Nintendo 64DD
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Nintendo 64DD is an expansion system for the Nintendo 64. It was named the "Dynamic Drive" at the start of its development, and plugs into the N64 through the EXTension Port of the Nintendo 64's bottom side.
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[edit] History
The 64DD was announced at 1995's Nintendo Shoshinkai game show event (now called SpaceWorld). One of the games that was featured for use with the 64DD was Creator, a now canceled, music and animation program created by Software Creations, the same people that made the Sound Tool for the Nintendo Ultra 64 development kit. The game advertised that it could be implemented into other games so that it could be used to replace textures and possibly create new levels and characters. Sadly, there was no playable version of Creator available at Shoshinkai 1995.
However, the 64DD was only released in Japan on December 1, 1999. Nintendo, anticipating that their long planned out disc drive peripheral would become a commercial failure, sold the system through a subscription service called RANDnet rather than selling the system directly to consumers or to retail outlets only in Japan. As a result, the 64DD was only supported by Nintendo for a short period of time and only 9 games were released for it. Most unreleased 64DD games were either cancelled or released as normal Nintendo 64 games (such as Banjo Tooie).
[edit] Hardware
The N64DD has a 32-bit coprocessor to help it read magnetic disks and transfer the data to the main console. It was supposed to be Nintendo's answer to the Compact Disc that was used for Sony's PlayStation, which was cheaper to produce. Sony's CD storage could hold approximately 650 megabytes of information compared to Nintendo 64's 32 to 512 megabit (4 to 64 megabytes) cartridge.
The new media for the N64DD was rewritable and allowed for a storage capacity of 64MB (megabytes). The games on normal N64 cartridges could also hook up with DD expansions, for extra levels, minigames, even saving personal data.
The drive works almost like a Zip drive, and has an enhanced audio library for the games to use. The main N64 deck uses its RCP and MIPS4300i to process data from the top cartridge slot and the I/O devices. To hook up with the 64DD, it needed an extra 4 Mb of RAM for a total of 8 Mb. Unlike the N64, the 64DD can boot up on its own, without the need of a cartridge on the top deck because it has a standard OS. This would later be carried over to the Nintendo GameCube and even the Nintendo DS.
The 64DD had its own development kit that worked in conjunction with the N64 development kit.
[edit] Accessories
The released version of 64DD included a modem for connecting to the network RANDnet, an audio-video (female RCA jack, and line in) adapter called the Capture Cassette to plug into the main cartridge slot, and a mouse and keyboard that plugged into the controller inputs.
[edit] RANDnet
RandnetDD, similar to the Super Famicom's Satellaview, was an online subscription based service for the Nintendo 64DD. It allowed players to chat, read and write email, and was a gateway to play multiplayer games for the N64DD over the Internet. Customers who bought the unit through the Internet got a subscription to RANDnet and two games every two months shipped to their postal address with some extra magazines and newsletters related to the 64DD, its games, and accessories. RANDnet stands for Recruit and Nintendo entertainment and was a subsidiary company set up specifically for the release of the 64DD project to finally release the add-on and its games.
[edit] Legacy
Due to the small number of 64DDs sold, the device can fetch high prices on eBay, upwards to USD $500. The 64DD may be seen as the Nintendo 64 equivalent of the Famicom Disk System, the aborted PlayStation CD-ROM add-on and the Satellaview for the Super Famicom.
[edit] Software
- RandnetDD Disk
[edit] Games
- Mario Artist: Communication Kit
- Mario Artist: Paint Studio
- Mario Artist: Polygon Studio
- Mario Artist: Talent Studio
- F-Zero X Expansion Kit
- Kyojin no Doshin 1(Doshin the Giant)
- SimCity 64
- Japan Pro Golf Tour 64
- Kyojin no Doshin: Kaihou Sensen Chibikko Chikko Daishuugou
[edit] Proposed Games
The Nintendo 64DD had several games announced for it that ended up either canceled or being released on cartridge format only, the following is a list of those games.
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[edit] External links
- Defunct Games: Nintendo 64DD Review Archive
- 64DD.net - Biggest 64DD site on the net
- Nintendo.com - Official Nintendo site of America
- Nintendo.co.jp - Official Nintendo site of Japan
- Seb Angulo's Lair - Pictures of the 10 released 64DD games
- Seb Angulo's Lair Multimedia - Homemade hi-res in-game videos of 64DD games
