Sy's N64 Mindless Ramble With Virtually No Content 1: The Port
December 1997
Hello. If you're reading this from anywere other then "Sy's Space 'o Nothing", you may be wondering who I am. Well, I'm Brent Hirose, and I've known Josh for a bit now (I AM assuming you're reading it from N64 Surge). It would be thanx to him this document ever reached your hands. Anyway, I should begin.
Since this is my first "Editorial" on N64, it may not be the best. My advice? Live with it. :)
When the Nintendo 64 was first advertized in Nintedo Power (My mag of choice), one of the more interesting features was the port all the controllers had at the bottom. "Wow" I remeber thinking "That's neat..... But, what can it be used for?" Well, we soon found out. We have the N64 controller Pack, and the Rumble Pack. Today I'd like to talk about these two accessories and any others that could improve the N64 expirience.
I'll start with the rumble pack. Now, the rumble pack was first announced before the release of StarFox64, in wich it was to be included. Many thought this was a petty add-on that was mostly a gimmic. Well, it was, but damn me, it's a fun one. GoldenEye just isn't the same without the recoil from your Silenced PP7, Starfox isn't as wild without it's dramatic crashes. It adds a new sense into the game, and like I said, it's fun. Also, you tend not to miss it until it's gone. Anyway, now there are new models, ones that work on EVERY game, and some that are also controller packs. (By the way, you MUST play BlastCorps with a rumble pack.... It'll just blow your mind.) I feel that this accessory is VERY well used. Some don't. They feel it's going over board. I'm just loving it. Hey, how can I put down somthing that almost makes Dark Rift FUN???????
Then, we have the Controller Packs. When I first saw this, I said "WOW! that sux...." Well, really, "Show your friends your high scores! Save your KIG achevements! " Yeah.... fun, huh? Anyway, I started to think about this, then I suddenly saw that this could be SOOOO exploited. Imagine, a fighting game where you "create" a charater, (name, age, skills, the whole shabang) and then in the game you build up skills, learn special moves, ect. One day a friend invites you over. Slap in your pac and kick his arse. Now your 15 hours spent on getting a stronger kick are all coming out. Then of corse, you could have an RPG like Secret of Mana. If it worked D&D; style for charater making, then there could be endless charater ideas and you could bring them together to make the ultimate party! FOUR players too! Or in sports! You make the dream team, trading, creating and drafting players, playing games to bring in more money. Finally, you can set your deck against your friends. Hear me? This thing is soooooo untapped! You will have a perpose to play a game for hours on end! You'll kick some ass! With the 10 meg + cards coming out, who knows what could happen?
Finnally, we have to ask "What else?" Currently, somone is creating a add-on that lets you choose plays for football games off screen on a little LCD number that hooks up and is viewed off the top of the controller. Maybe some day there will be the "sensor pac" to make you controller cordless. Or maybe with the sensor pack, you could use your controller like a sword in a jousting or samorai game. The possibilities are endless. This little port on the back of your controller could go far, my friend. I just find that we need to push it. Who knows how inter active the games will get? Ane what about when we'll have N128? What could we do then? The sky is the limit, or at least our imagination. If it's supported, it could soar. And I'll support it, as long as it adds to the expirience.
Live from Canada,