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So yeah, my N64 love is not founded so much on the actual merits of the system but on the fact that it hit me at just the right impressionable age. I noticed someone mentioned PC games above. I was an avid PC gamer before I got into any consoles. I always felt they were different experiences so I never remember comparing consoles to PC games. Games like Dune 2, Civilization, Star Control 2, Heroes of Might and Magic etc etc were PC games and of course were superior to anything consoles could make. With regard to the Goldeneye debate.... I had not really played much other than Doom or maybe Dark Forces so I didnt have too much to compare to when it came to FPS games at the time.
Mentioned in a different post was the N64 promo tape. I got one in the mail too, I guess since I was a registered SNES owner. I watched it, but nothing about that system hit with me. Same with PS1, and those other systems.
N64 is part of when consoles started drifting a direction I did not care for. There was nothing exclusive I cared for on any system, except for some stuff on Jaguar.
I did like the 3DO and PS1 Road Rash. Though I did later buy that game, a PS1 CD, that I can play on the PS2. Though, back then, Road Rash was not reason enough for me to get a 3DO or PS1 of my own.
The graphics I was seeing on N64 and such, were old stuff to me by the time it was released. I had Stellar 7 on the PC for years. I even enjoyed the cheapo game Scorcher (racing game). Just, there was so much more, that looked better, and controlled better on PCs, at least to me.
Consoles are cheaper than PCs, so I can see why many younger people had those to play with. Also, consoles are less complicated than PC games, and have that, "Plug and play" thing. Myself, I was too keen on tinkering with custom DOOM, Quake, Blood, HOMM maps, etc. 7th Guest, Carmageddon.
*edited to add;
The other thing, during that time about 20 years ago, was that I saw I was getting much more for my money with PC games. SO MUCH MORE value for the cost of the game. SOSO MUCH custom stuff out there, editors. Ability to enhance your graphics later, if your rig was powerful enough for all the eye candy, sometimes replacing your video card X amount fo time later, reloading the game again, it was a bit different. For example, I've got so much of my money's worth out of DOOM and DOOM 2, considering people are still making custom stuff for it.
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Overall, during the era of N64, consoles just felt, to me, like a step back. The 2D and semi-3D I liked about consoles was gone there, for the most part, also. Platformers, though I played Xargon, commander keen, Jazz Jackrabbit, and I forget what else, on PC with a Gravis gamepad, is till preferred those games on consoles.
N64, was just a fork in the road to me. Consoles were abandoning the stuff I liked. PCs, they still had stuff I liked, and even older game styles were still being released. Independent publishers. Lots more.
Even PC games branched off a bit. With FPS, during the mid 00's some games got too heavy on story/plot for me, and seemed less fun. I fell out of caring about new FPS games after a while. Every so often something new is released that I enjoy, like the new Rise of the Triad, but, it's not often.
Back to N64, that era of console games is what I remember most as a branching off period, and though I played PS1, N64, etc, none of those consoles made me eager to buy one. I used that time to buy used and heavily discounted stuff for my 16-bit systems.
About all I remember from that era of N64, as being pretty notable to me, was the Resident Evil games, and Metal gear Solid. Still not enough to sell me on a system, but, interesting to play here and there.
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