The History of the Nintendo 64

Nintendo 64

The Nintendo 64 was released in Japan in 1996. It all started in 1992, when Nintendo was trying to create CD-ROM support for the SNES in partnership with Sony. At the time, it was approached by Silicon Graphics, which was looking for a partnership to develop a more advanced CPU. This is how the 64-bit VR4300 CPU was created. Silicon had approached Sega for this, but Sega rejected it due to CPU flaws. The partnership between Silicon and Nintendo was signed in 1993 as Project Reality, the same year that Nintendo and Sony tried to create a CD console called the Play Station, later released only by Sony in 1994. In 1994, the Silicon-Nintendo project was renamed Ultra 64. According to Silicon, the development of its hardware would take at least until 1995 to be released. In 1996, they announced that their console would be released that year, under the name Nintendo 64, since the name Ultra was claimed by Konami. The Nintendo 64 was released, but with support for cartridges, which was one of its biggest problems due to the high cost of these. At the time, they claimed that they were maintaining a successful model and avoiding the long loading times of CD games, but experts in the field said that they feared being challenged by Sony, creator of the CD-ROM together with Philips. This proved to be so true that their only CD-ROM console, the GameCube, released in 2001, used a specific CD media, a mini CD created by Nintendo, departing from the standards of the creators of traditional media.

N64 Hardware

Returning to the Nintendo 64, its CPU was 93.75 MHz, but it did not operate fully in 64 bits, with the console being considered 32 bits, thus being in the fifth generation of consoles. Its GPU was also developed by Silicon, known as RCP, or reality coprocessor. It also promised to be 64 bits and had 62.6 MHz. The GPU came with two integrated processors, the RSP and the RDP. Its palette was 16 million colors, with 2 million possible colors. The console had some new features compared to the others. It did not have a sound chip, with the audio processed by the RCP GPU, which brought 16-bit CD-quality audio with 24 PCM channels. Another new feature was the expandable sound quality up to 48 MHz. And finally, it innovated by bringing a different concept of RAM memory, with it being unified for CPU, audio and video, unlike those used in other consoles, which divided it into separate banks.

Expansion Pak, Rumble Pack and 64DD

It also came with the largest memory of a home console, 4MB, with the possibility of being expanded to 8MB using a cartridge called Expansion Pak. It also innovated by bringing to consoles a joypad with analog sticks and later with vibration mode through the Rumble Pack accessory, fitted to the controller itself. This joypad ended up inspiring the PSX DualShock. And finally, I highlight the 64DD, a peripheral similar to the zip drive, which was a floppy disk at the time. This peripheral was similar to the Famicom's Disk System, with games released for these disks. The device also had a modem to connect to the Randnet service for online gaming, similar to the SNES's Satellaview.

N64 Cases/Boxes

Similar to the Sega Saturn, the console also had transparent versions, in orange, pink, green, gray, blue, purple, red, yellow, lilac and aqua green.

N64 Cartridges

Among the well-known games, we have racing games, such as California Speed, Destruction Derby 64, F-Zero X, Hot Wheels, Hydro Thunder, Indy Racing, Lego Racers, Maro Kart 64, Ridge Racer 64, Re-Volt, V-Rally, Wave Race 64, Wipeout 64 and the franchises, Cruis'n, Automobili, F-1, Nascar, San Francisco Rush and Top Gear. Platform games, we had Banjo-Kazooie, Earthworm Jim 3D, Rayman, Super Mario 64, Yoshi Story, Donkey Kong 64, Kirby 64, and the franchises, Chameleon Twist and Gex. Adventure games, such as Mega Man 64, Mission Impossible, Power Rangers, and franchises such as Bomberman, Castlevania and Zelda. Sports games such as Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, NHL 99, World Cup '98, 1080 Snowboarding, as well as the Ozumo, All-Star Baseball, Bass, FIFA, International Superstar Soccer, J-League, Jikkyou Powerful Pro, Madden NFL, NBA, NFL Blitz, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, WCW, WWF and other franchises. Fighting games such as Fighters Destiny, Killer Instinct, Super Smash Bros., Super Robot Spirits, Transformers and Xena, as well as the Clay Fighter and Mortal Kombat franchises. Puzzle games such as Dr. Mario 64, Wetrix, The New Tetris, Tetrisphere and Magical Tetris Challenge, Puzzle Dama, and franchises such as Bomberman, Bust-a-Move, Pokemon and Puyo Puyo. Shooters, such as Doom 64, Perfect Dark, GoldenEye 007, Bangai-O, Nuclear Striker, Hexen, Robotron 64, Star Fox 64, Star Wars and franchises, such as Duke Nukem, Quake and Turok. Simulation, such as Pilotwings 64, Harvest Moon 64, Racing Simulation and Sim City 2000. Cartoons, such as Tom and Jerry, Scooby-Doo, The Little Angels, Tigger, Taz-Mania, Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, South Park, some from Disney, such as Toy Story, Mickey, Donald Duck, Bug's Life, The Emperor's New Groove and Tarzan and Japanese animation, such as Doraemon, Goemon, Evangelion and Rantarou. In addition to various game franchises, such as Star Wars, Bomberman, Mario, Pokemon and others.

The History of PSX

Playstation

The Playstation (or PSX) was released in 1994 in Japan. It all started in 1990, when the SNES was released. The console came with Sony's SPC-700 sound chip, starting a partnership between the two companies. In 1992, the companies planned to release the Super Nintendo CD, which would have CD-ROM support fitted to the bottom of the console, but this project did not go ahead. After that, they planned to release an entirely new console with CD support called the Play Station (separate names), but Sony wanted the rights to the games and Nintendo did not agree, causing the partnership to be dissolved. Despite this, Sony went ahead with the project and released the console, but ended up being notified by Nintendo to change its name because it also owned the brand.

Play Station and Super Nintendo CD (Prototypes)

It was at this time that the name PSX began to be used, and it was soon changed to Playstation (all together), and it managed to return to its original name. Something similar happened to Nintendo in 1996 with the launch of the Ultra 64 (future Nintendo 64), when Konami, a partner of Sony, prohibited Nintendo from using the name Ultra, as it was a brand created by the company in the 1980s. We do not know if this interpellation had any participation from Sony. Another reason made Sony want to work on a new console with 3D graphics, the launches of Sega Rally, Daytona USA, Virtua Fighter and other games for Sega's Model 1 for arcade.

PSX Hardware

The PSX hardware consists of a 32-bit Sony R3000 CPU, clocked at 33.86 MHz, with a GTE coprocessor embedded in the CPU for mathematical instructions for 3D graphics. It also has a system control coprocessor and a 32-bit Sony SCPH-9000 GPU designed by Toshiba with 1 MB of video RAM and 16.7 million colors, with 153 thousand simultaneous on-screen. For audio, it has a 16-bit Sony SPU with 24 sound channels, with 512 KB of RAM, PCM audio source, MIDI support and 44.1 KHz sound. And finally, a 2x speed optical CD-ROM drive.

GameShark and Memory Card

The PSX's biggest competitor was the Sega Saturn, which was released a month before Sony's console. The PSX's initial partners were Capcom and Konami, but over time it gained more producers, and soon after, the biggest game companies were releasing games for its hardware. Piracy also ended up helping the console's fame, which became popular in other regions, such as Brazil and China, for example. Other features of the console were the unprecedented launch of the Game Shark to cheat in games and the popularization of game progress recording, with the Memory Card. It also had a controller inspired by the SNES joypad, with analog sticks inspired by arcade controls and the unprecedented experience of vibration mode, which reflected impacts in games on the controller.

PSX Games

Among the famous games released for the console, we have successful franchises, such as racing games like Need for Speed, Grand Turismo, Nascar, Drive, Destruction Derby, San Francisco Rush, Twisted Metal, Moto Racer and many others. Its fighting games were undoubtedly the console's greatest fame, bringing franchises like Tekken, Street Fighter Alpha and EX Plus, Mortal Kombat, Bloody Roar, Rival School, Fatal Fury, and the famous versus games, such as Capcom vs. SNK, Marvel vs. Capcom, SF vs. X-Men and Marvel vs. SF. It was also a console for sports games, such as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, 2Xtreme, FIFA, NBA, International Supersoccer, Winning Eleven, NFL, EFootball and World Cup. First and third person action games were also another famous game on the console, such as Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Parasite Eve, Silent Hill, Dino Crisis, Tomb Raider and Syphon Filter. As for platform games, we had Crash Bandicoot, Castlevania, Megaman, Strider, Rayman and Gex. In RPGs, we had Final Fantasy, Grandia, Chrono Cross, Lunar, Breath of Fire, Valkyrie Profile, Tales of Destiny and Dragon Quest. In anime, we had Inuyasha, Dragon Ball, Yu Gi Oh, Saber Marionette J, Sakura Card Captor, Digimon, Shaman King and others. In beat'em ups, we had Fighting Force, Captain Commando, Gekido, Nekketsu Oyako, Panzer Bandit and Hokuto no Ken. And finally, in terms of games from well-known brands, we had Marvel games, such as Iron Man, Spider Man, X-Men, Hulk and Fantastic Four. From Disney, such as Bug's Life, Lilo and Stitch, Donald Duck, Hercules, Toy Story, 101 Dalmatians, Mogli, Mickey, Winnie the Poof, and Peter Pan. And from Warner, such as Flintstones, Dexter, Powerpuff Girls, Tom and Jerry, Tine Toons, Bugs Bunny and Animaniacs. The console had almost 8 thousand games released and 102 million consoles sold.

PSOne

The PSX had another console released, the miniature or baby PSX called PSOne in 2000. The console was imported to Brazil in 1996, but became popular through piracy from 1997 onwards. The PSOne officially arrived in the country in 2002. The console was discontinued by Sony in 2006, when its successor, the PS2, was already popular.

The History of the Sega Saturn

Sega Saturn

The Sega Saturn was released in Japan in 1994. Its development began around 1992, when the Sega Model 1 arcade game was released. The aim was to be able to run games with the same quality as this arcade game on consoles. This is when the Saturn Project began. In 1993, the CPU was developed in partnership with Hitachi, the SuperH RISC or simply SH-2, a 32-bit 28.6 MHz CPU. Also at this time, Sega of America began talks with Sony to jointly produce a 32-bit console, creator of the future PSX, and with Silicon Graphics, for a GPU for the console, creator of the RCP, the future GPU for the N64 . Neither negotiation prospered.

Sega Saturn Hardware

After that, in 1994, they partnered with Hitachi and Yahama, and created respectively the VDP1 and VDP2 video chips, the first for sprites, textures and polygons and the second for backgrounds and 3D scrolling and rotation. Combined with two SH-2 CPUs, plus an SCU math coprocessor with DSP geometry, forming a set of 5 processors to work with video. Its palette reached 16.77 million simultaneous colors. It also had a super powerful sound, with a Yamaha YMF292 ship with a Yamaha FH1 sound DSP and a 68k as a sound CPU, bringing 32 audio channels in FM, MIDI, PCM and LFO formats. It had 2MB of RAM, 1.5MB of video, 512kb of audio RAM and 512kb of ROM. And finally, a 2x speed CD-ROM driven by a 20 MHz Hitachi SH-1 processor.

Sega ST-V and 32X

Before its launch, still in 1994, Sega created the Titan Project, which gave rise to the Sega Titan Video arcade, or simply ST-V. The arcade had the exact hardware of the Sega Saturn, with the exception of the CD-ROM, as it used cartridges. This may have been a preparation for players to adapt to the future console. All of Sega's projects were named after planets and satellites, with this one being a reference to a moon of Saturn, which is quite suggestive. Before the launch of the Saturn, other projects, such as the Sega Virtual Processor, were launched on the Virtua Racing cartridge for the MD, as a cheaper way to port Model 1 games. The 32X was also launched, an add-on that worked with 3D polygons and the Saturn's SH-2 processor, also with the aim of running Model 1 ports and games with better quality at a lower cost. It was all a way to keep the 3D idea alive in case the Saturn was not launched that year.

3D Control Pad, Arcade Racer, RAM Expansion Cartridge, Pro Action Replay and NetLink

The console also had interesting accessories, such as 1 and 4MB RAM expansion cartridges, adding memory to the central hardware, video and sound for arcade games, mainly from SNK (Neo Geo) and Capcom (CPS-1 and 2). The Pro Action Replay, which allowed games from all regions (JP, USA and EU) to be played, save state (backup) and Game Shark (cheating). The NetLink, which made it possible for the first time for two players to play remotely via telephone line. In addition to the 3D Control Pad, for arcade games, and the Arcade Racer steering wheel for racing games.

Virtua Cop, Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter

The console received some ports from Model 1, such as Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter, and from Model 2 (released in 1993), such as Virtua Cop, Virtua Fighter 2, Daytona USA and Sega Rally Championship. The ST-V was the board with the most ports for the console, being almost re-releases, since the hardware was the same. Among the ports, we had Baku Baku Animal, Batman Forever, Golden Axe: The Duel, Final Fight Revenge, Virtua Fighter Remix, among others.

Sega Saturn Games

In addition to the ports, we had fighting games from the Street Fighter Alpha, Virtua Fighter, Darkstalker, Mortal Kombat, Samurai Shodown, Falsal Fury, KOF franchises, as well as Fighting Vipers, Marver Super Heroes and X-Men. Racing games, such as the aforementioned Daytona and Sega Rally, as well as Winning Post, and the games Nascar 98, Manx TT Super Bike, Destruction Derby, Road Rash and Hang-On GP. RPG games, such as the Dragon Force, Farland Saga, Wizardry, Langrisser and Shinning Force franchises. Shmup games, with franchises such as Darius, Panzer Dragoon, Thunder Force, Cotton, Striker 1945, Gundam Gaiden, as well as Radiant Silvergun, Batsugun, Gunbird, Sengoku Blade, Metal Slug, DonPachi and DoDonPachi. Platform games, such as Nights, Clockwork Knight, Bug and Pandemonium!. Beat'em ups, such as Techi wo Kurau II, Guardian Heroes, Nekketsu Oyako. Sports games, such as J. League, Sega Worldwide, FIFA Soccer, Victory Goal, as well as several NFL, NHL and NBA games. Anime games, such as 3X3 Eyes, Sailor Moon, Blue Seed, DBZ, Doraemon, El Hazard, Initial D, Gundam, Z-Gundam, Macross, Magic Knights Rayearth, Evangelion, Utena, Slam Dank, Tenchi Muyo, Vampire Hunter, Sakura Taisen and many others. Compared to the SNES and PC Engine, it was the console that released the most anime games in the 1990s. In addition to Resident Evil, Burning Rangers, Tomb Raider, and many others. Several Mega Drive games were also released for the console, mainly in the 13 Sega AGES collections, with games such as Alter Burner, Out Run, Phantasy Star, Castle of Illusion, Flick, QuackShot and others, as well as Sonic 1 to Knuckles in Sonic Jam and the first three versions of SF II in Street Fighter Collection, among others. And finally, PC ports, such as Doom, Quake, D, Duke Nukem 3D, Alien Trilogy, Alone In The Dark 2, Amok and others. 

All Sega Saturn Models

The console was basically released in two models: the Model 1, with large, oval buttons, and the Model 2, with small, round buttons. The other differences with the Model 1 are that the Model 2 has an internal power supply and its motherboard was revised to have a lower cost and thermal efficiency. Regarding the releases of each model, the first came out in gray and black versions, respectively in 1994 and 1995, one in Japan and the other in the US and EU. The second model came out in 1995, transparent for Japan and black for the US and EU. This transparent line allowed the internal components of the console and controller to be seen. It came out in black and green. In 1996, they released the white version of the Model 2, which became known in the West as the Japanese Saturn. In 1997, Tec-Toy, which launched the Sega Saturn in Brazil, released the Model 2 in white and transparent colors, exactly like the Japanese models.

V-Saturn and HiSaturn

Regarding third parties that were licensed to use their hardware, we had JVC, which launched the console under the name V-Saturn, with the Model 1 in 1994, in gray with a black button bar, and with the Model 2 in 1996, in gray with a black bottom base, and blue, pink and green buttons. Hitachi (Sega's partner in the creation of the console), launched the HiSaturn in 1995, a dark gray console with light pink buttons, on top of the Model 2. A second version of the console was also launched in 1995, called the HiSaturn Navi, which was a semi-portable console for playing inside cars, in addition to being used as a GPS and television. To do this, the console could be connected to an external LCD screen, or even a screen specific to the console. Its design was very different, a square console, with a square lid, with pink, purple and black buttons for the power, reset and open functions, as well as a control to change the type of wire, with the option to adjust the echo and tone for the device's karaoke function.

SamsungSaturn and Sega Saturn (Tec-Toy)

Samsung also launched the console in South Korea in 1995, using the American Model 2, simply putting the name SamsungSaturn on its base and translating some of the device's functions into Korean. Unlike Hitachi and JVC, which changed the design and even the hardware a lot, Samsung basically kept everything intact, just like Tec-Toy did in Brazil. I believe that the Korean and Brazilian companies were not licensed to modify the hardware, only launching it in locations outside Japan. The console was discontinued in 1998 with 9.26 million units sold, and despite its success, it was unable to compete with the PSX, mainly due to the rush to launch it, which prevented companies from getting to know the console's hardware enough, which was difficult to develop games for.

The History of the Atari Jaguar

Atari Jaguar

The Atari Jaguar was released by Atari in 1993 in the US. Flame was hired by Atari to produce two consoles, a 32-bit console called Panther (which would be the direct successor to the Atari 7800) and a prominent 64-bit console called Jaguar. As development of the second became more advanced, the first was discarded. They invested so much in the project that, in addition to canceling the Panther project, they also discontinued support for the Atari ST PC and all other 8-bit PCs, in addition to the Atari 2600, in 1992.

Atari Jaguar Hardware

Their system did not have a central CPU, but rather a 32-bit GPU called Tom and a 32-bit digital signal processor called Jerry (they really liked the Hanna Barbera cartoon), in addition to the M68k CPU that was used as the system manager. Its sound was stereo and 16-bit and two DACs for digital-to-analog conversion. The idea of ​​it being a 64-bit system came from the marketing combination of the two 32-bit processors, which is not true. The console was in fact 32-bit. Its games were initially released on cartridges.

Atari Jaguar CD

The Jaguar initially competed with the Super Nintendo and Mega Drive. Its multi-chip architecture, combined with poor tools and hardware bugs, made it difficult to create games, with no more than 50 titles released. As a result, its sales were low, even though the console was sold for half the market price. With the arrival of the Sega Saturn and Playstation in 1994, its sales dropped even further. In 1995, they launched the CD-ROM support add-on, known as the Jaguar CD, in an attempt to create larger and better quality games, but not even that saved the console.

Atari Jaguar and Atari Jaguar CD games

Despite its lack of popularity, it had good titles released, such as Wolfenstein 3D, Rayman, Doom, Theme Park, Pitfall - The Mayan Adventure, Flashback, NBA Jam, Iron Soldier, Double Dragon V, Tempest 2000, Alien vs. Predator, Space Ace, Defender 2000, Cybermorph, Power Drive Rally, Atari Karts, Zool 2, Iron Soldier, Primal Rage, Raiden, Towers II, among others. The Jaguar was discontinued in 1997 with just over 150 thousand copies sold.

The History of 3DO

3DO

The 3DO was created by the 3DO Company, a partnership formed by seven companies to create a technical hardware model and license it to anyone who wanted to assemble it. This was the case of Panasonic, the first company to launch the 3DO in 1993 in the USA. Its model was known as the FZ-1. The 3DO is considered the first 32-bit console to be launched in major gaming markets, such as the USA and Japan, with the Amiga CD32 being the first to be launched, in this case in Europe. The technical part of the 3DO consisted of a 32-bit ARM60 RISC CPU, a math coprocessor, two 16-bit color GPUs, with a resolution of 640x480, 2MB of RAM, 16-bit stereo sound at 44.1KHz, a digital signal sound processor and a 2x CD-ROM drive. The console was relatively successful in the USA, even though it was sold for three times the market price for a new console. Other countries where it sold well were Japan, South Korea and Russia. Despite this, it was unable to compete with the 16-bit consoles, much less with the 32-bit giants Saturn and PSX when they hit the market in 1994. Despite this, it had some great releases, such as well-made ports and the beginning of franchises that would later become popular among its competitors.

3DO Games

Among them we have Alone In The Dark, Bust-a-Move, Casper, Doom, Dragon's Lair, Flashback, Gex, Night Trap, Casper, Phoenix 3, Samurai Shodown, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Theme Park, Wolfenstein 3D, among others. In addition, we had racing games, such as Crash 'n Burn, Quarantine (quorentin), Need For Speed, Road Rash, MegaRace, Autobahn Tokio. Sports games, such as Fifa International Soccer, Madden, PGA Tour Golf, ESPN Let's Play and Slam 'N Jam. Adventure games, such as Johnny Bazookatone, Captain Quazar, Out of This World, Casper, The Horde. Anime games, such as Yu Yu Hakusho, Sailor Moon, Doraemon and Shin-Chan. Puzzle games, such as Puzzle Bobble, Trip'd, Icebreaker, The Incredible Machine. Fighting games, such as Primal Rage, Rise of the Robots, Way of the Warrior, The Eye of Typhoon, Ultraman Powered. Shooting games (or first-person shooters), such as Mad Dog I and II, Crime Patrol and Who Shot Johnny Rock?, also released for the Sega CD, as well as Drug Wars and The Last Bounty Hunter, all in the famous FMV, Full Motion Video, that is, games that interact with real movies. Shooting games, but not FMV, we had Jurassic Park Interactive, PO'ed, Demolition Man, and the aforementioned Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. Shmups, such as Burning Soldier, Starblade, the Shock Wave series, Star Fighter, Armageddon and others, all in the warship style, similar to the classics After Burner and Star Fox. And RPGs, such as Battle Blues, Seal of the Pharaoh, Blue Forest Story, Lucienne's Quest, Slayer.

3DO Blaster

In 1994, the company launched the 3DO Blaster, an ISA video card (old PC input for video and sound cards) that reproduced the console's original hardware. It worked in partnership with the computer's CD-ROM and was compatible with Windows 3.1. On the PC, you could also capture the game's screen. It was the only device that was developed to work inside a computer. The card came with two VGA outputs for PC monitors and one output for the 3DO controller. Despite its innovation, it was soon discontinued. 

Panasonic 3DO, Gold Star 3DO and Sanyo 3DO

In 1994, Panasonic's console had another version released at a cheaper price, known as the FZ-10. Other companies launched the console around the world, such as Gold Star in South Korea in 1994 (with three more versions released later) and Sanyo in Japan in 1995. Japan is where it had the most releases (Panasonic and Sanyo). Despite existing in several countries, it never had region locking, even helping in the creation of homebrews for the hardware.

Samsung DMB-800

The console was discontinued in 1996, and in its three years of existence it sold over 2 million units. After its closure, the 3DO Company sold its hardware, known as Opera, to Samsung in 1997, which released it that same year under the name Samsung DMB-800, also serving to play VCDs and play karaoke. The device was discontinued around 1998/99.