Rare Nintendo 64 CD System Review - Gamester81

[@marklechman2225]

Your show always makes me happy. You genuinely love games and you don’t act like an a-hole. We need more of that on KZbin.

[@Tuberuser187]

I would either stick it in the bin or get an electronics expert to look that over before you use it again, thats not overheating its shorting out. Overheating wouldn't cause the plastic to actually burn and discolour like that, for some reason it has short circuited. Its up to you of course but its your house and (possibly) your life.

[@tboy221]

Tuberuser187 are you from England? colour?

[@ben949]

@@tboy221what a useless reply lmao, yeah he either is or spells it that way 🙄

[@robertsmith1434]

If you have not gotten it fixed yet.... I'd be willing to look at it and depending upon what has been damaged.. fix it. I'd have to do a bit of research, and there are often some specialty chips on these types of systems that are quite hard to replace, but I probably can fix it if you want. I'm retired so... minus the cost of shipping and any really expensive parts (which is rare most parts are really only pennies) I'd be happy to look at it and either fix it or tell you why I could not. Up to you.

[@josephjones5643]

the port on the back you we're not sure of was the multi-video out used in the NES SNES N64 and Gamecube.

[@brpadington]

They never gave the DD a chance. It took them too long to release it and most of the games for it were converted to run on a regular cart.

[@AdiSneakerFreak]

Get a black CD-ROM drive in that bad boy

[@mitchawesomefoot6139]

RACIST

[@Bringmejoycon]

@@mitchawesomefoot6139 hahahah

[@BeeBumper]

Man I gave my sisters kids in the early 2000's a working Atari 2600, with a crapload of great games, the real sports, the better quality later games, and ET (worst game ever). I am sure somewhere in her house is this system in a box, but trying to get her to acknowledge or care is like pulling teeth, I must ransack her home.

[@tightlypackedcoil]

ET is not the worsr game ever. Only those who don't know much about gaming refer to it as such. It is a scapegoat for the video game crash of the 80's, and at worst it is an indication of Atari's terrible management than anything else. As a game, on its own without any context, it's not that bad.

[@BeeBumper]

tightlypackedcoil Having played it several times it was the worst video game ever and with the deadline looming you could argue one man made a great game in like 6 months. But with the money the movie made it could have been a great game. Ala it sucked donkey balls

[@cfavreau]

I do not have this system however the burn spot is probably an electrolytic capacitor that blew up. They leave a mess and since they usually are used in the power filtering they usually fail as a short. The cheap Chinese stuff may just be cheap capacitors that were close to the voltage and they eventually fail from overvoltage or drying out. Since it is powered off of 12V it is probably a capacitor in the +5V voltage power supply or some other power supply circuit related to powering the CDROM drive. If it is a capacitor it could be fixed quite easily.

[@DjGaza18]

so if you own the CD Drive, you can just download your games on to the drive and never have to use your cartridges again?

[@tuckerlacey9909]

Yeah I guess so

[@TheSoxmania]

it looks like it's the power supply that's faulty! you can try yanking it out and take a look at the board, then go on Radioshack or maplin to get replacement parts... I think it's the capacitors more than anything else...

[@DrToiletfaceGames]

I bet he was planning on using it a ton, he really should do that, maybe spend $25 to play it once

[@DeeDee-rx3cb]

This guy has one hell of a collection of rare collectors items. Holy crap. Awesome. Love watching his vids!

[@scottybarger7389]

metal Jesus rocks has a USA version of the 64dd John

[@MarkNESStarFox]

Due to the N64 CD System overheating issues, some users have modified their units with small CPU processor fans to keep their units cooler. Others that used aftermarket power supply units rated for 12V, 1A did not have issues.

[@johnking8875]

Thanks gamester 81 i really like watching your rare addons for game systems

[@SpiralPegasus]

You're the first serious reviewer I see that's not afraid to show bootlegs and unofficial devices for big companies like Nintendo. It shows you're honest, and above all things, a true gamer. I applaud you.

[@CoolDudeClem]

the burned out part is probably a voltage regulator that converts the supply's voltage into the 5 volt and 12 volts the CD drive uses. I don't know exactly what's inside so I cant tell for sure. It could even be the CD lazor is just at the end of it's life.

[@Datuksri007]

No way I can imagine this guy is a gamer. Kind of cool though.

[@Bringmejoycon]

I think he means since the guy "doesn't know what this port is" and it's av port

[@swedishmoose2986]

"I LOVE THIS GAME!" -lol doesn't even know how to start flying with the wing cap and falls to your death RITE

[@frankdavy2028]

I was thinking the same! He's just some hairy dude who collects games and stuff but doesn't really play games for more than a minute at a time lol

[@NiekNooijens]

why are all the add-ons larger than the console itself?

[@Gamester81]

Yeah I tried that already, and zero luck unfortunately.

[@JustOneGuy]

If they made Nintendo 64 DD we'd be able to play Zelda 64, Banjo Kazooie Stop n Swop which would be freaking amazing!

[@Judgeman03]

By the way, that port in the middle is more than likely video and audio out, since it is shaped like the audio/video plug you get with the N64.

[@robertsmith1434]

"The unit was very cheaply made and shipped with a 9VDC power supply. The 9V input is connected directly to the 12V input of the internal CDROM drive. A voltage regulator is used to obtain a 5V input voltage supply for the mainboard. This converts the unused energy to excess heat, often leading to premature failure. Due to the overheating issues some users have modified their units with small cpu processor fans to keep their units cool. Others that used aftermarket power supply units rated for 12V, 1A did not have issues." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD64_(Nintendo) That's straight from the Wiki and I'd bet what happened, if so easy fix as long as components down from it didn't take damage. Probably easy fix though.

[@BrentyMe]

Does anyone know where you can get the CDs for this? My cousin has one but it doesnt have the power supply or the CDs

[@NaokisRC]

Why not try hooking a PC power supply up to the CD drive and force the powersuplpy to stay on? (short green to black)

[@Haughtwire]

would there be a way to install an emulator or rom to where you could play PlayStation 1 games and pirated games on this thing

[@Hellhorde.]

Lmao your subtitles xD "you can play the drums on the 64"

[@russianrings]

I really enjoy your videos, seem like a really nice guy, to my surprise I wasn't subscribed, just changed that. thanks for the video

[@UserNameMandatory]

Is there a newer device like this that works with SD cards?

[@ChefJFK]

that's pretty crazy that it has a fully featured trainer system ("game genie" codes) built in :) nice vid!

[@oreiovt]

i wonder if since the disk drive wouldnt recognize the game and it boots up and every thing and it right next to the power cable that plugs into the cd drive if it is just the cd drive maybe u could replace it

[@readyrepairs]

since it still works over all -- that means the part that over heated is the power supply for the cd drive or the power for the logic board that controlls the cd drive. take it apart... put it next to a computer, and plug the cd drove into the power connector from a pc, so that you can see if it will work using external power. etc.

[@linkinworm1]

have you thoguht of adding heatsinks to some of the overheating parts? also add a fan to just remove all the hot air inside, thats what i would do.

[@BIMBOBOOP]

Hi man, I also have a couple of these, but I was wondering if you could figure how to save the games. i know It depends on the system the game is intended to save. But I dont how how to do it properly exactly, can you do a clear and simple tutorial about it please?

[@landonlunsford4714]

love your show man,keep up the good work!

[@HikikomoriDev]

Is it true if one where able to make a N64 game that would be like 700MBs big (the entire size of the CD) it would play as it is ?

[@daemonx-99]

This actually reminds me of the super ufo that the same company made for the Super Nintendo I used to have one, and you loaded roms via floppy disks 3 1/2 inch to be exact, have you ever come across one of those?

[@homg85]

@Gamester81 The PAL version of SNES has an EXT port underneath as well. What was that used for man? Thanks.

[@dragon47208]

the game genie for this is basically the same as the gamecube action replay

[@Gamester81]

LOL you know what they say about a guy with big hands...big gloves!

[@BlueAcid9]

+Gamester81 Could you put a ROM on the CD and play it on the N64 hardware? Or does it only write to the CDs?

[@Metal-Possum]

How big are your hands? You make that thing look tiny...

[@Earth11111]

Lol

[@MrRobloMan]

The nostalgia of playing N64 so much at my cousins the sounds always bring back the memories!

[@SamuraiClinton]

Is that an IDE CD-ROM? Is there any possibility that you could possibly swap out that CD-ROM for an SD card slot that is compatible with an IDE connector? I endorse the use of SD cars (and flash memory in general) more than mechanical media.

[@SharifSourour]

The precursor to EverDrive 64. Pretty cool. Reminds me of those Chinese add-ons that were also available for SNES or Super Famicom back in the day.

[@dgmsstuff]

Have you already fixed it? Seems to be a power unit problem. You can "reinforce" it by using stronger capacitors or voltage regulators CIs.

[@iszezillamanentertainment7121]

I like learning all the info and details , thumbs up, I find details about systems and games very interesting

[@Gamester81]

Yeah I was just simply trying to show how the CD64 works, and I wasn't playing Super Mario 64 seriously.

[@thunderfox53]

Over heating? Does it have any form of thermal and overcurrent protection around its circuitry? I am not sure that's the problem however when I see a circuit that is subject to over heating they either have a cooling fan or thermal protection.

[@sw201444]

@gamester81 if you want to know why it was burnt, it had to have previously happened due to using the wrong adapter, this happened to me with my atari flashback.

[@karlslicher8520]

There was also an official RAM expansion for the N64, from 4mb to 8mb. Quite a few games had the option to load better textures with the expansion fitted.

[@MelleHaanen]

if you could mod that ext. to 1gb RAM that would be so great

[@TylerSteven9]

Ultra Derp Even if you could, what would that accomplish? It's not like the games are designed to use it.

[@karlslicher8520]

Yup. All the expansion RAM does is automatically tell the games to load up slightly better textures.

[@AwesumIndustrys]

Steven Tyler Actually, a few games such as Donkey Kong 64 and Majora's Mask require it to run.

[@brickman409]

the port that you say your not sure about looks alot like the av port on the back of the n64, have you ever tried plugging in the n64 av cord to that port to see if it fits/does anything?

[@babloo1666]

had no idea this even existed. loved the N64 growing up, massive nostalgia

[@babloo1666]

***** yeah definitely alot of great games. I had no idea the hardware was more capable than PS 1

[@kefkahkefkah]

+Ralph Wiggum Well dident really show that much though cause the lack of memory and the freaking fog everywhere.

[@vemcomachines9634]

My dad has one and it has my fav game bango kazooie

[@Skyk0rn]

i wonder why u were optimistic since there were no major addons for the snes neither. except for that stellaview thingy.

[@nintendoatarikiller]

Hey John I have something very similar to this but it's for the Super Nintendo. Do you have something called Gamars Super Disk? It's a diskette drive you plop on your famicom or super Nintendo. Is this thing rare?

[@DrDaMoZ]

I assume you checked it already, but is the voltage and amperage of the adapter the same as what is listed at the back of the machine? I used a wrong adapter on a laptop once (higher voltage, lower amperage) and got the same kind of problem. Changed the adapter to one that exactly matched the specs in the laptop manual and that fixed it.

[@MrRobarino]

FYI. The port mentioned at 6:25 is an AV port. It was redundant to the AV port on the N64 itself.

[@maverickbna]

Can you get the model number of the CD-ROM drive used in the CD64 plus? I might be able to help you research getting a replacement drive to use in there.

[@NewHollowEarth]

Because looking at it close helps us see a little bit.

[@ary2000]

could the reason for overheating be that you ac adapter's voltage output is too high? maybe try one that has a smaller output.

[@udi112]

is there a way to attach a cooling solution to this thing?

[@tiffanyz9668]

Can the CD system play music cds?

[@TheGamingPegasus187]

Great Review, I never heard of the N64CD. Leave it to your channel to show off stuff I may have never heard of otherwise

[@pokey4200]

i agree with most of the previous post looks like the voltage regulator may need to be upgraded... maybe add a heatsink or a fan???

[@james21113]

I dont know if this is too late +gamester81 but check the heatsink it may be the defect thermal paste

[@someinterwebguy]

Great video. This is one of the N64 add-ons that I hadn't seen before.

[@boon111]

Wow, I wanted this back in the day...you got everything.

[@VladSuperKat]

It's an overheating problem because of the different types of plastic (the cheap Chinese the the better Japanese one). Try splitting them by getting an extension cable (if there is such a thing).

[@thepwnerbossman]

Also the lockout bypass is used the same way in the wolfenstien clone for snes

[@AlphaOmegaSin]

I would be interested in one of those but the fact that their lifespan seems to be relatively short due to overheating would keep me from messing with it a whole lot. Don't want my house to look like the human torch took a piss in it or something lol

[@Satadrian]

wouldnt it be possible to build a (water)cooling-system to prevent overheating ?

[@neonte13]

Lotsa comments about a capacitor... Sounds reasonable. Also, have you checked to see if any info is available about reccomended cd drive ranges? ( power demand, read speed, crap like that) Also if the fan is knackered due to accumulated dead stuff (house dust) or just circuitry and solder wear is in play, overheating tends to jump right in. Well all of that stuff is pretty easy to check, just like capacitors and such. Other than that, I have no clue.

[@CaseTheFace]

Maybe if you have power going to the CD thing you are not supposed to put the power plug in the N64 and the N64 runs off the CD unit's power through the EXT port? That may be why the power fried. Just a random guess?

[@hoptop77]

so were there any cd games released for the 64cd?

[@kodan50]

This may sound odd, but could it be the program that is burning the CD itself is using a format that the drive doesn't support? You know how if you burn a multisession CD older OSes can't access both sessions? I don't recall if Windows 98 suffered from this, but DOS did in a big way. Also, when burning Dreamcast backups, I noticed that the way it had to be burned was very specific to read it. Can you replace the drive and see if that fixes the disc reading issue?

[@Emeengor]

Maybe it was made for european power supplies (240 volt) and you used the american plug? because the burn seems to be on the power inlet side. if thats the case anyone who has an solder iron and some electronics experience can fix this by soldering in some minor parts.

[@igouttopp]

the port in the back that you dont know is so you can plug in he color stream in to it

[@greencoman]

That seems pretty cool. Gamester thanks for reviewing it. I hope that the guy that sent you that did not send you a lemon.

[@PlaidDin]

I'd like to know what was that expansion port underneath NES for, if it has any expansion packs or systems or whatever. Any ideas? :\

[@MelleHaanen]

it isn't used for anything some people somehow plugged some famicom extensions in but thats a lot of work

[@TylerSteven9]

Planned add-ons that never came out.

[@sopothetocho]

***** The famicom (japanese NES) had an addon called famicom disk which made the famicom able to play games on floppy disk format very popular in Japan with hundreds of compatible games, I imagine the expansion port on the NES was planned for the same or a similar addon. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Computer_Disk_System

[@idk-kn6nw]

Mine is sealed off by piece of plastic that appears to have no physical way to remove it that will not break the casing, but peering under it I can see the port. Strange. It's model 001, so idk if all systems are like that or mine is a different edition or something of that nature.

[@MelleHaanen]

I once heard that the later produced consoles had a cover on the port and the first ones didn't have a cover

[@Brolyfanatic777]

you see, I subscribe to Gamester81 for videos like this!!! Talk about cool! I knew about the other disk based expansion that was only marketed in japan, but this I would never have thought existed. Great vid, keep more of em comin!! =]

[@ArcadeMachine15]

are you sure its broken? Its kinda weird how it still works on some games. Did it work on other games before that it does not work on anymore?

[@Sly88Frye]

I didn't like the weird cropping effect cutting off your hand at the early part of the video, but the rest of the video I thought was really good and informative.

[@armando92]

i suggest you to go look how aspect ratio works. unless the game has a 16:9 or widescreen option it will always look stretched because the tv is taking a 4.3 signal and stretch that to fit all the 16:9 monitor and dont forget that we are messing with diferent resolutions here (320x240 usually for n64) scaled to a 16:9 resolution

[@megatenkota]

really enjoyed the video gamester, but are you going to do the star wars kinect system review?

[@enrico759]

I read a sequel to mario 64 was on the cd add on and also a version with two player with Luigi as a playable character.

[@johnnahodil]

really cool...didnt the 85 nintendo have some kind of weird serial port on it?...ive aways wondered why it was there

[@unkono]

The DD used ZIP drive technology not CD

[@NafanyaZX]

Here is how you stop overheating (in case you still don't know). Disassemble the unit, take off the heatsink, remove the old thermal paste, apply new paste (arctic cooling mx-2 is cheap and good, also non-conductive, so it can't short out anything), assemble everything back together.

[@Lunas2525]

probably put a bigger heatsink on it too replace any electrolytic caps that are bulging or leaking and depending what all is cooked up top replace them with higher wattage versions...

[@NafanyaZX]

Lunas Eclipse Don't you think that would be going too far? I understand that it makes sense, if you look at it as an electrical appliance. But it's not just an appliance. It's a collector's item and as such, it should remain original, if possible. You fix only what absolutely has to be fixed and that's it.

[@Lunas2525]

not saying to put a giant heatsink just a more robust one that can better handle the heat a fan might be good too. if the system is putting out enough heat to blacken or discolor the plastic then either a connection needs to have more metal there or there needs to be better ventilation or air flow. Also what could have caused the burning was insufficient wattage on the parts like they used 1/4 watt resistors when they needed to use 1/2 watt. there is 2 schools of thought functional collectors item vs non functional It is not in original box and he has expressed desire to have it working rather than being a large shelf weight that looks like it did originally. I would rather something be functional rather than something to take up room. On the other hand there is a virgin mentality towards collectibles they must remain fully original... In the case of vintage electronics them being functional is of higher value than if they don't have all the 100% original parts but most will at least try to keep it as close to the same as it originally was at least when viewed from the front... Humm looking at some pictures of the unit that looks like the voltage regulator and some searching around yes it is for the cdrom the wall wart that that thing came with was a 9v unit so they had to up the voltage to 12 for the cdrom. the fix for it is to either power the cdrom off a secondary power supply or... what i would do is i would get a pico psu they make them 15-300w i think a 50 watt unit would do they take 12dc in i would then regulate that 12v down to 9v to power the main system so the addition of a board about thumb size and one maybe quarter sized and probably relocation of the power jack. would be my fix.

[@InfiniteRhombus]

this is ridiculous, the n64 has no thermal paste and you would not be able to apply it anyways, do you know anything about consoles?

[@Lunas2525]

midas touch yeah I do also if I remember the inside of n64 it does not have a heat sink at all you are talking like some one who does not know that the purpose of heat sink paste is to fill air gaps between 2 surfaces. And I'm not talking about modifying a n64 I'm talking about how the 12v regulator that feeds the off the shelf cd rom is burned out and that to get that thing working he is either going to have to rebuild that circuit or bypass it many of the fixes are to bypass it and power the cd rom off a small computer psu. They make ones the size of my thumb and to drive both systems off the one psu is possible and there is room in there for it.

[@sgtsnacks64]

06:25 - Looks like the standard RF/SCART/COMPONENT output you find on the back of the N64/SNES and Gamecube. Maybe to run the system independently from the N64?

[@SuperGamesLegend]

Dude your collection is off the charts.

[@darknezz277]

you can't expand the ram on this, bios only supports 256 unless someone has hacked it.

[@chtps3]

the overheated problem must come from mosfets which are about to burn.disassembly the console and search if it is realy mosfet overheating and replace it with more durable ones or even with heatsink

[@electronraygun6346]

Most likely a burnt out linear regulator, probably manufacturer cheaped out and didn't bother heat sinking it. I would speculate that it's simply to knock the volts down to +5 like a comment further down suggested. As it's most likely just the power for the CD ROM unit maybe you could use a molex PSU easily available on ebay in place of the original internal power system? It might be worth checking if the system menu will show without the power adapter plugged in and this should confirm that it's just to power the CD unit.

[@daijoubu4529]

Carl Ridley yep, 12V to 5V with a LDO plus high current draw = heat and the CD-ROM never spins down

[@BadBrad119]

not necessarily, heat is related to the amount of resistance when the current runs through the console: V=IR, V=voltage, I=current, R=resisance. So yes a higher voltage allowed to the console (via AC/DC adapter) increases I and R, but by making the console stuffed full of strong resistors (while the voltage remains the same) is probably a better reason for overheating. Other than that using cooling devices might have been useful (and expensive)

[@matthew65536]

correct me if I'm wrong, is that basically a CD-ROM drive, that is plugged into the N64's expansion port?

[@aftdawn]

yep

[@DonKael]

I think it was released a little later than that John, I remember seeing these for sale on Lik-Sang.com a year or so before the Dreamcast was killed off. They might have just been selling old stock though.

[@commonman1100]

Wasn't the PlayStation going to be for the Snes, or am I wrong.

[@ABOhiccups]

Can you play Old School PC Games like Sonic 3D Blast (PC Version), Doom, Sonic R (PC Version), and many on Nintendo CD64?

[@shsulli]

Look Will, were not talking about a game system that you don't have. Were talking about a retro system that was the best in my time, and it still is today.

[@BScHamP100]

Try cleaning the laser in the cd drive, you probably could replace it with another drive too.