Editing Nintendo 64 (section)

=== Graphics ===
The most graphically demanding Nintendo 64 games on larger 32 or 64&nbsp;MB cartridges are among the most advanced and detailed of 32- and 64-bit platforms. To maximize the hardware, developers created custom [[microcode]]. Nintendo 64 games running on custom microcode benefit from much higher polygon counts and more advanced lighting, animation, physics, and AI routines than its competition. ''[[Conker's Bad Fur Day]]'' is arguably the pinnacle of its generation combining multicolored real-time lighting that illuminates each area to real-time shadowing, and detailed texturing replete with a full in-game facial animation system. The Nintendo 64 is capable of executing many more advanced and complex rendering techniques than its competitors. It is the first home console to feature [[trilinear filtering]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nintendo DS vs. Nintendo 64 |url=http://purenintendo.com/2008/12/26/nintendo-ds-vs-nintendo-64so-whats-more-powerful/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228144341/http://purenintendo.com/2008/12/26/nintendo-ds-vs-nintendo-64so-whats-more-powerful/ |archive-date=December 28, 2008 |access-date=January 15, 2009}}</ref> to smooth textures. This contrasts with the [[Sega Saturn|Saturn]] and [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]], which use [[nearest-neighbor interpolation]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saturn Game Tutorial |url=http://www.rockin-b.de/saturn/saturngametutorial/SaturnGameTutorial.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204184623/http://www.rockin-b.de/saturn/saturngametutorial/SaturnGameTutorial.htm |archive-date=February 4, 2009 |access-date=January 15, 2009}}</ref> and produce more [[Pixelation|pixelated]] textures. Overall however the results of the Nintendo cartridge system were mixed.

The smaller storage size of ROM cartridges can limit the number of available textures. As a result, many games with much smaller 8 or 12&nbsp;MB cartridges are forced to stretch textures over larger surfaces. Compounded by a limit of 4,096 bytes<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nintendo 64 |url=http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1242&st=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204190329/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1242&st=2 |archive-date=February 4, 2009 |access-date=January 15, 2009}}</ref> of on-chip texture memory, the result is often a distorted, out-of-proportion appearance. Many games with larger 32 or 64&nbsp;MB cartridges avoid this issue entirely, including ''[[Resident Evil 2]]'', ''[[Sin and Punishment]]: Successor of the Earth'', and ''Conker's Bad Fur Day'',<ref name="hardware1" /> allowing for more detailed graphics with multiple, multi-layered textures across all surfaces.