To advoid confusion, here is a direct list of features of the 64DD from
nintendo... (this is from IGN, and thats a VERY reliable source)
Real-Time Clock
An interesting feature of the 64DD is that it has an internal real-time
clock that is always ticking. Play a game at night, switch it off, and upon
returning in the morning, eight hours will have passed in the game. Enough
time for a village to be burned down, or for characters to regain health
while resting, or an enemy to sneak up behind players for a surprise attack.
Welcome to the real virtual world. This feature is likely to be used a lot
with virtual pet sims and to unlock special time-bound features, like a
winter-time level at X-Mas time, and more.
Memory Expansion
The 64DD >comes with< a 4 MB expansion RAM (random access memory) pack, which
players install into the memory expansion slot of the Nintendo 64 (top). It
will replace the current jumper pak and raise the N64's overall RAM to a
total of 8 MB (four times as much as the PSX). Among other things, the added
RAM will help pave the way for more hi-res games.
Modem, Network or Satellite?
The other, more mysterious part of the 64DD is that it is supposed to
feature modem or network capability. A modem could open the ways to
multiplayer gaming or network downloads, but it does throw up a myriad of
questions -- will the 64DD have a modem built in? Will the 64DD use the
Internet or a specific Nintendo gaming network (perhaps satellite based)?
And the big question -- will this ultimately allow gamers to play other
gamers around the world?
Sega has released its share of modems for its consoles, but all have lacked
the benefit of writability. 64DD owners, presumably, will possibly be able
to connect to a network and play against other players, or even be able to
download add-ons, upgrades, cheats and tweaks.
So what will it be, modem, modem connection, a software modem, or some
alternate network? Our guess is that the Japanese version will ultimately
hook up to Nintendo's new Satellite joint venture (for data downloading and
TV/Videotext-type programming) and that the US version will possibly offer a
"software modem" for downloading data from dedicated servers.
-veed
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