sounds about right. the ique had 1.5x cpu clock speed and faster ram access speed, everything from loading times to lag was improved. virtual console releases then further muddied the waters with another spec and exclusive glitches to those releases.
locked to 20fps but with slowdown throughout the game. the ique nearly eliminates that lag (as well as having the fastest displaying font) which meant that for a while it was the preferred hardware to run the speed run the game on. but I agree that for the average player such differences would be hard to notice.
it would be interesting to see how a game like perfect dark fared on the ique as that would be a great way to see how the fps could improved with the overlock.
Yeah, I’m surprised I didn’t notice the slowdown to be honest, but the only N64 version I’ve played is the PAL version which already feels “slow” so I guess it’s a lot harder to tell than if a 30fps locked or 60fps locked slows down or drops frames.
I’m about to jump in on an Everdrive N64 for my Japanese N64, really looking forward to seeing what games look like with the RGB deblur and AA patches on my CRT.
I got one for my brother and family for Christmas, putting together a package. He had one 20 years ago, I sold it for him like 15 years ago, but it was PAL, making up an NTSC set now.
I just ended up playing two hours of Fzero, 1080 and Mario 64. Just crappy composite, but got lost in the games. Partly nostalgia but also just simple arcade playability. It feels like the Sega console Sega never made.
I agree. N64 is my favorite console from that generation. It’s light on content but what is there is excellent and very aligned with my personal sensibilities.
The other two major consoles have objectively better libraries for most gamers. But I don’t care.
N64 has an indefineable appeal. The major 1st party games of the system felt truly revolutionary in a way no system ever did before or since. It still floors me how correctly Nintendo imagined gameplay in a 3D space and then executed on it immediately without many growing pains.
The only other time my mind was blown by hardware as much as it was with the N64 was probably the first time I tried an Oculus Rift at a trade show. But even that doesn’t completely measure up because of how limited on-foot locomotion is to control when playing a first person game.
The stick on my controller is good, but not great. I’ve been tossing up between the Retrofighters controller the Hori Pad mini (now that prices have dropped a little) and the Retro bit tribute 64.
I’m tempted by the Hori Pad mini after reading that the Tribute 64 feels a bit cheap in the hand.
99% it’s resealed. Good price but not crazy for a N64 pad in Japan, you can get them for pennies (with good sticks even) if patient on Yahoo. Even gold and transparent ones.
I never really got many Sega vibes from the N64 except for Wave Race 64. That game always felt like a Sega arcade game but happened to be much better than Sega’s Waverunner which came out around the same time.
But still, for the money I think it’s a good buy, actions are of course a different market where the sellers don’t have overhead or staff to hire etc etc. These stores usually have been picked off by now as you know, so it’s become increasingly harder to find stuff like this at reasonable prices.
Some NOS I’ve bought has been non-sealed including the N64 controller. I think some stuff just was never sealed in plastic.
You can get very good condition used ones in person in Japan for like 500 yen even but it can be a bit of legwork and it isn’t always easy to check stick condition as they tend to be in plastic envelopes.
It PAL lands almost nothing is ever sealed nor has ever been. NES games had a sticker seal, but after that nothing. Game Boy, any Sega, SNES, just openable boxes.
Common in Japan too, I doubt there was ever a seal on N64 controller boxes.
This continues today, my Switch Pro Controller wasn’t sealed. Only software continues to be sealed (though Nintendo seems to have retired the Nintendo pull-ribbon thing that wraps around the outside for easy opening).
The Nintendo 64 Disk Drive will be the first writable bulk data storage device for a modern video game console.
Hmm… Maybe in North America? Isn’t the concept no different than the Famicom Disk System?
Another scenario, that may be used for Zelda 64, is to use the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive to create future expansions for a cartridge based game. This allows the developer or publisher to release their game immediately, and then give it extra long life with expansion disks. This can easily be done if the “hooks” for the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive are put into the cartridge program in advance.
I really wish it came out here and that Nintendo executed on this vision at a good price. Seemed like a really cool device that could have made the N64 more attractive for 3rd party developers.
If there ever was a system that needed an fpga+ solution is this.
It was basically designed around mario 64, one of the best games ever. Mario 64 looks great on 64. Everything else though. Horrible image quality, horrible framerates + controller that breaks down.
Maybe in North America? Isn’t the concept no different than the Famicom Disk System?