pink system and blue system. In Japan, Nintendo released a transparent black system that came bundled with the Nintendo 64DD. The Japanese audience wanted a bundle that included both the system and the additional hardware at a low price, so Nintendo responded accordingly.

Nintendo of America eventually released a set of transparent Nintendo 64s with different colors. The colors were given unique names including grape, watermelon, fire, smoke, jungle green, and ice. Additionally, Nintendo released a special gold Nintendo 64 for the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.