The Video Game Console Library

	Nintendo 64DD
	DW FACTS by Dark Watcher
	Page content, development and design by Marriott_Guy

Developer	Manufacturer	Release Date	Country(s)	Initial Price	Model Number	Game Releases	Overall Rating
Nintendo	Nintendo	01-Dec-99	Japan	$299 USD	NUS-010	9	NA
Ratings	Reviews	Pictures\Media	Specs\Manuals	Games\Emulation	Models	Clones	Links

Ratings
Consoles are rated based upon the available technology at the time of its release. Ratings based upon a 10 point scale (10 being excellent\very rare).
Console Design (appearance, functionality)	N\A
Console Durability (sturdy or frail and fragile)	N\A
Controllers (design, response, feel, use)	N\A
Graphics (graphical capability and presentation)	N\A
Audio (sound, music, speech, effects)	N\A
Media (game media format, design, durability)	N\A
Packaging (appeal, durability of packaging)	N\A
Game Library (quality, quantity of game library)	N\A
Innovations (technological industrial strides)	N\A
Gamer Value (good investment for the gamer?)	N\A
Collector Value (good collector investment?)	N\A
Games Rarity (general availability of games)	N\A
Console Rarity (general availability of a system)	N\A

Reviews

Nintendo 64DD

DW FACTS
- by Dark Watcher

The Nintendo 64 Disk Drive would be the first writable bulk data storage device for a modern video game console. Using a 64-megabyte writable magnetic disk media, it would allow game developers freedom to store unprecedented amounts of gaming data on a console machine. For example, it could be used to track every stat you can imagine in a baseball game, or every detail about the world and your character in an RPG or simulation game. The Nintendo 64 Disk Drive can be used for future upgrades of games by providing new levels or characters. Nintendo 64 Disks would be bootable, meaning that they can be used without a cartridge in the system (although they can also be used in conjunction with a cartridge).

The Nintendo 64 Disk Drive included a 4 megabyte RDRAM upgrade for the Nintendo 64, which would bring the total RDRAM for the N64 system up to 8 megabytes total, more than any console game system. The hardware would also contain a built-in ROM with some helpful data files that can be accessed by developers. In addition, the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive hardware has a real-time clock.

Speed: The Nintendo 64 Disk Drive would read data at about one megabyte per second, which is roughly comparable to a 6X PC CD-ROM drive. Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation sport 2X CD-ROM drives, which only transfer about 300 KB/sec.

Details: The Nintendo 64 Disk Drive unit sits underneath the Nintendo 64 console and plugs into the EXT. expansion connector on the bottom of the system. The system uses a disk that is physically about the size of a 3.5 floppy disk, but is twice as thick. Because of the potential for exposure to very young children, the drive itself has many ruggedizing features. For example, it has a locking bay drive door that would not open unless two small rails on the Nintendo 64 Disk are inserted into it. This would keep little fingers and cookies out of the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive. The Nintendo 64 Disk itself also has a durable case and locks up tight when not in the drive.

Nintendo 64DD Operation A variable amount of the space can be designated as readable (ROM) or writable (RAM). There are several different ways the data can be divided between readable and writable, ranging from a split of 38 megabytes writable and 26 megabytes readable, to having the entire disk's 64 megabytes of memory read only. The Nintendo 64 Disk Drive is a "burst access" device. This means that it does not stream data to the N64, but rather sends it in high speed bursts. Because of this, the drive would not be ideal for full motion video, or for streaming audio data (although clever developers would of course find ways to create FMV effects with the system). However, with the powerful 3D polygon capabilities of the N64, it is just as effective to create 3D real-time movies with polygonal characters. On the development side, the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive gives the developer up to 64 megabytes for code and data (compared to the 8-12 megabytes of currently available N64 cartridge configurations). The 8 megabytes of RDRAM would allow for large frame buffers and custom sound wave tables in RAM.

With the system's writable capability, the game can save extensive amounts of customization data or tons of stats. The Nintendo 64 Disk Drive's capabilities create three ideal game development scenarios. The first scenario makes use of the expanded RDRAM of the system and is ideal for a racing game with multiple tracks or an RPG. In these kinds of games, where the basic program code is not too large, but the tracks and world maps are, a developer could put the code in the RDRAM, and then load the different tracks or world maps off of the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive as they are encountered. Another scenario would be to use the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive for a game with many different levels that have different game play. In this case, the program code and the level data would be loaded into RDRAM from the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive at the beginning of each level. Another scenario that may be used for Zelda 64 is to use the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive to create future expansions for a cartridge based game. This allows the developer or publisher to release their game immediately, and then give it extra long life with expansion disks. This can easily be done if the "hooks" for the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive are put into the cartridge program in advance.

HANDS ON REVIEW

Coming soon....

Pictures & Media

Various picture\media for this console. Click pictures to enlarge.

Nintendo 64DD attached to the Nintendo 64

Nintendo 64DD Boot Screen

Nintendo 64DD - Hardware

Nintendo 64DD Manual - Front

Nintendo 64DD Manual - Serial

Nintendo 64DD Manual - Back

Nintendo 64DD - Packaging

Nintendo 64DD - Inside the Box

Nintendo 64DD - Front

Nintendo 64DD - Top

Nintendo 64DD - Back

Nintendo 64DD - Underside

Specs & Manuals

For the hardware enthusiasts out there - all the detail you\we love.

Processor Type	Processor Speed	Other Processor Information	RAM \ Video RAM
See the Nintendo 64 page	See the Nintendo 64 page	Possible internal co-processor to assist with reading/transferring disk data	See the Nintendo 64 page
Screen Resolution	Color Palette	Polygons \ Sprites	Audio
See the Nintendo 64 page	See the Nintendo 64 page	See the Nintendo 64 page	See the Nintendo 64 page
Media Format	Media Capacity	Games Released	Other Supported Formats
Magnetic disks (read/write)	64 MB	9	None
Internal Storage	External \ Removable Storage	Game Controllers	Other Game \ Peripheral Devices
36 MB ROM	Not applicable	See the Nintendo 64 page	Mouse, Keyboard, Capture Cartridge
Controller Ports	Network Ports	Other Ports	Audio \ Video
None	Exterior Modem included	None	See the Nintendo 64 page
Power Supply	Other Outputs	Other Details \ Notes
None - Powered by the attached N64	None	Included a 4 MB RAM Expansion Jumper Pack for the Nintendo 64 console. This was required (8 MB total) for operation of the 64DD unit.
Manuals
Nintendo 64DD (Standalone version) Owners Manual (PDF) (Japanese) - 3.62 MB Nintendo 64DD (Randnet version) Owners Manual (PDF) (Japanese) - 1.67 MB

Games & Emulation

Games, media format, emulators and screen shots for titles released on this system.

$Nintendo 64DD Disc \ Cartridge$
Nintendo 64DD games were distributed in custom CD-style casing constructed of a very heavy plastic. The actual game cartridge was large with plenty of girth. Directions, promo material and an identification sticker for saved content was included with the software.

The rare birds for the Nintendo 64DD are Japan Pro Golf Tour 64 and Kyojin no Doshin II (requires the first Kyojin No Doshin for game play). In addition to SimCity 64, these are the best games for this system.

The Mario Artist series of games were distributed in large, cardboard boxes to accommodate the bundled items for each (i.e. mouse).

The complete software library for the Nintendo 64DD

Nintendo 64DD Game Boxes and Screenshots

F-Zero X

F-Zero X Screenshot

Kyojin No Doshin

Kyojin No Doshin Screenshot

Kyojin no Doshin II

Japan Pro Golf Tour 64

Japan Pro Golf Tour 64 Screenshot

SimCity 64

Mario Artists Paint Studio

Mario Artists Paint Studio Screenshot

Mario Artist Polygon Studio

Mario Artist Polygon Studio Screenshot

SimCity 64

Sim City 64 Screenshot

Sample Game Packaging and Contents

Kyojin No Doshin - Package Contents

Mario Artist Paint Studio - Package Contents

SimCity 64 - Package Contents

Sim City 64 - Package Contents

Third Party Emulators
Program	Website	Description
A few are in the works, but nothing is available at this time.

Models

Additional authorized releases for this console. Click pictures to enlarge.

Nintendo 64DD - Retail Edition

Nintendo 64DD - RandNet Edition

Nintendo 64DD - Developers Unit

Clones

Non-licensed releases (clones).

No clones were released for this system.

Links

Highly recommended additional sites\resources for this system.

Name	Website	Description
64DD.Net	http://www.64dd.net	Excellent resource for everything about the N64 DD

visitors since 01-Apr-2008
Page last updated 11-Dec-2011

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