Nintendo 64

Credits

Video captures courtesy of
Muzzarino

Background

The Nintendo 64 is a fifth-generation 64-bit home video-game console developed by Japanese consumer electronics company Nintendo. Released in Japan and North America in 1996 and later to Europe and Australia in 1997, it is highly regarded as one of the most influential consoles in the gaming industry with titles such as GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, and the best-known Super Mario 64. It competed with the Sega Saturn and the original PlayStation.

Logo (September 27, 1996-November 19, 2001)

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  Normal variant
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  White background variant
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  Stacked variant, seen on Animal Forest
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  Variant with the "N" only
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  The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time variant
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  The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask variant
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  Banjo-Kazooie variant
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  Banjo-Tooie variant
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  Donkey Kong 64 variant
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  Diddy Kong Racing variant
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  Blast Corps variant
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  Killer Instinct Gold variant
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  The New Tetris variant
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  Star Fox 64 variant
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  Conker's Bad Fur Day variant
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  Command & Conquer variant
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  Aidyn Chronicles - The First Mage
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  Earthworm Jim 3D variant
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  Pokémon Puzzle League variant
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  Tetrisphere variant

Visuals: On a black background, the Nintendo 64 logo is seen, which is a cube-like structure with 4 "N"'s seen on each side in green, blue, red, and yellow respectively for the 2 sides, insides, and tips. Above the logo is "NINTENDO 64", in gray and white respectively with the latter part raised up like scientific notation.

Trivia: The following games (in order of the North American release date): Tetrisphere, Clayfighter 63⅓, Banjo-Kazooie, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1.0 release), LEGO Racers, Earthworm Jim 3D, Top Gear Rally 2, Tom and Jerry in Fists of Furry, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage, and The Powerpuff Girls: Chemical X-Traction have some incorrectly-colored faces to the "N" (a mistake that was also common in commercials for Nintendo 64 games especially near the end of the system's lifespan, even those from Nintendo themselves). See the video for proof.

Variants:

• On GameTek games, "NINTENDO" is colored in white.
• On The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the "N" is 3D and rotates. Also, the Nintendo 64 header is next to the "N" and white lights go across it. There are two versions of this variant. The original version 1.0 release of Ocarina of Time had an "N" with the basic glossing and top faces incorrectly having same colors as bottom faces (see Trivia), while versions 1.1 onwards had an "N" with the more detailed glossing and proper top face colors. The latter version of the variant also appears in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
• On some games, the background is white, and "Nintendo 64" is colored in blue and red respectively. This can be seen on Paper Mario and a few other N64 games.
• The Wii Virtual Console release of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask lacked the console's name. This still occurs when the WAD has been injected with a different game, and you enter the home menu then exit it during the game. This is also known to occur on Paper Mario, Mario Golf, and Super Smash Bros. (but only if you enter the home menu and exit).
• On Perfect Dark, a 3D version of the logo without the console's name rotates around and morphs into the logo for the game, which are the lowercase angular letters p and d in bluish-gray color.
• On Conker's Bad Fur Day, the giant "N" without the header is seen on a wood-like floor, looking around, with a hidden spotlight shining on it. The camera zooms in on the "N" where it notices that someone is coming. Then Conker suddenly comes with his chainsaw, cuts the "N" in half and knocks these halves off, saying "Stupid logo!". Conker then throws the chainsaw away, wiping hands, saying "There, much better.", then replaces it with the Rareware logo by taking it out from the pocket, muttering "How can...get it...Ah!" He puts on the floor, and wipes the lower part of the R of the Rareware logo. He then leans backwards, crossing arms out, and saying "Marvelous.", while everything irises out, until it surrounds Conker's head, who winks at us, and the surrounding circle finally irises out. On 16:9 aspect ratio, Conker is visible, carrying his chainsaw on the top-right.
• On Donkey Kong 64, the giant "N" (pretty much the same as the Conker's Bad Fur Day variant) fades in on the top of a barrel, with a hidden spotlight shining on it. The giant "N" then starts dancing around, ending with what appears to be a "Spin-Jump". The giant "N" part suddenly cuts off, being followed by the Rareware logo, which fades in, zooms in, and spins around at a steady pace. On the kiosk demo of the game, however, the logo animates similarly to the final build where it bounces around, flapping its legs and pirouetting, and at the end, the colored spotlights move around. Compared to the retail version, the kiosk is the longest variant used in this game around 20 seconds.
• On Banjo-Kazooie, the giant "N" takes a casual stroll across the sky, stopping as a Buzzbomb flies past it. Shrugging its shoulders, it continues on its way as the Buzzbomb continues flying around. The Xbox Live Arcade port removes the logo completely in order to avoid copyright infringement with Nintendo.
• On the international version of Super Smash Bros., the logo quickly scrolls up to the center.
• On the Japanese-only Animal Forest, the "N" appears like a piece of furniture, and the "Nintendo 64" text appears below the "N".

Technique: 3D animation rendered in real-time on the console's hardware. Otherwise, a still graphic.

Audio: Depending on the variant:

• On international releases of the Pokémon Stadium games, Pikachu says "Pika!" when the logo appears.
• On the Blast Corps variant, the jet whoosh followed by the explosion sound when the logo zooms in.
• On the Conker's Bad Fur Day variant, the described lines as seen above, as well as a menacing string tune, a tune based off of "Windy & Co." from the game's soundtrack, and various sound effects.
• On the Donkey Kong 64 variant, a jungle drum piece is heard, as some monkeys are heard screaming and singing. The jungle drum piece continues to play, along with the monkeys continuing to scream and sing as the giant "N" part suddenly cuts off and the Rareware logo fades in. The kiosk demo variant has Chunky's noises and Chompa growls, before the drums are played.
• On the Animal Forest variant, the furniture sound is heard, followed by a voice saying "Nintendo".
• On F-Zero X, a short guitar solo is heard ("Title BGM" on the soundtrack).
• On any other game, none or the opening theme of the game.

Availability: Seen on most Nintendo 64 games. First seen on Wave Race 64, and last seen on The Powerpuff Girls: Chemical X-Traction. Usually preserved on Virtual Console games on the Wii. Some games don't have this start-up, such as on third party titles and early Nintendo-made games, like Super Mario 64. Nintendo would either use their corporate logo or the N64 logo when booting up a game, or likely use both (on games that were developed and/or published by them).

◄ Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Nintendo 64 64DD

Nintendo GameCube ►