Their games are accessible but deep, laser-focusing Nintendo’s typically pristine focus on the gamer’s joyful experience with an eye on expanding the definitions of “joyful experiences”. The Nintendo 64 encapsulates so many disparate feelings at the same time.

Coinciding perfectly with the general culture’s mainstream acceptance of video games as more than a niche culture, developers worked with Nintendo to expand the medium’s boundaries and push the limits of technical craftsmanship and creativity. But what is good is technical sound and fury if it signifies nothing? As Nintendo of America pioneer Peter Main phrased it, “The name of the game is the game.” And the N64 games were, in a word, incredible. The Nintendo 64 boasted an unprecedented level of increase in graphical fidelity, from SNES’s 16 bits to 64 - quadrupling in power, two times as big as the rival Sony PlayStation. Remember that viral clip of the kid excitedly opening up an N64 under the Christmas tree and absolutely losing his mind? He’s right. On September 29, 1996, Americans experienced a rush of joy like no other: The release of the Nintendo 64, the video game giant’s hotly-anticipated follow-up to their acclaimed Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Super smash bros 64 revolution