10 Ultra Years: Happy Birthday, Nintendo 64!

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We commemorate the N64's 10th anniversary. Read, Laugh, Love! Ah, the years have gone by so fast.

Has it been 10 years already? Call the family, 'cause we're celebrating! September 29, 2006, marks the 10th anniversary of the Nintendo 64's U.S. launch, and we honor this momentous occasion with a look back at what Nintendo's charcoal-gray box left behind. From its various industry-changing innovations to its classic, neo-3D games, the N64 had a colossal impact on the game space. Yet the unshakable resolve of the company resulted in the end of a two-generation reign dating back to the NES of the '80s.

The Nintendo 64 was the epitome of Nintendo's hard-line rigidity in the '90s. Failed relationships with Sony and Phillips in creating viable CD-based consoles resulted in Nintendo succeeding their 16-bit cartridge-based Super NES with the 64-bit cartridge-based Nintendo 64. Years at the top may have clouded the company's vision, as a "my way or the highway" attitude slowly caused Nintendo's fall from grace.

Happy Birthday, Nintendo 64!


Yet Nintendo's current renaissance is a sign of the company's changing ways; since the N64, the company leadership has changed (from the steadfast Hiroshi Yamauchi to the welcoming Satoru Iwata), and with it a new mission that could bring Nintendo back to its former glory. With Nintendo's fifth console soon approaching, we take a look at their third console's history, its many successful 3D triumphs, and its lasting legacy.

The Origins of the Ultra 64

Ever since the mid 1980s, the name 'Nintendo' had been synonymous with gaming. Their first console, the Nintendo Entertainment System (or Famicom in Japan), had resurrected gaming from its E.T.-ridden ghetto and propelled it into the limelight of entertainment. Nintendo had basically monopolized the industry - a lack of competition (the Sega Master System did NOT do well anywhere...except Brazil) meant Nintendo had a firm lock on the video game market.

As the years passed, more combatants entered the previously Nintendo-dominated fray. Hudson Soft teamed with NEC to create the TurboGrafx-16, and Sega went all 180-degrees on us and created the masterful Sega Genesis. Reluctantly, Nintendo deserted the aging NES and created the Super NES (known as the Super Famicom in Japan), which emerged the victor after a dirty, hard fought war with Sega.

The controller received much flak over the unusual trident design.


During the Super NES era, Nintendo was in talks with Sony, who manufactured the Super NES' sound chip, to create a CD-based add-on to Nintendo's console; the resultant device would be called the "Play Station." However, Sony wanted control over the CD enterprise, and Nintendo was keen on keeping everything in their court; it was a match made in egotistical hell. The deal went sour, and Nintendo then headed to the Dutch company Phillips for their help in constructing the attachment. This didn't end too well, either: Nintendo cancelled plans with Phillips, and let them use Nintendo licenses on their CD-i platform. The Big N had a bad taste in their mouth with CD technology.

In 1995, Nintendo officially unveiled the successor to the Super NES: The Nintendo Ultra 64. Going by the moniker "Project Reality" for years, the new name was based off of the powerful 64-bit processor that was fueling the console. Nintendo soon dropped the name "Ultra," and the Nintendo 64 was born.

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