Topic: Complete Nintendo 64 Collection

[that Baby guy]

You mention ISS as a Blockbuster-only release... Wasn't there an Indiana Jones game that was also a Blockbuster-only title?  (And IJ and the Infernal Machine, perhaps?) I remember it being sold at my local Blockbuster when they were clearing out N64 stuff for the new, it probably isn't as rare as a soccer game.

[Mop it up]

You mention ISS as a Blockbuster-only release... Wasn't there an Indiana Jones game that was also a Blockbuster-only title?  (And IJ and the Infernal Machine, perhaps?) I remember it being sold at my local Blockbuster when they were clearing out N64 stuff for the new, it probably isn't as rare as a soccer game.

Yep, that's the title. Technically it is not a Blockbuster exclusive, but it might as well have been. It was not available in retail stores, but it could be purchased directly from the publisher. I'm guessing very few people actually bought it this way though. The game is also available on the PC.

There are five other Blockbuster exclusives, which are:

ClayFigher: The Sculptor's Cut
The first and most well-known of the Blockbuster exclusives. A boxed copy is believed to have sold for $400 on eBay.

Track and Field 2000
It's exactly the same button-masher as the NES game but in 3D. You think Mario Party ruined controllers? You haven't seen anything.

International Superstar Soccer 2000
Appears to be the rarest NA release but seems to have gone largely unnoticed as such until very recently.

NFL Blitz Special Edition
This game was released late in 2001 and at that point Blockbuster was clearing space for more current games. As such, many copies went unopened and are easy to find on eBay. I paid $10 for mine.

Razor Freestyle Scooter
Same as above. Embarrassingly... I own 30 sealed copies of this. I bought them many years ago with the intention of selling them individually on eBay, but that has yet to happen.

Other than those last two, the boxes and manuals for these games are extremely rare. Blockbuster generally threw out the boxes and the manuals were often stolen or destroyed by customers. They are quite valuable.

What I've never understood is why these games were even created if they didn't intend on them being retail releases. Was the revenue from renting them really worth it?

Wow, thats a great deal.  I'm so envious you have Excitebike 64!!  Still as awesome as we all remember?  I want another!!  The closest thing I've seen is MX Superfly for the Cube.

ExciteBike 64 is still the best motorbike racing game ever created. I'm not really sure what that says since there haven't really been very many dirt bike games, and it's up against competition like the abysmal Jeremy McGrath's Supercross World, but fortunately it is also one of the best racing games period. What is still impressive today is the track editor. It might look simple at first but the user-created pieces make for a lot of different setups. I filled up four memory cards with created tracks.

The game actually sells for pretty cheap these days, which is kind of unfortunate because it means the game is under-appreciated. But it also means you can buy the game on the cheap!

[Stratos]

It doesn't necessarily have to mean it's under appreciated. ExciteBike 64 sold over a million copies so I think it's cheap because there are a lot out there. Supply and demand thing. Zelda tends to sell for cheap so I would think this is in a similar boat. I wouldn't mind seeing it come to the VC with added support to share tracks with Wii friends.

[D_Average]

It just boggles my mine we've never seen a sequel.  There's room for Excitebike and Excitetruck.  Two very different games.  Good to know its cheap though, as I may pick up a 64 someday.

[Stratos]

Wasn't it's rating leaked a while ago for VC in one of the regions?

[that Baby guy]

I saw those Razor boxes in your pictures.  I was wondering about them, that clears it up.

I can't figure out why you'd make the game if you didn't intend a full, retail release, either, from a development cost standpoint.  Wikipedia has nothing about their exclusivity, except for a short blurb on IJatIM and the Clayfighter title.  Actually, it explains that the Clayfighter 63 1/3: The Sculptor's Cut was released with several features dropped originally, and the Sculptor's Cut version includes planned characters, and things like that, sort of a "Final Mix" or ultimate version with features developed later.  I can see the logic in a minor release here.

Personally, I seem to recall something I watched or read saying that the Indiana Jones game didn't quite make the retail cut as a game:  It was plagued with delays, gameplay issues, and similar problems, so they decided to make the best of it, but that memory might not be entirely accurate.

[Mop it up]

It doesn't necessarily have to mean it's under appreciated. ExciteBike 64 sold over a million copies so I think it's cheap because there are a lot out there. Supply and demand thing. Zelda tends to sell for cheap so I would think this is in a similar boat.

Look at Mario and Zelda on eBay and you'll find plenty of people bidding away on those games. Look at ExciteBike 64 and you'll find none of that. There are lots of Buy-It-Now auctions because it will sell for a penny if it's put up as a regular auction. The game seems unwanted for some strange reason.

It just boggles my mine we've never seen a sequel.  There's room for Excitebike and Excitetruck.  Two very different games.

I refuse to accept ExciteTruck as part of the Excite series since it does not have a track editor. That's one of the elements which makes it an Excite game and without that it is just a truck racer.

I saw those Razor boxes in your pictures.  I was wondering about them, that clears it up.

There are only 4 in the picture because I couldn't really find a place for them. Plus I still hope to sell them...

[vudu]

If you don't mind me asking, what was the most expensive game you purchased?  Did you have to spend any more than MRSP for any of them?

[Mop it up]

Nope, never more than MSRP. Now, if I were after complete copies then I definitely would have.

International Superstar Soccer 2000 was probably the most, at $31. Some other more expensive ones which come to mind are Harvest Moon for $28, StarCraft for $27, Conker's Bad Fur Day for $20, and Ogre Battle for $25. If I were more patient I probably could have gotten better deals on these, but that would have taken a while. Most games were $10 or less though, and a lot of the sports titles were $1. I'm not really sure how prices have changed for these games over the years so I don't know how those compare to today.

[the boss]

now you should make a giant tower of cartridges or domino chain

[tombo125]

did you get all of them on the internet?  Ive been thinking about getting some of the games i have lost but i wont have an address for another couple of weeks so i cant get them over the internet.

[BwrJim!]

a couple of titles I didnt see in that 299 collection..  granted they are rentals.  but i can always go to the old store i worked at and check for you..

didnt see transformers in there.

awesome though.. simply awesome.   

i thought there were more than 299 though...

[Mop it up]

Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals can be seen in the bottom-left corner of the first photo, right between Track and Field 2000 and Triple Play 2000. For some reason it is always the one I forget to mention when I list the rental-only games...

There were 296 releases in North America and 396 unique releases worldwide.

[UncleBob]

Mop it up Mop it up Mop it up!

You need this!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Rare-Nintendo-64-Pokemon-Snap-Station-store-display_W0QQitemZ160364636483QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games

[Mop it up]

I recently had an opportunity to buy one of those for about $50 or so and I turned it down. That one is already higher than that, plus the guy is charging $1.50 per mile to deliver it which means it'd cost over $150 for delivery alone. Besides, I'm moving towards focusing on collecting games only and am even considering selling some of my non-game stuff.

[UncleBob]

I recently had an opportunity to buy one of those for about $50 or so and I turned it down. That one is already higher than that, plus the guy is charging $1.50 per mile to deliver it which means it'd cost over $150 for delivery alone. Besides, I'm moving towards focusing on collecting games only and am even considering selling some of my non-game stuff.

I totally would have dropped $50 for one of those...

[Mop it up]

Maybe I should have, too. That one just sold for $810!

[Stratos]

I wish you got one so I could sent you my cart and get all of those stickers I wanted as a kid but never got to print out.

I wanted custom Pokemon stickers.

[Mop it up]

I wish you got one so I could sent you my cart and get all of those stickers I wanted as a kid but never got to print out.

I wanted custom Pokemon stickers.

Here's a solution to your problem:

Download Pokémon Snap on the Wii Virtual Console.
Save your photos to an SD card.
Transfer your photos to your computer.
Print out your photos onto sticker paper.
Dream comes true.

[Stratos]

It's not the same. I can't send the pictures I have on my N64 cartridge to the Wii Message boards.

[D_Average]

I'm finally getting a basement next month, and would like to get an old n64, preferably the charcol grey or blue model.  Whats the best website for picking those up these days?  Ebay and Amazon or perhaps and Indy boutique?  Any way to buy one brand new w/o spending a bizillion dollas?

[Mop it up]

I haven't shopped for anything Nintendo 64-related in some time, so I am unsure of prices for most things. It's been a long time since I've seen a brand new Nintendo 64 system sell for less than $100, so I doubt you could find one for a price you'd be willing to pay. The blue Nintendo 64 is one of the more rare colours and would probably cost about twice as much as the original charcoal gray.

In my experience eBay has better prices than Amazon. EBay also allows pictures so you can actually see what you're getting before you buy. You just have to be careful to buy from good sellers. An independent game store would allow you to inspect anything you wanted before you bought it and would allow easy returns should a problem occur, but the prices would likely be inflated.

Some games can still be found new for fairly cheap. These include Perfect Dark, Mega Man 64, Rayman 2, and a few others.

Finding a controller in good condition could be another problem. But if you do get one, I recommend that you get some plastic lubricant (best would be ceramic grease) to apply to the analogue stick. This will ensure that it will never wear out.

Whatever you do, do not buy a third-party controller no matter how tempting they may seem. They have all been proven to be rubbish.

[D_Average]

I haven't shopped for anything Nintendo 64-related in some time, so I am unsure of prices for most things. It's been a long time since I've seen a brand new Nintendo 64 system sell for less than $100, so I doubt you could find one for a price you'd be willing to pay. The blue Nintendo 64 is one of the more rare colours and would probably cost about twice as much as the original charcoal gray.

In my experience eBay has better prices than Amazon. EBay also allows pictures so you can actually see what you're getting before you buy. You just have to be careful to buy from good sellers. An independent game store would allow you to inspect anything you wanted before you bought it and would allow easy returns should a problem occur, but the prices would likely be inflated.

Some games can still be found new for fairly cheap. These include Perfect Dark, Mega Man 64, Rayman 2, and a few others.

Finding a controller in good condition could be another problem. But if you do get one, I recommend that you get some plastic lubricant (best would be ceramic grease) to apply to the analogue stick. This will ensure that it will never wear out.

Whatever you do, do not buy a third-party controller no matter how tempting they may seem. They have all been proven to be rubbish.

Yeah, thats a good pro about getting it on ebay.  I've also noticed a huge amount of deals on Craiglist lately in my area, like the N64, 2 controllers and up to 10 decent games for 40 bux, so I may go that route so I can at least try it out.  But it would be sweet to score a new one.

And thanks for the tip on the controller, I was going to ask you that if there was any 3rd party alternative, as even back in the day, I don't remember having one.  I'll be sure to post a pic if I score one in the next couple months.

Oh, and how does it look on an hdtv, about that same as n64 VC games?

[Stratos]

I second the N64 3rd party controllers are crap statement. I still have a broken one to prove it. Though having if for those 'rapid fire' mini games in Mario Party can be handy.

[Mop it up]

I forgot about Craig's List. That can be pretty hit or miss, but you can stumble upon some great deals if you check often enough.

There is only one third-party controller which might be worth it, but it isn't cheap. It is called the Hori Pad Mini and it was released only in Japan. It is a two-prong controller with a GameCube-like analogue stick, but it has a few problems, such as its small size and clackity buttons. But some people really adore the thing so I thought it might be worth mentioning if you want to look into it.

I don't have an HD television so I can't really say much about that. I've heard a few things about it, and the general consensus is that it doesn't look so good. The television will probably try to upscale the image, which will make it look washed out and might delay the image. One person also said that turning down the brightness and contrast helped. The best cable you can get for N64 is S-video and you definitely should get one, but use a standard CRT telly if you have one.

VC games will look better than the original N64 versions for one reason: the resolution was increased to 640x480, whereas the originals are 320x240. Some VC games also have a better framerate, such as Star Fox 64 and Zelda.

Though having if for those 'rapid fire' mini games in Mario Party can be handy.

Cheater.