Five Reasons You Should Buy A Nintendo 64 System
With the diversity of offerings in today’s game console market, why would one even consider purchasing a game system that is over a decade old? I would like to offer up the following five reasons for your consideration:
1. Affordability – You can purchase a complete system, including a controller, for under $40. In today’s cash-strapped economy, that’s a great price given the countless hours of entertainment you are likely to receive in return. That’s not a bad investment! Most games for the system can be bought for under $10, and even the most popular titles can be had for under $20 in most cases. Only the very rare or hard to find games command prices over $25. Compare those prices to what you can expect to pay for games on the newer platforms available!
2. Game selection – there were over 350 different titles released for the Nintendo 64 over the years, and many of those games went on to become some of the most popular of all time. In fact, many of the best selling games released on the Nintendo 64 are now being re-released on the Wii for gamers to enjoy on today’s game consoles. That fact alone is testament to the quality of some of the games found on the platform. Zelda: Ocarina of Time is heralded by some as the best game ever made on any system.
3. Multiplayer Support – Since the Nintendo 64 console has 4 controller ports built into the unit, it comes ready made for multiplayer fun without needing special equipment aside from the additional controllers. A four player Mario Kart game is fun the entire family can enjoy.
4. Durability – These units can take a beating. Unlike the Super Nintendo, which had issues with discolored, brittle plastic early on, and the more modern consoles with their onboard lasers and other sensitive electronics, the N64 was built to last. The game cartridges are almost indestructible when compared to modern CD / DVD media which can be very vulnerable to scratching and mishandling. Cartridge based game systems are great for younger kids since they can take abuse better then most of the newer disc based systems.
5. Colors and Accessories – The Nintendo 64 came in many different colors: classic dark gray (nearly black in appearance), fire orange, watermelon red, ice blue, grape purple, smoke gray, jungle green and gold. Special two-tone colored consoles were released in Japan. The color assortment available is amazing. There was also a special Pikachu console released. A memory card is needed to save data on many of the system’s games, and fortunately they are very inexpensive and fairly easy to obtain online.
Given all the benefits to owning this system, I’m sure it will continue to flourish in the home console market for years to come.
