History of video games/Platforms/Nintendo 64

Development
The Nintendo 64 was proceeded by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Famicom, a family of systems capable of refined 2D graphics, but only extremely limited 3D graphics. Notably the Playstation, among the biggest rivals to the Nintendo 64, also had its roots in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

The Nintendo 64 would be the first major home console released by Nintendo with no significant regional differences between American, European, and Japanese releases, The innovative analog stick on the N64 controller was designed by Genyo Takeda. though the China focused iQue player would depart from the design standard of the system.

On February 11th, 1994 Nintendo announced that Project Reality would not use a CD Rom drive, surprising the industry with decision which went against industry trends.

A chip shortage in early 1996 delayed the launch of the Nintendo 64 in North America to fall.

Launch
""Change the System" and "Get N or Get Out""

The Nintendo 64 was launched in the United States in September of 1996 at a price of $200.

Legacy
In North America the Nintendo 64 was discontinued in 2003. The Nintendo 64 sold 32.93 million consoles, and 224.97 million software titles.

The Nintendo 64 was succeeded by the Nintendo GameCube.

A notable lasting legacy of the Nintendo 64 is the gaming journalism outlet IGN, which got its start as an online news outlet focused on the Nintendo 64.

iQue Player
In 2003 the iQue player was released as a version of the N64 with enhancements and modifications for the Chinese market.

The iQue Player ceased receiving updates and new games in 2006. Ten years later on December 31st 2016, iQue game download support officially ended. By 2018 the service was fully shuttered. Also in 2018, community members figure out how to unofficially access the iQue software

Technology
"N64's push to SGI style pixels was technologically premature."

Compute
The CPU of the Nintendo 64 is a 64-bit NEC VR4300 (Compatible with the SGI RISC R4300i) MIPS III architecture processor clocked at 93.75 megahertz. Despite having a 64 bit CPU, more efficient 32 bit operations were often used by developers.

The Nintendo 64 uses a SGI Reality Co-Processor clocked at 62.5 megahertz, combining the Reality Immersion Processor GPU and Reality Signal Processor Audio system on a single chip. The GPU alone is capable of 500 MIPS, and can render 150,000 polygons a second.

The Nintendo 64 has four megabytes of RDRAM. The system could be expanded to eight megabytes of RAM.

The Nintendo 64 is capable of 100 megaflops.

Cartridges
Official Nintendo 64 Cartridges had a maximum capacity of 64MB. Because of the expense of cartridges, Nintendo 64 games cost much more than games for other systems on CD. To compensate for limited space on cartridges, developers were encouraged to use dynamic music progmatically rather then recorded but static soundtracks.

Cartridges used a CIC lockout chip to stop bootleg games from being produced and to stop piracy.

Nintendo 64 DD
A version was produced for an American release, but was ultimately never sold.

Special Editions
Special editions and versions of the console.
 * Starlight Gaming Station - Kiosk for hospital use.
 * McDonalds Kiosk - A kiosk using a Nintendo 64 for use in McDonalds restaurants.

Qualities

 * Fast paced action adventure, platformers, and first person shooter games were quite popular on the system. This is due in part to the specialties of developers who chose the system, and due in part to the unique technological properties of the system favoring such games.
 * The Nintendo 64 did not enjoy the same level of support for popular JRPGs as it's predecessor, the SNES. Major JRPG franchises tended to release on competing consoles instead, leaving the Nintendo 64 with more obscure titles.

Super Mario 64
Of all the games for the Nintendo 64, Super Mario 64 perhaps has the most historic and lasting impact. It's successful translation of Mario from a 2D to a 3D platformer set an example of how a 3D platformer should enhance gameplay, look and control, paving the way for quality games in the genre by it's example. It was the first 3D game experienced by a number of 90's gamers.

Noted developers Cliff Bleszinski and Gabe Newell cite Super Mario 64 as an influence.

Long after the discontinuation of the system, the game would find new relevance as a popular game for speedrunners. A number of game specific techniques were developed, such as "Quantum Positioning Units". Another famous speedrunning glitch was discovered on accident, likely as the result of a cosmic ray causing a bit flip.

Read more about Super Mario 64 on Wikipedia.

Mario Kart 64
An influential game in the Mario Kart series, and the first to take the series into true 3D environments.

Read more about Mario Kart 64 on Wikipedia.

Wave Race 64
Jet-ski water racing game.

Read more about Wave Race 64 on Wikipedia.

Pilotwings 64
A launch title and casual flight simulator.

Read more about Pilotwings 64 on Wikipedia.

Killer Instinct Gold
A port of the arcade fighting game Killer Instinct 2. Known for it's technical excellence with cutting edge graphics for the era.

Read more about Killer Instinct Gold on Wikipedia.

GoldenEye 007
A standout title, which paved the way for other console first person shooters. It's well remembered for it's local couch co-op mode.

Read more about GoldenEye 007 on Wikipedia.

Star Fox 64
An influential on rails shooter. Commonly counted as one of the best entries in the Star Fox series.

Read more about Star Fox 64 on Wikipedia.

Diddy Kong Racing
The Diddy Kong Racing soundtrack was shaped to be like Diddy Kong's head, an unusual choice.

Read more about Diddy Kong Racing on Wikipedia.

Doom 64
Read more about Doom 64 on Wikipedia.

Yoshi's Story
Read more about Yoshi's Story on Wikipedia.

Mischief Makers
"Shake, Shake!"

An eclectic 2D platformer with a distinct style. It was poorly received at launch before later becoming a cult classic.

Read more about Mischief Makers on Wikipedia.

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
Read more about Turok: Dinosaur Hunter on Wikipedia.

1998

 * Wipeout 64
 * Turok 2: Seeds of Evil
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
 * Space Station Silicon Valley
 * Quest 64
 * 1080° Snowboarding

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
A considerable amount of crunch occurred during development.

The game is considered to be among the most important of the generation due to it's pioneering use of 3D game design to make a vast action adventure game with mechanical fluidity paired with excellent audio and graphical fidelity for the era. As a result of these factors, this game is often considered among the best ever made.

Read more about The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on Wikipedia.

Mario Party
The first entry in the popular Mario Party series.

A minigame control resulted in hand palm injuries by some gamers leading to an investigation by the New York Attorney General, which resulted in protective gloves being shipped to some affected parties.

Read more about Mario Party on Wikipedia.

F-Zero X
Fast paced futuristic racer.

Read more about F-Zero X on Wikipedia.

Banjo-Kazooie
A 3D platformer and collectathon made by the company Rare.

Read more about Banjo-Kazooie on Wikipedia.

Hey You, Pikachu!
A digital pet game about learning to communicate with a Pokemon creature, a Pikachu.

One of two games to use the Voice Recognition Unit (VRU). The system could recognize up to 256 words. The game was said to be difficult to control due to either poor voice recognition and or bad microphone quality.

Read more about Hey You, Pikachu! on Wikipedia.

1999

 * Super Smash Bros.
 * Turok: Rage Wars
 * Superman 64
 * Star Wars Episode I: Racer
 * Pokémon Stadium
 * Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
 * Neon Genesis Evangelion
 * Mario Golf
 * Jet Force Gemini
 * Mario Party 2
 * Harvest Moon 64
 * Donkey Kong 64

2000

 * Paper Mario
 * Perfect Dark
 * The World Is Not Enough
 * Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion
 * StarCraft 64
 * Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo
 * Pokémon Stadium 2
 * Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine
 * Sin and Punishment
 * Ridge Racer 64
 * Mega Man 64
 * Mario Party 3
 * Mario Tennis
 * Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
 * Excitebike 64
 * Banjo-Tooie

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask


Read more about The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask at Wikipedia.

2001

 * Dr. Mario 64
 * Conker's Bad Fur Day

Post Market
A number of notable titles saw release after the platform was officially discontinued.

40 Winks
A game with a rocky development finally shipped an Nintendo 64 version in December of 2018.

Read more about 40 Winks on Wikipedia.

Dinosaur Planet
A December 1st, 2000 build of Dinosaur Planet for the Nintendo 64 by Rare was unofficially released on the 20th, of February, 2021 as the result of an online leak.

Dinosaur Planet had previously been released under a different name following a significant overhaul. Read more about Star Fox Adventures for the GameCube on Wikipedia.

iQue Player
The Nintendo backed iQue Player released in 2003 exclusively in mainland China, and was an all in one system that played Nintendo 64 games.

Development
There is a WikiBook on N64 Programming.

Archived web materials

 * Nintendo of America website - 1996
 * N64 Website - 1998
 * N64 Hardware website - 1998

Other Websites

 * Video Game Console Library - Nintendo 64 page with technical info.
 * Video Game Console Library - Nintendo 64 DD page with technical info.