Whether you adore its iconic catalog of nostalgic titles or detest its weird controllers, the Nintendo 64 is beloved by many and popular among collectors. Even over 22 years after its initial launch, the Nintendo 64 still continues to attract hardware peripheral makers like Hyperkin, Retro-Bit, and Hori as a platform to expand upon. Generally those peripherals just include things like revamped controllers though. The pioneers at EON intend to change that trend very soon though with the impending release of the EON Super 64. Touted as the “first of its kind”, the Super 64 is a plug-and-play adapter which fits comfortably inside the N64’s AV port and allows for direct connection to an HDTV using an HDMI cable. This is no mere passthough solution though, as the Super 64 also upscales the N64’s native resolution of 240p to a more respectable 480p. While true that the N64 could in theory handle a 480i output in some rare instances, this will be the first time that players obtain a progressive scan signal in a resolution higher than 240p. Also bear in mind that a modern television can take that upscaled 480p signal and appropriately upscale it to 1080p or higher. There’s also an optional “Slick Mode” available which EON describes in the quoted text below:
“Slick Mode” enables retro fans to relive the triumphs of yesteryear with even smoother visuals, rounding out jagged edges for a sharper image that makes classics look better than ever. Through EON’s careful attention to detail, the Super 64 boasts the truest representation of color to create the most faithful N64 experience supplanting efforts of typical cable upgrades.
EON is no novice when it comes to upscaling peripherals and AV adapters. It recently achieved great success with its GCHD and GCHD Mk-II GameCube HDMI adapters. Unlike the Super 64, these adapters merely took advantage of the GameCube’s higher-resolution capabilities, but they too offered players the ability to directly connect via HDMI. It’s worth noting that there were initially some issues with the original GCHD adapter. A handful of users experienced issues with the 12V pin on the adapter wherein it would short circuit and render their GameCubes unusable. This sounds scary, but the issue was fairly rare and more often than not resulted from movement of the adapter during gameplay. That issue was addressed and fixed with the release of the Mk-II. The team at EON promises that their design for the Super 64 is “carefully crafted to prevent stress on older hardware”.
The Super 64 will launch in North America on July 22, 2019. It will retail for $149.99 USD and will be available on Amazon as well as with a number of EON’s partnered retailers. You can also pre-order one right away on CastleMania Games’ website if you can’t wait to get your hands on it. Be sure to have a look at EON’s official website for more information on these adapters and let us know in the comments if you have any interest in them.
SOURCE: Press Release
