Why do people hate on the N64?

[Pretzel]

Just personal here, but This was the 1st Nintendo system I had bought with HUGE expectations in what they could do in the RPG genre.  I think we all know how that turned out.  I still have mine, but I've played it, oh, maybe 10 times its entire life.  It's still in the box I bought it in, forever, futilely awaiting a title worth playing.  Don't get me wrong, it had SOME gems. But not enough to keep it from the hate crowd.  I remember Goldeneye parties at friends houses many days, and have a huge love of Conker's BFD.  But sadly, the only other game I honestly ever wanted for the system, that to this day I still have never even played, is Blast Corps.  This was the system that broke my trust in the Nintendo brand, and was the last system I bought Day 1.  After that I simply refused to be a Day 1 fanboy and run out to have the newest and latest.  They got back some of my love with the Gamecube as it DID have some outright amazing games though.  But then the Wii came out... I STILL don't have a Wii in my dedicated collection. My kid got one from the grandparents, and it's probably used less than the N64 was.  The disappointment with Nintendo in general that comes from me saddens me to this day.  I was in middle school when the NES came out and thought that Nintendo could do no wrong, and that was even with some of the horrid crap that got shoveled onto the NES :-).  Although, I don't have any total hate for Nintendo. I absolutely ADORE my 3DSXL and play the hell out of it.  I relish taking it out in public to get both street passes and passes for games I have on it that welcome other people to help (aka Fire Emblem, Bravely Default).  But I digress.  The N64 will forever burn in the back hell of my memories.  I hear so many people that say they grew up with the N64 as their first Nintendo console and loved it and I weep for them. They just do NOT know how crapped on they were.  When they lost Squaresoft I think it really did some damage to them as well.  Sony has been annihilating them in the console wars ever since.  Still, good subject.  Thanks for the post.

[kamikazekeeg]

I love the N64 lol Sure it doesn't have the massive library, but some of my most favorite games of all time are on it.  Ocarina of Time, Mario Kart, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Donkey Kong 64, Goldeneye, Diddy Kong Racing, and a number of others.  Though I will say, as much as I love it, I can't say I love that controller lol That was a big misstep, but I am always going to love this console more than most other Nintendo systems and I grew up playing the NES and the SNES as a kid, up till I was 10 years old when the N64 was released.

[badATchaos]

A horrible pad, a horrible video chip that blurred everything to hell....

The smoothed texture filter was intentional. I actually prefer it over PS1's pixelly textures.

[Bwigdahl]

My main gripe with the N64 is that I wish they would've tried to do some more 2D style stuff with it. I feel the 64's library has probably aged the worst, since early 3D games just in general don't age well. It has some stuff on there I love, but sometimes it's really hard to go back and play some of those games with all the advances we've made since then.



Also the controller sucked, lol

[pacpix]

The console has a lot of nostalgic value for me, but it definitely has its flaws.  Never cared for the controller at all, and like Bwigdahl said many of the games from that era have not aged well.  However, there are some games, mainly first party, that are the best that gaming has to offer.  The system is worth owning just for the two Zelda games alone.

[redblaze57]

The 64 was the first system I owned and i remember going out to visit my cousins and playing Mario Kart, Star Fox, ocarina, Smash bros, Mario 64, and Pokemon Stadium with them on theirs. So it is the system I have the most nostalgia for and I'll admit some of those games are really hard to go back to, but admit I love that bastard of a system. And you know what I can credit it for getting me into collecting.

[foxhack]

smoothed

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

*gasps*

*faints*

I've seen smoother textures on sandpaper. Oh and don't get me wrong the PS1's texture filtering wasn't that much better but at least it didn't look like something viewed through a pair of eyes with severe cataracts.

To make this clear, I am not criticizing the system's games, as I only played a few of them years ago. I'm complaining about the way it handled textures.

[Warmsignal]

I guess similar reasons why people hate every Nintendo console after Super. "There's not enough _____." "I'm tired of Mario and Zelda". "It's too kiddy". "The games are so ugly to look at".

I think with the 64 it's about what you expected to get out of the 5th gen consoles at the time. They all had their strengths and weaknesses, but back then, the 64 delivered exactly the kind of games I wanted to play. Probably why I'll always remember it fondly.

[argyle]

I guess similar reasons why people hate every Nintendo console after Super. "There's not enough _____." "I'm tired of Mario and Zelda". "It's too kiddy". "The games are so ugly to look at".

I disagree with this. The Gamecube is my favorite Nintendo console. The Wii is a really good system once you dig past all the shovelware that was released for it, and the Wii U is on track to having a killer lineup of games that will probably put it just under the Gamecube for me. I had both a PSX & N64 at the time, and the fact is I barely used the N64. Majora's Mask and DK64 are the only two single player games I remember putting a lot of time into, and I have some great memories of playing the Mario Party games with friends along with one of the racing games, I believe San Francisco Rush. I felt Ocarina and Mario 64 were two of the weakest entries in their series, still do. The Spyro series on the PSX ran circles around any of the N64 platformers IMO.

I'm not trying to hate on the system, I understand some people have a lot of nostalgia for it - especially those who remember it as their first system. That wasn't the case for me, I was in my early 20's at the time and it just did not have a strong library of games at all, not just in comparison to the PSX but also in comparison to every other Nintendo system out there (except the Virtual Boy, obviously).

[atarileaf]

Funny that people think the N64 is a subpar machine because of it's preponderance  of sports and racing game however I LOVE racing games and the few titles I do have for the N64 are racing games. I find it's racing library a great strength, not a weakness.

For me, console gaming kind of ended in the PS1/N64 era. I had graduated to PC gaming which had a richer experience with adventure games and simulations. I was already well into adulthood at 27, and the "kiddie" feel of N64 games turned me off. My nephew had one at launch and I played Starfox 64 and Mario 64 (god, enough with the damn "64" in every title. Nintendo has this unhealthy obsession with putting the name of a consoles title in every game) and was underwhelmed with the experience compared to games like Tie Fighter or Full Throttle on PC's

As for the N64 controller, I have no issues with it except for it's cheap analog controller that seems broken on 9 out of 10 controllers found in the wild.

[bikingjahuty]

Since there as been a lot of comments about the N64's graphics I'd thought I'd chime in on the topic.


Early 3D no matter what console is was on (N64, PS1, Saturn, 3DO, Jaguar) has not aged well. Some games like Super Mario 64 (or pretty much most games published by Nintendo on the N64) and some by RARE still look pretty good given the talent that went into the polygon detail and decreased need for detail since most of these games were more cartoonish in nature. I feel like games that tried going for a more realistic look have ironically aged the worst in terms of graphics, again for any early system capable of 3D graphics.


With that said, I think there is a certain charm to the rugged 3D textures and polygons, and sometimes laughable attempts at realism. It's almost like how pixels on the Atari and Intellivision were often so bad to where you had to use some imagination to see that the blob of 10 huge pixels was actually a dragon. In sort of the same way, the sometimes ugly 3D graphics of the mid to late 90s really enhance the enjoyment of knowing I am playing a game from that time period and that that was as good as it got, at least for console gaming. It's definitely more of a nostalgic appreciation, but I wouldn't have the graphics on those systems be any other way

[retroone]

I love the N64 and would love to get back into collecting for it! But THE CONTROLLER! The controller is what kills the console for me the same way the Atari 5200 does for most people. They are unreliable to use. I've had 5 joysticks break on me in the past. I know there are adapters use a GameCube controller with it but those are expensive. The Nintendo 64 was the first "retro" system I collected for.

[Bwigdahl]

Since there as been a lot of comments about the N64's graphics I'd thought I'd chime in on the topic.


Early 3D no matter what console is was on (N64, PS1, Saturn, 3DO, Jaguar) has not aged well. Some games like Super Mario 64 (or pretty much most games published by Nintendo on the N64) and some by RARE still look pretty good given the talent that went into the polygon detail and decreased need for detail since most of these games were more cartoonish in nature. I feel like games that tried going for a more realistic look have ironically aged the worst in terms of graphics, again for any early system capable of 3D graphics.


With that said, I think there is a certain charm to the rugged 3D textures and polygons, and sometimes laughable attempts at realism. It's almost like how pixels on the Atari and Intellivision were often so bad to where you had to use some imagination to see that the blob of 10 huge pixels was actually a dragon. In sort of the same way, the sometimes ugly 3D graphics of the mid to late 90s really enhance the enjoyment of knowing I am playing a game from that time period and that that was as good as it got, at least for console gaming. It's definitely more of a nostalgic appreciation, but I wouldn't have the graphics on those systems be any other way

For me, this is always the case. The games we regard as the peak of graphical achievement and realism WHEN THEY ARE RELEASED are usually the games you go back to years later and say "man this looks like shit." Because at that point, someone has come through and improved on what was done years ago. Yet the games that try for a more artistic look usually hold up quite well. Good art direction/interesting character designs will always trump graphical prowess in my book.


And like you said, this was the case with ALL early 3D consoles. I just feel PS1/Saturn did better at throwing some more traditional 2D style games that look/play fantastic. Mostly fighting/platforming games but even with stuff like Wild Arms, which used 3D models in the battle sections but the overall feel of that game was just an updated take on the classic 3 quarter view 2D rpg the SNES made so popular. And it looked/looks great. This is why I usually consider the PS1 a truer successor to the SNES than the 64.

[disgaeniac]

I dunno...I'd think you'd have to look pretty hard here, to come up with pretty few examples, of people "Hating" on systems 

I've found this community to be 1 of the most tolerant, unbiased, & open-minded of the many gaming sites I've been to & seen.

I dislike (non-joking) "Hating" on systems & disrespecting/flaming others because, ya' know...their favorite systems aren't yours

My 2 cents:

Of *course* a system's library (amount of games in the favorite genre(s) of the person) is a consideration/part of the 'formula' that determines if & how much any given person likes/doesn't like the console in question.

I mean...think about it, if you were the proud owner of a PS1, SNES, N64, Saturn, & Dreamcast *before* there were any games made or released for any of them...which one would be your favorite & why?

Then, a year later; 4 of the 5 each have 10 games that you like equally --but-- the 5th had 100 games that you liked equally (to the 40 games on the other 4); yourMy favorite one would be obvious

I can kinda understand & tolerate this kind of topic on a site like G*FAQs - where it'd be valid & relevant - *but*, I think it's insulting to the community here & that it smacks of & smells like the other/2nd (other than flaming for having different opinions) kind of topics that I can't stand, and that you'll also run into everywhere you go on G*FAQs...

..."The console re-assurance & justification" ones

[dashv]

I have an N64 with:

Star Fox 64
Perfect Dark
Golden Eye
Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer
six other games I don't remember off the top of my head.

I've played Perfect Dark and Golden Eye once.

I wouldn't say I hate the system. But I agree the games have not aged well which is why I haven't played it more. Playing the games in emulators is little help since the blurry texture stuff is baked in.

I also agree that in their purist form 3D games of the PS1 era have not aged well either. But when played under emulation a lot of these games upscale and then smooth out very very well. The Final Fantasy and Parasite Eve titles look amazing at 1080p with the right filters.

The PS1 also has an undeniably larger library of games that were not 3D that have aged incredibly well. These games in particular were as arcade perfect as it gets:

Area 51
Maximum Force
Leathal Enforcers
Mortal Kombat Trilogy

Many cross platform games were also superior on the PS1:
Mega Man
Destruction Derby
Resident Evil 2

Several AAA exclusive franchises emerged on the PS 1 were serious contenders against the trickle of 1st party IP from Nintendo:
Parasite Eve
Dino Crisis
Final Fantasy
Tomb Raider

This is all just off the top of my head.

Now that I have a 3DO and I've been playing through my backlog I have to say the 3DO honesty blows me away yet many consider it a failed platform. It's got a library nearly as large as the N64. The graphics on most of the games I've played (Night Trap, Street Fighter 2, Gex, The Need For Speed) crush both N64 and first gen PS1.

When it comes down to it I agree with disgaeniac. I can have my own nostalgic and pet systems and for that the rationale doesn't have to make sense to anyone but me. But the reality in my case is I only collect what I want to play. So looking at the numbers themselves...



My 3 favorite consoles appear to be in rank order:
Sega Genesis (Actually in this case it is my wife's favorite because it's her system and games)
NES
Atari 2600
Playstation 3
Super Nintendo

Seems like a pretty accurate (and sobering) breakdown to me. I had no idea I liked PS3 as much as I do. But it makes sense because it has a LOT of games I like to play. NES and Atari 2600 pretty much dominated my childhood. SNES was a system I only got to play when visiting my uncle.

Everything else is stuff I sought out myself once I was on my own.