{"id":17481,"date":"2017-11-24T19:00:40","date_gmt":"2017-11-24T18:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/?p=17481"},"modified":"2026-10-01T11:17:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T09:17:47","slug":"nintendo-64-nintendo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/en\/nintendo-64-nintendo\/","title":{"rendered":"Nintendo 64 [Nintendo]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gaming time at Jungsi\u2019s Corner \u2013 another flea market find this time. As the Nintendo 64 was still missing from my collection, I couldn\u2019t say no when I spotted the poor, lonely console lying in a little basket at the edge of a stall \ud83d\ude09 The package also included a controller and Bomberman 64<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a \u2018child\u2019 of the fifth generation of consoles, the N64 was released in Europe on 1 March 1997, initially priced at 399 DM; a few weeks later, the price was reduced to 299 DM. Its main competitors were, above all, Sony with the PlayStation<\/em> and Sega with the Saturn<\/em>. With its 64-bit main processor (which also gave it its name), it was Nintendo\u2019s third home console after the NES and SNES, and the second console to be marketed as 64-bit after the Atari Jaguar. At Nintendo, it succeeded the SNES.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

At launch, the following titles were available in Europe: Super Mario 64<\/em>, Pilotwings 64<\/em> and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire<\/em>, followed a few days later by Turok: Dinosaur Hunter<\/em>. Further titles were released in the weeks that followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modules instead of CDs<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Unlike Sony and Sega, who opted for CDs, Nintendo continued to rely on cartridges. These had the advantage of shorter loading times, but also the disadvantage of limited storage capacity (up to 64 MB) and higher production costs. As a result, the games were more expensive than those of the competition. On the other hand, this made piracy more difficult. Game saves could be stored directly on the cartridge, for example via battery-backed memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nintendo
Nintendo 64 Controller<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The controller<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The Nintendo 64\u2019s controller, with its analogue stick, represented a genuine innovation compared to the digital D-pads of earlier consoles and enabled significantly more precise control, particularly in 3D games. With four controller ports, the console was also designed from the outset for multiplayer sessions, without the need for any adapters. An optional extra was the Rumble Pak, which triggered vibration effects during certain events in a game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was succeeded by the GameCube in 2001 (in Europe in 2002). Production of the N64 ceased after around six years, with approximately 33 million units sold worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My console<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

My unit has the model number NUS-001(EUR), making it the standard European PAL version. It\u2019s second-hand, but in good condition. There\u2019s a sticker on the underside marked \u2018tested\u2019. When I received it, the Jumper Pak was still in the slot on the top; I have since replaced it with an Expansion Pak. Bomberman 64<\/em> runs perfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Typenschild
Rating plate with the model number NUS-001(EUR)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Seriennummer
Serial number<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Technical data<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

At the heart of the console is a 64-bit processor from NEC (the VR4300, a derivative of the MIPS R4300i family), clocked at 93.75 MHz. Graphics and sound are handled by a dedicated chip, the \u2018Reality Co-Processor\u2019 (RCP) from SGI, which operates at 62.5 MHz. It consists of two units: the Reality Signal Processor (RSP) is a vector processor that handles geometry and audio calculations, whilst the Reality Drawing Processor (RDP) uses these to render the final image. Both processors share the same memory (Unified Memory), rather than having separate memory for graphics and the programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of graphics, the console supports, amongst other things, Z-buffering, real-time anti-aliasing, trilinear texture filtering and perspective-correct textures. This resulted in a smoother and more refined image than on the previous generation of consoles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

feature<\/th>Value<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
RAM<\/td>4 MB Rambus DRAM, 8 MB with Expansion Pak<\/td><\/tr>
Processor cache<\/td>16 KB for instructions, 8 KB for data<\/td><\/tr>
Colour depth<\/td>32 Bit<\/td><\/tr>
Resolution:<\/td>256\u00d7224 to approx. 640\u00d7480 pixels (some sources state a maximum of 646\u00d7486 for NTSC and 768\u00d7576 for PAL)<\/td><\/tr>
Video output<\/td>Antenna (HF), composite and S-Video; RGB only after modification<\/td><\/tr>
Sound<\/td>16-bit stereo, Dolby Surround in some games<\/td><\/tr>
Data storage medium<\/td>Module, up to 64 MB<\/td><\/tr>
Dimensions (W\u00d7D\u00d7H)<\/td>260 \u00d7 190 \u00d7 73 mm<\/td><\/tr>
Weight<\/td>ca. 1,1 kg<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Accessories<\/h5>\n\n\n\n