Every once in a while, I come across a gaming device that utterly fascinates me. Recently, Youtuber MetalJesusRocks wowed me when he showed off a US retail prototype of the Nintendo 64DD disk drive add-on. This latest find, however, has me at an absolute loss. What the hell is this thing? How have I never heard about it? And where can I get one? This ”thing” is the Doctor V64 development console, a bootleg add-on for the Nintendo 64. It was released in 1996 by Bung Enterprises Ltd and retailed for $450. While expensive for the time, it turns out it was a popular option for some third-party developers. Apparently, it was a much cheaper alternative to Nintendo’s official dev kit, which was made by Silicon Graphics. The Center for Computing History recently grabbed one and put it through its paces: The Doctor V64 attaches to the bottom of the N64 via its expansion slot, just like the 64DD does. An official Nintendo 64 game cartridge must be plugged into the base console in order to bypass its region lockout chip. The Doctor 64 features a CD drive that can read N64 ROMs and load them into the machine’s RAM. Once loaded, the user could select a ROM, power up the N64, and play the game smoothly. Although the Doctor V64 was sold as a budget development kit, it doesn’t take a genius to realize it had more utility as a way to play pirated games. The CD drive also acts as a video CD player, a format very popular in Asia at the time. The Doctor V64 has a 25-pin serial port in back that allows connection to a PC. This allows users to dump ROMs directly into the V64’s ram, bypassing the CD drive. Granted, the Doctor V64 is not nearly as rare as MetalJesusRocks’s Us 64DD. Still, I would love to own one for…historical purposes.
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Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.
Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.
Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.
"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."
That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.
PSLS writes: I have traveled across the country using the Razer Kishi Ultra in airports and hotels for both PlayStation Remote Play and mobile gaming in general, and I am thoroughly impressed.
You know I was really excited about the concept of owning a 64DD back in the day but it wasn't to be but that recent one showing up was super cool to see.