Transfer Pak
{{Short description|Accessory for the Nintendo 64}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox computing device
| image = Nintendo-64-GB-Transfer-Pak.jpg
| alt = An image of the front and back of the Japanese 64GB Pack accessory. The front is made of light gray plastic and has a large protruding plastic plug with electronic connectors. The back is made of translucent dark gray plastic with a receptacle slot for a Game Boy game cartridge to slide in parallel to the back. A thin red sticker on the back displays the device's name, model number, and assorted legal indica.
| caption = The Japanese 64GB Pack
| manufacturer = Nintendo
| type = Data transfer device
| generation = Fifth
| releasedate = {{Video game release|JP|August 1, 1998|NA|March 6, 2000{{Cite web |date=March 2, 2000 |title=N64 Games of March |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/03/03/n64-games-of-march-2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420125802/https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/03/03/n64-games-of-march-2 |archive-date=April 20, 2023 |access-date=May 22, 2023 |website=IGN |language=en}}|EU|April 7, 2000{{cite magazine|title=New Game Reviews |magazine=Nintendo Official Magazine |issue=91 |date=April 2000 |publisher=EMAP |page=24}}}}
| media = Game Boy Game Pak
| connectivity = Nintendo 64 controller expansion port
| dimensions = {{cvt|78|x|69|x|93.4|mm}}
| weight = {{cvt|88|g|lb}}
}}
The Transfer Pak{{efn|Known in Japan as the {{nihongo|64 GB Pack|64GBパック|Rokujūyon Jī Bī Pakku|lead=yes}}}} is an accessory for the Nintendo 64 (N64) controller. It features a cartridge slot compatible with Game Boy or Game Boy Color (GBC) games. When plugged into the controller's expansion port, it allows for the transfer of data between supported N64 and GBC games to access additional content. The Pokémon Stadium games, with which the Transfer Pak was initially bundled for sale, also feature the ability to emulate specific Game Boy Pokémon titles for play on the N64.
The Transfer Pak was supported by 20 N64 and 64DD games released between 1998 and 2000, only six of which supported it outside of Japan. Several games which initially planned to utilize the accessory were either cancelled or had the functionality removed. A similar accessory for the 64DD, the 64 GB Cable, was also never released. As a result, while recognized as one of the first examples of connectivity between Nintendo's home consoles and handhelds, retrospective coverage of the Transfer Pak has found it largely unnecessary.
History
The Transfer Pak was developed by Nintendo Research & Development 3, and was first revealed at Nintendo's Space World 1997 trade show.{{Cite magazine |date=February 1998 |title=Nintendo's Space World 1997 |magazine=Next Generation |page=23 |issue=38}} It was released in Japan as a pack-in with the game Pocket Monsters Stadium (1998), which required the Transfer Pak for many of its features.{{Cite web |last=Schneider |first=Peer |date=August 30, 1998 |title=Pokemon Stadium (Import) Review |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/08/31/pokemon-stadium-import-2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108002009/https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/08/31/pokemon-stadium-import-2 |archive-date=January 8, 2023 |access-date=January 7, 2023 |website=IGN}} In North America and Europe, the Transfer Pak was similarly bundled with Pokémon Stadium (1999) for its English-language release in 2000, receiving a standalone release shortly thereafter.{{Cite web |date=March 7, 2000 |title=Transfer Pak |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/03/07/transfer-pak |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909075300/https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/03/07/transfer-pak |archive-date=September 9, 2017 |access-date=October 5, 2022 |website=IGN}}{{Cite web |date=November 3, 1999 |title=Nintendo Announces Q1 Dates |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/11/03/nintendo-announces-q1-dates |access-date=June 3, 2024 |website=IGN |archive-date=August 16, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816161404/https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/11/03/nintendo-announces-q1-dates |url-status=live }} While the device itself is physically compatible with all Game Boy and GBC Game Paks, N64 games can only connect to games from the same region.{{cite magazine|title=Mario Golf Links Up|magazine=N64 Magazine|issue=37|publisher=Future Publishing|date=January 2000|page=46}}
Unlike the Super Game Boy peripheral, which allowed Game Boy games to be played on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the Transfer Pak's primary use was not to play Game Boy games on the N64. Nintendo and Intelligent Systems developed a separate accessory to serve this function, the Wide-Boy64, but it was not released to the public and was instead only available to game developers and members of the gaming press.{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Craig |date=Aug 31, 1999 |title=Wide Boy |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/09/01/wide-boy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107072936/https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/09/01/wide-boy |archive-date=January 7, 2023 |access-date=January 1, 2023 |website=IGN}}{{Cite web |date=March 31, 2000 |title=TGS: Wide Boy Gets an Upgrade |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/04/01/tgs-wide-boy-gets-an-upgrade |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101205852/https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/04/01/tgs-wide-boy-gets-an-upgrade |archive-date=January 1, 2023 |access-date=January 1, 2023 |website=IGN}} However, the Pokémon Stadium games included a built-in Game Boy emulator, allowing users to play compatible Pokémon games on the N64 by inserting them into the Transfer Pak.{{Cite news |last=Harris |first=Craig |date=September 14, 2001 |title=Connecting to the Cube |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/09/14/connecting-to-the-cube |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128163844/https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/09/14/connecting-to-the-cube |archive-date=November 28, 2020 |access-date=August 7, 2020 |publisher=IGN}}
A similar accessory for the 64DD, the "64 GB Cable",{{Cite magazine |date=January 1998 |title=新ゲーム創世紀の Hyper Gears |trans-title=Hyper Gears, A New Gaming Phenomenon |magazine=Monthly Nintendo Power |publisher=Media Factory |page=19 |lang=ja}} was designed by Nintendo subsidiary Marigul Management to connect an N64 controller port to compatible GBC games with proprietary ports built directly into their cartridges, and would allow data to be transferred from the GBC to a 64DD storage cartridge, as well as for the GBC to be used as a "sub-screen" for certain 64DD games.{{Cite web |date=August 28, 1999 |title=What's DT, you ask? |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/08/28/whats-dt-you-ask-2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423200641/https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/08/28/whats-dt-you-ask-2 |archive-date=April 23, 2024 |access-date=April 23, 2024 |website=IGN}} This was demonstrated at Space World 1999 with the game DT Bloodmasters, a trading card game directed by Masanobu Endō that used the 64 GB Cable to exchange cards between the two systems, as well as allow players to privately view their cards on the GBC screen.{{cite magazine |title=『DT』好調制作中の大ベテラン 遠藤雅伸氏を直撃インタビュー |trans-title=An interview with veteran creator Masanobu Endo, who is currently working on "DT" |magazine=The 64Dream |issue=22 |publisher=Mainichi Communications |date=July 1998 |page=96 |lang=ja}} The cable and DT Bloodmasters were ultimately never released, though its GBC counterpart, DT: Lords of Genomes, was released in May 2001.{{cite magazine |title=ランドネットサービス停止にともない 「DT(仮)」の開発方針が大きく変更!! |trans-title=Due to the termination of the Randnet service, the development of "DT" (tentative) has changed significantly!! |magazine=The 64Dream |issue=53 |publisher=Mainichi Communications |date=February 2001 |page=104 |lang=ja}}{{cite magazine |title=DT ローズオブゲノム |trans-title=DT: Lords of Genomes |magazine=Nintendo Dream |issue=56 |publisher=Mainichi Communications |date=May 2001 |page=107 |lang=ja}} Derby Stallion 64 (2001) was also intended to support the 64 GB Cable, using the GBC as a second screen to place private bets on horse races, but this feature was removed after the accessory's cancellation.
Supported games
The following is a complete list of Nintendo 64 and 64DD games that are compatible with the Transfer Pak, along with the corresponding Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. Some N64 games' Transfer Pak functions are only available in certain regional releases, due to their GBC companion games not releasing in those markets.
=Cancelled support=
Some games were intended to include Transfer Pak features, only to remove them prior to release. During development of Pokémon Snap (1999), Satoru Iwata experimented with transferring photos to the Game Boy Camera so that they could be printed using the Game Boy Printer; however, the development team found the printer's output quality to be insufficient, and the feature was abandoned in favor of printing stickers through specialized stations at specific retailers.{{cite magazine |title=大爆笑HAL研ブラザーズ |trans-title=Big Laugh HAL Laboratory Bros. |magazine=The 64Dream |issue=32 |publisher=Mainichi Communications |date=May 1999 |page=85 |lang=ja}} The GBC version of The World Is Not Enough (2000) was initially reported to feature Transfer Pak connectivity with its N64 counterpart, allowing players to strengthen their characters in the N64 game's multiplayer mode, but this was dropped before release.{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Craig |date=July 17, 2001 |title=The World Is Not Enough |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/07/16/the-world-is-not-enough-5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202162507/https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/07/16/the-world-is-not-enough-5 |archive-date=December 2, 2019 |access-date=December 2, 2019 |website=IGN}}{{Cite web |date=March 20, 2001 |title=New media: TWINE GBC |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-media-twine-gbc/1100-2699103/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202162308/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-media-twine-gbc/1100-2699103/ |archive-date=December 2, 2019 |access-date=January 1, 2023 |website=GameSpot}} WWF No Mercy (2000) was meant to use the Transfer Pak to import points earned in its GBC counterpart, which could be spent on rewards in the N64 game's "SmackDown Mall".{{Cite web |last=Gerstmann |first=Jeff |author-link=Jeff Gerstmann |date=May 17, 2000 |title=WWF No Mercy Hands-On |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/wwf-no-mercy-hands-on/1100-2570621/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010611132046/http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/previews/0,10869,2570621,00.html |archive-date=June 11, 2001 |access-date=May 28, 2022 |website=GameSpot}} However, this feature was removed following the cancellation of the GBC version.{{Cite web |date=December 21, 2000 |title=No Link for No Mercy |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/12/22/no-link-for-no-mercy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103055049/https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/12/22/no-link-for-no-mercy |archive-date=November 3, 2012 |access-date=July 11, 2018 |website=IGN}}
Other games with planned Transfer Pak support went unreleased in any form. One of these was Cabbage, a 64DD breeding simulator game, which would have featured the Transfer Pak as a major gameplay component.{{Cite interview |last=Miyamoto |first=Shigeru |last2=Itoi |first2=Shigesato |date=December 1997 |title=BIG2の友椅対談! |trans-title=A Friendly Discussion Between the "Big 2" |magazine=The 64Dream |page=91 |publisher=Mainichi Communications |issue=15 |subject-link1=Shigeru Miyamoto |subject-link2=Shigesato Itoi|lang=ja}}{{Cite web |last=Gantayat |first=Anoop |date=August 21, 2006 |title=Miyamoto Opens the Vault |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/08/21/miyamoto-opens-the-vault |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924152037/http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/08/21/miyamoto-opens-the-vault |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |access-date=January 28, 2015 |website=IGN}} The game was planned to allow players to transfer their pet to the Game Boy and continue to nurture it throughout the day.{{Cite web |date=January 29, 1998 |title=64DD: The Games |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/1998/01/30/64dd-the-games |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150129025943/http://www.ign.com/articles/1998/01/30/64dd-the-games |archive-date=January 29, 2015 |access-date=January 25, 2015 |website=IGN}}{{Cite web |date=April 4, 2000 |title=Nintendo Still Cooking Cabbage |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2000/04/05/nintendo-still-cooking-cabbage |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223063258/http://www.ign.com/articles/2000/04/05/nintendo-still-cooking-cabbage |archive-date=February 23, 2014 |access-date=February 25, 2014 |website=IGN}}
Reception
Reviews of the Pokémon Stadium games praised their use of the Transfer Pak, with some claiming that players who played the games without using it would find their appeal and features severely limited.{{Cite web |last=Bramwell |first=Tom |date=December 9, 2001 |title=Pokemon Stadium 2 |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/r-pstadium2-n64 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221221170857/https://www.eurogamer.net/r-pstadium2-n64 |archive-date=December 21, 2022 |access-date=December 21, 2022 |website=Eurogamer}} Similarly, Peer Schneider of IGN considered the Transfer Pak functionality in PD Ultraman Battle Collection 64 to be the game's sole redeeming feature.{{Cite web |last=Schneider |first=Peer |date=March 27, 2000 |title=PD Ultraman Battle Collection 64 (Import) Review |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/03/28/pd-ultraman-battle-collection-64-import |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221221062417/https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/03/28/pd-ultraman-battle-collection-64-import |archive-date=December 21, 2022 |access-date=December 21, 2022 |website=IGN}} When reviewing the Wii Virtual Console re-releases of Mario Golf and Mario Tennis, Lucas M. Thomas of IGN was disappointed by the removal of their Transfer Pak functionality, lamenting the games' incompleteness due to the inability to unlock their Transfer Pak-exclusive content. Some members of the press identified the Transfer Pak as an influence on later examples of connectivity between Nintendo's home consoles and handhelds, most prominently the GameCube – Game Boy Advance link cable.
In the years following the N64's discontinuation, the Transfer Pak has been regarded as a largely underutilized and unnecessary add-on. In a retrospective for Nintendo Life, Gavin Lane stated that the Transfer Pak, while interesting, never truly reached its full potential. Brett Elston of GamesRadar+ claimed that many players misinterpreted the Transfer Pak as a device meant to play Game Boy games on the television, leading to disappointment. Elston also described most games' Transfer Pak integration as "an afterthought, with features that were barely worth the hassle of digging it out of the closet."{{Cite web |last=Elson |first=Brett |date=July 8, 2009 |title=Nintendo's Most-Failingest Peripherals |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/nintendos-most-failingest-peripherals/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221221170857/https://www.gamesradar.com/nintendos-most-failingest-peripherals/ |archive-date=December 21, 2022 |access-date=December 21, 2022 |website=GamesRadar+}} Den of Geek{{'}}s Daniel Kurland considered the Transfer Pak to be "a frivolity rather than something fundamental", particularly given the meager number of games that supported it.{{Cite web |last=Kurland |first=Daniel |date=May 16, 2018 |title=41 Dumb Consoles and Accessories Nobody Needs |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/games/41-dumb-consoles-and-accessories-nobody-needs/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221221170859/https://www.denofgeek.com/games/41-dumb-consoles-and-accessories-nobody-needs/ |archive-date=December 21, 2022 |access-date=December 21, 2022 |website=Den of Geek}} Writing for GamesBeat, André Bardin was also critical of the Transfer Pak's lack of support, particularly outside of Japan.{{Cite web |last=Bardin |first=André |date=February 3, 2012 |title=Shame Is Plastic: 6 Gaming Accessories of Dubious Quality |url=https://venturebeat.com/games/shame-is-plastic-6-gaming-accessories-of-dubious-quality/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221221170859/https://venturebeat.com/games/shame-is-plastic-6-gaming-accessories-of-dubious-quality/ |archive-date=December 21, 2022 |access-date=December 21, 2022 |website=VentureBeat}}
Legacy
Some games have retained their Transfer Pak-exclusive content in digital re-releases. The 2010 remaster of Perfect Dark for Xbox 360 unlocks the same selection of cheats if the game detects a Perfect Dark Zero (2005) save file.{{Cite web |last=Higton |first=Ian |date=June 19, 2024 |title=7 bizarre Easter Eggs from across the Perfect Dark series |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/7-bizarre-easter-eggs-from-across-the-perfect-dark-series |website=Eurogamer |access-date=May 16, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250331230940/https://www.eurogamer.net/7-bizarre-easter-eggs-from-across-the-perfect-dark-series |url-status=live |archive-date=March 31, 2025}} In the 2024 Nintendo Classics re-release of Mario Tennis (GBC), the Transfer Pak-exclusive characters and minigames are accessible by default.
In 2019, an independent software developer created a ROM hack of Pokémon Stadium 2 that expanded the emulator's compatibility, allowing players to emulate other Game Boy games connected via the Transfer Pak.{{Cite web |last=Lane |first=Gavin |date=July 9, 2019 |title=Feature: The Legacy of Nintendo 64's Transfer Pak |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/07/feature_the_legacy_of_nintendo_64s_transfer_pak |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220201059/https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/07/feature_the_legacy_of_nintendo_64s_transfer_pak |archive-date=December 20, 2022 |access-date=December 20, 2022 |website=Nintendo Life}} In December 2023, as part of its update to add N64 support, the Polymega aftermarket console implemented Transfer Pak functionality, allowing players to use the device to dump their Game Boy games and save files to the system's memory for play.{{Cite web |last=McFerran |first=Damien |date=December 29, 2023 |title=Polymega's N64 Module Allows Support for Game Boy and Game Boy Color Games |url=https://www.timeextension.com/news/2023/12/polymegas-n64-module-allows-support-for-game-boy-and-game-boy-color-games |access-date=March 5, 2024 |website=Time Extension |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217220352/https://www.timeextension.com/news/2023/12/polymegas-n64-module-allows-support-for-game-boy-and-game-boy-color-games |url-status=live |archive-date=December 17, 2024}}
See also
Notes
{{Notelist}}