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E-MAIL click here SPECIAL: THE NINTENDO64 DISK DRIVE
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Since the Shoshinkai show back in 1995 a Nintendo64 Disk Drive add-on was planned by
Nintendo for a worldwide release. However the system, called 64DD, wasn't released until
December 1999, and by this time no one really wanted it, atleast not in Japan. But
perhaps it could've been a lot more successful if it was released in Europe or the US,
as the Nintendo64 has done a lot better here?. On this page I'm going to guide you through an explanation of the system, the few software titles released for the system as well as all the rumors created over the years and how the 64DD progressed until it's release late 1999. In December 2000 the 64DD and the online RandnetDD service was discontinued by Nintendo and the service closed down in March 2001, Nintendo has given away the last 3 months of service away for free to subscribers as a small thanks for their support, but not accepting new subscriptions. Rumors are that Nintendo has offered to buy back 64DD systems and software, but I haven't been able to find any official statement about this.
Back when the system was planned for a worldwide release, developers and publishers quickly came up with games which was to be released for the add-on, but then later was changed to normal cartridges as the 64DD was delayed over and over and Nintendo decided only to release it in Japan. Games such was Mission Impossible by Infogrames was started as a DD game (Misison Impossible 64DD), Mother 3/Earthbound64 which unfortunately later was scrapped even after being changed to a cartridge game, Konami's Hybrid Heaven was originally a 64DD game as well as Imaginners SnowSpeeder and Atlus/Quest's Orgre Battle 64, even Nintendo's Pokemon Snap game was originally a 64DD game. An add-on for the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was also in the works for the 64DD, and even completed. It's title was Legend of Zelda DD, or better known as Ura Zelda. But a release of the title never happened as, I guess, Nintendo felt that no one wanted it anyway as they had realized that the 64DD was a dead add-on, but a fact was that owners of the system actually waited and hoped for this release, and who knows, maybe it could've sold a few more 64DD systems in Japan. Nintendo have made a disk drive add-on before with quite a lot of success. It was a disk system, using 3" disks, released for the Famicom back in 1986, three years after the system originally was released, and over 200 games released for the system eventhough licensing fee's were outrageout high and was what finally killed it in 1992, along with lower chip manufacturing costs, but still 6 years on the market is quite good for an add-on. But then again, the two systems can't really be compared since the video game market today is much more commercial and game development costs are enormous, while it today requires 30+ people to make a decent game, 4 people back then could make a sell-out. The game industry today is more about launching a lot of decent titles which will sell on the mass market, instead of takeing the time to come up with an original game idea. I guess they don't have the time to come up with a great idea and decides to go along with a lot of bad games mostly based on movie hits, so that they know the game will sell because of the movie. Well enough of that, I guess it's impossible to go back to what the game industry was once, if that's good or bad is up to you to decide, and we do get games today which are very playable and well done.
Companies have always complained about huge N64 game production costs compared to the low cost of a PlayStation CD. The 64DD was Nintendo's answer to the world that they could bring down costs at a time where chip manufacturing costs rised because of a worldwide shortage. They had a good idea on their hands which they unfortunately blew by announcing a Japan-only release of the system as well as delaying it until a time where the N64 hype, in Japan atleast, was starting to slow down. Another thing which probably helped killing the 64DD was the insane price tag Nintendo had set on the unit, which as far as I remember went up to something like US$300-400 for a package including the Mario Artist Studio, Doshin the Giant and the RandnetDD starter kit. But the advantage would still have been lower production costs for the disks and thereby lower retail prices. The late release, which also was caused by problems with the RandnetDD software, was the biggest disadvantage. The System was shipped to subscribers 1st December 1999, but the RandnetDD service wasn't up and running until Febuary 2000. At first the 64DD was sold by subscription only, so you had to sign up for the RandnetDD service, however later on another version was released which didn't include the service or any games. The drive is attached to the ext. port (known to most N64 backup owners) underneath the Nintendo 64, and can be fastened to the N64 with two screws built into the 64DD casing.
The disk is about the same size as a normal 3.5" disk, a bit larger but a lot thicker, about 1 cm thick. The capacity is 64.45 megabyte (not 512mbit) of which up to 38.44 can be used as writable space (user saves etc). The size of the writable space is defined by the programmer. Data is written on both sides of the disk and the system has error correction. Data transfer can be up to 1 megabyte per second and the data can be loaded without ever interrupting the game, nice but I don't think that was ever used. The 64DD has "please wait... loading" screens, but not as many as the PSX at all. It has something called an IPLrom built-in, also called DDROM, a 36mbit rom. It includes the Graphic User Interface seen when you power up the N64 with the DD attached, without a disk inserted though. It also features font and wave data the games can use, the font data is complete even down to local letters such as the extra scandinavian ones (æ - ø - å). The 64DD also has an internal clock displayed in real time in the lower left corner of the GUI. If you mess with this clock you will discover some cool things in games such as Doshin the Giant, heh. To be able to use the 64DD, the Nintedo64 RAM expansion pak is needed, so it ofcourse is included in the 64DD package. Also included with the 64DD is a modem, so that you're able to connect to the RandnetDD network.
RandnetDD is a partnership between Nintendo and a company called Recruit, according to IGN the service is named after the two partners, eh I may be bad at spelling, but not that bad! As far as I know the RandnetDD network is run by a company called NetFront and not Receuit as IGN claims, but again I could be wrong ;) Anyway the network would allow gamers to hook up and read/write e-mail, a 64DD keyboard is said to exist, as well as read a special RandnetDD Nintendo newsletter. The main purpose of the network though was to be able to connect and play games on the net. It's said that a special event happened on the network where users would be able to download old Famicom (NES) games and play them on the Nintendo64, but this is still unconfirmed.
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