DF Retro: The Nintendo Launch Spectacular - NES/SNES/N64/GCN/Wii

[@switchnx]

“With all the NX news this week..” WOW that brings back memories.

[@QuaziIrtiza]

DF Retro is currently the best thing in this channel. Keep continuing this!

[@Cogglesz]

I would honestly support John & DF Retro over on Patreon if it meant more could go into it. I've never seen a channel on youtube do such a deep analysis on games and their technology from the past. I can't get enough. I look forward to new episodes every weekend. Really looking forward to john having a look at Shenmue 2 and HL2. I Rarely comment but i thought about sending over an email of my thanks, Its that good.

[@Haste0250]

cough Ahoy cough

[@Haste0250]

TrueKinth True but there wasn't that much technical analysis in here to be honest.

[@danimadrid5454]

DF is the best channel

[@OldsXCool]

There is no comparison. Ahoy's videos are light years ahead of not just anything Digital Foundry has ever done, but light years head of just about anything done period. Technical analysis is a very very tiny part of a game's judgement. As you saw, Waverace ran at 20 FPS which is deemed unplayable to most, but it certainly didn't feel like it was 20 frames and there is still NO game today that can touch Waverace, not even the sequel on Gamecube. Ahoy's analysis goes way beyond simple tech analysis that it almost makes tech analysis completely irrelevant. Not to say that DF did a bad job here, and they won't do a bad job on Half Life 2. They just won't even come close to Ahoy. To be completely fair Ahoy's videos take days to even months to write, prepare, capture, and edit. DF's videos take a couple of hours to no more than a day to make.

[@computergeek621]

"and with all the NX news this week..." Holy crap what did I just click

[@LaSagadeF]

ah the old good times

[@theakiwar9118]

Damn never imagined to hear that name again

[@agamaz5650]

trueeeeeeeee

[@mermaidman961]

Coming home from school, having an ice pop and playing some N64 was just the best dude.

[@fabriciovega4215]

gamecube and dreamcast are my favorite consoles of the 6th generation. So many great games on both systems that many people overlook

[@RhythmGrizz]

The 6th generation as a whole was just god-tier

[@2fernandoc1]

​@@RhythmGrizzI'm more of a 7th generation stan, but I won't deny that the 6th generation of gaming was awesome!

[@Nu_Merick]

This popped up in my recommended, and I'm glad! I am so grateful to experience all these eras on gaming😊

[@MKKTeam]

Awesome episode John as always. Some suggestion: Primal Rage, the dinosaur fighting arcade game, came out for 12 different systems, all of them with VERY different and dispair results, wich can be taken as a different game each, and as today, there is not a single one that it´s a close or perfect rendition of it. Being port or being emulation. The closest is the one included on Midway Arcade Treasures for PC and Xbox (On ps2 and GC suffers from issues too). There you go for a challenge!

[@DavidBeaumont]

Rouge Leader was an astonishing game. The "Battle for Endor" level was just so epic.

[@A_Player]

Anyone else think F-Zero holds up well? It works great as a pick up and play kind of game. Also those cloth physics on the GameCube. It's like PhysX before PhysX.

[@huttyblue]

@ ati is amd, amd aquired ati in 2006. Not that it's relevant for a cpu based physics effect.

[@elimalinsky7069]

@@huttyblue It was actually ArtX, an off-shoot of SGI, that designed the GPU in the GameCube. ArtX was acquired by ATI just a few months before the GameCube launched, not enough to make an impact on the design itself, while ATI was acquired by AMD in 2006.

[@AvatarRishi]

Dude that moment when the Wii Sports music kicked in, it hit my heart

[@mermaidman961]

Ikr

[@joshharold2658]

Same here

[@TenshiCat]

Instantly takes you back ten years Wait... it's been ten years since the Wii launched? Shit

[@TenshiCat]

Umami Cupcake Thanks for your input, anime girl

[@shuvam6952]

That Mario music is ageless!!! ITS SOOO GOOOOD!!!

[@TitusSc]

Yeah, it felt so good at 16:46 when Buoy Base Galaxy started! I couldn't help but whistling its melody

[@kevinoriordan20]

+Tao S. (Gnash) Mario Galaxy had one of the best soundtracks ever in a game

[@akajiblubb2401]

whats the name of 17:06 music?

[@JadedAlyx]

Buoy Base - Super Mario Galaxy

[@angell8249]

+kevin oriordan The Sonic Unleashed soundtrack say hi

[@EposVox]

Holy crap. Fantastic presentation, as always. Great episode.

[@theinsfrijonds]

Damn! Nintendo 64 had 4k... bytes of vram!

[@elimalinsky7069]

The N64 used the 4MB of RAM as VRAM whenever needed, so the RAM was shared between the CPU and GPU (as well as the audio, data bus controller, DSP and I/O chips). The GPU however had only 4KB of memory for the framebuffer cache used for textures, so only 4KB of textures could be used to draw what appears on screen at any given moment. Contrast that with 128KB of texture cache on the PS1 and you get why it was such a problem (hence why everything on the N64 looked cartoony with textures looking like almost featureless smears).

[@TheDarkenedRose]

DF Retro is becoming one of my absolute favorite series' to watch on KZbin. Such an amazing history of gaming is something worth looking into.

[@mwj9080]

The SNES will always be my favorite. Love that console. So many memories!!

[@Baconmaninspace]

I love how this channel has diversified its content. You always provided a useful service, but now you produce some of the best content on KZbin on top of that

[@Storebrand_]

Holy shit! that star wars game looked better than that recent Godzilla game! :O

[@scorpian007]

This channel has become one of my favourites on KZbin in the last few months. Keep up the awesome work

[@CrimsonSteelMoonTheWolf64]

aww I was hoping for a analysis of Metroid Prime, it was one of the best looking games on GameCube. I know it wasn't exactly a launch title so maybe they'll do it for the retro bit they do

[@TheRockLobsterMafia]

Same here!

[@russmawson6744]

it wasn't a launch title though

[@CrimsonSteelMoonTheWolf64]

I was thinking for the retro bit segment they could do it

[@The_Noticer.]

tbh it was the best nintendo game ever. But yeah, it wasn't a launch title. Dat soundtrack though.

[@CrimsonSteelMoonTheWolf64]

Fuddy Duddy yeah it's music is killer and it's one of favorite games of all time

[@luismiranda8944]

These DF Retro videos are definitely becoming my favorites on this channel.

[@Keksmonster31]

Can someone tell me the name of the song which starts at 0:17?

[@Sedifet]

Nintendoland was a very good, imo underrated, launch title for Wii U

[@DatGameCollector]

I thought it was good too

[@mistamaog]

it was fantastic when you had friends.

[@219SilverChoc]

The Luigis Masion ghost game was great

[@Sedifet]

iMiguelAOG that's a good point...'when' you had friends. Still, when we did....good memories. The metroid game with five friends was my favorite probably

[@alinepiroutek8932]

And 1,2 Switch is a shame to the legacy of Wii Sports.

[@ShadowsBehindU]

Keep it up john, love the retro series. Can't wait for the hl² episode

[@rare6499]

So good! Mario 64 is pure gold, literally genius!

[@shtiken]

Of all the great videos you've ever made, this was probably the best. However I feel like you blazed through the Wii and Wii U. This video could have been a whole hour long and still be filled with amazing games and defining moments in history.

[@Wogle]

Was that an MDK screenshot?! Wow. memories.

[@RaceToNowhere]

A remake of the first one would be so welcome in my life, that game was gold.

[@Jerry4050]

I have it on steam but wish they can patch it to work for Windows 10

[@game_now_4927]

I love DF Retro! I think it´s the best content on youtube! Thank you John!

[@adam145]

Rogue Leader is the single title that I cannot comprehend. It looks good, runs smoothly and is a blast to play. I still can't get enough of this game 15 years later.

[@DennySchneidemesser]

Stellar content guys, always pleasing my inner nerd! Can't wait to see more!

[@YulanCardoso]

Gamecube. From the controller to the titles and graphics, I can't help but feel this console deserved a lot more love than it ever got.

[@hector4470]

I'd love a handheld version of the best launch games for sure DF:Retro!

[@MF-jz4gm]

Loving the DF Retro series. Fantastic content and delivery. Keep it up!

[@AnalogFoundry]

NX and DF upload at the same time... What a treat.

[@pegasusactua2985]

Hey...Pilotwings 64 was a classic.

[@MaxonerousX]

When he got to Mario 64, I was hoping that he would talk about Pilotwings, because it would be interesting. Dashed all my dreams at once with the PW64 diss

[@Perjoss]

When dire dire docks kicked in at around 6:44, the feels...

[@porjay]

This was fantastic. Loving the DF Retro keep up the amazing work!

[@brianporter9979]

I'd love an episode dedicated to the gameboy, color, advance and DS! These retro episodes are great fun.

[@reallybigmistake]

15:31 this was a great time to put in Chad Warden laughing at the Wii

[@L0L247]

Nice vid guys! Star Wars Rouge Squadron for GC was so impressive for me at the time.

[@Zuflux]

I'm surprised you didn't bring on Sunshine. That game warped my perspective on water so much, that I still look at water in some places and think "huh, just like in Sunshine."

[@nate567987]

sunshine was not a Launch game

[@oskulock]

NGC launch was just downright crazy, i still remember playing Melee and Rogue Squadron and comparing their stable 60fps to the stuff we had on N64 and it was, man. Just comparing Shadows of the Empire to Rogue Squadron. It's amazing.

[@cazmoken8181]

Love your dedication John.

[@Ostnizdasht206]

I'm really glad I found this channel.

[@vladurban6036]

Damn it, this 18:15 next episode of DFR announcement was pretty epic.

[@VSaccount]

man, i've never seen so good looking NES gameplay footage.

[@dark1x]

It's captured from the Analogue NT *BUT* that same quality can be achieved on a regular NES by purchasing the Hi-Def NES add-in board made by Kevtris. He did an amazing job with the board and its features. Definitely worth checking out. retrorgb.com/hidefnes.html

[@nix2939]

Nostalgic video. Reminded me of why I used to love Nintendo & why I don't anymore

[@theseabass]

I'd love to see a DF Retro of Super Mario Sunshine! One of the best looking Gamecube games that has a lot of interesting elements. :)

[@rhysspeight7142]

+FirPtl I think it'd better than Mario 64, but that's just my opinion of course. I find Mario 64 hard to play and annoying at times.

[@OBE1plays]

Still remember Rogue Squadron! One of my favorite games ever!

[@Xpert74]

I've never played Rogue Leader before, but it looks truly amazing. Thanks for another great video!

[@KrunchyTheClown78]

You guys are awesome, great video as always!

[@davidtobin1]

Really, really enjoyed this. Great stuff!

[@aelbali]

such a great series, the nostalgia is overwhelming, ty for bringing back great childhood memories with these videos. Cant wait for the next episode with half life 2

[@Theinvalidmusic]

Rogue Leader does make me wonder why more Gamecube games didn't take advantage of the Gamecube's built-in pixel shaders for bump/normal mapping. Most GC games could have been even further ahead of the curve.

[@baxter009]

Because of ports???

[@DeToxCommunity]

Blame the PS2s complex and unique hardware for that.

[@baxter009]

And developer laziness and craving for the quick easy buck with no effort whatsoever. If only our jobs could be like that.

[@jonatanp007]

Gamecube

[@dampflokfreund]

Gamecube had actually amazing and ambitious games. Wii U not many. So no.

[@duckhive]

Mario World has a beautiful color palette and fantastic SFX.

[@AvatarRishi]

Damn the GameCube impressed me. Also, this series is amazing! Keep up the good work!

[@ryanrdlps]

Great stuff! Amazing to hear about the under the hood mechanics, of revolutionary technology! Thanks DF!

[@hellrider15]

More DF Retro, I demand moooore! Love this series.

[@ddnava96]

Well, to be fair, Factor 5 used EVERY SINGLE OBSCURE feature of the GameCube hardware. The Dolphin team has had HUNDREDS of headaches because there are HUNDREDS of features that only Factor 5 used, and no other dev ever used

[@Jerome-iwnl]

Mario 64, i remember playing for the first time, it was on my ds and i was young. Was such a great experience!

[@apokalypz]

Great job as always, I'm glad that DF openly discusses Nintendo and doesn't just focus purely on PC, PS4 and XBO. I also totally agree with you about the Wii U becoming my favorite Nintendo console of all time, I understand why it's not so successful, but that doesn't change the fact that it has some of the BEST games ever released on Nintendo consoles. It's just too bad that those who finally realize it, will so many years later and I'd imagine will have a hard and expensive ass time trying to get some of those games and when they do many will not be able to enjoy features such as dlc, updates, or online... Great job yet again DF!

[@dark1x]

Yep! Wii U is a fantastic console (game wise). I have a huge collection for it now and it's just one of those systems that can cheer you up at any time. So many bright, fun games with many at 60fps. It's just an awesome platform to collect for too!

[@greppim911]

DF Retro: Halo

[@greppim911]

***** 2001 and 2004 is retro enough

[@xBINARYGODx]

they just featured stuff that was on GC and Wii... how is that retro but orig xbox is not?

[@greppim911]

***** The original triology is 9 years old Halo 2 is 12 years old Halo Ce is 15 year old Also Halo CE had a lot of backstory

[@xBINARYGODx]

***** By your own considerations for what can be called retro, then about 1/3 ro 1/2 of this video should not have been included. So... why are you not commenting on that? (not an actually question)

[@DesumetaruLiadz666]

DF Retro, very nice section with some nice facts and points of view, nice DF.

[@MatthewN56736n4]

Digital Foundry, can you do a retro video on the Tony Hawk series? It'd be awesome.

[@ThePimbax]

There were so many impressive tittles back in the day, even sports games were impressive.

[@MatthewN56736n4]

***** Yeah so? I asked if they could do a video on the Tony Hawk series at a later time.

[@Rey-td7uz]

i drop a like in every episode of DS retro, keep up the good work :D

[@MrSammersELsoho]

I remember seeing rogue squadron for the first time at EB Games and it blew my mind so weird how graphics are so amazing first impressions but then they fade away.

[@douglasharris4295]

I LOVE the fact that DF are using real hardware with the framemeister and not shitty emulation! Keep up the great work, guys, and you oughtta open up a patreon!!

[@gammaphonic]

I can confirm, Rogue Leader was absolutely stunning at the time. It’s still very impressive to this day.

[@badleech]

I really enjoyed this video. Thank you.

[@Ryuujin1078]

Still waiting on DF Retros Nintendo portable videos about their launch, games and how it affected the industry!

[@0Kurisu0]

Man, the days where Nintendo was pushing the edge of hardware as a business philosophy... Ah well. Tell me there's a chance for a DF Retro on the miracle that is the N64 version of Resident Evil 2.

[@MXCelis]

Awesome Video man!

[@8bitDNA]

love the DF Retro series!!!

[@NikoBelic4]

Hey DigitalFoundry, do you think you can do a launch title video, on Playstation next?

[@dark1x]

I've been thinking about that too!

[@NikoBelic4]

John Linneman Cool man. I personally think, that Playstation, is a bit better, when it comes to launch titles & how they were able to push game titles to the max, with the technology they had.

[@NikoBelic4]

CodeNameZ Please show me a link. Also, is it based off of launch titles?

[@dark1x]

I think you're under-selling what was on offer. PS1? Yeah, not great, but Rayman is a phenomenal game that still holds up today and RIdge Racer was a far more impressive racing example than Daytona on Saturn. Stuff like Toshinden actually sucks now but, at the time? It showcased the system well. PS2, though, actually had some good titles beyond SSX. Ridge Racer V is one of the best arcade racing games of all time (at least I think so), Tekken Tag offered the most beautiful and feature packed Tekken yet, Dynasty Warriors 2 started the Musou line, Armored Core 2 was a great follow-up to the PS1 games, and TimeSplitters was a great multiplayer game with 4-player support at 60fps. It was no Dreamcast, but it still had a decent launch. PS3 wasn't great, though, and PS4 wouldn't be included anyways.

[@NikoBelic4]

***** are you kidding me? Th PS2 launched with Armored Core 2, Midnight Club, Moto GP, FUCKING TIMESPLITTERS, Tekken Tag Tournament, Unreal Tournament, Orphen: Sicon of Sorcery, Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore, and Eternal Ring. Not only that, but the following year, the PS2, had Jak & Daxter & Final Fantasy X. What the hell were you smoking?

[@shadow_force]

John does not age

[@doritobandito1917]

DF Retro Super Mario Galaxy would be nice. That game looked absolutely amazing for Wii hardware!

[@VideoplayerINLIVE]

Amazing video, amazing games and amazing channel guys :)

[@Fendera1]

really great video John! keep it up

[@AdamSFM]

What is the piece of music used from 13:08?

[@robotic38]

Don't remember quite what track it is, but it's definitely from Star Fox Assault. Woops, been corrected, it's not from Assault :P

[@Dylan99781]

Corneria theme from Melee

[@AdamSFM]

Thank you! I didn't mean to take 10 months to reply... my bad

[@KorenLesthe]

I miss Factor 5 too :'(. Thanks for your video :).

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

Intro music?

[@HelderCH]

Retro DF is like the best idea ever.

[@majmunx9703]

Rogue Squadron 2 still today, looks fantastic! What a game!

[@kenshokram]

No technical info on Wii and Wii U?... A bit lacking on insight compared to the previous ones :(

[@confusername]

Wii = 2x Gamecube basically W. Broadway and Hollywood CPU and GPU. More RAM and Starlet co-processor. It isn't all that different than the Gamecube hence the full backwards compatibility, same with Wii U, though the AMD graphics chip is superb, the CPU and RAM bottlenecked the otherwise **somewhat** competent for the generation components. Them being so similar may be why they didn't include technical details.

[@theoroinvictus]

wow I forgot all about the water physics in waverace64, really impressive for the hardware its running on

[@bloxyman22]

I hope you take a look at some of the "gaming computers" as well, like the atari ones, c64, amiga and so on.

[@MoreNimrod]

Can't wait for the next episode! And definitely do a handheld analysis. Maybe even non-Nintendo handhelds some time if you can get your hands on them.

[@EdwarioERS]

17:04 Breath Of The Wild is a mix of Skyrim, Ubisoft Open World, Portal, and dare I say Dark Souls. A strong game of the decade contender combining elements of so much from the decade other than Battle Royale.

[@gietie96]

Great work John.

[@ravengaming4143]

Going from Super Mario World to Super Mario 64 was a true leap like we probably won't see ever again, unless the next Mario will be some full open world VR game or some such.

[@SupaBubbaMusic]

Nintendoland is one of my favorite launch titles of all time! Very underrated!

[@BlammoGer]

17:30 That trench coat - party like it is 1985 - not even his soul patch helps *But nevertheless a GREAT VIDEO!!! Keep up the good work!*

[@dark1x]

Aw shit, it's not actually a trench coat even, but my wife said the same thing "It looks like a trench coat when you're behind the table". Doh

[@BlammoGer]

I love your retro-videos! The one about Shen Mue is epic!

[@michaelwhite5641]

I certainly hope you do look at the Nintendo handheld launch lineups.

[@retroboy-fh1ji]

Soul Calibur on Dreamcast and Rogue Squadron 2 on Gamecube were way ahead of its time. Still look gorgeous imo

[@TenshiCat]

Awesome video! I think it would've also been interesting to see you analyse Mario Sunshine and Galaxy, but, they weren't launch titles!

[@njiska]

That was fun, now a follow up on the handheld systems would be great.

[@bamster64]

DF Retro should be considered a national treasure *_*

[@rars0n]

Factor 5 we miss your technical prowess. Said everyone who has ever played a Factor 5 game ever. They were like the unknown Rare. They did things nobody else did, but they didn't get as much recognition for it. Thank goodness we got those amazing Star Wars games that they made.

[@Cade_Squirrel]

Well that explains why Super Mario 64 feels so good to play that frame pacing is a thing of beauty

[@MSaint]

2:13 this music is from second level of Boku Dracula Kun. Played this for hours when I was a kid.

[@Lordgenome76]

Thanks.

[@KurabiyeKeyfim]

MSaint xvgh