I don't think Nintendo has learnt all that much either.
How many rpgs are on the launch schedule for 3DS and Switch?
There are 3 or 4 Fire Emblem games!

retroking1981 wrote:

Escape wrote:

Even if Banjo was better, I was satiated and unwilling to spend £50 on another platformer by then.

That's exactly how I felt and was a bit if a problem for the N64 in general, a diverse software library is so important.

In that respect I think Nintendo and Rare were dumb as fuck.

Mario 64... 2 Banjos and DK64

Mario Kart 64... DK Racing and Mickeys Speedway

Come on, the N64 didn't need more of that. Look how successful MS have been with Forza. The N64 desperately lacked a game like that.

Killer Instincts popularity had waned by that time but why not make an all new 3D fighter? An RPG? They were a talented bunch at the time, I'm sure they could have pulled off whatever they set their mind to.

Had two v rallys, two very highly thought of F1 World Grand Prix games (DAT TV FEEL) and others. And a wipeout. It definitely needed no more racers.

I think the fighters thing comes from the big boys being missing or worse than on PS1.

Lacked the one that mattered is my point though.

A Nintendo GT would have moved more systems than DK Racing. DK Racing just sold to the demographic that was already on board.

Then theres the long game. Nintendo GT 2 on GCN going up against GT3 and Forza.

They're decisions sometimes are baffling to say the least.

Rare were a massive part of the N64 but they could have been more and helped move more systems.

I just don't see how BK and DK were good decisions at the time, maybe for short term sales but in the long run they didn't help the N64 imo.

regmcfly wrote:

There were also that many 3D fighters on the 64 that I doubt they felt they needed to saturate that either. We've had this "no fighters" on n64 chat before and off the top of my head I listed 12. Cmon now

All shockingly bad. Rare was a talented developer, I think they could have made a good one and with in house marketing behind it it would have made an impact compared to your War God's and Fighters Destinies.

Liveinadive wrote:

Like I said the other day, the N64 didn't handle bitmaps well so attempting a Colin McRae or Gran Turismo would always be out of the question.
The hardware leant itself to colourful shaders so that's what we got mainly.
I kind of like that we had two very different options in the n64 and PS1. At least exclusives were exclusive for a reason.

I disagree. I think it could have done one well tbh, especially in the right hands and Rare were masters of the HW.

Definitely agree with your latter statement though, it was great owning both, SNES and MD also. These days XBox and PS are painfully similar.

What I meant is that Banjo probably sold mostly to those without other machines. I bought mine for GoldenEye after playing a mate's copy, picked up Mario 64 for £20 (I'd already played a fair bit of it on said mate's borrowed 64), and then I later borrowed (again, doze cart prices!) Blast Corps, DOOM 64, and Perfect Dark.

(Ocarina of Time sat there for about seven years until — having paid £50 for the bugger — I half-forced myself through it.)

As a big fan of Donkey Kong Country and Mario 64, I was a little surprised at how unappealing I found the idea of Donkey Kong 64. Its graphics looked a lot more PlayStation to me at the time, and because it was set in one location (as far as screenshots went), the main impression was one of a load of blurry old grass. Meanwhile, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, and a whole bunch of other stuff was out. Not least Fandango.

Great console, but given the option, few would've been happy without any others. Unless you were a one- or two-genre gamer, like. I am more of one these days (not through choice), but when I played a range of stuff I'd always stop with my favourite of each. So in the PS2's day I only bothered with the GTAs for my openworld fix, preferring to wait for the next one rather than play something that was inevitably worse. Mario 64 destroyed its own market for a long while; that's how accomplished it was.

I bought a GameCube for Monkey Ball's multiplayer and I couldn't be arsed to buy Mario Sunshine.