Questions tagged [nintendo-64]

For questions about the Nintendo 64 home video console

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Can this bottle of "Lubricating Oil" be used to lube up Nintendo 64 sticks?

I have two original Nintendo 64 controllers. A year or so ago, I finally opened them up and replaced the old, worn-out analogue sticks with new ones. They work and I can play games, but it "...
Ladelf's user avatar
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3 votes
0 answers
251 views

Is it possible to corrupt a Nintendo 64 save file by turning off the console when saving to the cartridge?

All consoles with memory cards (including Nintendo 64) kept reminding you that it's very important to not turn off the power while it's saving, because this would corrupt the save file. But for the ...
Domoni's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
1k views

Could the N64 have supported more than 8MB of RAM

The N64 came with 4MB of RAM soldered on the board. With the Expansion Pak, you could add an additional 4MB of RAM to bring it to a total of 8MB. Was 8MB the maximum amount of RAM that the N64 could ...
Unknown's user avatar
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21 votes
4 answers
8k views

Why are the Nintendo 64 memory cards' batteries *soldered* on?

After recently learning that it has a battery inside of it, I unscrewed my Controller Pak (N64 memory card) to put in a new battery. The old one says "98" on it, referring to 1998. So it's ...
user23842's user avatar
  • 211
5 votes
1 answer
434 views

Why didn't Japanese N64 cartridges fit in American consoles?

Back in 1998, my father was living in Japan and sent me some N64 cartridges. Surprisingly, they wouldn't fit in my American console because the back of cartridges didn't match the slot. Articles on ...
Kyjio's user avatar
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30 votes
1 answer
7k views

Why did Nintendo 64 (1996) memory cards require a battery inside them to retain data whereas the PlayStation (1994) ones did not?

The Nintendo 64 was released in 1996. Its "Controller Pak"s, which was the name of the memory card that you put inside the controller to save the progress in certain games, require a battery ...
Jacon's user avatar
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11 votes
5 answers
5k views

Can a Japanese (or US) PSU for Nintendo 64 be run with 230 V mains?

The Nintendo 64 uses a proprietary PSU that takes mains voltage input and outputs 3.3 V and 12 V DC. PSU's from regions where mains voltage is 230 V (such as the EU) were sold as 230 V input while ...
Jan's user avatar
  • 315
16 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why did the Rumble Pak for the Nintendo 64 require batteries when it actually apparently doesn't?

After watching this video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyJsOoQKRjQ I'm wondering what the whole deal was with the batteries. Apparently, you can resolder the circuit board inside the ...
Trawn's user avatar
  • 161
4 votes
3 answers
2k views

Is an LG 43UK6200PLA television set supposed to be able to display video output from a Nintendo 64?

First of all, I know very well that modern TVs are neither made for, nor good at, displaying old video game consoles' video signals. With that said, I'm trying to test the controllers of an N64 where ...
Evard E.'s user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why was the Nintendo 64 bad at textures?

The Nintendo 64 had a reputation for being great at drawing triangles, but not so good at texturing them, so that many games fell back on heavy use of untextured (though Gouraud shaded) triangles, ...
rwallace's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
1k views

How fast was Rambus compared to regular EDO RAM?

The Nintendo 64 used Rambus RDRAM. This was an unusual choice, e.g. the PlayStation used regular EDO RAM which I gather most consoles and computers did at the time. As I understand it, Nintendo chose ...
rwallace's user avatar
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6 votes
0 answers
489 views

Did Diddy Kong Racing for Nintendo 64 really use 640 × 480 pixels resolution?

Diddy Kong Racing for the N64 was released in late 1997. This was long before the Expansion Pak was released. I remember, and have recently re-read, an old review in a printed magazine explaining that ...
Dayne Shaffner's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
762 views

Why doesn't Nintendo fire up the old factories and re-produce *exact* copies of many of their most popular games, controllers and consoles? [closed]

Let's suppose that Nintendo announce tomorrow that they are going to create exact re-releases of the American and European NES, SNES and Nintendo 64 consoles, exactly the same as when they were ...
Browser's user avatar
  • 43
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why was the golden game Ocarina of Time not given a golden cartridge in the PAL region?

Note: I'm unaware of the exact details for each region, but I vaguely remember people claiming that other region(s) got a golden cartridge. I'm talking about PAL/Europe primarily, since that's where I ...
Link's user avatar
  • 51
52 votes
8 answers
14k views

How is it possible that classic 3D video games such as Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time can contain such bizarre "glitches"?

I've been watching "speedrunners" play those games for quite some time. I still can't believe what my eyes are seeing. Somehow, they have managed to find bizarre bugs in the games which ...
Dewsnap's user avatar
  • 527
5 votes
2 answers
4k views

How does the Everdrive handle all the special chips and stuff that were put in cartridges?

An "Everdrive" is like a cartridge that looks just like a NES/SNES/N64/whatever cartridge, and is put into a real, original console. So you need the original hardware for it to work. And ...
Cranky Kong's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
9k views

What does "ByteSwapped" and "BigEndian" refer to in the context of video game ROMs?

I have found two different sets of Nintendo 64 ROMs with the same games (which, of course, I physically own). One is labeled "ByteSwapped" and the other "BigEndian". What exactly ...
Aston Melchin's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

N64 displays dark picture with barely recognisable contours

I'm trying to hook up my EUR N64 to a TV that handles both Composite and RGB SCART alright (A1200, CDTV, Megadrive). The picture is very dark and I can only make out the shapes and contours. There is ...
Bartek Malysz's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
215 views

Does Majora's Mask (Nintendo 64) actually have real-time calculation of the Deku bubble "mirror world"?

If you, in the Deku scrub shape, walk up to Tingle hanging from his balloon in the air, enter first-person view and blow up a bubble which you shoot away at him, the resulting bubble shape/object will ...
Kova's user avatar
  • 41
7 votes
1 answer
889 views

What is the Nintendo 64 IPL3 and how could it be created by Rust developers?

I was delighted to learn there is an integrated toolchain for Rust development that supports the Nintendo 64. According to the documentation: For copyright purposes, the IPL3 binary is not included ...
Brian H's user avatar
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9 votes
4 answers
9k views

Why do N64 cartridges use 2 different technologies for saving to the cart?

I've noticed that most N64 cartridges don't have batteries, but about 12 of them do. According to a google search, the cartridges without batteries use EEPROM and the cartridges with batteries use ...
Unknown's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
1k views

Can the Nintendo 64 run code directly from ROM?

I've read that the usual way to execute code on the N64 is to use DMA to copy it from ROM into RAM, and then run from RAM. However, it seems that the contents of the ROM are directly visible to the ...
RetroSpark's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
4k views

How do parallel universes exist in Super Mario 64? [closed]

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Super Mario 64 is an extremely competitive speed game, and because glitches are allowed on most major leaderboards, many very talented glitch hunters have torn the ...
Badasahog's user avatar
  • 3,981
11 votes
4 answers
3k views

Is the N64 incapable of 2D graphics?

So as many fans are aware, the N64 era was a jump for many games into the third dimension. Games like Mario and Zelda were impacted in a positive way. Others... not so much. While it may seem odd that ...
Badasahog's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
5k views

How do N64 controller deadzones work?

For those of you who don't know, dead zones are a (usually) intentional effect with most controllers' analog sticks, where if the amount that it's being moved is too small, the controller doesn't ...
Badasahog's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
1k views

Was there any indication that video game companies tried to circumvent Game Shark?

Have video game developers blocked the ability of GameShark to find unused content in games (that they either didn't have time to remove unused, or plan to use in an updated version or sequel) I ...
user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
366 views

Link N64 object file while preserving relocation data

The N64 SDK provides the makerom tool to create a ROM image given a file describing the ROM layout called spec and the various object files it refers to such as the N64 OS, RCP microcode, and the game'...
Allie's user avatar
  • 51
6 votes
1 answer
519 views

Repurposing the parity bit

The Nintendo 64 used RAMBUS memory, width 9 bits including parity; the latter would seem unnecessary for a console, but the machine actually uses it to store an extra bit of data. This is an unusual ...
rwallace's user avatar
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13 votes
1 answer
2k views

Nintendo 64 microcode format

The Nintendo 64 GPU ('Reality Coprocessor') had microcode that could be loaded at runtime. Several standard microcodes were supplied with the development kit, and the easily findable documentation ...
rwallace's user avatar
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13 votes
2 answers
3k views

Nintendo 64 Color Depth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_64_technical_specifications says that the N64 calculated with 24-bit color, but output 21-bit. However, https://retrocdn.net/images/7/70/...
rwallace's user avatar
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10 votes
3 answers
923 views

Did blowing into an N64 cartridge really affect whether or not the game would run?

I remember when playing on the N64 if the game didn't start running when I turned on the N64, I would remove the cartridge, blow into the cartridge where the pins were located, then slam the cartridge ...
Retro Gamer's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
3k views

Were any unlicensed games released for the Nintendo 64?

There haven't been many unlicensed games released for Nintendo consoles, partly due to the fact that Nintendo has locked down their development hardware and software. The most famous of Nintendo's ...
JAL's user avatar
  • 9,392
8 votes
3 answers
12k views

How can I upscale the video output of a Nintendo 64 for low-latency and high quality graphics on an HDTV?

Say I want to hook up a Nintendo 64 console to an HDTV via HDMI or Component. What are my options for upscaling hardware to be able to play the system without low quality or blocky picture and with ...
JAL's user avatar
  • 9,392
19 votes
6 answers
5k views

Can removing a cartridge from an NES (or any other cartridge-based game system) damage the hardware or software?

On some cartridge-based video game systems (NES, Game Boy Color, etc.) it is possible to remove the cartridge while the game system is still powered on. What kind of damage can this behavior do to ...
JAL's user avatar
  • 9,392
114 votes
5 answers
26k views

How can tilting a N64 cartridge cause such subtle glitches?

When the N64 cartridge is tilted in Super Mario 64, it reliably produces glitches such as this. Mario's limbs disappear, he rotates 90° and sinks into the floor, and the music gets messed up (usually ...
Jack M's user avatar
  • 1,243
30 votes
1 answer
13k views

Why is a BIOS dump not required to emulate Nintendo 64 games in most modern emulators?

In order to emulate some home consoles (Playstation 1/2, Sega Saturn/CD/32x, etc.) a dump of the system's BIOS is required to emulate the console. Out of the Nintendo 64 emulators I have found online,...
JAL's user avatar
  • 9,392
6 votes
1 answer
1k views

How do I find unused content in a Nintendo 64 game?

There are some sites online which contain information on unused content in video games (The Cutting Room Floor being an example). Many of these sites contain GameShark codes to enter to enable or ...
JAL's user avatar
  • 9,392
6 votes
2 answers
2k views

Dumping Nintendo 64 cartridges without a backup device

I've seen various posts online about Nintendo cartridge dumping. Two popular posts which come to mind are Thijs Alkemade's Game Boy cartridge dumping on a Raspberry Pi series and NintendoPlayer's ...
JAL's user avatar
  • 9,392
8 votes
2 answers
1k views

How can I play Nintendo 64DD Games with sixtyforce (on Mac)?

64DD.org has some game dumps and information on how to play 64DD games in MAME or Project64. Is there any way to play 64DD dumps on a Mac using sixtyforce (my version is registered)? I was thinking ...
JAL's user avatar
  • 9,392
11 votes
3 answers
2k views

Were there any other peripherals that used the Nintendo 64's Memory Expansion Bay besides the Expansion Pak?

The Nintendo 64 shipped with a Memory Expansion Bay which contained a Jumper Pack. Some games such as Donkey Kong 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask required additional RAM to run, and shipped ...
JAL's user avatar
  • 9,392
19 votes
1 answer
4k views

What kind of software was used to develop Nintendo 64 titles?

There seems to be a lot of discussion online about the development hardware used to create Nintendo 64 titles: SGI Indy "pizza box" workstations, SGI's custom Ultra 64 development boards (aka "...
JAL's user avatar
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