The Nintendo 64

The Nintendo 64 video game system is currently the most advanced video game system available today. The cool looking box (see above image) is a testimony to the power inside the small plastic case. The power comes from the MIPS R4300i and the Reality Co-Processor. Before I get to those topics, I would like to focus on the Nintendo 64 in general. There were four companies involved in the development of the Nintendo 64. They were Nintendo, Silicon Graphics, the MIPS division of Silicon Graphics, and NEC, the company the fabricated the MIPS R4300i and the MIPS Reality Co-Processors. The Nintendo 64 is the first 64-bit game machine the video game industry has seen.

The following links link to the homepages of Nintendo, Silicon Graphics, MIPS, and NEC. There are also links to company fact sheets of the four companies I mentioned. I also included some other interesting links. For the game enthusiasts, I've included a link to information about games for the Nintendo 64, and a link to more screen shots and audio clips from Nintendo games. For the technophiles, there are is a link to technical specification for the Nintendo 64.

The companies Nintendo (http://www.nintendo.com) - The homepage of the leading company in the video game industry. This site contains the last news about games and game systems from Nintendo.

Silicon Graphics (http://www.sgi.com) - This is the homepage of Silicon Graphics, the leader in computer graphics. This site has information about technologies and products Silicon Graphics, or SGI for short, develops.

MIPS Division of SGI (http://www.sgi.com/MIPS/) - The MIPS homepage has information on MIPS products.

NEC Corporation (http://www.nec.com) - The NEC homepage. From here find one can find information about NEC product, services, etc.

www.nintendo.com/product/n64/n64frame_info.html This page has some technical specifications of the Nintendo 64. The specifications gives an idea of the power of the Nintendo 64.

www.sgi.com/MIPS/Nintendo64/ The MIPS division of SGI gives a story of the evolution of the R4300i microprocessor and some interesting trivia.

www.nintendo.com/hq/features/history.html This is a brief history of the history of Nintendo. It also includes major developments in Nintendo's game systems. One development that is listed on this page which is worth noting is the use of the microprocessor and picture coprocessor, which is the basic design of the Nintendo 64. (See picture).

The MIPS R4300i Microprocessor

www.sgi.com/MIPS/products/r4300i/index.html This is the MIPS R4300i homepage. It contains some general information as well as links to more technical information. There is also a link to the photo of the die. Click here to see the photograph.

www.sgi.com/MIPS/products/r4300i/R4300_datasheet.Rev0.3.pdf The MIPS R4300i product information contains more detailed information about the design of the chip. Clicking on this link will download the PDF version of this file. You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file. An HTML version of this file is also available.

www.sgi.com/MIPS/products/r4300i/Pwr_Mngmt/pwrmgmt.html This page contains detailed information on the power management of the R4300i. This page, I assure you, is a HTML document.