Did you get a N64 back at release in 1996?How was it like?Share stories
Was awesome at first, but painful after a month.Playing the same games over and over again became tiresome.Having to wait months for a good release was not a ideal console experience.
I got mine for Christmas in 96. My first game was Turok. I didn't know you needed a memory card, so I used cheats to warp around until I got one.
>>12091475In 1996, I asked for a videogame for my parents after playing DKC at a friends house. But it was the first time I had ever played a videogame, so I didnt know the name of the game nor of the console. This was around the time the N64 was released, so my parents got me that instead. I was disappointed that they didnt get me the "monkey game". I also didnt like it much, because I had a lot of trouble with the controller.But, my father took the time to help me out and some of my fondest memories with the console are playing multiplayer with him all the way from learning play to actually getting good enough to beat him. My fiest game was Wave Race 64.
>>12091475The weirdest thing to me will always be how we GOT our N64. It was neither anyone's birthday nor Christmas or anything else.My mother went to the multimedia and electronics store with my brother. We liked to do that regularly, like once every two weeks, to look for things like maybe a new CD or sth. I had been with her just last time, so that time I stayed home.The N64 had come out a few months ago and while I was very hype for it I would have NEVER even though of asking for it, it would have been like 300 1996 bucks and I was like 8 years old but I still already was aware how much money that was.The thing is, I(!) was the one who was hyped for the N64, my brother never had shown any particular big interest in it.So, they after 1-2 hours came back - And with them they had an N64 with Mario Kart. To this day i have no idea how he talked my mother into buying a WHOLE NEW CONSOLE AND A GAME just like that. I NEVER would have even thought about my brother having the slightest interest in it.Anyway, I vividly remember unpacking it and hooking it up to our family TV and hearing the motor VROOOOM sound when the Nintendo logo starts rotating beofre the MK64 start screen appears. We then played it far into the evening.Good times. But I will never understand how it did happen.
>>12091475I only wanted it because it had the first multiplayer fps game, cruisn series, f zero and mario party. still remember people would go to others places for mario party or 007 back thenotherwise ps1 wins any day
>>12091475Not on release. Didn't like it
>>12091475Yes I did.Loved every minute. No regrets at all.
>N64As is it's something special.I'm yet to encounter one IRL who bought 3DO on release. I confess, I did get FZ-10 myself, but that happened a whole year later, with a huge discount, and then shelved it just one more year later simply because of, well, PS1.I bet people who got 3DO on release still feel frustration and even shame.
>>12091475I got mine the day of release, unfortunately I only had Pilot Wings as K-mart was out of Mario 64. Took a little over a week before I could get a copy.Thankfully I had a Playstation and Saturn to fill the gaps between releases.
id guess xmas 96 but i dont remember. we had mario and pilotwings. mario was the best game i had played to that point and i remember sticking the thermometer on a lightbulb to fake a fever so i could stay home from school to play it more
underwhelming but I was a little bit spoiled as a kid since I had a chipped ps1 and access to imports, also a good pc since my father was a programmer and required one. I believe around 1998/99 when stuff like diablo/starcraft/quake came out I pretty much lost all interest in the console. my first reaction to the early 3d stuff was underwhelming desu. even back at the time as a kid I felt like 2d sprites "looked better". there was also the unbearable frame rate but thats probably because I was used to pc stuff.
>>12092581>i remember sticking the thermometer on a lightbulbAh, the classic technique.But how did you fake the hot forehead? 40°C on the thermometer but perfectly cold forehead to the touch would be very supicious to me, to say the least.
>>12091475>christmas 1998 >in first grade>me and big bro had a ps1 already too>sm64 and OOT under the tree as well>later got into goldeneye, kart 64, smash, stadium, mario party and banjo heavily as wellme, my bro and my gamer mom were all more into ps1 at the time but the 64 was incredible when you had the bros over. great times, if you only had one gen 5 console you really missed out because unlike later gens the platforms and types of games available one each were so different but equally fun. not sure if it was my bday or christmas but we definitely got fresh GBCs with gen 1 pokemon games that year as well. little did I know that gaming would literally never get better than those few years in the late 90s.
>>12091475No my parents were cheap so they got me a SNES around that time. Then a PS1 around when the PS2 came out.
>>12092626lol larping fag
>>12091475No I got the star wars episode 1 racer bundle in 1999. I had a genesis and Gameboy prior but in 1999 that's when I ACTUALLY seriously got into video games and fucked up my life forever. It wasn't because of the n64, it was Pokémon, but I needed Pokémon stadium so I needed an n64. And my newfound aptitude for games did the rest.
Played it in 96, got mine in 97. It was pretty cool, there was this feeling of optimism it gave. Shadows of the Empire was sick, I hadn't even seen a Star wars film.
my parents sold our SNES to get an n64 and the tradeoff in games wasn't worth it imho.
>>12091475>Did you get a N64 back at release in 1996?No, my mom said I wasn't getting any more video game systems, as I already had an NES, SNES, and Genesis. The shitty thing was that I was a well-behaved kid and a straight-A student, so it's not even like video games were a distraction or a bad habit for me. My mom just decided I had enough video games. And she was probably not wrong, but it still sucks to get denied something for no specific reason like that.What made it even worse was that my next door neighbor was one of the shittiest kids imaginable—constantly misbehaved, bad student, literally had the police called on him once during a tantrum where he threatened to kill his single mother. But his mom got him an N64 right at launch. Unfortunately, the only game he had for a while was Killer Instinct, because he thought Mario was "for babies", lol.
>>12092480I once (briefly) met someone who only had a 3DO as a kid; he and his siblings all asked for one for Christmas when they were new. They might've also had a PC they played games on, but I'm not sure. He said he didn't regret it, believe it or not.
>>12091475December 1996, it had very few games. Mario kart and mario 64 until turok months later. Then starfox eventually.
>>12091475I just wanted to play ocarina of time so I didn't bother getting an n64. I did play zelda on the first n64 emulator in 1999. I finished the game on it.
>>12091475I got mine on the eve of Y2K. We booted up Super Mario 64 and did the macarena when the ball dropped. You should've been there for it, anon!
>>12095441Same here. We drank surge and wore sock em boppers.
i shared my story last time and everyone ignored itin fact every time i write a post longer than 3 sentences it doesn't get a single you
>>12095710welcome to the internet big guy. The purpose of blog posts like this is for people to blog they dont want to read your blog.
>>12095441I get the joke, but... I was literally playing N64 when Y2K hit. DK64 lol.
>>12095428Im here imagining how grim 1999 emulators must have been. Did you even use a controller?
>>12091594Based bro talked mom into it because he knew you wanted it.
>>12095825For the top games like OoT it was already functional.Held together with duct tape and spit through various hacks, but playable.
>>12095441>We booted up Super Mario 64 and did the macarena when the ball dropped.Same, but I was jamming out to Barbie Girl.
>>12095919Shoulda been blue (da ba de da ba di).
>>12095947>>12095919Music Instructor, now THAT was some jamming music. Also, we got Pilotwings before Super Mario 64.
>>12091475I got it on release but that was 97 in the UK. Super Mario 64 blew my mind, one of a handful of experiences in 35+ years of gaming where it was like ok gaming is going in a new direction and the future is going to be incredible
>>12091594you have the mind and prose of a 12 year old girl
I had seen it on tv but when I saw Mario 64 running in HMV I cried. It was that good
>>12091475Christmas time, every kid in school is bragging that they're getting one. My parents keep insisting that they're not going to get one that I need to stick with SNES. Christmas eve we do the "one family gift" openings, and it's the N64 and Mario. My sister and I are shocked. But we can't use the SNES adapter so my dad has to go out looking for one, finds it pretty early in the morning and we're up and running. I ignore the crap out of my family the whole day except for dinner playing Mario 64. Best surprise Christmas gift ever.The best part was that NOBODY in my class got one, even after all the bragging that they were getting one. I was the only one - the one who didn't think he was getting it. It was GLORIOUSNot long after we got Mario Kart 64, Cruise N USA, and Star Wars Shadows of the Empire. Great memories
>>12100338>The best part was that NOBODY in my class got one, even after all the bragging that they were getting one.It's funny that, as you grow up, you realize most people never leave this mentality behind—they will baselessly brag about themselves when they have literally NOTHING to go on, just because they get an empty high from believing their own bullshit. In the end, all they did was set themselves up for disappointment.The downside, however, is that sort of behavior is actually an asset in some aspects of life.
>>12091475>Did you get a N64 back at release in 1996?yes>How was it like?was pretty good>>12100412>they will baselessly brag about themselves when they have literally NOTHING to go on,that's at least 90%+ of this board's userbase.>is that sort of behavior is actually an asset in some aspects of life.until your bullshit stinks so bad that even the most retarded of people start smelling it
>>12100510>that's at least 90%+ of this board's userbase.I find it less egregious here because we're all anonymous, and the comeuppance literally never comes, so may as well.>until your bullshit stinks so bad that even the most retarded of people start smelling itThe key is to use your ability to get in good with a group of powerful people who are also trying to pretend they don't have stinky shit. It becomes a support group of enabling one-another's delusions. This is honestly just every white-collar work environment I've ever been in. It happens in blue collar settings, too, but at least there you WILL eventually get your shit shoved in your face if you can't back it up. Unless you're a foreman, I guess. But I consider that more white-collar, anyway.
>>12091475I got mine in the spring of 1997, after the first price drop to $150. It cost me every penny I had and I didn’t get a game with it and had to sustain myself on rentals with just one controller until my birthday in the fall. By the spring the system has a small but decent library of games but it became pretty obvious very quickly the library lacked the depth and variety of the SNES or the PSX and I couldnt help but feel I had chosen the wrong horse.
>>12091475>how was it like?It liked me.>what was it like?It was great.
>>12100705haha, yeah, cool, I was an insufferable retard who carelessly spent my money without doing research, too
>>12100705Yeah a lot of people got left high and dry by Nintendo which probably contributed to even weaker sales for Gamecube.
I grew up with Nintendo stuff and never considered trying a PlayStation. The idea literally just didn't enter my mind. If I'd been younger, I imagine it would have, but who knows. Instead I was old enough to think early 3D, though amazing, was also kinda ugly and clumsy. I was in the process of moving into PC gaming, where I would stay for a while. My family rented an N64 with Mario 64 and it was great. Eventually we got one for ourselves, and accumulated a few more games, but I mainly only played SM64 and Mario Kart. Since then I've occasionally added another game to my collection, but I have yet to really love an N64 game other than SM64 or F-Zero X. I would end up liking the GameCube somewhat more. Today, my favorite Nintendo platforms are NES, SNES, and DS.
>>12091475It was a massive disappointment.Looking back, I wish I had gotten a PlayStation.
>>12102394>>12091475Unfortunately a disappointment. I had zero fucking interest in pilot wings and while mario 64 was amazing. I felt remorse and guilt over making my parents spend so much money on a console with only 1 game worth playing (at the time). Eventually I was pretty happy with the games but ps1 has the superior library.
>>12091475I was a diehard Nintendo fanboy and happily put of buying a PSX in favor of an N64. Boy was that a mistake. Mario 64 was fun for a week, but then it had literally no games. I felt a lot of remorse and ultimately ended up killing the family dog out of my frustration. Nintendo had betrayed me, and blood had to be spilled in retribution. It's a good thing my parents weren't home at the time, or I'd have killed them and would be in juvie instead of just getting ten years of counseling and an addiction to Lithium.
>all these posts talking about utter regret and the PS1I get it but were you guys really this miserable even as kids? Were you really that desperate for 1996 PS1 games and did Super Mario 64 really only lasted you a week?Also, lots of people mentioning Pilotwings but only 1 anon mentioned Wave Race 64? What's up with that?
>>12102984>lots of people mentioning Pilotwings but only 1 anon mentioned Wave Race 64? What's up with that?Because if you google "N64 launch titles", most sources (and therefor Google's AI) only mention the two games that specifically came out on launch day in North America. These people did not own N64s back in 1996, nor were they likely even born yet. It's bots, or shitposting zoomers—take your pick.
>>12102415Dude, Pilotwings is fucking AWESOME!
>>12103013It’s a tech demo with 30 minutes of content. The first few months of most console launches lack substance though.
>>12091475No, my brothers and I traded all of our genesis games into FuncoLand for a PS1 instead. I've since rebought all the genesis games we traded in
>>12091475It was marketed purely at children, no one who was into gaming cared, everything was happening on PC and the Playstation, PC building was taking off and soundcards and CD ROMs were changing everything, the playstation was beinng sold everywhere whereas the N64 was in childrens toy stores, I have no idea where the revisionist crap about it comes from. Its cartridges were expensive and limited and there was none of this paid 'viral marketing' cult of nintendo bullshit then either. It was the failure and also ran that setup the absolute failure of the gamecube. It had no releases of any importance and it's most noticable titles were shit like Doom and Dukenukem , Podracing and Mario (yawn). Maybe normie milennials in the US who were in tech illiterate households bought it and were screwed with just a few cartrdiges due to cost but it really was a huge dead end stuck in the 'kid friendly' ghetto and all the action was elsewhereon the PC in particular but also the playstation, both of which could play CDs. Whenever I see a thread about it or the gamecube 'millenial hipster reddit' jumps out
>>12103952based mature gamer
>>12103356Ah I see, you never played it.How deeply surprising
>>12102415In my youth, I had always divided my time between console and PC gaming.The N64 marked the point where I started losing interest in consoles.My next console (which was also my last) was a PlayStation 2, and I barely played the fucking thing.
>>12104109>he dares to trash the glorious PS2you can shit on nintendo all you want (in fact, please do) but I will not tolerate anything against the king of retro, the PS2
>>12102415this desui still feel a bit guilty about it to this day
>>12104114The PS2 wasn't a bad console.It's just that by the time it came out my tastes had shifted, and it simply didn't offer much that appealed to me personally.
>>12104123>The PS2 wasn't a bad console.Better you do
>>12091475No much to say, it was hotly anticipated for 2 years, it was fairly impressive but competition was hot. Barely a year later people were looking to next generation.Good but not as exciting as Ps1 and Saturn - first time seeing 30 fps texture mapped games.Snes and Genesis - start of the trend of expecting new hardware every 5 to 6 yearsN64 - mainly about anticipation and people wondering if 3d could get better, yes it was a bit better
>>12091475our famil y bought it for $199 returned it and then bought it again for $149 really makes u think
>>12100768If he had researched as a kid in 1996 he would have heard about the Ultra 64 having unbeatable graphics and a whole slate of exclusives in development, the PS1 had only just over taken Saturn
>>12091475Got it around two years after it came out and was playing the one or two SNES games we'd get a year up until then. Mario 64 utterly blew me away and that game alone could have hard carried the machine for the entire time I had it, I played the absolute shit out of it no matter how many new games came out. The smaller library didn't matter to me as someone who was only ever going to be able to own a few games for it anyways and have to rent other options. When Smash came out that took over all of my free time for a while too, had an absolute blast any time friends were over between that and Mario Kart. I didn't really play RPGs when I was younger other than Pokemon which I sucked ass at so Paper Mario actually wound up being one of the games that got me into the genre.Donkey Kong 64 was another big winner, for a kid who sucked at games it was essentially a title with endless amounts of content. I never did beat it back in the day but I still had a great time. Friends wound up bringing over their copies of Ocarina and later Majora's Mask eventually and those blew me away though I didn't wind up getting to own them until the Gamecube came out and that one promo disc was a thing.All in all very fond memories. Great system and I still think the best games on it are some of the strongest in any console library period. The Gamecube was honestly kind of disappointing by comparison despite getting to own many more games for it down the line.
