Nintendo 64: Top 10 Unknown Facts And Hidden Secrets About This Gaming Console

Nintendo 64 went on sale on June 23, 1996. A time full of changes within the video game industry, such as the arrival of 3D or the 64-bit generation. It’s not for nothing that the console came out with Super Mario 64, this being the first 3D game in the Mario saga that set a precedent within the platform genre. For this reason, surely many will be interested in knowing the best curiosities and secrets about Nintendo 64. The name of Nintendo 64 comes from the 64 bits and marks technical ground against the competition.

If you’re unaware of the industry’s history and hearing “Nintendo 64” for the first time, the name may sound a bit odd, but it makes a lot of sense. While its rivals PlayStation and Sega Saturn had a 32-bit processor, Nintendo’s console leapt to 64-bit. During this time, the Big N was competing on power and graphics. Likewise, it also made the change from 2D to 3D, where Super Mario 64 was a revolution.

The console was delayed by errors

At first, the idea was to release the Nintendo 64 at the end of 1995 to take advantage of Christmas. However, it had to be delayed until June of the following year. According to Silicon Graphics, the hardware manufacturer for the console, the delay could be due to some chip failures. As a curious fact, Martin Hollis -former member of Rare and director of GoldenEye 007- stated in Nintendo Life that the console could have been delayed again due to a compatibility problem between this video game and the Nintendo 64.

Nintendo Ultra 64 was the initial prototype

Surely many of you do not know this curiosity and secret about Nintendo 64. This image is the prototype of the console, which was going to be called “Nintendo Ultra 64”. Although it is not entirely clear the reasons why they changed the name.

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It was the first console to have a stick

The jump to 3D also implied using a different control, since the crosshead did not allow good precision in movements. The console not only stood out in power, graphics and 3D but in these aspects. Something that Nintendo has always carried as a brand over the years: changing the way of playing and innovating in these details. In this case, it was the stick, but there is also the Wii and its motion sensor, the double screen and touch screen of the DS or the hybrid console concept of the Nintendo Switch.

It is worth mentioning that the Nintendo 64 controller is designed to play in different ways. For this reason, it has a stick in the middle. It was also the first console to allow up to four players to play.

Many Nintendo games are more enjoyable to play with friends or family, such as Mario Kart or Donkey Kong 64. To this day, the company has retained this as part of the brand.

iQue Player is the official Chinese version of the Nintendo 64

A console with a completely different design. This was iQue Player, the Chinese version of the Nintendo 64. However, it came out seven years later and did not sell well. One of the biggest curiosities and secrets about Nintendo 64 that not many people know.

Super Mario Party for Nintendo 64 came out with gloves to avoid injuries with the stick

The ability to play four players offered good game ideas for the console, as was the first Super Mario Party. However, Nintendo was facing a problem with this game due to the use of the stick in the minigames. Some of these minigames required circularly moving the stick, and while it was recommended to be done with the finger, people used the palm because it was more effective and easier. This caused blisters and burns on some players. Consequently, many New York consumers complained, and Nintendo of America was forced to include special gloves for playing Super Mario Party. Nintendo had to invest about 80 million dollars in the gloves.

Nintendo was interested in the manufacturer Silicon Graphics, although these were previously rejected by Sega.

Many of you probably know that the Nintendo 64 used Silicon Graphics technology for 3D graphics. However, perhaps not many of you know this secret about Nintendo 64: the hardware and software manufacturer tried to negotiate with Sega to work on their console; they rejected it due to problems with the prototype, something that Silicon Graphics would solve and try to negotiate with the Japanese company again, but they did not receive any response. Later they would strengthen ties with the Great N.

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Thanks to the Nintendo 64, the vibration in the controls became popular

This is one of the biggest curiosities and secrets about Nintendo 64. The vibration in the controls was used for the first time on a console thanks to a Nintendo 64 peripheral. This idea managed to transmit new sensations to the players and would be implemented later on in the following consoles. Something so normalized today that it is unthinkable that a controller does not have the vibration.

The console did not have Metroid for the command

Yoshio Sakamoto, director of Super Metroid, stated in an interview that he “couldn’t figure out how to control Samus” with the Nintendo 64 controller. Consequently, they thought it was simply not a good idea and decided not to make a game for the console because they didn’t think it would be better than Super Metroid released for the Super Nintendo. Among the curiosities and secrets about Nintendo 64, this may be the least liked, since many people will think that a Metroid could also have been made for this console.

We recommend visiting our article on the best Nintendo 64 games if you want to take a brief look at the best catalogue of the console.