The N64 was an unparalleled sleepover experience.

I started saving every dollar I got from birthdays and Christmas gifts as soon as I heard about the "Ultra 64". I bought one on launch day, with SM64. I have no regrets. I love the system to this day.

"Trip Hawkins was already too deep in..." Something no one ever complained about 😏 This was great man. The extra time and effort you put in really shows. Thanks for letting have a small part in this excellent video.

This is the exact reason Nintendo didn't go with a CD format that generation. Nintendo was fully well aware of beneficial a CD based system could've been. Heck, even Shigeru Miyamoto, Koji Kondo, Eiji Aonuma, Satoru Iwata and others often had positive thoughts on how the N64 could've performed if it were CD based. There was just one huge issue though, Nintendo didn't have their own semiconductor factories capable of producing such tech Sony did. In order for Nintendo to have been able to acquire such tech was to approach other tech manufacturers capable of producing such tech which would require huge royalty fees on every hardware unit sold. And Nintendo has a History of not wanting to sell such expensive products; especially if it meant selling said CD based product at a loss like Sega and others before them had a habit of doing. Sony was able to get away with releasing such expensive tech at a low price point because PlayStation was a product made in house and outsourced like what CD based systems were before Sony. If I'm to share a statement that Ken Kutaragi(father of the PlayStation) had said to Hideki Sato(president of Sega's now former hardware manufacturing division) it could basically be summed up like this: Hideki-Chan(Kutaragi refers to him using the "Chan" diminutive) Hideki-Chan, you guys at Sega don't stand a chance against us here at Sony. Let me ask you something, where are you guys getting your processors from? Where are you guys getting your CD format from? The answer is right in front of you. You're buying them from Hitachi, you're buying them Yamaha, you're buying them from JVC! What bout your CD hard-drives and dev-kits? You guys are buying EVERYTHING! Continuing on: By buying and selling from Hitachi and JVC, those two manufacturers are the ones profiting off the Saturn with your name on it. To put it simply, you guys buy everything, and you can't make anything yourselves. We here at Sony can make everything ourselves; including custom parts and our own sound chips and processors. We have our own factories!(Kutaragi had more to say on the issue at hand, but the rest is already too long as it is). Point being, if Nintendo did what Sega and others before them did, it would've resulted in the same expensive system like others before them because of expensive hardware royalty expenses, and the fact that they'd be forced to sell such an expensive product at a loss in hopes of keeping up with the competition; and honestly, I think even SquareSoft back then knew Nintendo wouldn't be able to keep up with Sony no matter how hard they tried. Nintendo didn't have much choice either. In Nintendo's case, it can be summed up like this: Which "Poison" is least likely to affect Nintendo's brand in the long run? Expensive CD tech or Cartridges!?

Was it just me or as a kid time just felt so much longer. I still remember me and my brother waiting for ocarina of time to be released for the Nintendo 64 and the delays felt like a decade of waiting. When it was really like a year and a half.

Great video! The N64 might be the most nostalgic system for me. It was the first system that I was old enough as a kid to really appreciate it's impending release and get totally hyped up about it. I remember getting to play Mario 64 at Blockbuster and just how incredible it was - like nothing I had ever seen or played before. Even though I think a lot of the games haven't aged very well, the ones that have stayed good are still REALLY good!

Impressive work. Finally sat down and watched the whole thing. Loved the N64 Overworld renders with the tv’s displaying commercials and news footage. As well as the posters on the walls, etc. No wonder this took most of your year to make. You’re a madman. Great work!

I love this documentary. I hope you make more of them

I remember the game shortage. It didn't stop everyone I knew from buying one, with high hopes on future games. We weren't disappointed.

Oh man I totally I voiced a cameo in this video xD Great video as always Ian, though it's pretty interesting how despite lagging behind the PS1, the N64 still did well in the US. In my country it was a DISTANT third lol

I can't believe the amount of research that went into this. This is great work man. I'd love to hear more about the developer challenges about building games for consoles that don't even have final specs. It's always a fun story to hear (but not to live)

I know story of the N64 pretty well but never seen it presented so well. Great work!!!

If Ocarina of Time, Goldeneye and Mario64 were the only games released for the N64, I still would have bought it. What an adventure Zelda was, I'll never forget it. I'm not sure I'll ever experience that magic with a game ever again

Amazing work. Seriously, high quality research and very well produced

I can’t believe last September was the 25th anniversary. There will sadly never be leaps in console generations like back then where your mind was just completely blown away. Going from yoshis island the year before to Mario 64 the next year was just mind boggling. Today it’s like oh. I think I see a little more detail

I think I've watched every video about n64 history and they all being something new to the conversation. This one is no exception. Great work.

Great stuff man, glad I came up on your video!

unbelievable video. My eyes were glued. Thank you for taking me back, to a better time.

Thanks for the video! When N64 came out, I already converted to PC gaming. This was the last home console I ever owned.

Amazing work! just wanted to add a quick note about analog sticks, The Vectrex analog stick does self center and shares much more similarities to modern analog stick since it is based on potentiometers. There's also the japanese XE-1-AP controller that also uses potentiometers and self centers. The N64 thumbstick uses optical sensors instead, it's basically the same technology found in track balls or mice with a rubber ball.

This video ROCKS dude. The whole thing feels like one of those 80s surrealist CGI tech demos.

The Nintendo 64 is hands down still one of the best video game consoles ever! Over 25 years now and I still enjoy playing games like Mario 64 legend of zelda ocarina of time and star fox 64 the Nintendo 64 is still great!

I love my N64 was my first game console ever still remember when my dad got home and surprise me with it. After all this year I still have it and working to go back and play all my favorite games, with a actual memory card and expansion pack finally, never had them when I was a kid, and I even bought a super 64 HDMI adapter to up the stakes, to me the Nintendo 64 is always going to have a special spot in my heart.

Probably my favourite console of all time. Super Mario 64, Star Wars Rogue Squadron, Goldeneye 007, Ocarina of Time, no mortgage to pay.......those were the times 😍

OMG did you sneak a Thunder in Paradise cameo in there? 😆

I’m so glad KZfaq recommended this channel. I believe I have found my new favourite channel. This was so good :))

This was amazing and I really enjoyed watching it. Your commentary was perfect. I learned so much about my favorite console of all time. I'll always remember the Christmas morning when my twin brother and I received this. It was one of the happiest days in our lives. So many memories of playing these great games, like Goldeneye, Turok, Wave Race, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Star Wars, Banjo Kazooie, Mario Kart, Diddy Kong Racing and so much more. Thank you for putting this video together and presenting it perfectly!

How this video only has 31K views over a year is crazy too me. Very well done. *subscribed*

Love the attention to details in your 3D segments. As always great stuff, that little extra really shines through.

Nice work on this vid, Ian! You can clearly tell by the quality that you invested a lot of time creating it. Also, Shadowmask did nice job on the music.

Fantastic job! Keep up the great work as always!

Keep these videos going! Your style for videogame essays is genuinely unique and I think that you might have struck gold here. The CG segments in combination with your voiceover remind of those old-school G4 documentaries that used to air before KZfaq was around and I love that. I eagerly await your next release.

Great video man! I really enjoyed the 3D graphics you implemented in this one it must have taken a lot of time to put this one together. Great work brother!!!

God, I have so many great memories from back in the 90s playing Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie. Such good times. Great work on the video man! I love your graphics work too.

Great and thorough work man. Gotta love that sultry HN voice

I don't understand how this isn't getting more views. Very well done.

From my understanding, the Saturn actually was NOT optimized for 3D. It had some capability, sure, but was actually focused more on 2D graphics scaling.

Great work on this video, the information and the visual edit 🔥

Super high quality production. Great editing, well chosen music, and smooth narration. I’m impressed. You’ve got my sub.

Can't believe I have never seen your stuff before...just discovered it! can't wait to watch more!

Your channel is amazing, and your videos are very well done. I'm not sure why your subscribers aren't much higher, but they should be! Keep up the great work 🙏🏽

You never cease to amaze me with the amount of research and effort you put into these videos. Amazing work, keep it up these videos are great.

This video was great. I knew lots of this story already but all the new information you provided was as welcome as it was surprising to me that I'd never heard of it before. Thanks and you've got my sub. This is one of those "hidden gems" and I hope the algorithm figures out what you are doing here.

Very high production quality video, well done

Awesome quality doc here! Great work and editing!

I see that Mario 64 PC port footage in there. Nice video!

Holy crap this channel is amazing. Glad to find you in my recommends.

14 minutes in and I am hella impressed, great video

Those tv transitions with the static and high pitched whine hurt. But the information and video itself other than that was amazing!

Solid work as always. Certainly above and beyond what I could do or would be willing to do. I remember the system being on display with Mario prior to launch at the “local” Fred Meyer. It was kind if cool, but I wasn’t sold on it.

Graphics were on point for this video! Really great stuff!

I was 11 when the n64 came out, and I was absolutely salivating at the chance to get one leading up to its launch. I read EGM religiously at the time and to this day, no other console has made such an impact on my heart and mind. I’ll never forget the day I finally saw one running Mario 64 at a toys r us. I’ve never wanted anything so bad in my life. Favorite console and gaming era…. The graphics in this video are incredible by the way, nice work!

Awesome video, Ian. 👍☺ I hope to see the next one in a year. 😂😜

Very good--I expect as much effort and research put into your video about the Star Wars Millennium Falcon CD-ROM Playset for PC, if not more...and in half the time.

great vid, really well researched and detailed

Very well done! I loved the N64 but never owned one when I was younger. I fixed that now. Again, great job. Subscribed!

I always love hearing stories about Nintendo consoles from before my time, but I think two of my favorite stories in gaming are the stories of the Wonderswan and the Nintendo Play Station.

Excellent Ian -- thanks!

Square and Enix abandoning Nintendo really hurt, as there were no games from either publisher on the N64 (2 Enix games were published only in Japan) after dozens of great games from both companies on the SNES.

Incredibly well done video.

Good video champ!!

Super Mario 64 music brings into me such good nostalgic feelings, even if i had a shitty childhood hearing this music makes me remember the good times of the 90s

Hearing st1ka do the voice of Shigeru Miyamoto was a very welcome surprise in this one ^-^ I have to say I'm not a big fan of the over-reliance on 3D rendered stuff for videos like this though. There is so much great footage that showcases the system and circumstances surrounding it, that I feel would have been just as engaging, if not more. Appreciate the time put into this regardless. Covered a lot of different aspects of the lead-up and launch that really brought me back to the time when Killer Instinct machines were hyping the "ULTRA 64" in arcades, etc.

Thanks for one more well made game history video.

Very good video, thanks!

Video impeccabile,di alto livello.un lavoro perfetto!

Intro music is fire. Good editing like the turbo graphics 16 video. Smooth delivery from the voice person. I have misophonia and other issues related to sounds and my reactions to them. It’s rare I can listen to someone without my brain picking apart sounds, vocal ticks, etc which will cause me to check out. This is quite enjoyable for me for reasons outside of the norm. Maybe a weird comment, but I thought I’d share.

The video is perfect...EXCEPT for the teleprompter causing delays on the speech. Check out a video from technology connections for his video of teleprompters and maybe reach out to him for some advice, he has perfected the art in my opinion.

Very well done! Great video! Subbed

Great video! I wonder what's next

Phenomenal stuff man

Great video, thanks.

N64 was the first system I bought with my own money so it always has a special place to me. Mine still works to this day.

Man this is really well done and detailed!!!!

Great video, thank you

Wonderful video!

One of my earliest memories was of Diddy Kong racing. I remember telling my mom I wanted to be "the monkey with a star on his back." I still love that game

Happy Launching Nintendo 64 before the birth of my life in the following two months to September 1996. - Ivangard C. Revita (Born on 11/16/1996) -

Great video!!!

N64 was the console that I dreamed of having as a child but I couldn't because of its high cost. I had to wait 25 years since its launch to try the gems in its catalog, and I can say that the wait was worth it. Maybe it's because I wanted it so much when I was a kid, and I didn't own or play any console after the Sega Genesis, that to this day the graphics of the N64 still dazzle me and seem incredible, and I love them so much that I prefer that aesthetic (with all its limitations) before modern hyper-realistic graphics.

I was a tween/teenager during the N64 era. I remember thinking about the N64 and the GameCube and saying stuff like "I prefer consoles which focuses on games instead of multimedia". 😆 While I do still compartmentalize my entertainment through FM radio, Chromecast with Google TV, consoles and computers, I have to say that video game consoles changed a lot! 😅 I use my PS4 for lot of thing now. Nintendo is still quite focused on games, but even them supported Netflix and KZfaq. I don't know about the Switch though... *Great video!*

Awesome video!

This was the best time in human history to be growing up as a kid. A truly once in a life time experience to be young and have a NES and then live through the SNES, Genesis, PS1, N64, etc. Forget all of the crap kids have today with social media....1989-1999 was THE BEST time to be a kid in human history

Perfect Sunday morning video to watch👍👍👌👌

Nice ‘Thunder in Paradise 2’ poster!

I liked the Ultra 64 brandingand colors... And remember those days VERY WELL. memories memories

The magic of the n64 is not necessarily the graphics it was the quality of gameplay After all these years its still my favorite system

Still have my N64 to this day

The first I seen Mario 64 was in a best buy Lexington Kentucky! I was blown away! I was lost in the new 3d world!

I kind of respect 90s Nintendo a lot for even making the N64, it's no secret that they were extremely ruthless and kind of an asshole to other developers, which obviously contributed to them dropping Nintendo in favour of the PlayStation, but whatever their motivation was, pushing technology on the N64 the way they did and brute-forcing 3D gaming into the industry with a roster of mostly western developers who also didn't have experience making 3D games was an INSANE risk born out of inspiration rather than chasing market trends.

PLEASE DO MORE!! THESE EDITS! n64 is my favorite console of all fime

Ironic that one of your first 3D videos is about the first 3D Nintendo console 🤔

Love the work and channel you got a sub from me I look forward to what you make in the future

I remember having my friends sleep over staying up all night playing golden eye 4 player split screen on a 19" crt. It really was the shiz back then. Wcw vs nwo, mario kart, zelda! Even now, 2023, I hook up the ol n64 and pop in golden eye and give my kids a beat down. They don't even feel the nostalgia but do in fact love the game too.

Retrorgb brought me here🙋‍♂️

I couldn't last more than 2 minutes listening to your voice. It sounds like someone who's hammered trying to sound sober.

Ohh, this is gonna be good.

Sweet was thinking about n64 history yesterday

I remember my roommate bought one at launch, and we played Mario to death. Then came Mario Kart, Wave Race, ad KI Gold. Good times.

If Nintendo could have found a way to include their floppy drive in the system from the beginning, things likely would have panned out a lot differently, though I think the Playstation still would have done extremely well. The Nintendo 64 would have cost significantly more to make, and they likely would have had to sell it for a higher price, but Nintendo would have been able to maintain better third party support with the more cost effective and higher capacity 64DD floppy disks. While the 64MB capacity of the floppies might seem really low, given that later cartridges were able to go up to the same capacity, and that 64MB was still about a tenth of the capacity of a CD, it actually would have made a huge difference. The typical cartridge capacity early on was 8MB, but floppy disks would have set the minimum amount of capacity that developers had to work with at 64MB, and the cost per MB of games would have been much lower, making it feasible for game developers to make multiple disk games. 64MB cartridges simply weren't economically feasible until much later, were extremely rare, and were always going to be a lot more expensive per MB. The floppy disks were also still much faster in terms of seek times and loading speeds than the Playstation (about three times faster in both cases), and also allowed for a large amount of re-writable user data on the disks as well, allowing for user-created maps, and eliminating the need for a memory card. While CDs were still much larger, 650-700MB was actually a lot more than what any fifth gen game really needed. The vast majority of storage space on games which actually used whole disks was FMV and CD audio. FMV was ultimately not actually that important, and artists widely agree that in-game cut-scenes are usually better. CD audio is a nicer feature, but the N64 could still have excellent music even on cartridges, and with the floppy disks, that would have made it easier to include a wider variety and better quality music and sound. Those 64MB disks would have been very well suited for this generation.