Dumbest/Stupidest/Shittiest/All-around worst Nintendo console

[vestcoat]

Cool thread.

The N64 controllers are flawed, but Nintendo deserves props for breaking ground yet again and making controllers actually designed for 3D games.  Weren't the Playstation Dualshock and other analog sticks made later, in response to the N64 controller?

I've seen a lot of broken sticks, but it personally took me 9 days on Perfect Dark and countless hours on other games over the course of ten years to wear down the controller I bought new.

Meanwhile, the cartridge-based hardware is very durable.  I'll take a $10 control stick replacement over trying to fix a PS1 deck any day.

I can't speak for the Saturn, but N64 3D is much better and the colors more vibrant than recycled Playstation polygon dung. 

So, really, the only thing that majorly sucked about the N64 was the library.  It needed 2D games, it needed shooters, and it needed RPGs.
I certainly wouldn't take the N64 library away to a desert island, but it makes a good supplemental system.  I have more than enough shooters and RPGs on the Turbografx.  I keep my N64 around for 3D-racing games and FPS.

Finally, one strength we shouldn't overlook is the wealth of multi-player games - four built-in ports really helped make it a party system.

[SignOfZeta]

Too bad the battery only lasts a year.

I've had those 2032s last a few years actually.

If you buy good ones, they last quite a while, probably 4-6 years. In a Dreamcast VMU however...those things will kill two 2032s in 3 or 4 months.

[DragonmasterDan]

Cool thread.

The N64 controllers are flawed, but Nintendo deserves props for breaking ground yet again and making controllers actually designed for 3D games.  Weren't the Playstation Dualshock and other analog sticks made later, in response to the N64 controller?

I've seen a lot of broken sticks, but it personally took me 9 days on Perfect Dark and countless hours on other games over the course of ten years to wear down the controller I bought new.

Meanwhile, the cartridge-based hardware is very durable.  I'll take a $10 control stick replacement over trying to fix a PS1 deck any day.

I can't speak for the Saturn, but N64 3D is much better and the colors more vibrant than recycled Playstation polygon dung. 

So, really, the only thing that majorly sucked about the N64 was the library.  It needed 2D games, it needed shooters, and it needed RPGs.
I certainly wouldn't take the N64 library away to a desert island, but it makes a good supplemental system.  I have more than enough shooters and RPGs on the Turbografx.  I keep my N64 around for 3D-racing games and FPS.

Finally, one strength we shouldn't overlook is the wealth of multi-player games - four built-in ports really helped make it a party system.

The big difference with the N64, besides the higher polygon count is that it has anti-aliasing so it's capable of much less jagged looking polygonal models than the Playstation.

As far as the Saturn goes, most of the good 3D on the system was done using quadrilaterals.

[Sparky]

I do not have much love for any Nintendo system i have to say guys :oops: but the original NES and the SNES do get some love out of me from time to time but the N64 can lick it!!

Never liked the look of the system, the controller and the way it handles and then they got even worst when they went all translucent.... sweet jesus that green was just awful!!! Also the games seemed to me to be all young kid driven and way to much mario for my liking <<shrugs>>

Now, i do own the system for crus'n usa and for a couple pokemon games my little girl and i play but that is it !!!

 

[guyjin]

whoever picked the SNES should be banned on principle. ANYTHING 16 bit is better than the N64. including the CD-i.

[Arkhan]

including the CD-i.

whoa now, lets not get ahead of ourselves lol.

[1980-20..]

Love the N64 and Gamecube based on their physical design and that includes the controllers for both systems both have pretty weak catalog of games though. In fact i think id say the same about the Wii as well. The SNES is just awesomeness as it introduced me to Street Fighter and ZELDA.

So i think i will have to vote NES as i was a Master system owner way back when.

[Joe Redifer]

The N64 console itself was freakin' ugly!  Possibly only the Master System 2 is uglier.

[nodtveidt]

I would vote N64 for sure.

Nintendo has always taken shortcuts when making consoles. Amusingly, the N64 is the one they took the fewest shortcuts on, followed by the Gamecube. All of them were severely hindered by one or more crippling design decisions...

-The original NES was crippled by bad overall hardware design, giving it a high hardware failure rate in terms of software loading. The re-release fixed it, but by then, the system was already obsolete. This is the only console in the list, IMO, which was crippled by bad physical attributes rather than electronic moronicism. Of course, one might also fault it for the lackluster color encoder, but it was usually only Commodore 64 fans who bitched about this.
-The SNES had an amazing graphics processor for its time, and the same can be said for its sound processor. Its shortcut comes in the form of its pitifully slow CPU and lack of VRAM. The system could have been the slayer machine, but the low VRAM and terrible CPU speed, and not to mention the horribly slow ROM access time, crippled it. "But it had the same VRAM as the other machines of its time!" Yes, it did... and that made it underwhelming for what it could have become.
-The N64 can be only faulted for its lack of system RAM and its adherence to solid state storage in an age where it was being readily replaced with cheaper media. The latter wasn't a crippling factor but the former was.
-The Gamecube was primarily crippled by its inferior graphics processor and foolish media choice.
-The Wii... wow, where to begin here... it's little more than a Gamecube with an additional GPU and some more system RAM... the ultimate shortcut machine. By the time the Wii went to manufacturing, the components had become so cheap that Nintendo started *making* money each console sale rather than losing it... a phenomenon not really seen since the Atari 7800.

Now, these are all relative to other consoles of their respective eras, so keep that in mind. Most consoles throughout history have suffered from some kind of limiting factor that could have been avoided... the Genesis and its pitiful color palette, the Playstation and its terrible 3D hardware, etc... but there are also consoles which hit the formula perfectly when compared to their direct competition... the Dreamcast (slaughters the Playstation and gives the PS2 a serious run for its money) comes to mind here, as does the console this site is based on... the PC Engine (slaughters the NES).

If only hardware perfection translated into software quality... but alas, it doesn't, and each console's success has always been based not on technical prowess but software viability. Even when a game SUCKS MAJOR ASS, if you convince enough suckers to buy it, it's a success.

[Joe Redifer]

The Gamecube was primarily crippled by its inferior graphics processor

How so?  It was much better than the PS2 and inferior only to the O.G. XBOX.  Most games were 480p and did not have many of the issues the PS2 did.

[nodtveidt]

How so?  It was much better than the PS2 and inferior only to the O.G. XBOX.  Most games were 480p and did not have many of the issues the PS2 did.

Now, these are all relative to other consoles of their respective eras, so keep that in mind.

[Joe Redifer]

Yes, that is exactly what I asked.  How did it have an inferior graphics processor compared to the PS2 and Xbox?

[blueraven]

I can't believe I missed this thread.

In absence of the Virtual Boy, the Gamecube.

I liked Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, and a few others for the N64.

[Mathius]

Yes, that is exactly what I asked.  How did it have an inferior graphics processor compared to the PS2 and Xbox?

The Gamecube is in the same generation as teh PS2 and XBOX, Rovie.

[nodtveidt]

I'm aware of that. The original Xbox has graphics capabilities far superior to the Gamecube. The GC's graphical abilities are only slightly better than the PS2. Of course, you could always argue specific details and make a case either way... for example, the PS2 can display much higher resolution than the GC and overall has a much higher pixel fill rate, but the GC has dedicated 3D features not found on the PS2 that have to be implemented via software, plus the GC's graphics processor has a slightly higher clock rate than the PS2's. However, the Xbox puts them both to shame without even trying... its graphics capabilities are phenomenal in comparison and makes the GC and PS2 both look like the toys they are.