Post any time you get ANYTHING retro 3.

[Team Andromeda]

Must be your set up mate - the n64 looks great on mine. Needs to be rgb’ed though

https://ibb.co/fSF7dz

It's not the set up, it's the chipset and the output of the N64. The Gfx suffered from the Low res and blurry textures of the N64 and the system outout was never great RGB mod or not. Still the games were awesome

[dvdx2]

It's not the set up, it's the chipset and the output of the N64. The Gfx suffered from the Low res and blurry textures of the N64 and the system outout was never great RGB mod or not. Still the games were awesome

Nothing to do with the setup? Time to stop using the RF lead TA.....

[Leon Retro]

My original American N64 was modded for RGB and the image looked nice on a CRT. I had the mod upgraded a few years ago for use with LCD screens, as the image looked too dark. Using RGB definitely helps to make games look clearer, but N64 graphics will always tend to look soft and quite blurry. I find that some of Nintendo's own games, such as Super Mario 64, Wave Race, Star Fox 64, and F-Zero X don't suffer from being a blurry mess. I still like how those games look.

When you look at other 3D console games from that era for the Saturn and PlayStation, they have a far more raw unfiltered look about them than N64 games, so it's not like those consoles were making 3D games look pretty. The N64 went for extreme blur filters that could look terrible. But some developers managed to still deliver, for the time, attractive games. Although, I think a lot of people prefer how the best PlayStation games tend to look, and feel they stand the test of time better. I personally don't think many N64 games stand the test of time.

[Team Andromeda]

Nothing to do with the setup? Time to stop using the RF lead TA.....

I had my N64 RGB modded on its USA launch,(I had to my TV back then couldn't handle the NTSC 2 display and displayed it in back and white) The display isn't great even with the mod and never helped with the low red display most N64 games run at which are 320x and below.

So many N64 games run is a really low red mode

[Tetsuo]

I run my bog-standard JP N64 via s-video through a Framemeister, and it looks absolutely fantastic.

The 'blurriness' meme has got naff all to do with the hardware, it comes down to developer competence, cartridge size, the limited texture cache, and the fact that we're dealing with 240p 3D games. It impacts far, far fewer games than is ever made out by said meme, and usually from mediocre devs.

As quick examples, take a look at: World Driver Championship, Sin & Punishment, Indiana Jones, Excitebike 64, Donkey Kong 64, or Mario Tennis 64 for games that look lovely and crisp – different styles, each are from different, yet experienced developers.

[Team Andromeda]

It's got everything to do with the Hardware as soon as you play most N64 on a emu in a high res the issues are gone. Sin and Punishment had the low res display issues as did the likes Of Zelda and Exictebike looked rubbish even with the Ram cart.

[speedlolita]

I run my bog-standard JP N64 via s-video through a Framemeister, and it looks absolutely fantastic.

The 'blurriness' meme has got naff all to do with the hardware, it comes down to developer competence, cartridge size, the limited texture cache, and the fact that we're dealing with 240p 3D games. It impacts far, far fewer games than is ever made out by said meme, and usually from mediocre devs.

As quick examples, take a look at: World Driver Championship, Sin & Punishment, Indiana Jones, Excitebike 64, Donkey Kong 64, or Mario Tennis 64 for games that look lovely and crisp – different styles, each are from different, yet experienced developers.

Worth keeping in mind that Nintendo didn't ship the Nintendo 64 with RGB also. It may be capable of it but I read somewhere years ago that Nintendo omitted RGB as it was the least used video output of the Super Famicom. I think with this in mind those blurry textures are designed to compliment the composite out of the console.

[Tetsuo]

Worth keeping in mind that Nintendo didn't ship the Nintendo 64 with RGB also. It may be capable of it but I read somewhere years ago that Nintendo omitted RGB as it was the least used video output of the Super Famicom. I think with this in mind those blurry textures are designed to compliment the composite out of the console.

Exactly. And it's a product of its time in that it's designed to compliment CRT TVs, and a low resolution 3D games machine.

But if anyone wants a impressive picture quality out of the N64 on today's massive TVs, it's there, but you gotta run it through an up-scaler, an RGB/HDMI mod, or –if you're really sensitive about it– via some of the recently discovered anti-aliasing removal codes. I simply have a Framemeister with tweaked profile settings (no modding), and it looks better now than it ever did. Complaining about how your memory recalls the N64 looking back on an LED in the 2000s via composite (or however many years ago it was last fired it up) I do find tiresome.

There are examples of N64 games which look terrible regardless by the way (WinBack, Duke Nukem 64, Buck Bumble, Mission:Impossible off the top of my head) but as I say they're few and far between, and are largely associated with mid-tier developers.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Exactly. And it's a product of its time in that it's designed to compliment CRT TVs, and a low resolution 3D games machine.

But if anyone wants a impressive picture quality out of the N64 on today's massive TVs, it's there, but you gotta run it through an up-scaler, an RGB/HDMI mod, or –if you're really sensitive about it– via some of the recently discovered anti-aliasing removal codes. I simply have a Framemeister with tweaked profile settings (no modding), and it looks better now than it ever did. Complaining about how your memory recalls the N64 looking back on an LED in the 2000s via composite (or however many years ago it was last fired it up) I do find tiresome.

There are examples of N64 games which look terrible regardless by the way (WinBack, Duke Nukem 64, Buck Bumble, Mission:Impossible off the top of my head) but as I say they're few and far between, and are largely associated with mid-tier developers.

All legitimate points. But for me, it doesn't change the fact that all N64 games, even Nintendo's very best for the machine, now look and run terribly in their original form, in a way that even SNES and NES games don't - and I say that as somebody who truly loved the N64 bitd.

In a way, I feel that the N64 tech aging so poorly highlights the fact that Nintendo would have a lot of work on their hands to make an "N64 Classic Mini" fit for purpose if they ever decided to manufacture one because, imo, I think that they would have their work cut out just to get those games emulating in a satisfactory 720p/30fps minimum, and that would surely mean an N64 Classic Mini being considerably more expensive than the NES/FC and SNES/SFC models before it.

[samanosuke]

Gameboy Mini would be the best follow up, methinks. Use a proper dot matrix LCD screen but backlit and I’d be all over it.

What with the current Pokemon craze the general public would lap it up as well. Needs some sort of multiplayer option, be it through link cable or Wi-fi.

[Leon Retro]

There are examples of N64 games which look terrible regardless by the way (WinBack, Duke Nukem 64, Buck Bumble, Mission:Impossible off the top of my head) but as I say they're few and far between, and are largely associated with mid-tier developers.

Yeah, it's obvious that some developers didn't know how to make the most of the N64 tech. There's a stark contrast between the nicest looking N64 games and the worst.

I'd say Super Mario 64 is one of few N64 games that stands the test of time. The graphics still look nice and clear, probably because the game has a very minimal aesthetic. It also plays really well.

There weren't many N64 games that impressed me back in the day - most looked really ugly. I clearly remember Wave Race 64, Pilotwings 64, GoldenEye, Banjo-Kazooie being attractive games that showed off the benefits of the technology. F-Zero X was also impressive at 60fps with 30 crafts to race against.

An RGB modded N64 on a CRT can look pretty good. Put it through a scaler these days on an LCD - and you can do the best games justice. Star Fox 64 looks really nice to my eyes.

Ultimately though, I agree with people who say most N64 games are total rubbish now. Only a select few N64 games have stood the test of time, simply because they were well-crafted games made by talented people. I haven't bought an N64 Everdrive because the catalogue of games is pretty dire overall.

If Nintendo does create an N64 Mini, I doubt there will be more than 20 games on it.

[Nico87]

Such a shame about Rare - I remind myself of it every time I read the words «N64 Mini». They’d have like 6-7 worthy contenders for it. Nintendo would struggle to find 20 decent games for a 64 Mini to be honest, and the best first party titles have already been remade.

[_SD_]

I’d like to think the reason there’s been no official N64 Mini announcement is because Nintendo and Microsoft’s legal teams are faffing around...

Both companies know that an N64 without Rare isn’t an accurate representation of what the system had to offer.

[Leon Retro]

Nintendo would struggle to find 20 decent games for a 64 Mini to be honest,

I think there are around 10 RARE games that people would want on a N64 Mini. So without most of those, I agree that Nintendo would really struggle to find 20 games worth playing these days. If Nintendo put loads of third party rubbish on it, they'd really tarnish the machine.

[Goemon]

The other question for me is, the emulation of the N64 good enough to get enough games on the system.
I haven’t played an N64 emu for a while but I know there’s little issues with lots of games, which on an official product wouldn’t wash.

Also UI may be an issue as a lot of it was designed to be on a 25” type CRT screen