Nintendo was hugely upbeat about the N64 at ECTS, trying to sustain it by saying that 'it is still our platform of choice, as Gamecube is still a long way off'. They had a point as well, if you scan your name down the list of games on show. However, not all of these titles may live up to (inflated?) expectations: but there is still enough quality in this line up to keep the N64 alive for some time yet (yes, even in the face of PS2). On the hardware front, they were showing off the special edition Pikachu N64. This had pure cash-in written all over it: it comes in the form of a bundle containing a copy of Pokemon Snap (weak 'interactive photography' game) and an N64 made in Pokemon red and white plastic with a yellow Pikachu as the power button. I question how popular this will be, simply because surely all the Pokemon fans who are keen enough to play the games will have bought N64's already, thus greatly reducing the target audience for this product. On the software front things were more promising. The big game on show was Banjo-Tooie, the platform game sequel from crack coders Rare. This looks like a promising title, as it takes the best elements from the first game (bright well-designed platform levels, neat character interaction between the two protagonists, intelligent puzzles) and adds in some good new features such as an improved control system, much better multiplayer modes and pretty new first-person sequences featuring driving and 'egg-blasting'. Looking a safe bet for top-ten level sales. Also playable from Rare was the much stranger 'Conker's Bad Fur Day'. This, in contrast to Banjo, seems like a spectacular miss-fire. At first glance all seems normal: a cutely animated squirrel bounces around a colourful universe. Then he sees a bear, and starts swearing at it. Hmmm. It is a strange hotch-potch of kiddie platform adventure and swearing, drinking and adult content. They claim that it 'is very much a game for the more mature player', but how many adult players will want to play a platform game about a squirrel, albeit one with an eighteen rating. Will die a slow death. Dead woodchuck. The last big game, apart from the very exciting but limitedly playable (wait for future report) Dinosaur Planet, was The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Zelda, featuring a tweaked game engine and some new play elements. One revolutionary feature: the game world will play in real time, as the hero Link will have only 72 hours to save the world. Graphically this game looked as smooth and accomplished as ever, but compared with the ground-breaking nature of seemingly every Zelda game so far it seemed to be lacking that special something. It wasn't different enough from the last one. Thus, while I am sure that it will sell in great numbers, it didn't seem to interest gamers at ECTS, as the Zelda: MM machines were ominously empty all through the show.
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