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Nintendo entered the market very late. The Playstation and Sega Saturn had already been out for a year, and in Japan,
two years by the time Nintendo finally released the 64. It was originally going to come out in 1995, but was delayed one year.
It was twice as powerful as the 32-bit Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation, and had a revolutionary controller. The N64 controller
was the first contrller to have an analog stick to enhance the control for 3-D games, and was the first system to have rumble.
It was also the first system to support 4-way multiplayer. Other systems of it's time only supported 2-way multiplayer. Almost
all of those innovations were copied immedietly by Sony and Sega. Nintendo originally thought the N64 would cost $400-$500
dollars at launch (Which drove away many early consumers), but instead it was surprisingly affordable: Instead, it was $200
dollars at launch. All these things made it seem like the Nintendo 64 had a bright future. But unfortunately, Nintendo's decision
to use cartridges instead of discs caused many problems. Even though catridges were more durable, loaded much faster than
discs, and more resistent to piracy, they could not hold nearly as much memory as Sega Saturn or Playstation discs. This
caused many developers to avoid making games for the N64, and many of Nintendo's developers abandoned Nintendo and went
for the Playstation. This caused a HUGE lack of games on the N64-Usually only a couple of games came out per month,
and they were almost always made by Nintendo. The general public also seemed to prefer discs, and many considered the N64
old-fashioned. The younger market didn't care much, though. As a result, the N64 easily captured the younger market while
it had trouble capturing the older market. This was a problem, because by the late 90's, most video gamers were in their
late teens. Don't think the 64 was a failure, though-It was a very popular system that certainly made up for a lack of
quantity of games with quality. It was also very durable, and never broke down, quite unlike the original Playstation,
which was a very unreliable system. It was the 2nd-best selling system, behind the Playstation from 1996-1999, and was the
3rd best-selling system from 2000-2001. Overall, it was a great system with untapped potential, and it will live on in
many people's hearts.
Worldwide Name: Nintendo 64 (N64)
Market Share in Beginning of Lifespan: 40%
Market Share in Middle of Lifespan: Unknown
Market Share in End of Lifespan: 20%
Best-Selling Game: Super Mario 64 (11 million copies)
A 64-Bit System (Duh)
Price at Launch: $200.00
Number of Units Sold: 32 million
Slogans:
Get N or get out.
Nintendo 64. Feel everything.
Change the system.
Released Worldwide in: 1996
Released in Europe in: 1997
Discontinued Worldwide in: 2001
Popularity Compared to Competitors:
In Japan:
1st-Sony Playstation
2nd-Sega Saturn
3rd-Nintendo 64
In America:
1st-Sony Playstation
2nd-Nintendo 64
3rd-Sega Saturn
In Europe:
1st-Sony Playstation
2nd-Nintendo 64
3rd-Sega Saturn
Graphics Comparison:
1st-Nintendo 64
2nd-Sony Playstation
3rd-Sega Saturn
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