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[Teknoman]

Too bad the expansion pak didnt increase the framerate on all games period.

 

[km3k]

I remember testing it with and without the expansion pack. It was like night and day how much better it looked at the higher resolution.

Yes, the higher resolution for Rogue Squadron is what convinced me to get an Expansion Pak. It felt like the future at the time.

 

[Orayn]

The Jumper Pak is filler for a slot where you can add more RDRAM, the same type of memory used in the PS2 (32MB) and the PS3 (256MB).

In practice, what it did was hamstring the system with extremely high latency, which was one of the N64's many hardware flaws along with arcane microcode and a rather low limit on maximum texture size.

 

[wandering goat]

Rayman 2 was another game that enabled high res mode with the expansion pack, it looked great with it on. I think Shadowman did too - there are probably a lot more games that took advantage.

[edit] Full list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_64_accessories#Expansion_Pak Just saw this was linked before too, but what the hell.

 

[jbueno]

Yes, the higher resolution for Rogue Squadron is what convinced me to get an Expansion Pak. It felt like the future at the time.

Yup, got it for Rogue Squadron as well, but to be honest even while it was running in 480i I couldn´t tell much difference at the time. Episode I racer though, hot DAMN.

 

[Rulp]

N64DD components

Decked out.

 

[Shahadan]

N64DD components

Megazord sequence initiated

 

[Pitmonkey]

Simple ram expansion - mostly used a resolution jump from 320X240 to 640X480.

 

[Rubius]

Megazord sequence initiated

Gameboy reporting in.

 

[Skyzard]

Gameboy reporting in.

I want to own it and put it in a display case.

the stick and buttons look especially awesome

 

[Rezbit]

Yup, got it for Rogue Squadron as well, but to be honest even while it was running in 480i I couldn´t tell much difference at the time. Episode I racer though, hot DAMN.

Yeah, Episode I Racer blew me away with the expansion pack. Turok 2 looked a lot better as well, but I seem to recall it chugging a lot more. Another one was Hybrid Heaven that looked like straight blurry ass, but the expansion pack cleaned it up heaps.

Gameboy reporting in.

It's beautiful ;_;

 

[renegade_dewitt]

This brings back some really great memories...when I was kid and didn't know anything about gaming, I was scared of even touching that thing. Man, how times have changed....

PS: Still have my N64...collecting dust just like my Gamecube...

 

[chalkitdown1]

Gameboy reporting in.

Genesis reporting for duty.

 

[Rubius]

Genesis reporting for duty.

Is it playable like that? I kinda doubt it is.

 

[Soup Bar]

Genesis reporting for duty.

This thing is cheating. That cleaning cart is only cleaning the Game Genie, and the Master System add on.

 

[Cipherr]

IIRC Donkey Kong 64 only came with the Expansion Pak because it inexplicably fixed a but that Square couldn't find any other way to deal with.

Damn man are you typing on your phone? The errors in this sentence killed me. Especially the Square one, lol.

 

[Shadow Hog]

This thread reminds me that I need to obtain one of these for this N64 I recently purchased... only game I can't really play is Perfect Dark, but still, it's the principle of the matter.

Genesis reporting for duty.

Pssh. Not nearly tall enough.

Sonic & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles

 

[RoadHazard]

This thread reminds me that I need to obtain one of these for this N64 I recently purchased... only game I can't really play is Perfect Dark, but still, it's the principle of the matter.

Pssh. Not nearly tall enough.

http://i.imgur.com/WEYGDd2.jpg

Sonic & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles

Hah. What actually happens if you plug S&K into S&K? Will the game run?

 

[Luigi87]

This is... Actually quite an education thread for me.
I had a third party expansion pak, but I love it, as it sits on top of my N64, and always made me think of a car engine <_<

 

[sixteen-bit]

It did not do this:

Inside your console.

Edits.

RIP

 

[krae_man]

That RAM expansion pack made for a better looking Taco Car

 

[GavinGT]

"Pak"

Not "Pack".

 

[GulAtiCa]

Oh, guess I was wrong on Majora Mask coming with it. Must have had to buy it separately or so.

I remember a lot of games used it well, like Turok, RE2, Perfect Dark. etc

 

[Ridley327]

That RAM expansion pack made for a better looking Taco Car

That is one surprisingly well-rendered taco.

 

[Loofy]

Does every 64 have one? I guess that means that Nintendo knew from the beginning that they'd be doing the expansion pack?

The expansion pack was originally only gonna be released with the 64DD. Of course that never came out in the states so they just released the expansion pak by itself(or with Donkey Kong)

 

[polyh3dron]

it was a "jumper" it didn't do anything. basically a short circuit or ground or something unless the ram cart was inserted

Correct answer.

 

[Lumyst]

"Pak"

Not "Pack".

Apologies. I called it "Pack" on the previous page.

 

[RedSwirl]

I remember testing it with and without the expansion pack. It was like night and day how much better it looked at the higher resolution.

I remember that too. Another noticeable thing was that it doubled the number of animation frames characters on the ground had. Without the expansion pak it looked like they were all ice skating.

 

[amnesiac]

Too bad the expansion pak didnt increase the framerate on all games period.

Perfect Dark would've benefited greatly from that

 

[Bluth54]

Does the console work without the jumper pack inserted?
.

No. Rambus ram that the N64 used always required ram to be installed in pairs, even if one was just a blank/empty. Computers that used Rambus ram were the same way.

I wonder if it would be possible to solder two expansion paks together? and make a 8MB expansion pak.

No. I'm pretty sure with Rambus ram they had to be the same size/amount of RAM if if was real RAM. Even if it were possible games weren't designed to use that much RAM.

 

[soulassssns]

I remember it made Rogue Squadron oh so much better looking.

 

[AlphaTwo00]

wat

It was commonly used for resolution upgrades. Turok 2 was most notable for goin from 320 to 480. 480 N64 games were pretty unheard of.

His wording was terrible.

Donkey Kong 64 used the RAM pack as a way to "HiRes" textures, but it was only revealed recently that it was added in (and Nintendo packed it in) because the game ran into a late showstopping crash, and somehow the RAM pack prevented that.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/05/donkey_kong_64_required_expansion_pak_to_prevent_game_breaking_bug

Marlow explains that a glitch would cause the game to randomly crash, but only when configured to work using the N64’s standard 4MB memory setup. As Rare was unable to identify the cause of the crash, it was eventually forced to release the game with the Expansion Pak bundled-in for free.

It's a pretty clever (and expensive) hack to ship.

 

[LiamA]

I remember it made Rogue Squadron oh so much better looking.

If I remember correctly, it made the game look better, but worsened the frame rate a bit.

 

[bremon]

I remember getting it in Donkey Kong 64 and thinking it must be secret sauce to make the N64 amazing. I think DK64 was the only game I had that actually took advantage of it. As a kid I thought maybe all games would be souped-up.

 

[Quadraphonic]

I remember getting it in Donkey Kong 64 and thinking it must be secret sauce to make the N64 amazing. I think DK64 was the only game I had that actually took advantage of it. As a kid I thought maybe all games would be souped-up.

DK64 popularized it, definitely.

 

[Threi]

At the time of launch you didn't know what it did, but it somehow meant "high tech".

"It's basically a silicon graphics supercomputer, bro."

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

[Ysiadmihi]

I remember testing it with and without the expansion pack. It was like night and day how much better it looked at the higher resolution.

Looked better, but made the game almost unplayable. So much slowdown.

 

[Xbudz]

RIP

agreed.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

Hah. What actually happens if you plug S&K into S&K? Will the game run?

Yes. I can't remember if it plays the normal S&K or gives you a random bonus stage, though.

Judging from the screenshot, I suppose it's the former.

 

[caffeware]

That was the expansion pack, it boosted the ram from 4MB to 8MB.

Microsoft is saved!