As we’re living in the Switch 2 Era (while the original Nintendo Switch is on its way out), let’s talk about the one of the consoles having an anniversary. Since today is 2026, anything that happened within a year ending with a “1” or “6” will pass another 5-year milestone, while anything that happened in a year ending with a “6” will pass another 10-year milestone. And this year is a big year for Nintendo console milestones. Five years ago, the OLED Model of the Nintendo Switch was released while NSO Expansion Pass was introduced. Ten years ago, the NES Classic Edition was launched. Fifteen years ago, the 3DS was launched. Twenty years ago, the Wii was launched. Twenty-five years ago, the Nintendo GameCube was launched. And thirty years ago, the Nintendo 64 was launched.
Yes, once June rolls by, the Nintendo 64 will be 30 years old. Many of you readers wouldn’t have been alive when the Nintendo 64 first came out, and those who were around my age were very little when this happened. One thing that was noted about 15 years ago was that the Nintendo 64 was longer-lived than most newer consoles. Compared to the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 (which were the big consoles back in 2011), the Nintendo 64 lasted longer. The Xbox 360 originally had a much higher failure rate, with the average life being 3 years or less, while the PlayStation 3, a better-built console, would start giving out after 5 years. Yet an average Nintendo 64 lasted 20 years and still worked. Now I don’t know how much longer until the remaining Nintendo 64 consoles give out for good since computers shouldn’t live as long as 30 years, but today’s entry is about why the Nintendo 64 lasted longer than most consoles.
Discs vs Cartridges:
This was the primary reason why the Nintendo 64 lasted longer than most consoles. At the time of the Nintendo 64’s launch, it has been proven that discs were better than cartridges because discs were cheaper to mass produce and can hold more data than cartridges. The fact that Nintendo kept the Nintendo 64 cartridge-based was why it didn’t do too well. For this reason, video game companies abandoned the cartridge-based format and stuck to discs. Nintendo still used cartridges for its handheld systems, but discs became the mainstream for all major players in the console market for 15 years.
Disc players are less reliable than cartridge players because they involve more moving parts. Aside to the spinners, a laser reader produces a lot of heat (especially for Blu-ray players, which consoles were during the 7th generation and later). This is why disc players tend to stop working after continued years of usage. They also aren’t as cheap or easy to replace like a PC’s disc player. Without the disc drive, consoles that depend on them become pointless. On the other hand, cartridge players, like the Nintendo 64, don’t use as many moving parts. The cartridge reader doesn’t even move as it reads the cartridge.
The fact the Nintendo 64 was kept cartridge-based gave it a hidden benefit in the long run. And the fact that Nintendo still used cartridge-based games on handhelds have shown how beneficial cartridges are, which is why they went back to cartridge players for the Nintendo Switch.
The other advantage cartridge players had, albeit no longer true, is that loading times are very short, if they even exist. Disc players, because of the combination of a spinning drive (which can only spin so fast), contribute to longer loading times. But for the longest time, the disadvantages of cartridges outweighed the advantages. While cartridge players are better for the long run, disc players are better for the short run because of how cost-effective they are.
Power Consumption:
As consoles become more advanced, they become more powerful. More power is essential in competition. Consoles that are underpowered would generate lower resolution, lower frame rates, and possibly may not work as well. That’s why consoles need more power.
For your information, video game consoles are machines, so they work like every other machines. When it comes to aging, machine life is based on usage, not just duration. A 10-year-old machine that has been used less frequently would work better than a 5-year-old machine that has been used very frequently, given that both machines are the exact same with the same build. To generate better graphics, more power needs to be used at once. When a machine used more power at once, it wears down faster. It would eventually wear out enough until it stops working. To continue using the console, machine parts need to be replaced.
It’s also worth noting that newer consoles tend to be used more frequently than older consoles. That because older games are a lot smaller. When they are smaller, there’s less to do, and thus more pointless to keep playing for hours. But the reason why they’re smaller is because of the data limitations of older consoles. But as data improves, games get bigger, which gives players an incentive to play them more. They eventually will play until the console becomes unusuable.
Let’s compare that to an hourglass where you pour syrup and water inside. The viscosity of the liquid represents the size of games. The greater the viscosity, the smaller the game and the less you can do in the game. The size of the midsection represents power consumption. The wider the hole, the more power being used. Which one is more likely to finish first? Syrup being poured down an empty hourglass with a narrow tube, or water being poured down an empty hourglass with a wider tube? The answer is that water will finish going through an hourglass faster than syrup will, especially if non-adhesive materials were used to build the hourglass.
I bet you that each Nintendo Switch console will have a shorter life than a Nintendo 64 console.
Materials used in Construction:
Going further into the power consumption, the Nintendo 64 also had more durable parts. But it’s not just limited to the Nintendo 64 vs other consoles. If you noticed, many older appliances, including TVs, were able to last as long as 50 years. While today’s TVs, computers, and phones, think about how frequently you had to replace them.
If you notice about older appliances, they used a lot more parts to build them. But today’s appliances used fewer parts. Despite newer appliances and electronics being more efficient and space-friendly than older appliances, they don’t seem to last as long as older appliances. Using more parts or bigger parts may not be as efficient, especially if they aren’t as powerful. But they seem to let the appliances last longer. By taking out these parts, there are less parts to draw power from, thus wearing them down faster.
Another thing is that older appliances and electronics were built not to do the job, but they were also built to last. Newer appliances and electronics were built to simply do the job while making money.
And now you can see why the Nintendo 64 lasted longer than most consoles.
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