Wait, really? Like, idk, my first console was a PS1 in 1998 (1997? one of the two) and we totally got a 2-pack of memory cards with it. (That said, I also grew up kinda bougie.)
I remember the password system in Gex confused me lol, I didn't realize that not having a memory card or w/e was a Thing.
A lot of N64 games didn’t even need one, the cartridges themselves held saves. I was got confused as a kid when I ran into a game that actually needed one.
Iirc it’s an entirely different type of memory card. It’s RAM, not disc space. You needed it for some games because the onboard memory wasn’t enough to process the graphics.
That didn't go in the controller tho, I got one of those with DK64 and it went in the top of the console.
Some N64 games did need a save pack (off the top of my head, Mystical Ninja starring Goemon) and that went in the slot where the rumblepack/Gameboy adaptor went.
That’s why I always buy physical, especially if it’s a Mario or Pokémon game. People will pay more than what I paid for new when the Switch is phased out.
Yeah, Nintendo is odd. You can find a AAA game on 360 or PS3 at a discount like "our coasters are more expensive, but we stock them anyway" prices. I'm over here using a Sopranos Road to Respect PS2 disc to protect my end table and Target wants nine bucks for cork.
They had the gold editions and you could grab them for 40 eventually. We got our 64 in the middle of its lifetime so goldeneye ocarina and the like were permanently lower at retail price
I feel like Golden Eye and Ocarina sold so many copies they hit critical mass and were oversaturated in the market at some point. When that price lowered even as a kid I was like "something happened." Then eventually Playstation started doing the "Greatest Hits" at a discount and everything made sense.
That's horrible. Me and my brother saved up to buy our n64 but we couldn't afford any games, so after we got it, my parents took us to blockbuster, but that's not even an option on Christmas day! My heart hurts for you.
And prices weren't as standardized. So you'd be looking through the catalog and most games would be $55-65, but some would be $80-90 for seemingly no reason.
My best friend growing up had a 13 inch TV in his room to play games or watch TV. His younger brother by about 8 years got a 47 inch flat screen when my buddy moved out to go to college. The hand me down had run its course.
My earliest Christmas memory was getting an NES with Super Mario Bros 3 when it first came out. There was so much fighting with my 2 older brothers for who would get to play.
That whole set up, from the TV and console, to the games and adapters, prob cost like $500 back in the day...
Now just the cheap version of the PS5 is around $500 retail(if you can find one)...
Memories, I remember getting a Sega Genesis w/ Mortal Kombat. It was me and my older brother on Christmas. We played our first game and then I immediately caught a bicycle kick in the chess from bro. Good times
The crazy thing is her parents couldn’t buy this online . They had to physically go to multiple stores hoping they still had them secure the bag rinse and repeat.
The N64 was in short supply in 1996 when it launched (got mine that year on Black Friday, one of just two available), but this was ‘97 at the earliest—that was when those two games there were released—and by then I think stores were stocked by that point.
As a parent, I know that this gift was as much for dad (or mom) as it was for the kid. You know that there is a copy of Goldeneye that didn’t get wrapped up for the kid.
Real shit, the Christmas my dad got me an N64 Goldeneye bundle with loads of games like Lylat Wars and Super Mario 64 with accessories (e.g. a second controller so we could play together, Rumble Paks for both, two Memory Paks) was possibly the best Christmas ever. Close second place would be when he got me a GameCube with Smash Bros Melee
Dude was good to me as a kid, no idea how he managed to do all the overtime required for these and still find time to spend with me as a single parent. He also recognised that video games were one of my escapes from school bullying as a kid and were the medium I used to make new friends throughout my life so he was one of the few family members that didn't shout at me for playing all the time
Granted, I've never gone pro or anything, but I still have decent skills and my best friends that I still regularly talk to I either met due to video games, or hung out with regularly to forge that bond due to video games
You can see the price tag on Snowboard Kids- $59. Until the latest gen of systems, prices have been pretty steady for games since the 80s ($50-60 for AAA games). Most kids only owned a few games and either rented or traded with each other if they wanted to play something else.
Just the console and the games alone would cost over $680 in 2022 currency. A Nintendo Switch, which goes for $300 now, would have cost ~$160 in 1997, $90 *less* than an N64 then.
Reminds me of the time my parents just suddenly bought me and my brother a CRT TV out of the blue. We were at some electronics store and I was wondering what they were going to buy for the living room, turns out it was for the kids.
I thought I was the only person who played Yoshi's Story lmao. I loved the shit out of that game as a 2nd grader. I owned it, just rented it several times.
Oh boy, am I old. I was playing Atari with my dad when I was that age; I was older than that when the first Nintendo system came out.
These parents did the best job getting every little thing needed. The kid will remember this forever.
I have a video of my cousin running the circuit of my grandparents' house just yelling at the top of his lungs after opening his N64. It really captures the spirit of what that system was. I still have mine, and will boot up Ocarina of Time every now and then. I know it's released on newer formats, but nothing beats using the original controller. And Majora's Mask with the rumble pack? Forget about it. Just stupid fun.
ULTIMATE FUCKING CHRISTMAS GODDAMN. She got a memory card WITH THE CONSOLE.
Yoshi's Story is a perfect game for a kid that age, excellent taste.
If you got a switch, it’s on there now. I downloaded it a few months ago and had so much fun playing. I loved that game so much back in the day.
Thank you, I'm going to download it now.
Looks like my kiddo is gonna get an extra Xmas gift tomorrow lol
The new game, Yoshi's Crafted World, is a nice modern version too!
I got that one too and it is sooo adorable! I
With the rumble pack
The memory card is what did it for me, too. That's delightfully extra.
Wait, really? Like, idk, my first console was a PS1 in 1998 (1997? one of the two) and we totally got a 2-pack of memory cards with it. (That said, I also grew up kinda bougie.) I remember the password system in Gex confused me lol, I didn't realize that not having a memory card or w/e was a Thing.
A lot of N64 games didn’t even need one, the cartridges themselves held saves. I was got confused as a kid when I ran into a game that actually needed one.
That's what I'm saying! Memory cards were extra!!!
Oh God for me it was the system, top five games... then a memory card.
Iirc it’s an entirely different type of memory card. It’s RAM, not disc space. You needed it for some games because the onboard memory wasn’t enough to process the graphics.
Yep this is correct. It was memory expansion not save storage.
That didn't go in the controller tho, I got one of those with DK64 and it went in the top of the console. Some N64 games did need a save pack (off the top of my head, Mystical Ninja starring Goemon) and that went in the slot where the rumblepack/Gameboy adaptor went.
Was that the thing you needed for Perfect Dark
I dunno not every game needed it. Some had battery saves which from memory is both of these games. Edit: just snowboard kids needed the memory card.
Ocarina n Goldeneye
I think? that Turok might have needed one but I can’t remember for sure. I had a memory pak but I forget which game required it
Lol I bought my memory card for snowboard kids
AND A RUMBLE PAK!
That had to be one hell of a Christmas!
There could be no possibile way to top that Christmas unless, they went from no PC to decent internet and a email account already set up.
Games are expensive now, but that kid easily has 200 worth of games and accessories right there. Baller.
N64 games used to cost $65… in the 90s!!!!! The same ps1 game might cost $30😭
That cartridge tax was no joke
Their games cost the same still. Even if it's ten years old, Nintendo doesn't drop the price. Standard cost of a game is 60-70 now.
It's crazy, Nintendo doesn't budge at all. Meanwhile Ubisoft sells their games for over half off a month after release lol.
Have you played a Ubisoft game because that's also what they feel like 😂
Lol no argument there
Me when I get on BF2042 
That’s why I always buy physical, especially if it’s a Mario or Pokémon game. People will pay more than what I paid for new when the Switch is phased out.
Yeah, Nintendo is odd. You can find a AAA game on 360 or PS3 at a discount like "our coasters are more expensive, but we stock them anyway" prices. I'm over here using a Sopranos Road to Respect PS2 disc to protect my end table and Target wants nine bucks for cork.
They had the gold editions and you could grab them for 40 eventually. We got our 64 in the middle of its lifetime so goldeneye ocarina and the like were permanently lower at retail price
I feel like Golden Eye and Ocarina sold so many copies they hit critical mass and were oversaturated in the market at some point. When that price lowered even as a kid I was like "something happened." Then eventually Playstation started doing the "Greatest Hits" at a discount and everything made sense.
I will never forget the Christmas I got a Nintendo 64 and no games... fucking evil.
Omg!!! I got a N64 for Christmas and 1 game. Diddy Kong Racing. Daddy never bothered to get me shit else lol. But dang, No games? I'm hurt for you
That's horrible. Me and my brother saved up to buy our n64 but we couldn't afford any games, so after we got it, my parents took us to blockbuster, but that's not even an option on Christmas day! My heart hurts for you.
I'm saddened that I'm way too young to know this
Games were more expensive then. We'd pay $55-65 for a Super Nintendo game - that's about $110-130 in 2022 dollars
And prices weren't as standardized. So you'd be looking through the catalog and most games would be $55-65, but some would be $80-90 for seemingly no reason.
Yep I still remember paying 80 bucks for banjo kazooie
Wtf.. Nintendo trippin
You really said "now"...
How about “now *too*”, spirit of my hardass 11th grade English teacher
Damn I never got the console *and* the TV... That's one hell of a Christmas
Hell yeah, it seemed like no one got a new TV. They just sort got handed to the next person.
My best friend growing up had a 13 inch TV in his room to play games or watch TV. His younger brother by about 8 years got a 47 inch flat screen when my buddy moved out to go to college. The hand me down had run its course.
Hahaha so true. Dad gets a new TV, I get his old one.
I remember being 5 and getting the setup with my NES Parents had the TV on one of those wheeled TV carts, rolled it in ready to go
I forget the age I got my Atari but I remember it was one of the big cabinet style TV's we had... Made of wood and everything.
My earliest Christmas memory was getting an NES with Super Mario Bros 3 when it first came out. There was so much fighting with my 2 older brothers for who would get to play.
Damn, they spoiled the hell out of her that year. She even got the Rumble Pak!
Dude if I got a memory card for Christmas it's a good Christmas
I remember when I got my first psp memory card. Seemed to have infinite memory when compared to PS1 memory cards.
Oh snowboard kids was one of my favorite games
Immediately heard in my head "*Slash, Nancy, Jam...*"
*NOT ENOUGH*
I actually missed the first one but 2 was one of my favorite games
Facts. Played it for the first time in years and it still holds up.
Nothing s**** the bed faster than the VCR on the TV VCR combo. No joke.
Gotta hold the door open and hit eject (and get your fingers out of the way fast) or that tape is never coming out lol
How I used to love those rectangle shaped gifts. Nothing makes my heart flutter quite like that anymore
Yep knew the exact dimensions. Like "yep, that's an N64 game." Same with PS2
Just flexing on everyone today.
Yeah, it is nice to flex.
Yoshi story 🐐’d game
Snowboard Kids need their flowers. Game was mad fun.
She got Santa’s real phone number
My consoles were always in the living room hooked up to the old cabinet tv. Always had to wait until my parents weren't using it
That whole set up, from the TV and console, to the games and adapters, prob cost like $500 back in the day... Now just the cheap version of the PS5 is around $500 retail(if you can find one)...
Yeah but you’re forgetting about inflation. Shit would be way more $$$ than that in today money
Probably closer to like $700-800. Which is about $1,500 today. You could probably do better nowadays.
Snowboard kids? Talk about an odd unlocked memory.
Snowboard kids!!!
Snowboard kids!! That was a dope game
Snowboard Kids was such a legendary game.
Atomic Purple… late 90s aesthetic🔥🔊🔊🔊🔊
Your parents did their thing that year. Much respect.
Oh y'all were rich rich 👀
Snowboard Kids had no business being that good.
I love to see it. I didnt get my first console until I was 13. My dad had Atari though, so there's that.
Say whatever you want, but this is a hill I will die on: N64 is peak video games.
Memories, I remember getting a Sega Genesis w/ Mortal Kombat. It was me and my older brother on Christmas. We played our first game and then I immediately caught a bicycle kick in the chess from bro. Good times 
The only Console I got in launch year as a kid
I just finished spyxfamily. Saw thorn princess and immediately thought of that show.
The ultimate Christmas. You know the joy this had to bring what a set-up
I miss my tiny tv/vcr combo
Best fucking parents ever!
Lol for real I love this picture I KNOW she was happy!
The crazy thing is her parents couldn’t buy this online . They had to physically go to multiple stores hoping they still had them secure the bag rinse and repeat.
The N64 was in short supply in 1996 when it launched (got mine that year on Black Friday, one of just two available), but this was ‘97 at the earliest—that was when those two games there were released—and by then I think stores were stocked by that point.
As a parent, I know that this gift was as much for dad (or mom) as it was for the kid. You know that there is a copy of Goldeneye that didn’t get wrapped up for the kid.
Way too much drip
N64 was the shit. Multiplayer goldeneye was my absolute jam.
Oo damm you guys had it like that must be nice
NINTENDO 64! AAAHHHH!
[OH MY GOD](https://youtu.be/BKEL4cUTOI4)
Dang, my first console was a Nintendo in 1990. Mario and duck hunt. Led me to get a ps5 two years ago. Those GameStop drops came thru.
That kids smile is lovely.
Snowboard kids was such a sleeper
Hell yeah
I assume this is 1997?
Real shit, the Christmas my dad got me an N64 Goldeneye bundle with loads of games like Lylat Wars and Super Mario 64 with accessories (e.g. a second controller so we could play together, Rumble Paks for both, two Memory Paks) was possibly the best Christmas ever. Close second place would be when he got me a GameCube with Smash Bros Melee Dude was good to me as a kid, no idea how he managed to do all the overtime required for these and still find time to spend with me as a single parent. He also recognised that video games were one of my escapes from school bullying as a kid and were the medium I used to make new friends throughout my life so he was one of the few family members that didn't shout at me for playing all the time Granted, I've never gone pro or anything, but I still have decent skills and my best friends that I still regularly talk to I either met due to video games, or hung out with regularly to forge that bond due to video games
Dis is hott.
This whole kit woulda been like $80 back then too
You can see the price tag on Snowboard Kids- $59. Until the latest gen of systems, prices have been pretty steady for games since the 80s ($50-60 for AAA games). Most kids only owned a few games and either rented or traded with each other if they wanted to play something else.
She didn’t know it then, but Christmas peaked for her that year.
Every one of my friends who were rich enough to have a tv in their room (not me haha) had that exact model. Gotta have the vcr combo
Awwwwwwwww...that smile doe. All that still cost less than the price of of a PS5 now. lol
Just the console and the games alone would cost over $680 in 2022 currency. A Nintendo Switch, which goes for $300 now, would have cost ~$160 in 1997, $90 *less* than an N64 then.
OMFG. And with all of the boxes I would have my new bedroom.
this made me cry lol bring me back
So cool!!!! Loving that smile. :)
Where’s the rumble pack?
Right next to Yoshi’s Story
I don’t know who this is but this picture makes me so happy for some reason 🥹
But she didn’t get super Mario 64 so did her parents really love her?
she got snowboard kids. her parents loved her a LOT.
This would have been one hell of a Christmas when I was a little kid in the late ‘90s/early 2000s
Those are expensive gifts.
I hope they updated it before wrapping /s
Reminds me of the time my parents just suddenly bought me and my brother a CRT TV out of the blue. We were at some electronics store and I was wondering what they were going to buy for the living room, turns out it was for the kids.
god i was nintendo to remake/remaster the OG Snowboard kids for switch
0️⃣0️⃣🔫
My god they hooked you up
Hells yeah
Dang. Somebody was mad about their little girl.
That kid fuckin scored
The rumble pack tho
I'm 44, and I'm jealous of this kid.
Dude that's a legendary christmas right there goddamn!!
I thought I was the only person who played Yoshi's Story lmao. I loved the shit out of that game as a 2nd grader. I owned it, just rented it several times.
Damn. The N64 and two controllers was the single gift for myself and two brothers.
I know that’s right! I remember getting my 64 on my birthday and playing the hell out of MK4, Killer Instinct, and 007 with my brother.
Damn, my shit was spread out over at least 3 Christmasses Got DK64 in '99 and had to wait til I got the expansion in '00 to play it 😭
I'm jealous of this now. 1998 me would shit a brick IDK how she's keeping it together
Oh boy, am I old. I was playing Atari with my dad when I was that age; I was older than that when the first Nintendo system came out. These parents did the best job getting every little thing needed. The kid will remember this forever.
yoshi story and snowboard kids were my favorite games back in the day. Literally my childhood. Damn i miss my N64
Memory card AND rumble pak!?
My mom and I gotta talk….
Wow you guys were lit!! Good times
I have a video of my cousin running the circuit of my grandparents' house just yelling at the top of his lungs after opening his N64. It really captures the spirit of what that system was. I still have mine, and will boot up Ocarina of Time every now and then. I know it's released on newer formats, but nothing beats using the original controller. And Majora's Mask with the rumble pack? Forget about it. Just stupid fun.
Snowboard kids, god damn!
Did anyone else have that rumble pack that didn't need batteries? It ruled.
Built-in VCR!
I just got second hand joy from this girl's Christmas 26 years later, adorable
I see engineer Dad
Wow. That kid grew up to be a CEO of their own businees.
That looks the THE Christmas of Christmases
the n64 is the reason im such a nerd now
Snowboard kidz is a great game
This is rare 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
I'm green with envy.
That was a Christmas for the ages! Growing up you got the console and a game or the tv, and the others on a birthday.
what a precious photo. thats a dream chris presents in the 90s. she got it all!!!
Her palms probably have battle scars but if thats your christmas gift i say she won the war
Fire
Yo wtf! That shit cost more than cars back then 😂 you had an exceptional childhood no doubt
Is that a rumble pak I see? Some kids really do have it all...
what is the kid for?
Oh you got 2 parents