Nintendo 64DD

The Nintendo 64 Disk Drive attached to the main Nintendo 64 console

The Nintendo 64DD is an expansion system for the Nintendo 64. It was named the "Dynamic Drive" at the start of its development, and plugs into the N64 through the EXTension Port of the Nintendo 64's bottom side.

History

The 64DD was announced at 1995's Nintendo Shoshinkai game show event (now called Spaceworld).

However, the 64DD was only released in Japan on December 1, 1999. Nintendo, anticipating that their long planned out disc drive peripheral would become a commercial failure, sold the system through a subscription service called RANDnet rather than selling the system directly to consumers or to retail outlets. As a result, the 64DD was only supported by Nintendo for a short period of time.

With the release of the Nintendo GameCube, many games that had been released or were still in development for the 64DD were released on the GameCube instead.

Hardware

The 64DD sans main console

The N64DD has a 32-bit coprocessor to help it read magnetic disks and transfer the data to the main console. It was supposed to be Nintendo's answer to the Compact Disc that was used for Sony's PlayStation, which was cheaper to produce. The CD could also hold approximately 650 megabytes of information compared to Nintendo 64's 32 to 512 megabit (4 to 64 megabytes) cartridge.

The new media for the N64DD was rewriteable and allowed for a storage capacity of 64MB (megabytes). The games on normal N64 cartridges could also hook up with DD expansions, for extra levels, minigames, even saving personal data.

The drive works almost like a Zip drive, and has an enhanced audio library for the games to use. The main N64 deck uses its RCP and MIPS4300i to process data from the top cartridge slot and the I/O devices. To hook up with the 64DD, it needed an extra 4 Mb of RAM for a total of 8 Mb. Unlike the N64, the 64DD can boot up on its own, without the need of a cartridge on the top deck because it has a standard OS. This would later be carried over to the Nintendo GameCube and even the Nintendo DS.

The 64DD had its own that worked in conjunction with the N64 development kit.

Accessories

The released version of 64DD included a modem for connecting to the network RANDnet, an audio-video (female RCA jack, and line in) adaptor called the Capture Cassette to plug into the main cartridge slot, and a mouse that plugged into the controller inputs.

RANDnet

RandnetDD, similar to the Super Famicom's Satellaview, is an online subscription based service for the Nintendo 64DD. It allowed players to chat, read and write email, and was a gateway to play multiplayer games for the N64DD over the Internet. Customers who bought the unit through the Internet got a subscription to RANDnet and two games every two months shipped to their postal address with some extra magazines and newsletters related to the 64DD, its games, and accessories. RANDnet stands for Recruit and Nintendo entertainment and was a subsidiary company set up specifically for the release of the 64DD project to finally release the add on and it's games.

Legacy

Due to the small number of 64DDs sold, the device can fetch high prices on eBay, upwards to USD $500. The 64DD may be seen as the Nintendo 64 equivalent of the Famicom Disk System, the aborted PlayStation CD-ROM add-on and the Satellaview for the Super Famicom.

Software

RandnetDD Disk

Creation Software/Games

Mario Artist: Communication Kit
Mario Artist: Paint Studio
Mario Artist: Polygon Studio
Mario Artist: Talent Studio
F-Zero X Expansion Kit

Games

Kyojin no Doshin 1(Doshin the Giant)
SimCity 64

Rare Games

Japan Pro Golf Tour 64
Kyojin no Doshin: Kaihou Sensen Chibikko Chikko Daishuugou

Proposed Games

The Nintendo 64DD had several games announced for it that ended up either cancelled or being released on cartridge format only, the following is a list of those games.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Ura (Master Quest), the expansion disk to Ocarina of Time (released on GameCube in 2003) Pokémon Stadium 2 (released in North America, Europe and Australia as Pokémon Stadium) Super Mario 64 2 (cancelled, though it is rumored to be carried in Super Mario 128) * 7th Legion * Banjo-Kazooie 2 (released in cartridge as Banjo-Tooie) * Cabbage * Creator * DD Sequencer * Desert Island * Dezaemon DD * Digital Horse Racing Newspaper * Donkey Kong World * Doubotsu Bancou * Fire Emblem 64 * Gendai Dai-Senryaku: Ultimate War * Hybrid Heaven (released in cartridge) * Jungle Emperor Leo (Kimba: The White Lion)

* Kirby 64 (released in cartridge) * Lamborghini 64 Add-On * Mario Artist: Game Maker * Mario Artist: Graphical Message Maker * Mario Artist: Sound Maker * Mario Artist: Video Jockey Maker * Mission: Impossible (released in cartridge) * Mission: Impossible 64DD * Morita Shogi 64 * Mother 3 (EarthBound 64) (cancelled, it is now related to the Game Boy Advance title of the same name) * Mother 3.5 * Ogre Battle Saga * Pocket Monsters 64 * Pocket Monsters Stadium * Pocket Monsters Stadium Expansion Disk * Pocket Monsters RPG * Project Cairo

* Quest 64 Add-On * Rev Limit * Sim Copter 64 * SnowSpeeder * Super Mario RPG 2 (released in cartridge as Paper Mario) * Superman 64 Add-On * Suu * Unreal * Tank * Teo * Tonic Trouble Add-On * Toukon Road: Brave Spirits Add-On * Wall Street * Yosuke Ide's Mahjong Juku * The Legend of Zelda 64 (released in cartridge as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) * The Legend of Zelda: Gaiden (later released in cartridge as The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask)

External links

*Defunct Games: Nintendo 64DD Review Archive
* 64DD.net - Biggest 64DD site on the net
* Nintendo.com - Official Nintendo site of America
* Nintendo.co.jp - Official Nintendo site of Japan
* Seb Angulo's Lair - Pictures of the 10 released 64DD games