Everything About the 64DD

By IGN Staff

Ask hardcore gamers about failed peripherals and you will most likely hear a lot of talk about the 32X and the Sega CD ¿ and how they're collecting dust in some dark corner behind boxes of unopened Star Wars resin kits and battered Rollerblades. Well, I can happily report that I sold my Sega CD back in 1994 in the same dinky Japanese used videogame store in which I had bought it three months earlier. As much as I was tempted to keep it just to own another piece of gaming history, I can honestly say that I don't miss the Sega CD with its tiny game library consisting of poor FMV titles and enhanced rehashes of existing Genesis hits. Plus, if I still had a Sega CD, where would I store my 64DD?

Over the next weeks, IGN64 will take an in-depth look at the failed add-on and give you the full lowdown on what many consider to be Nintendo®'s biggest blunder. The first installment of our three-part feature deals with the actual hardware itself and tells you everything you need to know about how the machine works and what it was supposed to do. In the second part we get to the dirty details -- Nintendo®'s broken promises and the limitations of the system. The third chapter rounds off everything with a look at the software that made it out and the many games that were quietly canned.

Part I: The Bulky Drive

In case you were already reading this site back in 1996 when Nintendo® announced its controversial disk drive add-on, you will remember the promises of how the so-called Bulky Drive could revolutionize console gaming. Heck, we believed many of them, too. After all, the 64DD (which actually stands for 64 Dynamic Drive) was going to be the platform of choice for games like Zelda and Earthbound ¿ and it would fix many of the N64's problems third-party publishers and developers were complaining about at the time.

While the 64DD's technology, courtesy of Alps, wasn't even considered to be cutting-edge stuff back in 1995, the unit didn't ship until December 1999. After all, PC ZIP drives offered more space and higher access speeds even before the 64DD was announced. But to be fair, it wasn't about the drive's tech specs ¿ it was about what Nintendo® could do with them that got us and other fans of the Big "N" excited.

Sadly, whatever the DD's potentials were, Nintendo® never truly realized them. The 64DD was doomed from the start. But although very few gamers bought the add-on and Nintendo® dropped support of the unit after only a few months, the 64DD shouldn't be called Nintendo®'s version of the Sega CD. Nintendo® set the DD up as a package deal targeted at a certain type of user. Unlike the Sega CD, which was supposed to revitalize the Genesis and change it into a new platform, the DD was essentially a creativity package and limited online experiment at the same time. Gamers who wanted to exercise their creative sides found in the DD a Mario Paint for the 3D age. You could capture your own images from TV, paint, create 3D models and animated movies, make your own tracks for F-Zero and even share all your creations online. While this may not sound that amazing to US gamers who have been surfing the web for years, very few Japanese households have access to the Internet. Even though the DD could have never become a mainstream success due to the N64's small Japanese userbase, it partially fulfilled Yamauchi's longtime dream of a network that connects Nintendo® consoles all across the nation.

Since retailers weren't too excited about the prospect of allocating space to the ill-fated unit (and because Nintendo® didn't want to be stuck with excess inventory), Nintendo® sold the 64DD via a mail-order subscription plan. For 2,500 yen/month for 12 months, you would not only get a 64DD, but also access to the Randnet online service, the Modem Cartridge (plus cable and software), the Expansion Pak, and six DD titles, which were to be shipped to subscribers on a bi-monthly basis: Doshin the Giant 1, F-Zero X Expansion Kit, Sim City 64, Mario Artist: Talent Studio (plus Capture Cartridge), Paint Studio (plus Mouse) and Polygon Studio. A secondary plan, which included a special "smoke" N64 was also offered for 3,300 yen/month. Finally, Nintendo® released a limited number of 64DDs to retail stores in mid-December -- no doubt to clear out any remaining inventory that hadn't been allocated to the subscription plan. Risk to Nintendo®? Zero.

The Hardware
The DD hardware follows the exact same design philosophy as the Nintendo® 64 console itself. Whether Nintendo® correctly predicted market trends or not (looking at PlayStation sales figures, I'd learn towards the "not "side...), the N64 was designed for a predominantly young audience. All buttons are mechanical and "drool proof" and there are no moving pieces like the PlayStation 2's DVD tray, for example. The 64DD is exactly the same. To make sure that your little brother doesn't try to ram a pop tart into the drive, the slot is locked by a cover that only opens when you use a 64DD disk. Though it seems a bit bulky -- no pun intended -- the 64DD matches the N64 perfectly in both design and functionality.

Installation is quick and painless. After removing the Jumper Pak with the included plastic tool and installing the Expansion Pak, you simply attach the DD to the bottom of the N64 via two knobs. The DD's pegs fit perfectly into the holes on the underside of the N64, and the protruding expansion port snaps right into the console's expansion bay. The last step is to turn the two knobs to secure the connection. That's it. Interestingly, there is a small groove on the top of the DD that leads from the back of the drive to the front that looks like it was designed to run a thin cable from the N64's fourth controller slot to the back of the unit. While it's not documented what exactly the groove was supposed to be used for, it works fine with the N64 Microphone (you can run it underneath the N64 and plug it into the back of the Capture Cart).

Operation of the DD is even simpler. The drive is powered by the N64, so you don't need to plug it in or switch it on. There is only one button, a mechanical gray push button that functions just like a Floppy Disk ejector. It couldn't be easier to use. To see the 64DD's boot-up screen, which has Mario play around a 3D "N", or set the date and time, you can switch on your N64 without a cart plugged in. Once you insert a disk, the DD will start to load the game. Note that this will only happen when there is no game cartridge in the N64. However, some titles like F-Zero X or Ocarina of Time have so-called "64DD hooks" -- which means they were programmed to recognize whether the 64DD is hooked up or whether compatible software is in the drive. For example, if you're playing F-Zero X and you don't have the Expansion Kit disk in your DD, the game will completely ignore the DD. Once you stick the disk into the drive, it will recognize the software and boot the disk.

Load times are minimal. When saving or loading custom data, like with F-Zero X, the drive takes a maximum of three seconds to deliver the goods. Some of the more complex DD-only titles, such as the Mario Artist apps, take a little longer when you're switching between the different modes. However, load time never seems to exceed five seconds.

Apart from the large size (the drive alone is 78mm tall, which makes it hard to fit the N64/DD combo into an AV rack), I have no complaints with the design of the unit from a hardware standpoint. In comparison to some of the third-party peripherals out there, like the Tristar 64, the 64DD really makes you appreciate Nintendo®'s knack for simplistic but solid design. There are no sharp edges, nothing rattles and your N64 will function as well as before.

Of course, the DD is only half the equation. The drive comes with a number of peripherals, including the Modem Cartridge, the Capture Cart, a Microphone (also included with Hey You, Pikachu) and the Nintendo® Mouse. Each peripheral is equally well designed -- although it would have been nice if Nintendo® could have come up with something a bit more "couch friendly" than the mouse... To learn more about the games and the peripherals that work with them, be sure to read part 3 of this feature series next week.

Without much further ado, here's my final score for the 64DD:

-- Peer Schneider

Tune in next week for the second part of our three-day feature.