A Groundbreaking Console (Nintendo N64)

Member Name: Dave Robinson

Product:	Nintendo N64
Date:	14/07/00 (6 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 4 controller ports, very good graphics and sound, cartridges-based format

Disadvantages: Not as wide a selection of games as PS, fuzzy graphics sometimes, games in annoying cardboard boxes, cartridge based format

The Nintendo 64 has been around since 1st March 1997. It was launched at the very expensive price of £249.99, with the 3 games which came with it being priced at £60! However, at the time it was the most technologically advanced console, and introduced many exciting new features which had never been seen on any home console before.

One is the 4 controller ports as standard, this is excellent as loads of games use it to excellent effect, such as Perfect Dark, Goldeneye 007, Diddy Kong Racing, Wipeout 64, Wave Race 64, Mario Kart 64 and lots of others. Another is the superbly designed controller. The ergonomics of this are excellent, it is very comfortable to hold and for me comes a close second to the Dreamcast's controller. The N64 introduced the idea of an anologue stick rather than an old fashioned digital D-pad, which is great. The N64 also introduced rumble packs and a host of other peripherals which plug directly into the controller.

The graphics at the time this console game out were absolutely stunning, and are still superb today, especially as many games nowadays utilise the expansion pack, which adds another 4MB of RAM to the console, giving it 8MB.

A lot of people call the N64 the "kids' console" as there are lots of cute platform games. This is true, but there are also lots of excellent adult games available such as "Perfect Dark", "Quake 2", "Goldeneye 007" and lots of others. I think the consoles main weakness is its lack of real driving games. It has lots of childrens karting games, which admittedly are excellent, but no Gran Turismo or Ridge Racer alternatives. Also, sometimes the graphics look fuzzy and foggy, which can be annoying.

A weakness of the N64 is the cartridge based format, but it is also a strength. It's a waekness because cartrides can;t store as much data as CDs, and they cost much more to make and produce, as they have a hard plas
tic case with a memory card inside. But it's also a strength as it means no annoying loading times, no illegal piracy and also you can save your games on the actual cartridge rather than having to use a memory card.

Summary: