n64 was an awesome console. i remember playing that for ages when i had one. good times playing that.

@ThePaleKing said:

While I don't think any console is the absolute best--and it's pretty ballsy to start off your blog saying one is--I do agree that the cartridges, which were seen as a negative by a lot of jerks, are one of the reasons I love the N64 as well. What proves their worth is that the cartridges benefits are even more noticeable now days, so long after the death of the system. I recently spent a month trying to track down a reasonably priced Japanese PS1 memory card, to use on my Japanese PS2 (being that memory cards are not backwards compatible), because there is literally no way to play the game I bought without one; I wouldn't even be able to beat the game in one sitting, because the game spans multiple discs. What a fucking bummer of a situation caused by the awesome technology of discs and memory cards.

Whereas with the N64, well I just hooked mine up--after 2 years on the shelf--to play Banjo Kazooie last night, and it was literally the simplest process I've experienced in regards to loading up game in a long time, and all because everything is saved on that big ol' fuckin' cartridge. It doesn't require any updating, no spinning up the disc (or god forbid cleaning the disc if it were scratched), and, I feel you on this one, no blowing apart my room to search for memory cards. So yeah, you are correct sir, cartridges are suhweet.

Also one smaller thing I liked: buying a used cartridge and seeing another persons save data. I usually wouldn't use their file, but it was cool to look into another persons experience.

used memory cards and keep track of your stuff better. My memory cards are in the same bin all my un used accessories are

@MattyFTM said:

Cartridges were the downfall of the N64. The popularization of 3D graphics lead to a dramatic increase in game sizes, and the maximum size of an N64 cart was 64MB. When you think that some big name PS1 games (e.g. the Final Fantasy games) were spread over four 700MB disks, you begin to see why that's a big ass problem. Those games just couldn't be done on the N64. It would be impossible unless you want a game to be spread out over 40+ carts (which would have been prohibitively expensive). Load times are a valid complaint about CD based systems, but when a hardware limitation flat out makes games impossible on your system, that's a far bigger complaint than load times.

DING

But:
 

• The Playstation has all the better games.
• It had a wider range of games.
• Those discs allowed for much more data, meaning higher quality music/graphics/FMVs.
• SNES beats them both. It only gets by barely against the Playstation, but beats the N64 quite easily.
  

@Video_Game_King:

But..

• Banjo-Kazooie.
• Banjo-Kazooie.
• Banjo-Kazooie.
• BANJO-KAZOOIE!

The N64 was definitely a fun console. Personally, I didn't own one until much later. I was always a playstation guy. My cousins had the N64 though so I definitely got my share of Star Fox, Mario, Link, and the other fan favorites when visiting.

I am thrilled that this actually has nothing to do with software so far. N64 was a super-restrictive system, but the carts do actually have some weird benefits.

Next one is coming up!

@Sanj said:

I'll give you five reasons why the N64 was great:

• Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
• Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
• Super Mario Bros 64
• Super Smash Bros
• Conker's Bad Fur Day

Not enough? Here's five more:

• Donkey Kong 64
• Mario Kart 64
• Banjo & Kazooie
• Pokemon Snap
• Diddy fucking Kong racing.

I don't think any console system will ever be able to compete with such a list.

Alright guys thanks for all the support, here is part II.

@MattyFTM said:

Cartridges were the downfall of the N64. The popularization of 3D graphics lead to a dramatic increase in game sizes, and the maximum size of an N64 cart was 64MB. When you think that some big name PS1 games (e.g. the Final Fantasy games) were spread over four 700MB disks, you begin to see why that's a big ass problem. Those games just couldn't be done on the N64. It would be impossible unless you want a game to be spread out over 40+ carts (which would have been prohibitively expensive). Load times are a valid complaint about CD based systems, but when a hardware limitation flat out makes games impossible on your system, that's a far bigger complaint than load times.

Then how come there isn't a single game on the PS1 that looked decent. I challenge you to find a game that holds up today. I also challenge you to a duel. All Ps1 games had an unfortunate problem of looking very weirdly blobbly and pixley. Now there were a ton of bad looking N64 games, but there ARE games that amazingly, graphically hold up still today. Zelda Majoras Mask, Conker being among them. So F your giant sized discs that were still overpowered by the tiny space of the cartridge.

I think N64 games hold up, on the whole, worse than PS1 games...that whole generation typically is lame in my opinion. Are there good games that you can still go back to? Absolutely, there always are, but on the whole this entire generation and it being the first real dedicated step into 3D was mostly terrible.

@ThePaleKing: @ThePaleKing said:

spent a month trying to track down a reasonably priced Japanese PS1 memory card, to use on my Japanese PS2 (being that memory cards are not backwards compatible),

At least you CAN play a PS1 game on PS2, unlike an N64 game on Gamecube.

@habibyjohnson: N64 has like 5 games that hold up today. And while it has some inovative ones, it doesn't make the N64 superior. Just like the PS2, the PS1 had more quality games then the N64. There is no denying it. You look back now and think of how great it is, and then dismiss all the PS1 games. This is like owning a PS3 or 360 and dismissing the other console's exclusives. It is universally agreed that PS1 won that generation, just like PS2 won last generation. I always see people naming a few Xbox or gamecube games and hailing them like the second coming and saying PS2 sucks because it doesn't have them, completely ignoring the amount of good games the PS2 does have, just as there are people naming a few N64 games and then bashing the PS1 because they are exclusive to N64, even tho PS1 have alot more good games.

As for holding up, you know how many people can't play old Resident Evil games because of the controls? Well, I love them and completed them on hard numerous times. I don't have a problem. However, I bought an N64( they are cheap now) and tried to play Goldeneye 007 and Ocarina of time, and I tried very hard to like them, but they looked very oudated and the Gamecube controller didn't feel good. You know why? Because I didn't grew up with an N64, but with a Playstation. So playing all playstation games will bring back memories and remind me why they are so good, but since I don't have experiences like that on N64, means that I am gonna be bored and just go play Gears or something. Sure, someN64 games do hold up gameplay-wise( like Ocarina), but so do PS1 games (like Crash Bandicoot), but if you didn't grew up with one of the sistems, those games won't seem as good as you remember. People love them on 3DS, because they have updated graphics, some reworked dungeons, they are more responsive and stuff like that, but give a new kid an untouched N64 version and he will get bored quicly. That's like releasing an updated version of Crash Bandicoot 3 or GT2 on the Vita.