What if the Nintendo 64 had released using the 64DD storage format instead of cartridges?
Forget add-ons. I'm talking about using the front-loading floppy disks as the default storage medium right from the start.
The conventional wisdom in the gaming community is that the Nintendo 64 ultimately lost to the PlayStation because Nintendo stubbornly stuck to cartridges instead of CDs. Cartridges were more expensive to produce and had a limited storage capacity, which drove away developers and doomed the Nintendo 64 to a rather small library of games.
While Nintendo never appeared to seriously consider using CDs for its 64-bit console, it did have the alternative 64DD format available as an option from the start, and I think those magnetic disks would have altered the system's course one way or another. So let's take the alternate path at the fork in the road with Nintendo choosing the 64DD over cartridges, and then see where that leads us.
Would more developers have flocked to Nintendo's first full-3D console? Would this have changed the system's fate? Would the PlayStation still have reigned supreme during that generation?
Luckily, I was able to experience the Nintendo 64 firsthand during its heyday and during my prime gaming years (ages 12-17), plus I was able to see how other people my age (and even adults) reacted to the system. For better and for worse, I witnessed all of the positive and negative responses to the 64-bit console, including in the gaming press at the time. While I thoroughly enjoyed the system, I was well aware of the various complaints leveled against it, and I certainly had a few of my own.
With that experience in mind, and with my additional experience from every other console generation starting with the NES, I should have a sufficient foundation to answer this question. I'll not only be drawing upon my own experience from the mid/late 90s gaming scene, but from various gaming articles during that time as well.
My analysis and ultimate conclusion will primarily involve a business perspective, looking at whether this alternative storage format could have affected hardware and software sales in some appreciable manner. Of course, video games are in the entertainment business, and so they basically need to be fun. Therefore, my analysis will necessarily include a customer perspective as well to determine whether gamers would have cared at all about using the different 64DD format.
Although I'm not allowing myself to modify any other features on the Nintendo 64 aside from the storage format, I will be considering what possible or foreseeable changes could have resulted from the use of magnetic disks. So the system's power remains the same; it still has the same launch date and name (sorry Ultra 64 fans); the controller remains unchanged; and Sony and Sega still release the PlayStation and Saturn at the same time and in the same formats.
But before I dive into this hypothetical scenario, we'll need a bit of a history lesson.
THE BASE SYSTEM
The Nintendo 64 was developed as a partnership between super computer company Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI) and Nintendo after Sega had turned down SGI's offer to use its technology. The partnership had been cemented as early as 1993 and was known as Project Reality.
Up to this point, gaming consoles had generally doubled their processing power each generation, going from 8-bit, to 16-bit, and then to 32-bit by way of several companies (Sega, Sony, Phillips, Panasonic, and even Nintendo with the Virtual Boy). Though Atari had claimed to release the first 64-bit system with the Jaguar, it actually used two 32-bit processers acting together, and the results were still unimpressive when compared to Sega's and Sony's 32-bit machines.
The basic idea was that the Nintendo 64 would skip a generation by jumping straight into the 64-bit realm (its CPU was in fact 64-bit), and according to the gaming press at the time, Sega and Sony were both initially worried about the Nintendo 64's alleged power as it was still believed that having more powerful hardware would secure you better sales.
Like with the Wii, Nintendo first showed off the Nintendo 64's console design before debuting the system's radically new controller several months later at the Space World 1995 show in Japan. The original U.S. name for the system was slated to be the Nintendo "Ultra 64," but around early 1996 Nintendo settled on a uniform worldwide name of "Nintendo 64" featuring a colorful 3D "N" logo.
have the "first published photos" of the new 64-bit system.
Nintendo was quite ambitious with the Nintendo 64's development, promising a maximum $250 price point years in advance and selecting a handful of "exclusive" developers to receive early access to the system. This Ultra 64 "Dream Team" was initially comprised of 10 officially announced development partners, but was later expanded to 16 in total. These companies were supposed to help fill out the system's launch library with premier software.
How many Nintendo 64 games can you even identify as having come from these developers?
Though Nintendo had initially planned to the launch the Nintendo 64 for Christmas 1995, the release date was pushed back at least twice in Japan and America until the console ultimately released in the U.S. on September 29, 1996, a full year after Sony's CD-based PlayStation, and more than a year after Sega's CD-based Saturn. Sticking true to its word, Nintendo released the Nintendo 64 not simply at a $250 price point, but at a more attractive $199 price tag to help compete with the recently reduced prices for the Saturn and PlayStation.
Unlike the NES and SNES preceding it, the Nintendo 64 launch bundle only included a single controller and no pack-in game. Further, only two games were initially available: the system's killer app, Super Mario 64, and Pilotwings 64. However, a few other games arrived in late 1996 to help fill out the system's holiday release window such as Wave Race 64, Killer Instinct Gold, Mortal Kombat Trilogy, and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire.
But despite Nintendo's lofty promises regarding its Dream Team, the holiday 1996 software lineup for the Nintendo 64 was sparse, being carried almost entirely by Super Mario 64. In fact, most of the supposed Dream Team members released no launch window games whatsoever. The "exclusive" Dream Team may have actually backfired by driving away other developers who weren't given the same early access.
Even with its sparse 1996 lineup, the Nintendo 64 launch was nothing short of a resounding success in America (and even Japan). Fueled almost entirely by Super Mario 64, which sold at nearly a one-to-one ratio with the system, the Nintendo 64 briskly outsold both the Saturn and PlayStation within their comparable launch periods. Within its first four months, the Nintendo 64 sold 500,000 units, and within its first year, it sold 3.6 million units. Nintendo announced that it would be increasing production to keep up with the demand.
I can personally attest to the Nintendo 64's launch popularity. The system was sold out at major retailers in Southern California up through Christmas, and my own mother had a terrible time securing the sought-after system for me. Finally, in a stroke of luck, she happened to visit our nearby Best Buy on the day it had received more Nintendo stock, and the employees were handing out tickets for people waiting in line to purchase the Nintendo 64 (like a scene straight out of the movie Jingle All The Way). She was lucky enough to receive a ticket, and I got my own Nintendo 64 for Christmas along with Super Mario 64 and Wave Race 64, which I still have to this day.
Notoriously, and to much criticism, the Nintendo 64 once again utilized top-loading cartridges which featured a storage capacity ranging from approximately 4mb to an eventual 64mb. However, only a few games - Resident Evil 2, Pokemon Stadium 2, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and allegedly, the European version of Paper Mario - ever utilized a 64mb cartridge, and only late in the system's life. Most games ranged from 8mb to 32mb in size.
Though game save files could potentially be stored on the cartridges themselves (if the developer chose to do so), for the first time Nintendo offered external memory cards which plugged directly into the controller and which could hold save files and other information, allowing you to use your saved data on another Nintendo 64 or with another copy of the game (which was great for rentals). Numerous third-party developers actually required these "Controller Paks" to save game data instead of storing this information on the cartridge, probably as a cost-saving measure due to the expensive cartridge manufacturing process.
The Nintendo 64 also featured a new RAM expansion slot situated in between the Power and Reset buttons. The promised RAM "Expansion Pak" was then released in 1998 and increased the system's total RAM from 4mb to 8mb. Several games utilized the Expansion Pak to improve the graphics or even the display resolution; some outright required it; and the Expansion Pak was even bundled for free with Donkey Kong 64 because that was the only way Rare could keep the game from crashing on the system.
The system's built-in four-player support became one of its defining features, boosting U.S. sales thanks to the apparent endless supply of multiplayer games including Mario Kart 64, GoldenEye, Star Fox 64, Mario Party, Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64, Super Smash Bros., Perfect Dark, and a slew of other games. Whereas Sony would require multitaps up through the PS2 generation for anything beyond two players (after which wireless controllers would render multitaps obsolete), Nintendo dominated the multiplayer arena up until the first Xbox with its online support and new Halo titles.
But despite early sales indications, the Nintendo 64 was not the juggernaut it initially appeared to be. The system began losing steam after its first year on the market while the PlayStation rapidly gained ground due to its ever-increasing library of games (featuring lower price points); a more comfortable controller; and more mature and sophisticated marketing by Sony. Also, the PlayStation simply looked more like a standard electronic device that adults would have in their living room (such as a VCR or CD player), whereas the Nintendo 64 had a slightly more toy-like appearance.
Developers began fleeing from the Nintendo 64 in droves for a variety of reasons including limited storage capacity for cartridges; higher price tags for cartridge games; lower profit margins; more complex system architecture; higher licensing fees; and perhaps even pent-up frustration with Nintendo's prior and ongoing treatment of software developers.
a game for the new system in the July 1996 issue of Next Generation magazine.
Most notably, Squaresoft, the massive RPG developer that had been a critical supporter of the SNES with its Final Fantasy games and the recent Nintendo-collaboration title Super Mario RPG, completely abandoned Nintendo (including even its Game Boy line) in 1996 to produce titles for Sony's new PlayStation, due in large part to the limited storage space of the Nintendo 64 cartridges. This occurred even though Square had initially suggested that the next Final Fantasy game would arrive on Nintendo's new system and had shown supposed demo footage of the title.
Not only did Square completely ditch Nintendo, but it also teamed up with Sony's marketing department to brutally mock and denigrate its former business partner for continuing to use cartridges - all while pushing its own massive new hit.
Square appeared to lead a mass exodus from Nintendo, with numerous developers avoiding the Nintendo 64 altogether in order to pursue a more favorable business relationship with upstart Sony. Even Sega, with its floundering (at least in the U.S.) Saturn, received more favorable third-party support. Various 2D games, including tournament fighters, shmups, and even the classic Mega Man series, appeared on both the Saturn and PlayStation (particularly in Japan) while the Nintendo 64 was left out in the cold.
Some developers eventually came back to the Nintendo 64 in a limited fashion, such as Capcom with its late ports of Resident Evil 2 and Mega Man Legends, and Blizzard with its port of Starcraft. Konami also made decent showings on the system with two versions of its innovative new 3D Castlevania game, as well as various sports games, but its mega-hit, Metal Gear Solid, and its genre-defining 2D action-RPG, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, were nowhere to be found on the Big N, in addition to numerous other Konami games. While helpful, these remaining developers were simply unable to fill the huge void left by other companies.
More than anything, the Nintendo 64 suffered from a severe RPG drought at a time when the genre was taking off massively in the U.S., thanks in large part to Final Fantasy VII. Arguably, only a few RPGs were ever released on the system in the U.S. - Quest 64, frequently ridiculed as an embarrassing kiddie game (though an evidently profitable one), Paper Mario, and Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage (the late release Ogre Battle 64 was more of a strategy game). The situation was so bad that gamers and even gaming publications would frequently debate whether The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time should be classified as an RPG just so Nintendo fans could have a hit game to hang their hat on.
RPG section, Epic Center, which was first introduced in March 1995 due to the flood of
SNES RPGs, would no longer make regular monthly appearances. A sign of things to come.
The Nintendo 64 ended up being carried largely by Nintendo itself and its partly owned second-party developer, Rare, with their various 3D platforming and action games, as well the burgeoning console FPS genre, largely brought forth by the hit 1997 game GoldenEye. Other studios found success on the system as well with their own FPS titles (both original and PC ports), pro wrestling games (quite popular at the time), party/multiplayer games, sports games, and various arcade-style racing games (including direct arcade ports). But other genres remained lacking, particularly in comparison to the PlayStation.
Additionally, even though the Nintendo 64 was an overall more powerful system than the PlayStation, the general consumer market didn't seem to view it that way. Since the Nintendo 64 was more difficult to program for and hampered by limited cartridge storage space, quite a few developers initially had trouble taking advantage of the system's strengths. As a result, several games overused fog to hide their terrible draw distances while also utilizing low-polygon models, such as Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Monster Truck Madness 64.
While other games, particularly first-party titles, took better advantage of the hardware, the most popular Nintendo 64 games still featured bright, colorful characters and environments with low-resolution textures stretched over large distances (thanks to the system's limited texture cache), creating the impression of an underpowered "kiddie" console. It simply did not matter that Super Mario 64 looked better than Crash Bandicoot while also being fully 3D; that Wave Race 64's water physics were more impressive than Jet Moto; or that World Driver Championship graphically outperformed Gran Turismo 1 and 2 while featuring more cars on screen and offering a high-resolution mode without the Expansion Pak.
Average consumers looking at the colorful worlds of Super Mario 64 or Banjo-Kazooie compared them to the more realistic graphical styles of Gran Turismo or Metal Gear Solid and often walked away with the impression that "PlayStation games look better." The PlayStation's frequent use of prerendered video clips, higher-quality sound files, and fancy boot-up screens also helped to create this impression. In fact, the big-budget TV commercials for Final Fantasy VII didn't even appear to use gameplay footage, but instead featured computer-generated cutscenes. Meanwhile, Nintendo marketed games like Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time by showing actual gameplay footage.
After years of Nintendo bragging that its 64-bit system would trounce anything put out by Sony or Sega, it had all been for naught as Sony had actually convinced a large portion of the market that it had the more powerful and sophisticated hardware. Nintendo had lost at its own marketing game.
The older gamer, now in his 20s and with less time on his hands, found a new home in the PlayStation, with various titles connecting to his real-life activities, such as simulation racing games and extreme sports titles involving skateboarding, snowboarding and wakeboarding. Ironically, and quite tragically for Nintendo, SNES fans were also able to continue their 16-bit experiences on the new PlayStation thanks in large part to its SNES-inspired controller and sequels to classic franchises such as Street Fighter, Final Fantasy, Castlevania, and Mega Man.
I could clearly see the writing on the wall when my friend's older brother (including his own circle of friends) went directly from the SNES to the PlayStation just to play these types of games, and especially when my own high school included a Tony Hawk's Pro Skater competition during a pep rally using the PlayStation version of the game instead of the Nintendo 64 version.
When it was all said and done, Nintendo finished in second place in the U.S. against Sony's new machine while Sega dropped to a distant third place. The PlayStation ultimately sold around 40 million units in the U.S., whereas the Nintendo 64 sold approximately 20 million units in North America, meaning that U.S. sales were probably around 18-19 million. While this was fairly close to the SNES's U.S. total of 20 million units, it was still around half of what the PlayStation achieved.
With only 296 games released in North America (compared to PlayStation's 1,278), the Nintendo 64 had clearly devastated Nintendo's relationship with developers and caused a massive generational shift in the market. Sony fans and the gaming press began chanting that "Nintendo is doomed," a mantra that would linger around even through the highly successful Wii era.
In Japan, the situation was more dire. The Nintendo 64 had not only been outsold by the PlayStation, but by the Saturn as well, which achieved a surprising second-place position with roughly 6 million units sold (compared to the Nintendo 64's 5.5 million units), and approximately 1,000 total games released.
And as we all know by now, the next generation would fare even worse for Nintendo.
THE 64DD
At the November 1995 Shoshinkai trade show in Japan, Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi announced that the Nintendo 64 would eventually receive an optional "Bulky Drive" add-on that would give the system dual storage methods. Although no specific information was given, the gaming press quickly reported that this add-on device would likely use some sort of floppy disks.
The 64DD (standing for "disk drive" or "dynamic drive"), as it was later known, wasn't officially unveiled until the following November 1996 Shoshinkai show in Japan. According to the gaming press, the 64DD was met with a very positive reception, and allegedly, was even the star of the show.
LET'S ALTER HISTORY
Since Nintendo had developed the concept for the 64DD as early as 1995, let's hypothetically assume that the company decides to abandon its cartridge ambitions entirely and solidify the system as disk-only no later than the end of 1995. Nintendo will publicly justify this change based on the unnecessary complexity arising from a dual-storage system and developer complaints regarding cartridges (in reality, Nintendo won't care what other developers think. The company will simply be listening to Shigeru Miyamoto, who says he wants to work with the disk system). This should still provide Nintendo and developers with enough notice to prepare for the 1996 holiday season.
Considering that Wave Race 64 was still being demoed using boats and rudimentary course designs during the November 1995 Shoshinkai show, and that the fully revised version was available for release in Japan by September 1996, I'd say this is a sufficient amount of time. While it is hard to predict how or if this change would affect Super Mario 64 or Pilotwings 64, it is suffice to say that Nintendo would not have delayed the titles just to incorporate some rewriteable game features.
Also, since the 64DD add-on was only supposed to cost $90, and since we have removed the cartridge slot and any necessary supporting cartridge components, the Nintendo 64 should still release at a $199 price point, or at the worst, $250, which is what Nintendo promised all along. No consumer backlash should result. The Nintendo 64 launch will still be successful.
Before looking beyond the established launch, however, we first have to take a deeper dive into more detailed business aspects, as well as some technical issues. As previously noted, the 64DD disks by default offered 64mb of storage space, no qualifications added. While it is true that cartridges eventually matched this storage capacity, the comparison is not so simple.
Cartridges are based upon an entirely different business model from optical disks (CDs, DVDs, etc.) and floppy disks. Cartridges contain their own circuit boards with custom ROM chips manufactured to specific storage specifications, and the game's data apparently has to be written into the cartridge during the manufacturing process. Storage options are typically available in multiples of two (4mb, 8mb, 16mb, 32mb, 64mb), but sometimes they come in off sizes, such as 40mb. The higher the storage capacity, the higher the cost to manufacture the cartridge. Thus, if a developer has a limited budget, it may not be able to shell out or secure the funds for a 32mb Nintendo 64 cartridge, and may instead have to operate within the constraints of an 8mb or 16mb cartridge.
For an example of how this affected developers, look no further than Double Dragon Advance. The game's planner, Muneki Ebinuma, wanted to use the largest 256mb Game Boy Advance cartridge, but was stuck with the smallest size, 32mb, in order to sell the game in America for a low price. As a result, more than half of the game's planned content was scrapped, and it ended up simply being an expanded (but very fun) version of the original arcade game. (Source: https://doubledragon.kontek.net/features/ddacommentary.html). Nintendo 64 developers were affected in the same way because they operated under the same cartridge-based business model.
Optical and floppy disks, on the other hand, are mass produced in standard sizes and in blank formats by manufacturers, who can then burn or write the game's data at a later time. The result is not only a much lower manufacturing cost, but a faster turnaround time as well. Nintendo 64 cartridges reportedly took at least 8 weeks to manufacture, whereas CDs were produced and ready to go in a matter of days.
Also, because of the long lead times necessary for cartridge production, Nintendo 64 developers had to carefully project the number of copies they expected their games to sell. If they underestimated the demand for their upcoming title, they could lose out on additional sales as stores waited for them to manufacture more copies to replenish their stock. But if they overestimated their game's popularity, they could eat the costs on unsold copies, leading to a situation like E.T. on the Atari 2600.
The 64DD floppy disks were basically confirmed to fall within this more desirable business model of CDs. In a February 1997 interview with IGN64, Nintendo stated: "The economic model for 64DD games presents publishers with less risk up front, a higher profit margin, and the possibility of creating data-rich games (sports games, RPGs, etc.) that can be updated annually." (https://web.archive.org/web/20010211135514/http://ign64.ign.com/news/563.html). And as we know from another IGN64 article mentioned previously, 64DD games were only supposed to cost $30-$40 brand new.
1.44mb PC floppy disks, while being only slightly larger in dimensions.
So by switching to a disk-based system, Nintendo has increased the available storage space from a starting point of 8mb or 16mb to an immediate 64mb; lowered production costs; increased profit margins; lowered game prices; reduced risk; and even offered the possibility of multi-disk games and a limited form of expansions.
As a consequence of Nintendo removing the cartridge slot, it is no longer possible to release a separate disk expansion to an existing game since that setup requires two games to be inserted into the console and read simultaneously (the base cartridge game, such as Ocarina of Time, and the expansion disk that alters it). The 64DD can't read two disks simultaneously. However, there is a partial workaround. If a game doesn't take up all 64mb of disk storage space, a developer can simply write the expansion data to game's disk at a later time, so long as the expansion doesn't exceed the remaining available space. But this is a trivial issue since separate expansion disks are not the main draw of the 64DD.
The immediate result of this disk-based system is that third parties no longer have to operate under many of the prior business and technological constraints. The tiered system of storage space where you pay more to go higher is gone. Everyone gets 64mb. While Nintendo's licensing fees would probably still be higher than Sony's, it wouldn't prove to be much of an issue compared to other concerns.
Retailers and gamers will also be happier with the change. Aside from their very attractive lower price point, the magnetic disks also take up less shelf space because they come in protective plastic cases that are roughly half the size of Nintendo 64 cartridge boxes. More shelf space means more room for different titles, and a greater variety of products for shoppers. Collectors also don't have worry about flimsy cardboard boxes anymore.
We should immediately expect more developers to jump on board with Nintendo 64 development, thanks in large part to the more attractive development environment, which means more games being released during the system's first full year on the market. I expect at least 10-20 additional games to arrive during this period because of the built-in 64DD.
However, there will still be some setbacks. The basic hardware design hasn't changed, and as noted in the orange Next Gen magazine clipping pictured above, developers are still going to have that initial difficulty programming on the system's more complicated architecture. Like before, Nintendo will have to iron out those problems, so the first wave of games still won't look as good as later releases. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter will probably have that ever-present fog again.
The Nintendo 64's colorful, kid-oriented branding also won't be as attractive as the original, more sophisticated Ultra 64 design. The same goes for the colored buttons on the controller. There's a reason the U.S. version of the SNES controller had a more muted color scheme; it was more mature. And the Nintendo 64 controller will still be uncomfortable and somewhat off-putting, which is why the three-pong design was never duplicated on any other systems. The built-in 64DD will not overcome the notorious kiddie stigma afflicting Nintendo this generation.
But the increased storage space will be helpful. More space means more characters, more cars, more levels, more music tracks, more prerendered videos (albeit, likely compressed), and probably higher quality audio files. We're still not near CD-level storage capacity, but imagine Top Gear Rally with 15-20 courses instead of only 5, more cars, and higher quality sound (the game oddly used 8-bit sound files). Imagine better ports of Killer Instinct 1 and 2 featuring improved animations and models compared to Killer Instinct Gold (if these hamstrings were in fact caused by limited cartridge space), as well as the prerendered cutscenes being restored. Multiplatform games like Mortal Kombat Trilogy will now be improved with better sound and restored content in their Nintendo 64 versions, ending up much closer to their PlayStation counterparts.
The third-party exodus started by Square (who I'll get to in a moment) will not be quite as bad thanks to the improved business model provided by the magnetic disks. Companies that stuck around in a limited fashion for the Nintendo 64 will probably alter their stance toward the system and release more multi-platform titles, such as those highly coveted Capcom and Konami games including Street Fighter, Mega Man, and maybe even Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (though it was no big hit on the PlayStation). Street Fighter III and Darkstalkers III were both initially confirmed to be in development for the 64DD add-on in 1997, so we can reasonably expect games like that to arrive on the revised Nintendo 64 based on its reduced risk factors.
Resident Evil 2 made a late appearance on cartridge, so it is possible that other Resident Evil titles could arrive on disk, though there is no guarantee that all of the titles will make it to Nintendo's system. In general, Nintendo should see a scenario closer to the GameCube era where an increased number of third parties release ports for the Big N, though with occasional content removed.But what about the elephant in the room, Square? Unfortunately for Nintendo, Square will not stick around with this revised system because the developer's fundamental issues have not been resolved. The 64mb disks remain woefully insufficient to support Square's cinematic ambitions. Final Fantasy VII didn't simply arrive on a 650mb CD. It arrived on three of them. There's no way for the magnetic disks to match that, even using multiple disks.
In addition, Square's early Nintendo 64 development was not working out well for them. The director of Square claimed that, "we made a 2,000-count polygon version of Behemoth for the Nintendo 64, but when we rendered and animated it, the framerate was way too low. To properly display Behemoth with that technology, we needed 2,000 polygons, but it was a little too much for the hardware. That was part of the problem with choosing Nintendo." (Source: https://www.polygon.com/a/final-fantasy-7).
While the Nintendo 64 is more powerful than the PlayStation (as shown by certain multiplatform games such as Vigilante 8, or technical marvels like Perfect Dark and World Driver Championship), we have to remember that Next Gen magazine article pictured above, which noted that Nintendo had not provided Nintendo 64 development toolkits early on, making programming nearly impossible for some companies at the time, such as Square. This problem will repeat itself.
Combine that issue with Sony once again offering Square the best licensing fees of any developer on the PlayStation, as well as Sony locking Square down with the same multi-game exclusivity agreement (see the prior Polygon article), and you end up with the same scenario: no Square on Nintendo. Sony once again gets the big hit, Final Fantasy VII, and history largely repeats itself.
How about Enix though? Enix was a confirmed 64DD developer as of the November 1996 Shoshinkai show, which was a while after Square had left Nintendo (in February 1996). Though it is stated that Square convinced Enix to abandon the Nintendo 64 in January 1997, the company still published some games on the cartridge system, such as Mischief Makers. Dragon Quest VII was originally scheduled to arrive for the 64DD, but it was shifted to the PlayStation, reportedly for "purely economic reasons" regarding cartridges versus CDs (meaning that the cartridge format was probably being considered over the 64DD add-on).
price and then write a game onto them for an even lower cost than cartridges.
