Editing Nintendo 64 (section)

===Critical reception===
The Nintendo 64 received acclaim from critics. Reviewers praised the console's advanced 3D graphics and gameplay, while criticizing the lack of games. On [[G4techTV]]'s ''[[Filter (TV series)|Filter]]'', the Nintendo 64 was voted up to No. 1 by registered users.

In February 1996, ''[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]'' magazine called the Nintendo Ultra 64 the "best kept secret in videogames" and the "world's most powerful game machine". It called the system's November 24, 1995, unveiling at [[Nintendo Space World|Shoshinkai]] "the most anticipated videogaming event of the 1990s, possibly of all time".<ref name="NextGen 14">{{Cite magazine |date=February 1996 |title=Ultra 64: Nintendo's shot at the title |url=https://archive.org/stream/nextgen-issue-014/Next_Generation_Issue_014_February_1996 |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |issue=14 |access-date=February 5, 2015}}</ref> Previewing the Nintendo 64 shortly prior to its launch, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine praised the realistic movement and gameplay provided by the combination of fast graphics processing, pressure-sensitive controller, and the ''Super Mario 64'' game. The review praised the "fastest, smoothest game action yet attainable via joystick at the service of equally virtuoso motion", where "[f]or once, the movement on the screen feels real".<ref name="Time comeback">{{Cite magazine |last1=Krantz |first1=Michael |last2=Jackson |first2=David S. |date=May 20, 1996 |title=Super Mario's Dazzling Comeback |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,135937,00.html |url-status=live |magazine=Time International |edition=South Pacific |publisher=Time, Inc. |volume=147 |issue=21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128112654/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,135937,00.html |archive-date=January 28, 2015 |access-date=January 23, 2015}}</ref>{{rp|61}} Asked if consumers should buy a Nintendo 64 at launch, buy it later, or buy a competing system, a panel of six ''[[GamePro]]'' editors voted almost unanimously to buy at launch; one editor said consumers who already own a PlayStation and are on a limited budget should buy it later, and all others should buy it at launch.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=October 1996 |title=To Buy or Not to Buy |magazine=[[GamePro]] |publisher=[[IDG]] |issue=97 |page=36}}</ref>

At launch, the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' called the system "quite simply, the fastest, most graceful game machine on the market". Its form factor was described as small, light, and "built for heavy play by kids" unlike the "relatively fragile Sega Saturn". Showing concern for a major console product launch during a sharp, several-year long, decline in the game console market, the review said that the long-delayed Nintendo 64 was "worth the wait" in the company's pursuit of quality. Although the ''Times'' expressed concerns about having only two launch games at retail and twelve expected by Christmas, this was suggested to be part of Nintendo's "penchant for perfection", as "while other platforms offer quite a bit of junk, Nintendo routinely orders game developers back to the boards to fix less-than-perfect titles". Describing the quality control incentives associated with cartridge-based development, the ''Times'' cited Nintendo's position that cartridge game developers tend to "place a premium on substance over flash", and noted that the launch games lack the "poorly acted live-action sequences or half-baked musical overtures" which it says tend to be found on CD-ROM games. Praising Nintendo's controversial choice of the cartridge medium with its "nonexistent" load times and "continuous, fast-paced action CD-ROMs simply cannot deliver", the review concluded that "the cartridge-based Nintendo 64 delivers blistering speed and tack-sharp graphics that are unheard of on personal computers and make competing 32-bit, disc-based consoles from Sega and Sony seem downright sluggish".<ref name="Curtiss wonder"/>

''Time'' named it the 1996 Machine of the Year, saying the machine had "done to video-gaming what the [[Boeing 707|707]] did to air travel". The magazine said the console achieved "the most realistic and compelling three-dimensional experience ever presented by a computer". ''Time'' credited the Nintendo 64 with revitalizing the video game market, "rescuing this industry from the dustbin of entertainment history". The magazine suggested that the Nintendo 64 would play a major role in introducing children to digital technology in the final years of the 20th century. The article concluded by saying the console had already provided "the first glimpse of a future where immensely powerful computing will be as common and easy to use as our televisions".<ref name="Fisher" /><ref name="Time Machine of the Year">{{Cite magazine |last=Krantz |first=Michael |date=November 25, 1996 |title=64 Bits of Magic |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985577,00.html |url-status=live |magazine=[[Time Magazine]] |volume=148 |issue=24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128114032/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985577,00.html |archive-date=January 28, 2015 |access-date=January 24, 2015 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>{{rp|73}} The console also won the 1996 [[Spotlight Awards|Spotlight Award]] for Best New Technology.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=July 1997 |title=Spotlight Award Winners |url=https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_31/page/n21 |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |issue=31 |page=21}}</ref>

''[[Popular Electronics]]'' complimented the system's hardware, calling its specifications "quite impressive". It found the controller "comfortable to hold, and the controls to be accurate and responsive".<ref name="Popular Will" />

In a 1997 year-end review, a team of five ''[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]'' editors gave the Nintendo 64 scores of 8.0, 7.0, 7.5, 7.5, and 9.0. They highly praised the power of the hardware and the quality of the first-party games, especially those developed by [[Rare (company)|Rare]]'s and Nintendo's internal studios, but also commented that the third-party output to date had been mediocre and the first-party output was not enough by itself to provide Nintendo 64 owners with a steady stream of good games or a full breadth of genres.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=March 1998 |title=EGM's Special Report: Which System Is Best? |magazine=1998 Video Game Buyer's Guide |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]] |pages=42–45}}</ref> ''Next Generation''{{'}}s end of 1997 review expressed similar concern about third party support, while also noting signs that the third party output was improving, and speculated that the Nintendo 64's arrival late in its generation could lead to an early obsolescence when Sony and Sega's successor consoles launched. However, they said that for some, Nintendo's reliably high-quality software would outweigh those drawbacks, and gave the system 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=December 1997 |title=Where to Play? The Dust Settles |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |issue=36 |pages=55–58}}</ref>

Developer [[Factor 5]], which created some of the system's most technologically advanced games along with the system's audio development tools for Nintendo, said, "[T]he N64 is really sexy because it combines the performance of an SGI machine with a cartridge. We're big arcade fans, and cartridges are still the best for arcade games or perhaps a really fast CD-ROM. But there's no such thing for consoles yet [as of 1998]".<ref name="F5 Interview Pt1">{{Cite interview |last=Eggebrecht |first=Julian |subject-link=Julian Eggebrecht |interviewer=Peer Schneider |title=Factor 5 Interview (Part I) |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/1998/02/24/factor-5-interview-part-i |access-date=January 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113120135/http://www.ign.com/articles/1998/02/24/factor-5-interview-part-i |archive-date=January 13, 2015 |url-status=live |date=February 23, 1998}}</ref>