Retro: Nintendo64 and Mario 64 Official Unveiling Video

nightez · (10-27-2009, 10:35 PM)

Classic moments in gaming. First showing of Mario 64 in America.

Man I miss the days when the Big N made technologically competitive hardware! Ohh and I only just noticed the N64 logo was based on the '3D' SGI logo

Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yketwu2GsE
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoQ_9thx480

andymcc · (10-27-2009, 10:44 PM)

man the ultra 64 was such an ugly name.

Why would you do that? · (10-27-2009, 10:45 PM)

What I find funny and ironic is, the "trademarked business" that had the word Ultra in the states was... well, Ultra, created in the NES days by Konami to get around some of Nintendo's restrictions (I think specifically a limit to the number of games a company can release in a year). So, in a sense, not being able to call it Ultra was Nintendo's fault.

Shame, too... I'd have loved to have played an "Ultra 64".
Edit:

Originally Posted by andymcc:

man the ultra 64 was such an ugly name.

:(

Originally Posted by nightez:

Man I miss the days when the Big N made technologically competitive hardware!

While I understand what you're saying, I feel that the Wii remote is technically "technologically competitive hardware".

andymcc · (10-27-2009, 10:49 PM)

holy shit, look at the size of their stage their presenting on. compare that to the amount of money they sink into E3 presentations these days... my god.

durendal · (10-27-2009, 10:49 PM)

"...immersive and compelling..."

140.85 · (10-27-2009, 11:02 PM)

Wow, I didn't think people recorded E3 like this way back then. E3 hasn't really changed that much has it?

Chittagong · (10-27-2009, 11:12 PM)

Wow, I remember that video. It was called the "N64 Sizzle". I was working in Club Nintendo back then and we had a VHS cassette with it, I must have watched it tens of times from our huge meeting room TV (26" CRT) with the lights dimmed. And I remember getting then soon after the Japanese N64 a few days ahead of the release.

maniac-kun · (10-27-2009, 11:12 PM)

i remember the days when nintendo was all about making realy good real games

BGBW · (10-27-2009, 11:19 PM)

Originally Posted by maniac-kun:

i remember the days when nintendo was all about making realy good real games

Yeah, even a goldfish can remember those.

magicalsoundshower · 11:26 PM

Man, if they'd only known what a flawed system they were about to unleash to the world, kind of funny and sad at the same time if you ask me. O_o

Originally Posted by maniac-kun:

i remember the days when nintendo was all about making realy good real games

Are you sure you picked the correct era? I get the feeling that at that point in time they were about impressing people with "incredible 64 bit 3D grafix" to a large degree.

Door2Dawn · (10-27-2009, 11:24 PM)

Originally Posted by maniac-kun:

i remember the days when nintendo was all about making realy good real games

What the fuck is a "really good real game"

ksamedi · (10-27-2009, 11:24 PM)

Originally Posted by BGBW:

Yeah, even a goldfish can remember those.

AshMcCool · (10-27-2009, 11:27 PM)

Old Guys in Suits and a fat dynamic guy with a moustache. That is soooo 90s.

Seda · (10-27-2009, 11:28 PM)

Originally Posted by BGBW:

Yeah, even a goldfish can remember those.

Nice.

BruceLeeRoy · 11:32 PM

Originally Posted by nightez:

Classic moments in gaming. First showing of Mario 64 in America.

Fu#$ yes I love this shit thanks man.

Originally Posted by Chittagong:

Wow, I remember that video. It was called the "N64 Sizzle". I was working in Club Nintendo back then and we had a VHS cassette with it, I must have watched it tens of times from our huge meeting room TV (26" CRT) with the lights dimmed. And I remember getting then soon after the Japanese N64 a few days ahead of the release.

Was that the same video you could get if you filled out a request for in Nintendo Power the one that had Shadows of the Empire, and Pilotwings on it along with Waverace and Mario64? I remember losing my damn mind when I first saw your snow speeder take out a AT-AT on Hoth.

Ranger X · (10-27-2009, 11:30 PM)

The hype for the N64 was so amazing. I was playing Cruisin' USA in the arcades with high hopes.... only to be fucking deceived.

It's hilarious to hear all this positivity. They realised soon enough staying cartridge based was a bad idea and the N64 was a very badly designed hardware. Seriously, only Nintendo and Rare could so something good with it because it was simply abysmal.

.

Misterinenja · (10-27-2009, 11:32 PM)

Interesting. I was just looking for this kind of videos couple of days ago since I read some of my old gaming magazines with pre-release N64 hype. Actually they were already hyping 64DD before the whole machine was even out. That with Final Fantasy just jumping to the Playstation should have been forecasting the dark days coming.

It was all great though. Mario 64 was the single most amazing thing I played back then when I was only seven years old.

AniHawk · (10-27-2009, 11:32 PM)

Originally Posted by Ranger X:

The hype for the N64 was so amazing. I was playing Cruisin' USA in the arcades with high hopes.... only to be fucking deceived.

It's hilarious to hear all this positivity. They realised soon enough staying cartridge based was a bad idea and the N64 was a very badly designed hardware. Seriously, only Nintendo and Rare could so something good with it because it was simply abysmal.

.

Angel Studio and Acclaim did okay.

Chittagong · (10-27-2009, 11:33 PM)

the progress Nintendo did in Super Mario 64 between 11/95 Shoshinkai and 05/96 E3 is nothing short of mindblowing. I can't believe my eyes when it re-emerged after half a year of media silence. Suddenly it had so much more variety, a proper HUD, more details.

BruceLeeRoy · (10-27-2009, 11:34 PM)

Originally Posted by Misterinenja:

Interesting. I was just looking for this kind of videos couple of days ago since I read some of my old gaming magazines with pre-release N64 hype. Actually they were already hyping 64DD before the whole machine was even out. That with Final Fantasy just jumping to the Playstation should have been forecasting the dark days coming.

It was all great though. Mario 64 was the single most amazing thing I played back then when I was only seven years old.

Yup man I miss those days. I remember staying at a Toys-R-Us demo kiosk for hours on end playing M64.

NimbusD · (10-27-2009, 11:38 PM)

Originally Posted by andymcc:

man the ultra 64 was such an ugly name.

Made sense though, going from 'Super' to 'Ultra'.

magicalsoundshower · (10-27-2009, 11:38 PM)

Originally Posted by Ranger X:

The hype for the N64 was so amazing. I was playing Cruisin' USA in the arcades with high hopes.... only to be fucking deceived.

It's hilarious to hear all this positivity. They realised soon enough staying cartridge based was a bad idea and the N64 was a very badly designed hardware. Seriously, only Nintendo and Rare could so something good with it because it was simply abysmal.

.

I agree, they seemed so obsessed with their new "amazing" technology they didn't seem to care for making the N64 developer-friendly in the slightest, which of course ended up biting them in the ass big time. Also, how on earth could anyone design a console built specifically for real-time 3D and give it only 4 kilobytes of texture cache memory? To be honest, t's kind of a miracle to me that their Mario and Zelda games from the era turned out so good. The N64 days are definitely my least favorite Nintendo period by far.

Ranger X · (10-27-2009, 11:42 PM)

Originally Posted by magicalsoundshower:

I agree, they seemed so obsessed with their new "amazing" technology they didn't seem to care for making the N64 developer-friendly in the slightest, which of course ended up biting them in the ass big time. Also, how on earth could anyone design a console built specifically for real-time 3D and give it only 4 kilobytes of texture cache memory? To be honest, t's kind of a miracle to me that their Mario and Zelda games from the era turned out so good. The N64 days are definitely my least favorite Nintendo period by far.

Same here.
Not only the texture cache problem but the there was no dedicated sound chip. One processor for both sound and graphic was a really bad idea. Cartridge space also caused its share of problems. Not many textures, low quality color palette, etc. The console was also very low in ram since they thought the cartridge would compensate. This led again to graphics cheapen to death, extreme low resolution making the AA look extremely grainy and bad, low quality colors causing horrible dithering, etc. The hardware was also pushing aroun 160 000 polys compared to around 300 000 for the PS1. This is why many walls where one huge poly with a stretched texture on it. Really horrible.

Seriously, outside Atari stuff I wonder if there ever was a popular console THAT shitty.

.

Leonsito · (10-27-2009, 11:42 PM)

I read a story a couple of years ago here, it was about the delay of the N64 when they discovered a bug on the original cpu that was running those amazing original 3D demos, and how the new cpu that they had to put in the N64 wasn't up to the specs, hence the popping, the less draw distance, the fog ...

Anyone knows what I'm talking about?

mentalfloss · (10-27-2009, 11:43 PM)

I don't I'll ever get as much of a graphix boner as I did for SM64.

red shoe paul · (10-27-2009, 11:45 PM)

Originally Posted by maniac-kun:

i remember the days when nintendo was all about making realy good real games

Agreed. I actually remember when I absolutely LOVED to play Nintendo 64, and SNES.

AniHawk · (10-27-2009, 11:45 PM)

Originally Posted by magicalsoundshower:

I agree, they seemed so obsessed with their new "amazing" technology they didn't seem to care for making the ____ developer-friendly in the slightest, which of course ended up biting them in the ass big time.

The more things change

JSnake · (10-27-2009, 11:46 PM)

wow even back then Nintendo loved da chartz

BruceLeeRoy · (10-27-2009, 11:47 PM)

Ah man I was hoping the video was going to continue with the unveiling of Shadows of the Empire.

Chittagong · (10-27-2009, 11:50 PM)

Originally Posted by BruceLeeRoy:

Fu#$ yes I love this shit thanks man.

Was that the same video you could get if you filled out a request for in Nintendo Power the one that had Shadows of the Empire, and Pilotwings on it along with Waverace and Mario64? I remember losing my damn mind when I first saw your snow speeder take out a AT-AT on Hoth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYpqLwUj77k

This is it. I think it had more than the Nintendo Power video which I recall focused more on the launch window

GCX · (10-27-2009, 11:52 PM)

I liked how the audience was wowed even by how Mario put the key on the door since I've always loved that little animation detail.

magicalsoundshower · (10-27-2009, 11:54 PM)

Originally Posted by AniHawk:

The more things change

I thought the Gamecube was supposed to be really easy to program for and allowed for easy ports of Dreamcast, PS2 and Xbox games? Of course this somehow didn't work out for them either, so...

No_Style · (10-27-2009, 11:55 PM)

Originally Posted by andymcc:

holy shit, look at the size of their stage their presenting on. compare that to the amount of money they sink into E3 presentations these days... my god.

This. The difference is startling. I had to check the title of the video to make sure it was E3

[Nintex] · (10-27-2009, 11:57 PM)

Originally Posted by Chittagong:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYpqLwUj77k

This is it. I think it had more than the Nintendo Power video which I recall focused more on the launch window

Wow, so many of those games ended up in development hell. "later in 1996" yeah right Lincoln

I also like the way they spin their dream team bullshit

Leondexter · (10-27-2009, 11:58 PM)

It's too bad the N64 didn't stick with "Ultra". Then the Gamecube could've been the "Hyper Nintendo" and the Wii could be the "Super Duper Nintendo".

...and hey, I think I still have this VHS tape.

BruceLeeRoy · (10-28-2009, 12:11 AM)

Originally Posted by Chittagong:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYpqLwUj77k

This is it. I think it had more than the Nintendo Power video which I recall focused more on the launch window

Fricken perfect thanks bro!

Amir0x · (10-28-2009, 12:14 AM)

Boy I remember how hyped I was for the N64. Playing Mario 64 in Blockbuster kiosk and being all drooling in anticipation.

Oh, how quickly my Nintendo fanboy world came crashing around me, as I was inadvertently purchasing the worst console I've ever owned.

These announcements seem so quaint now.

Xeke · (10-28-2009, 12:14 AM)

Originally Posted by red shoe paul:

Agreed. I actually remember when I absolutely LOVED to play Nintendo 64, and SNES.

Yeah I miss those days, Nintendo hasn't made a game that good since.......Mario Galaxy.

Anony · (10-28-2009, 12:16 AM)

there's a shortcut at the penguin slide stage

FUCKEN HELL

Flying_Phoenix · (10-28-2009, 12:18 AM)

?

cjelly · (10-28-2009, 12:22 AM)

That Silicon Graphics guy looks so... fake.

Mudkips · (10-28-2009, 12:22 AM)

Originally Posted by Anony:

there's a shortcut at the penguin slide stage

FUCKEN HELL

diddlyD · (10-28-2009, 12:24 AM)

Originally Posted by AniHawk:

The more things change

it doesn't always bite them in the ass. the ps2 was more esoteric early on than the n64 and ps3 combined.

SquirrelNuckle · (10-28-2009, 12:28 AM)

Man E3 has changed so much. These guys look like huge white collar business executives.

Baiano19 · (10-28-2009, 12:28 AM)

Originally Posted by Ranger X:

The hype for the N64 was so amazing. I was playing Cruisin' USA in the arcades with high hopes.... only to be fucking deceived.

It's hilarious to hear all this positivity. They realised soon enough staying cartridge based was a bad idea and the N64 was a very badly designed hardware. Seriously, only Nintendo and Rare could so something good with it because it was simply abysmal.

.

I liked the 64 :/

RurouniZel · (10-28-2009, 12:35 AM)

Originally Posted by Flying_Phoenix:

?

:O

Zombie James · (10-28-2009, 12:38 AM)

Originally Posted by andymcc:

man the ultra 64 was such an ugly name.

No, it wasn't. The old logo was better, too.

Coolio McAwesome · (10-28-2009, 12:41 AM)

Originally Posted by AniHawk:

Angel Studio and Acclaim did okay.

And Paradigm too. (Pilotwings 64 and Beetle Adventure Racing were awesome.) Ubisoft and Sucker Punch did alright also, and Factor 5 really pushed the hardware.

BGBW · (10-28-2009, 12:41 AM)

Originally Posted by cjelly:

That Silicon Graphics guy looks so... fake.

It was the hands. They applied a cheat code for added effect.

Teetris · (10-28-2009, 12:43 AM)

That's quite the contrast from that Zelda unveiling