TAKE TRADEMARK REGISTRATIONS WITH A BOULDER OF SALT
July 21, 2017 9:17 PM Subscribe
Nintendo trademark suggests Nintendo 64 Classic Edition [Polygon] “Nintendo may be planning to release the next iteration of its “Classics” console series: the Nintendo 64, if recent European trademark filings from the company are any indication. On July 18, Nintendo filed four graphical trademarks with the European Union Intellectual Property Office. Each one is a simple piece of black-and-white line art, a 2D graphical representation of a Nintendo console or controller.”
Gosh, the 64 has a nostalgia factor for me, as there was many a drunken night as a late teen. But, um outside o Goldeneye, Majora's Mask, and Mario Party was there anything good on it, really? Hardly the expansive classic catalogue of the snes.
Like, I enjoyed MarioKart 64, but I think you'd have to say it was the weakest entry in the series by quite some way. Mario 64 certainly didn't do it for me, nor that Donkey Kong game.
posted by smoke at 10:11 PM on July 21, 2017
Like, I enjoyed MarioKart 64, but I think you'd have to say it was the weakest entry in the series by quite some way. Mario 64 certainly didn't do it for me, nor that Donkey Kong game.
posted by smoke at 10:11 PM on July 21, 2017
If it's like the NES Classic, Fizz (and it sure seems likely), it will work with pretty much any Bluetooth controller, too.
I like the 8bitdo classic-styled ones for the NES, but you can use anything up to an XBox or PS4 controller with one, too.
posted by rokusan at 10:11 PM on July 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
I like the 8bitdo classic-styled ones for the NES, but you can use anything up to an XBox or PS4 controller with one, too.
posted by rokusan at 10:11 PM on July 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Starfox and Perfect Dark were keepers, too, Smoke, along with the ones you name, but I agree with you overall: unless you're right in the generational sweet spot, the N64 wasn't nearly as big a deal as the eponymous Nintendo.
posted by rokusan at 10:14 PM on July 21, 2017
posted by rokusan at 10:14 PM on July 21, 2017
Smash Bros for me. Seems like people are reaaally into all the Rare games (Banjo & Kazooie, Conker, and yeah, that Donkey Kong game). There was also a really nice looking F-Zero game that I'd love the chance to play.
posted by knuckle tattoos at 10:32 PM on July 21, 2017
posted by knuckle tattoos at 10:32 PM on July 21, 2017
I guess for me, MarioKart, Smash Bros, even F-zero were exceeded in the GameCube editions following the 64 .
posted by smoke at 10:37 PM on July 21, 2017
posted by smoke at 10:37 PM on July 21, 2017
Man I've been trying to get retropie to run N64 games because I need Perfect Dark back in my life. It is way harder than getting the PSX running. I would buy an N64 Classic.
posted by Uncle at 12:28 AM on July 22, 2017
posted by Uncle at 12:28 AM on July 22, 2017
But, um outside o Goldeneye, Majora's Mask, and Mario Party was there anything good on it, really?
There's a reason why it was outsold by the PSX almost three times over. Other than games like Mario 64 / Party / Brawl, PD/GoldenEye and Zelda, I don't think they offered anything the PSX didn't have better. It also kinda kickstarted their "first/second party titles good, everything else, don't bother" rule of the past 20 years. And yeah, it had the problem of a lot of some of their titles being early 3D games and being bettered in the GameCube (that had less hardware limitations). Sure, Rogue Squadron isn't bad, but Rogue Leader? Holy shit.
I'd probably put International Superstar Soccer 98 and Wave Race 64 in there. Struggling to find anything worth adding that wasn't mentioned already.
posted by lmfsilva at 2:36 AM on July 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
There's a reason why it was outsold by the PSX almost three times over. Other than games like Mario 64 / Party / Brawl, PD/GoldenEye and Zelda, I don't think they offered anything the PSX didn't have better. It also kinda kickstarted their "first/second party titles good, everything else, don't bother" rule of the past 20 years. And yeah, it had the problem of a lot of some of their titles being early 3D games and being bettered in the GameCube (that had less hardware limitations). Sure, Rogue Squadron isn't bad, but Rogue Leader? Holy shit.
I'd probably put International Superstar Soccer 98 and Wave Race 64 in there. Struggling to find anything worth adding that wasn't mentioned already.
posted by lmfsilva at 2:36 AM on July 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Wave Race 64! I was going to comment just up mention that. I'll also never fathom how it's possible to prefer the gamecube smash brothers, with its completely different (and thus obviously wrong!) movements and feel. And Mario64 was way better than any sunshine ghost mansion gamecube bollocks.
But yeah, there's a handful of awesome games on the 64 (that've already been mentioned) and other than that it was pretty much a mario party machine, taking advantage of the one major feature it had over the PSX/PS2 - four simultaneous players.
posted by Dysk at 2:43 AM on July 22, 2017
But yeah, there's a handful of awesome games on the 64 (that've already been mentioned) and other than that it was pretty much a mario party machine, taking advantage of the one major feature it had over the PSX/PS2 - four simultaneous players.
posted by Dysk at 2:43 AM on July 22, 2017
Was star wars pod racer 64? That was a good game, too.
posted by smoke at 2:58 AM on July 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by smoke at 2:58 AM on July 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
It was, yes, though slightly cut down from the PC release it was ported from.
posted by Dysk at 3:02 AM on July 22, 2017
posted by Dysk at 3:02 AM on July 22, 2017
They're not going to make enough to fulfill even a quarter of the demand, so who gives a shit, you know?
posted by Pope Guilty at 4:16 AM on July 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 4:16 AM on July 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
But, um outside o Goldeneye, Majora's Mask, and Mario Party was there anything good on it, really? Hardly the expansive classic catalogue of the snes.
Well, there was Wave Race, Donkey Kong, Banjo-Kazooie and Super Mario 64, as well.
Also, another Zelda game no-one has mentioned here - Ocarina of Time - which got a few moderately positive reviews but sunk without trace. I liked it, even if no-one else remembers it.
posted by Wordshore at 4:53 AM on July 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
Well, there was Wave Race, Donkey Kong, Banjo-Kazooie and Super Mario 64, as well.
Also, another Zelda game no-one has mentioned here - Ocarina of Time - which got a few moderately positive reviews but sunk without trace. I liked it, even if no-one else remembers it.
posted by Wordshore at 4:53 AM on July 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
BLAST CORPS
posted by kandinski at 5:28 AM on July 22, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by kandinski at 5:28 AM on July 22, 2017 [9 favorites]
i have to wonder whether nintendo isn't literally being an econ 101 monopolist and just producing units such that marginal revenue = marginal cost. why can't you buy a switch? why are there only like 100 NES classics in the entire world?
posted by vogon_poet at 5:35 AM on July 22, 2017
posted by vogon_poet at 5:35 AM on July 22, 2017
This needs to have Doom 64, Pokémon Puzzle League and Mischief Makers.
I guess the big question is whether they can get anything from Rare's catalog at all. Those games are such a huge part of what the N64 means to people, but Rare is part of Microsoft now, selling their own retro collection on their own console.
Also, they're probably not going to do this, but it would be amazing if they could take advantage of emulation to make games run better than they did on the original hardware. There are shenanigans you can do with some emulators on PC, rendering at a higher resolution and overclocking the emulated CPU to solve the slowdown problems a lot of games had.
posted by skymt at 6:09 AM on July 22, 2017
I guess the big question is whether they can get anything from Rare's catalog at all. Those games are such a huge part of what the N64 means to people, but Rare is part of Microsoft now, selling their own retro collection on their own console.
Also, they're probably not going to do this, but it would be amazing if they could take advantage of emulation to make games run better than they did on the original hardware. There are shenanigans you can do with some emulators on PC, rendering at a higher resolution and overclocking the emulated CPU to solve the slowdown problems a lot of games had.
posted by skymt at 6:09 AM on July 22, 2017
Ocarina of Time
Ocarina of Tiiiiiime
I mean they ported it to the DS and I am sitting here looking at my original N64 with limited edition Toys R Us green controller right now, but more Ocarina of Time is more better.
posted by bowtiesarecool at 6:13 AM on July 22, 2017
Ocarina of Tiiiiiime
I mean they ported it to the DS and I am sitting here looking at my original N64 with limited edition Toys R Us green controller right now, but more Ocarina of Time is more better.
posted by bowtiesarecool at 6:13 AM on July 22, 2017
The best Zelda was A Link to the Past. /thread
posted by I-Write-Essays at 6:24 AM on July 22, 2017
posted by I-Write-Essays at 6:24 AM on July 22, 2017
Mischief Makers was a fantastic Treasure release, yes! I was trying to find a review :)
Bangai-O would also deserve some exposure.
posted by ersatz at 6:47 AM on July 22, 2017
Bangai-O would also deserve some exposure.
posted by ersatz at 6:47 AM on July 22, 2017
There are shenanigans you can do with some emulators on PC, rendering at a higher resolution and overclocking the emulated CPU to solve the slowdown problems a lot of games had.
Oh, yeah, this could be a problem if it doesn't include a "HD mode". There's little that can be done to improve the graphics of the NES and SNES, but I've seen high resolution sprite and texture patches for Zelda and Mario 64 on emulators that make the originals look like hot garbage.
posted by lmfsilva at 6:48 AM on July 22, 2017
Oh, yeah, this could be a problem if it doesn't include a "HD mode". There's little that can be done to improve the graphics of the NES and SNES, but I've seen high resolution sprite and texture patches for Zelda and Mario 64 on emulators that make the originals look like hot garbage.
posted by lmfsilva at 6:48 AM on July 22, 2017
Ocariiiiiiiiiiiiiina!
posted by triage_lazarus at 7:07 AM on July 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by triage_lazarus at 7:07 AM on July 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
i have to wonder whether nintendo isn't literally being an econ 101 monopolist and just producing units such that marginal revenue = marginal cost. why can't you buy a switch? why are there only like 100 NES classics in the entire world?
I did in fact buy a switch last week, but it took some work. This has been a long running feature of Nintendo, Wii consoles were similarly unavailable for a year after release. The NES classic though does seem to be a deliberate strategy to produce only one run, either to drive up interest in the subsequent SNES and 64 Classic releases, or just to piss of Nintendo fans.
Nintendo is a weird and too cautious company. They have the means to create the ultimate console and capitalize unbelievably on their uniquely beloved and expansive back catalog, all they need to do is take every game ever made and put it on the Switch for download. But they never will, they're too protective of the catalog, and their online technical execution is comically inept for a video game company in 2017. The switch store is barely functional, and online multiplayer is stone age compared to PS4 and Xbox.
Luckily you can build an emulator machine to do this yourself for free, and if Nintendo wants to leave literal billions on the table from a combination of business and technical ineptitude, well, as long as they still make great first party games I guess.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:15 AM on July 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
I did in fact buy a switch last week, but it took some work. This has been a long running feature of Nintendo, Wii consoles were similarly unavailable for a year after release. The NES classic though does seem to be a deliberate strategy to produce only one run, either to drive up interest in the subsequent SNES and 64 Classic releases, or just to piss of Nintendo fans.
Nintendo is a weird and too cautious company. They have the means to create the ultimate console and capitalize unbelievably on their uniquely beloved and expansive back catalog, all they need to do is take every game ever made and put it on the Switch for download. But they never will, they're too protective of the catalog, and their online technical execution is comically inept for a video game company in 2017. The switch store is barely functional, and online multiplayer is stone age compared to PS4 and Xbox.
Luckily you can build an emulator machine to do this yourself for free, and if Nintendo wants to leave literal billions on the table from a combination of business and technical ineptitude, well, as long as they still make great first party games I guess.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:15 AM on July 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Ocariiiiiiiiiiiiiina
Get a new 2DS XL and OOT 3D. It makes the N64 version look like shit and it'll probably be cheaper after scampers get their hands on them.
posted by Talez at 7:19 AM on July 22, 2017
Get a new 2DS XL and OOT 3D. It makes the N64 version look like shit and it'll probably be cheaper after scampers get their hands on them.
posted by Talez at 7:19 AM on July 22, 2017
They're not going to make enough to fulfill even a quarter of the demand, so who gives a shit, you know?
Let's see how the SNES Classic does with stock levels. The NES Classic was made with remaindered cell phone chips and it was physically impossible to do a second run. The chips inside it no longer exist - they used up every remaining one. I expect a year or two down the road they'll release an NES Classic II with a different chipset and a different list of titles.
Not saying Nintendo isn't strangely incompetent for such a successful company (see the terrible implementation of voice chat in a separate phone app for Splatoon 2 just this week as more evidence that they live in their own little world where other video game systems that have figured this stuff out years ago just don't exist) but the idea that the NES Classic being impossible to buy as some sort of conspiracy against consumers needs to die. Nintendo grossly underestimated demand AND went with a hardware design that was impossible to make any more of - two incompetent decisions that they'll never admit to.
The other thing about Nintendo is they don't seem to have any young designers making hits. When Miyamoto finally retires, what happens then? Is Pokemon going to be the only thing selling their hardware? Are they going to pull a Sega and give up on the hardware side?
posted by thecjm at 7:26 AM on July 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Let's see how the SNES Classic does with stock levels. The NES Classic was made with remaindered cell phone chips and it was physically impossible to do a second run. The chips inside it no longer exist - they used up every remaining one. I expect a year or two down the road they'll release an NES Classic II with a different chipset and a different list of titles.
Not saying Nintendo isn't strangely incompetent for such a successful company (see the terrible implementation of voice chat in a separate phone app for Splatoon 2 just this week as more evidence that they live in their own little world where other video game systems that have figured this stuff out years ago just don't exist) but the idea that the NES Classic being impossible to buy as some sort of conspiracy against consumers needs to die. Nintendo grossly underestimated demand AND went with a hardware design that was impossible to make any more of - two incompetent decisions that they'll never admit to.
The other thing about Nintendo is they don't seem to have any young designers making hits. When Miyamoto finally retires, what happens then? Is Pokemon going to be the only thing selling their hardware? Are they going to pull a Sega and give up on the hardware side?
posted by thecjm at 7:26 AM on July 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Yesssssss. I just hope this pre-order isn't hard to get. I don't want to sit on hotukdeals all day again.
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 7:38 AM on July 22, 2017
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 7:38 AM on July 22, 2017
No love for Ogre battle 64? I really hope it is on there as it is extremely expensive and currently impossible to emulate.
posted by Canageek at 9:43 AM on July 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Canageek at 9:43 AM on July 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I came here to yell BLAST CORPS as well. Space Station Silicon Valley is another gem.
posted by oulipian at 10:17 AM on July 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by oulipian at 10:17 AM on July 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm not saying the NES Classic was a "conspiracy against consumers". I'm saying Nintendo is terminally incompetent at literally everything that isn't making video games and displays no particular awareness of that or interest in changing. As such I'm skeptical that they've learned anything.
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:30 AM on July 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:30 AM on July 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
The Metacritic ranking of n64 games gives an idea of what you might see. It'd be somewhat surprising to see Rareware on a Classic edition, given they're owned by Microsoft now, and the Rare Replays collection is Xbox One exclusive.
I'm guessing Zeldas, 1080, Wave Race, Smash, Mario 64, F-Zero, and Rare's catalog if negotiable are obvious includes. I'd imagine they'll include Mario Tennis as the more obvious multiplayer sports game. Pokemon Stadium might be viable, I forget if it required a Gameboy cart to load a roster from.
More interesting is the possible left field inclusions. Square isn't available to fill in the RPG niche, but Ogre Battle 64 is pretty good. DD games like Doushin the Giant or the F-zero expansion could be neat to get a US release.
Given that starfox 2 SNES is getting an original release, I'm guessing we might see Nintendo try to repeat that. In which case, this list I discovered has a few possibilities. Fire Emblem 64 seems like an obvious pick given how wrong they were in retrospect about western popularity.
posted by pwnguin at 11:09 AM on July 22, 2017
I'm guessing Zeldas, 1080, Wave Race, Smash, Mario 64, F-Zero, and Rare's catalog if negotiable are obvious includes. I'd imagine they'll include Mario Tennis as the more obvious multiplayer sports game. Pokemon Stadium might be viable, I forget if it required a Gameboy cart to load a roster from.
More interesting is the possible left field inclusions. Square isn't available to fill in the RPG niche, but Ogre Battle 64 is pretty good. DD games like Doushin the Giant or the F-zero expansion could be neat to get a US release.
Given that starfox 2 SNES is getting an original release, I'm guessing we might see Nintendo try to repeat that. In which case, this list I discovered has a few possibilities. Fire Emblem 64 seems like an obvious pick given how wrong they were in retrospect about western popularity.
posted by pwnguin at 11:09 AM on July 22, 2017
Nintendo is a weird and too cautious company.
I'm honestly not so sure about that. The PlayStation is a product of a keiretsu anchor that sells a lot of other stuff, and can justify its existence by selling more 4k displays or whatnot. Microsoft's XBox came in via massive investment by a company with monopoly profits. Android is fueled by Google's search and ad monopoly interest in preserving said monopoly during the consumer switch to mobile.
Nintendo has no other market to lean on, and everyone else in their position has folded. Atari, Sega, 3DO, all failed. IMO, despite the Switch's current success, they'll need to prepare for mobile phone gaming. I mean, its kinda ridiculus that the Switch cannot play Pokemon Go. They might even need to sell to a firm (Google? Apple?) with more access to capital, more diverse business lines. Mario Run / Fire Emblem Heroes is a step in that direction, as is their otherwise weird phone app based chat app.
tl;dr: I think caution is warranted in their case.
posted by pwnguin at 11:34 AM on July 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm honestly not so sure about that. The PlayStation is a product of a keiretsu anchor that sells a lot of other stuff, and can justify its existence by selling more 4k displays or whatnot. Microsoft's XBox came in via massive investment by a company with monopoly profits. Android is fueled by Google's search and ad monopoly interest in preserving said monopoly during the consumer switch to mobile.
Nintendo has no other market to lean on, and everyone else in their position has folded. Atari, Sega, 3DO, all failed. IMO, despite the Switch's current success, they'll need to prepare for mobile phone gaming. I mean, its kinda ridiculus that the Switch cannot play Pokemon Go. They might even need to sell to a firm (Google? Apple?) with more access to capital, more diverse business lines. Mario Run / Fire Emblem Heroes is a step in that direction, as is their otherwise weird phone app based chat app.
tl;dr: I think caution is warranted in their case.
posted by pwnguin at 11:34 AM on July 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Pilotwings 64! I've been looking for something to scratch my Pilotwings itch for years.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 11:35 AM on July 22, 2017
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 11:35 AM on July 22, 2017
Turok!
posted by gnuhavenpier at 2:16 AM on July 23, 2017
posted by gnuhavenpier at 2:16 AM on July 23, 2017
tl;dr: I think caution is warranted in their case.
Nintendo also got burned by their own hubris a few times (mostly around treating developers like shit believing they'd always be the only game in town). If they're cautious is also because they know things can blow up in an instant with a couple of bad ideas and knee-jerk decisions: they saw Sega do that. If it wasn't for Pokemon and GBC/GBA, I doubt they would have survived the late 90s and early 00s after developers turned their backs on them in favor of Sony. Being careful is acknowledging they dodged a bullet back then.
posted by lmfsilva at 4:43 AM on July 23, 2017
Nintendo also got burned by their own hubris a few times (mostly around treating developers like shit believing they'd always be the only game in town). If they're cautious is also because they know things can blow up in an instant with a couple of bad ideas and knee-jerk decisions: they saw Sega do that. If it wasn't for Pokemon and GBC/GBA, I doubt they would have survived the late 90s and early 00s after developers turned their backs on them in favor of Sony. Being careful is acknowledging they dodged a bullet back then.
posted by lmfsilva at 4:43 AM on July 23, 2017
The other thing about Nintendo is they don't seem to have any young designers making hits. When Miyamoto finally retires, what happens then? Is Pokemon going to be the only thing selling their hardware? Are they going to pull a Sega and give up on the hardware side?
Splatoon, Mario Kart 8, ARMS and Breath of the Wild had younger directors, so I wouldn't really worry about it. Miyamoto may be the most famous face, but there's a lot of talent working behind the scenes.
posted by ersatz at 12:10 PM on July 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
Splatoon, Mario Kart 8, ARMS and Breath of the Wild had younger directors, so I wouldn't really worry about it. Miyamoto may be the most famous face, but there's a lot of talent working behind the scenes.
posted by ersatz at 12:10 PM on July 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
This is right in my wheel house.
N64 emulation on a RaspPi isn't great (so far), so despite being probably the third time I'll pay for Mario 64, I'll get one.
posted by trialex at 7:18 PM on July 23, 2017
N64 emulation on a RaspPi isn't great (so far), so despite being probably the third time I'll pay for Mario 64, I'll get one.
posted by trialex at 7:18 PM on July 23, 2017
their online technical execution is comically inept for a video game company in 2017.
From an article on Wii U development:
From an article on Wii U development:
This was surprising to hear, as we would have thought that they had plenty of time to work on these [online] features as it had been announced months before, so we probed a little deeper and asked how certain scenarios might work with the Mii friends and networking, all the time referencing how Xbox Live and PSN achieve the same thing. At some point in this conversation we were informed that it was no good referencing Live and PSN as nobody in their development teams used those systems (!)posted by a snickering nuthatch at 11:56 PM on July 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
I really enjoyed Diddy Kong Racing, but I might be in a minority there.
posted by jonnyploy at 3:03 AM on July 24, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by jonnyploy at 3:03 AM on July 24, 2017 [1 favorite]
Earlier I said Banjo & Kazooie instead of Banjo-Kazooie, and now I have to say ten Hail Marys and five DK Raps.
posted by knuckle tattoos at 9:43 PM on July 25, 2017
posted by knuckle tattoos at 9:43 PM on July 25, 2017
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posted by Fizz at 9:18 PM on July 21, 2017