"We Do All That We Can Do, the Best We Can, and Await the Results"

The English translation of Nintendo

In 1993, Silicon Graphics and Nintendo announced a partnership to build the "world's most powerful game machine." The mission of Silicon Graphics, Project Reality, was to build the heart of the machine, the MIPS R4300i microprocessor and the MIPS Reality Co-Processor. The Reality Co-Processor was designed to handle the graphics and music synthesis. NEC, Silicon Graphics's partner in this mission, fabricated the R4300i and Reality Co-Processors on a state-of-the-art fabrication line in Japan. The mission was a success and the result is, as we know it, the Nintendo 64. The Nintendo 64 took the industry by storm. And the rest...is history.

Take a look at a few of the screen shots that have been downloaded with permission from Nintendo.

One would think that a machine capable of rendering such high quality 3-D graphics must be a very complicated piece of machinery. Yes and no. The R4300i and the Reality Co-Processor are both complicated state-of-the-art pieces of hardware, but the overall design of the system is not. After all, the enormous power of the machine does come in a small package. So, how do the system work?

That's what this website is all about. This website is an annotated bibliography of web and printed sources that I have complied in the course of my research. My research focused on the design of the MIPS R4300i and the Reality Co-Processor. I hope you find this site interesting. Enjoy!

| CS63 homepage | Ken's homepage |

"We Do All That We Can Do, the Best We Can, and Await the Results"

The English translation of Nintendo

Contents