The N64: Nintendo's least collectible console

The N64 will be remembered as the only successful 64 bit system. It was also one of the first system to make 4 player multiplayer accessible, push for making FPS games popular on consoles, and show off games in 3D. There are quite a few good games for the system but it seems no one is really an N64 collector. The Gamer’s Lounge has a few theories on why the N64 may be destined to gather dust in some gamers' closets.

Let’s start by looking at some of the other Nintendo systems. The SNES is still highly sought after and there are games that still fetch $20 and up cart only. The GameCube has plenty of collectible titles and the console itself is in high demand despite some of the Wiis being backward compatible. So what gives with the N64?

Could it be the library of games? Possibly, although the Sega Saturn has a smaller and more diverse library it still fetches a premium. The Playstation has a giant library that is packed with games and so many of them are prized by collectors. The N64 was known to have a plethora of sports games and no one wants to play Madden 2002 year after year. The N64 was also plagued with bad 3D polygonal platformers, a strong lack of real RPGs, a lack of support from some high end 3rd party developers (Capcom and Square), and too many fighting games that no one care about, even then.

Keeping this in mind there are a lot of first and 3rd party games that are worth picking up and playing. Some of these haven’t aged well. But prices are reasonable for a lot of these and now is the time to buy. Some of the must play games include Super Mario World, Banjo Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, GoldenEye 007, Harvest Moon, Mario Kart 64, Paper Mario, Super Smash Brothers. A few games that I still enjoy, Rush, Turok 2, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, Mario Golf, Rogue Squadron, Blast Corps, Mario Tennis, and Conker's Bad Fur Day. Although by today's standards many of these games have not aged well they are still fun.

Part of the reason the system may not make it on collector;s radars is due to the lack of rare games. They are probably 20 games that are considered rare. Conker's Bad Fur Daywhich fetches close to $40 on ebay, Mario Party 1-3, ClayFighter: The Sculptor's Cut, StarCraft 64, Ogre Battle 64,  Harvest Moon, Worms Armageddon, and several of the other first party Nintendo games. Its also easy to play import games on the N64.

So still interested in an N64? Want to take a trip back to the mid 90s? The system might not have the most highly collectible library but its still a lot of fun Amazon has used consoles with controllers for under $30 used. A  new system will fetch over $100. I suggest the expansion pack and looking into third party controllers with GameCube joysticks.