Originally, Nintendo hoped to have the N64 out on the market by Christmas in 1995. The console ended up with a delay though, and wouldn’t be ready until several months later in the following year. Although Nintendo cited a need for more software to be completed, a former Silicon Graphics engineer contended that the extra wait stemmed from issues with the console’s chips.
Ex-Rare staffer and GoldenEye 007 director Martin Hollis was invited to Silicon Graphics before the N64 launched. He actually found a weakness within the hardware, which could have potentially caused another delay had it been addressed.
Hollis told Nintendo Life:
I got to travel to SGI in Mountain View to write test code that would run on some of the few ‘golden chips’ – this is the terminology for the first chips which come off the production line. From the initial run there were very few working chips, and SGI kept them in-house, so a few developers would fly out to use them for a week. I think I might have been the only ‘worker’ from Rare, although Chris Stamper travelled.
I wrote a piece of code which displayed spinning icosahedrons; as many as possible until the framerate dropped below 60Hz. The head of the project at SGI was not too pleased to discover what the performance of the machine was in terms of triangles per second. He asked to see my code in the hope it was inefficient. It wasn’t. He later told me that SGI very nearly did another spin of the hardware to fix the issue, which was with the memory interface.
Nintendo released a new video today showcasing a few European digital game highlights from March 2016. You can watch it below.
Nintendo Download (4/7/16, North America) – Star Fox Zero pre-purchase, Game & Watch Gallery 4, more
This week’s North American Nintendo Downloads are as follows:
Wii U Retail
Star Fox Zero is available for pre-purchase in Nintendo eShop starting at 9 a.m. PT on April 7. Purchase the digital version of the game in Nintendo eShop on Wii U or at http://starfoxzero.nintendo.com/buy/ and receive an automatic Nintendo eShop discount of $4.99 toward the purchase of the Star Fox Guard game when both games release on April 22. If you pre-purchase Star Fox Zero in Nintendo eShop on Wii U or through Nintendo.com, it will pre-load the game to your system so you’ll be able to play after a small game update when it launches. Be among the first to play!
Wii U Download
Emojikara: A Clever Emoji Match Game – $2.99
Epic Dumpster Bear – $9.99
Super Robo Mouse – $4.99
Wii U Virtual Console
Game & Watch Gallery 4 – $6.99
3DS Download
Doll Fashion Atelier – $4.99
3DS DLC
Fire Emblem Fates – New DLC Map – Anna on the Run – Anna is cornered by thieves! What will her fate be? This new map is available to download in the Fire Emblem Fates game for $1.99. Upon successful completion of this map, Fire Emblem mainstay Anna joins the party.
Fire Emblem Fates – Map Pack 1 – As a reminder, anyone who owns either the Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright or Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest game can purchase Map Pack 1 at the Dragon’s Gate in Chapter 6 of the game for $17.99 to get access to 11 DLC maps plus bonus content as they are released weekly through April 21. Map Pack 1 content is priced at more than $24 when purchased individually.
eShop Sales
Wii U / 3DS
– Spring into savings on Nintendo eShop with the Super Spring Sale! Save up to 30 percent off select games in Nintendo eShop starting at 9 a.m. PT on April 7 until 8:59 a.m. PT on April 21. Remember: Purchasing items from Nintendo eShop is an easy way to earn points for the new My Nintendo rewards program. Just make sure your Nintendo Network ID and Nintendo Account are linked prior to making a purchase. Visit https://my.nintendo.com/ for more information.
Wii U
– Angry Bunnies: Colossal Carrot Crusade, Cube Life: Island Survival and more games from Cypronia are on sale until 8:59 a.m. PT on April 25.
– Astral Breakers is 40 percent off (reduced from $4.99 to $2.99) until 8:59 a.m. PT on April 14.
– Master Reboot is 50 percent off (reduced from $14.99 to $7.49) until 8:59 a.m. PT on May 5.
– Nano Assault Neo is 25 percent off (reduced from $9.99 to $7.49) until 8:59 a.m. PT on April 28.
3DS Themes
Disney Frozen
Mickey & Friends
Stitch & Company
Disney The Little Mermaid
Source: Nintendo PR
Yesterday, the fourth Minecraft: Wii U Edition patch was released. It added new elements like the Story Mode skin pack, achievements, Wii Classic Controllers, and more.
Footage of the new Minecraft Wii U patch has now surfaced. Take a look at the update in the video below.
Several new screenshots of Zero Time Dilemma are in, all of which show the game specifically running on 3DS. Get a look at the images below.
Zero Time Dilemma launches in just a few months – June 28 – so we should be seeing more media in the near future.
Thanks to Jake for the tip.
Nintendo scheduled an upcoming maintenance period for next week – during that time, logging into services that use your NNID will be unavailable. This affects Wii U, 3DS and web-based services. Below is the exact time frame, sorted by time zone:
- 1 PM PT, April 11th – 5 PM PT, April 11th
- 4 PM ET, April 11th – 8 PM ET, April 11th
- 9 PM GMT, April 11th – 1 AM GMT, April 12th
- 10 PM CET, April 11th – 2 AM CET, April 12th
Capcom has updated the Ace Attorney 6 website with information on the game, following its article in Famitsu. While the information on the website covers already known details, it does include some footage of the new characters, Ema Skye, Trucy Wright, Mimi Nanano, and Kanenari Shinoyama. The site also confirms that A1-Pictures, the studio that produced the Ace Attorney anime series, is producing the game’s cutscenes.
We’ve seen plenty of Star Fox Zero footage this week, but now some gameplay of Star Fox Guard has emerged as well. Take a look at seven minutes from the title below.
Disney Art Academy has released in Japan, and Nintendaan has an extensive look at it, which you can watch below.
Super Mario Maker has received a new update, bringing the game to version 1.42. Nintendo says of the patch: “A number of issues have been fixed to make for a more pleasant gaming experience.”
354MB of free space is needed to download the update. Note that it’s required in order to access online features.
