Viewing Thread:
"Nintendo 64"

Here a question.

How long do people think the N64 has left to live?

With games like Perfect Dark, Zelda: The Continuing Sage, Turok 3, A Resident Evil game, Top Gear Rally 2, and a bunch of other wicked games this year. How long will the N64 live for? Specially with the PS2 and Dolphin on the horizon how much longer can the N64 last?

Cooky

I'm sure many N64 players are going to take advantages of special Reserve's generous but slightly insane offer of a free copy of Turok: Rage Wars which is worth over £20. Whether you already have it or are going to get it as a free gift you should know that if you hold Z in the menu screen a cheat window will come up. Depending on how many frags you have, effects the amount of cheats in it. The all charachters option is the first one which will appear. When you reach 2000 frags all the cheats should be enabled.

Whoever makes up the non gaming forums at special reserve could you please create another one entitled 'Console Wars'. This way the sad people who have little else to validly contribute, could take their abusive messages about rival consles and shove them in that forum rather than pointlessly fill up the other forums with rubbish.

Games based on films should be the best thing ever. I mean, they have a gripping and exciting plot already made for them (most of the time) so the developers have more time to make the gameplay perfect instead of dreaming up stories about sword weilding mutants from the planet Zarg or something.
Instead, these developers take a perfectly good license from a film and churn out a cheap and nasty game which looks uglier than most Virgin megastores staff. In the worst cases it looks like the developers just dragged someone off the street and got them to design the game while they sat back and dreamed of all the money they would make.
Why can’t these people do a half decent job instead of bringing out utter tripe just to cash in on the success of the film?
The answer, of course is profit. Developers want to make money so the spend more on the film license and less on producing the game itself. Ironically, ‘Goldeneye’, the only good game to come out of a film license that I can remember, was a smash hit and sold millions wheras most sub-standard film games last as long as the film is a success.
Comtrary to popular belief, ‘Goldeneye’ was not the only good game to come out of a film license, ‘Star Wars Racer’ was pretty good and The World is not Enough which is coming out later this year looks great.
Both of these games have (or will) sold more copies than rip-offs like ‘A Bug’s Life’ and ‘Tarzan’.
The thing is these aboninable titles do sell well for as long as the film is out because people assume that jsut because the film is good then the game will be too. Not so! If you are even thinking about buying a game based on a film, make sure you read a few trustworthy reviews first and make sure this game is actually any good or else you will be left with something even a person who adores the film wouldn’t touch with a 10 foot barge pole.

What i want to know is what are the specs of the Dolphin compared to the PS2 and will they be twice as good like with the N64 that in my view is the only way nintendo can beat the Playstation which is already way to popular as it is.
Another thing is it true that you can play PS games on the PS2 as this is also something that Nintendo should try and do (even though it will take DVD's there should be someway)
The other way in which Nintendo could be onto a winner is if they release at a lower price to attract more customers.
As for the part about porting PC games this is no bad thing as the N64 will still churn out quality games which in turn could then also be taken to the PC imagine Perfect Dark2 online!

Dolphin rumours and guesstimated specs are rife at the moment.

Whichever way you look at it, Nintendo must have learned from mistakes made with the N64 (yes, loyal owners, the situation was far from perfect with the N64, even by Nintendo's own admission).
What appears to be de facto, is the DVD storage media, and some form of on-line connectivity.
The operating system is reputedly easy to work with and allows for quick porting of PC titles. Is this good? Surely one of the main achievements of the N64 was its incredible software quality in a few memorable titles (Zelda, ISS98, DK64 etc) and this was a forced issue.
The lack of portability normally meant that titles were developed for the N64 using dedicated development kits. They weren't the standard copies. Of course there were port overs from other consoles, but they didn't exactly get released simultaneously did they? Please don't reply with specific examples, I'm just making a point that our releases were, in general, a little bit later than most other consoles and countries. So, we'll get a load of PC titles nice and quick. Is this good?

Going up against the Playstation2 (I decline from using any other acronyms as it is, to be fair, a bit childish), the Dolphin appears to be an impressive force against the Sony money machine. Can Nintendo start playing the game to it's full effect, or will the corporate giants squeeze them out of the mainstream again?

Your loyalty is commendable. The N64 is, as you state, a fine product, but you appear to be a bit blind in your pursuit of justice.
Playstation. Is it the product of an egomaniacal corporate monster, or just a business dominating a market? If the N64 is better in your opinion, this doesn't mean that Sony are wrong for shifting more units. It just means they are more succesful in their sales process.

Nintendos marketing sucks. As an N64 owner, I am proud to own the finest games in the world. However, we are third rate citizens according to release schedules, and we dont see much in the way of in yer face advertising a la sony. Who's right? Blind loyalty won't change the situation. Lets hope Nintendo regard the UK in higher esteem for the launch of Dolphin.

The problem isnt loyalty to a specific console, but the amount of magazines a publisher can shift. Rightly or wrongly, multi format magazines by definition will always try to satisfy the largest readership. This is, at the moment, nearly always at the expense of less prominent consoles. I own an N64, and it is without doubt the place to be for the best games in the world. The true quality of these games is a minor miracle when you understand how difficult it is to program for an N64 even with the latest dev kits. However, the true quality doesn't always fare well against the colossal advertising and marketing campaigns of Sony, and for that you have to pay them some credit. I avoid multi formats like the plaque due to their 'wherever the grass is greenest' approach. I do, however, read EDGE, as despite the lack of reviews (and believe me, you only get one or two a month) they do tend to be honest about Nintendo game quality. (In the list of best games of all time, Zelda was top and Mario was second - that got a few letters from Playstation owners!)
So, if multi formats offend you, dont buy them. What upsets me equally is the occasional rose-coloured view of the dedicated mags.
The truth of the matter is, the N64 is the king of consoles, but Nintendo haven't sold as many as they have PS1's and PS2's. This means more people own the latter, this means that the consoles are more attractive to reviewers and publishers.

If you enjoy your N64, read N64 mag. When the N64 finally dies, get a Dolphin. Now Dolphin will really rock....

Perhaps you've heard of Conker. Maybe even gazed at a screenshot or two. There he was - an unassuming, Disney-esque, little orange squirrel with a wide grin across his face. But somewhere along the line, at some terrifying moment in this game's development, everything changed.
When I saw the original Conker, I thought it just looked like another cutesy-poo 3D exploring game. Alas, times have changed. Conker's Bad Fur Day has evolved into a game with a well-deserved M rating. Blood, guts, language, and 'scandalicious' innuendo. Sound tasty?

Conker has had a crazy night of drinking and partying. Tequila ... women of questionable virtue... the whole shebang, I'm sure. So he wakes up with a killer hangover, and finds himself in a strange, different world where everyone and everything is trying to kill him. Heeey... sounds like my life... sort of.

BFD is an action game in the tradition of Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo Kazooie. Different maneuvers and skills allow you to re-explore and discover new areas and secrets. Expect mini-games mixed in and different objectives to complete.

Despite the familiar gameplay, everything has been given an adult twist. Two flaming baddies walk up with plans to destroy you. What do you do? Urinate all over them. That's right. Urinate all over them. If the Urinate button is labeled number 1, then I wonder what button number 2 does?

Speaking of the number two, there really are only two ways Conker's BFD can turn out. The unfortunate road would be a journey through ho-hum gameplay and forced comedy routines. But from what I've seen, expect the path of proven Rare gameplay blended with genuine humor and fun.

Acclaim's Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion is the latest installment in the Turok franchise. The storyline centers around "Oblivion," a monstrous cosmic entity that consumes everything in its path. Oblivion desperately seeks a means by which to punch through the Netherscape that separates our world from the Lost Land, and the Lost Land from countless others. The last shreds of the pure energy source that created our world and nearly wiped out Oblivion are contained within the Light Burden that every member of the Turok lineage has carried. The death of the Turok mantle will signal the beginning of the end… the rebirth of Oblivion! Key Features:

5 beautifully rendered, unique worlds that feature a "living environment," meaning the environment is in a constant state of movement that is not dependent on the actions of the gamer.
The heralded Turok Multiplayer Mode returns, and the action is faster and more furious than ever, spanning over 48 unique maps.
Gamers have the option to play as one of two lead characters, Danielle and Joseph Fireseed - each level must be played differently depending on which character is being used.
Over 40 devious, never before seen enemies stand in the way of Turok.
Both a "save anywhere" feature and a quick "autosave" allow gamers to explore the world of Turok at their own pace.

Late last year, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater blasted onto the scene and catapulted video game skateboarding to new heights. Its excellent engine, slick graphics, amazing level design and brilliant gameplay won it many accolades, including GR's Best PSX Game of 1999. It also managed to glue my old, jaded, Bones Brigade butt to the couch for literally months at a time. Look ma, no hands!

Like any good game, Tony Hawk seemed destined for porting. The upcoming Dreamcast version seems like a sure bet, but what about this N64 port? Considering the quality of most recent N64 games, I was hardly expecting much...and was totally shocked when I realized that this game is equal to, if not better than, the original PSX version.

For the most part, this version is identical to its PSX predecessor. If you're not familiar with the game at all stay reading this to get a briefing on why this game rocks.

here's a rundown. You choose one of 10 skaters (the same as you'll find in the PSX version) and skate your butt off on one of 9 levels. There are several different ways to play, including a Career mode, Free Skate, and multiple two-player modes.

The bulk of the gameplay changes are due to the differences between the two console systems. While it looked great on the PSX, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater looks simply fantastic on the N64. The action is incredibly smooth and the skaters move as realistically as ever. The game is RAM enhanced, and you'll be hard pressed to find many polygonal errors or clipping problems. While some levels (particularly San Francisco) show some pop-up, this is to be expected and doesn't get in the way whatsoever. Pro Skater serves as an impressive reminder of the N64's graphical prowess.

New to the N64 version is the 'Trick Tutorial,' which is essentially a museum mode that gives you a trick list and move demo for each skater. If you're good enough, you can also unlock some special moves to watch here. Nice.

The control is great. This is mainly due to a terrific stunt setup, at once intuitive yet at the same time challenging. Tricks can be linked endlessly, producing some epic combos. With a little practice, you'll be pulling off some 20,000 point tricks in no time.

Multi-player has been retained as well, and has in fact gotten better due to the more powerful hardware. Graffiti, Trick Attack and Horse modes are all still here - without any slowdown whatsoever.

If there was one problem with the original game, it was the music. The songs were fine, but hearing them ad nauseum was not. Turning off the music was a necessary chore. The N64 version only includes about 20 looped seconds of each music track, but still must to turned off to preserve sanity. The rest of the sound, however, is fine. The sound of the skateboard on the various textures (street, wooden ramps, metal pipes) is particularly well done.

The brilliance of Tony Hawk Pro Skater lies in its freedom, which is retained perfectly in the N64 port. You can skate literally anywhere, from the obvious ramps and rails to the more 'mundane' objects like tables, cars and just about everything in between. If it looks skate-able, it probably is. This leads to a very kinetic, realistic experience, a skating game that -gasp- makes you feel like a skater!

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is perhaps the best Playstation to N64 port ever. Frankly, I just don't have enough words to describe how pleasing it is to see that so much time and care has gone into what is too often a rushed afterthought. Fans of the original will love it, newcomers will love it, skaters and non-skaters alike will love it...heck, even your mom will love it. I know mine does.