The iQue Player () is a

handheld TV game A handheld TV game or plug and play game is an integrated home video game console and game controller, usually battery powered, which connects directly to a television. The game software is built directly into the unit, which is typically desig ...

version of the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...

console manufactured by iQue and released exclusively in China. It was developed as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

and

Wei Yen Wei Yen () is a Taiwanese-American technologist and entrepreneur known for his contributions to computer graphics and consumer electronics. He has founded or led several technology companies, including ArtX, iQue, and AiLive, and has held exe ...

following China's ban on the sale of home video game consoles. The console and controller are a single unit that plugs directly into a television, with a multiplayer accessory sold separately. The first part of its Chinese name, ''Shén Yóu,'' is a

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...

meaning "to make a mental journey."

History

Development

Due to the widespread

black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...

for video games in China—where consumers often purchased

pirated Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, ...

cartridges or downloaded game files for use with

console emulator A video game console emulator is a type of emulator that allows a computing device to emulate a video game console's hardware and play its games on the emulating platform. More often than not, emulators carry additional features that surpass ...

s—Nintendo sought to offer a secure and affordable official alternative. The iQue Player adopted a handheld plug-and-play format to circumvent a 2000 ban by the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

on the sale of traditional home video game consoles. Nintendo established the iQue company in December 2002 as a joint venture with Taiwanese-American engineer Wei Yen, a veteran of prior Nintendo collaborations. Yen had served as Senior Vice President at

Silicon Graphics Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics before 1999, later rebranded SGI, historically known as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and soft ...

during the early 1990s, where he played a key role in the creation of Project Reality, which later became the

. His company, BroadOn, developed the cryptographic security system used in the iQue Player to deter piracy. Although early development plans considered support for NES,

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania a ...

, and Nintendo 64 titles, the final product was limited to Nintendo 64 games. The iQue Player was officially announced at the

Tokyo Game Show , commonly known as TGS, is a video game trade fair and convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publication ...

in September 2003, with a planned launch in mid-October in major cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu, and a broader nationwide rollout scheduled for 2004. To gain approval from the

and potentially reverse the national ban on home video game consoles, Nintendo emphasized the educational and developmental benefits of gaming in its marketing strategy. The console featured a real-time clock, enabling parents to restrict playtime to specific hours. Upon launching a game, the system displayed a message discouraging prolonged play and encouraging regular breaks. The launch of the iQue Player was slightly delayed to November 18, 2003, with a limited selection of five launch games. Sales of the iQue Player were modest, with estimates ranging between 8,000 and 12,000 units. The final localized game released for the platform was ''

Animal Crossing is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo. It was created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. The player character is a human who lives in a village inhabited by various anthropomorphic animals and can ...

'' in 2006. On October 31, 2016, iQue announced that the iQue@Home service would be discontinued by the end of December that year. Servers were gradually deactivated, and all digital distribution services ceased by 2018.

Technical details

The iQue Player is a compact version of the Nintendo 64, using

system-on-a-chip A system on a chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that combines most or all key components of a computer or electronic system onto a single microchip. Typically, an SoC includes a central processing unit (CPU) with memory, input/output, and dat ...

technology to run Nintendo 64 games ported specifically for the system. * Processor: MIPS R-4300i 64-bit CPU @ 140.625 MHz * Memory: 16 MB

DDR SDRAM Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DDR SDRAM) is a double data rate (DDR) synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) class of memory integrated circuits used in computers. DDR SDRAM, also retroactively called DDR ...

, 8 MB usable * Graphics: 100,000

polygons In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon' ...

per second, 2.09 million colors * Sound: ADPCM 64 The iQue Player has been used in

speedrunning Speedrunning is the act of playing a video game, or section of a video game, with the goal of completing it as fast as possible. Speedrunning often involves following planned routes, which may incorporate sequence breaking and exploit glitches ...

due to its faster loading times and quicker text scrolling compared to the Nintendo 64 versions.

Games

The iQue Player’s library comprises 14 titles, all based on Nintendo 64 games previously released in other regions. Although '' The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask'' was advertised on packaging and promotional materials, it was ultimately cancelled.Archived a
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Wayback Machine
Games were localized into Chinese with translated text and, in most cases, dubbed voice acting. However, some titles, such as the ''Mario'' series and ''

Sin and Punishment ''Sin and Punishment'' is a rail shooter video game co-developed by Treasure and Nintendo for the Nintendo 64, and released in Japan in 2000. Its story takes place in the near future of 2007 when war breaks out as humanity is struggling with a g ...

'', retained their original English voice tracks. Several games also included minor bug fixes and gameplay adjustments to account for the iQue Player’s lack of peripheral support, including the

Rumble Pak The is a removable device from Nintendo that provides force feedback while playing video games. Games that support the Rumble Pak cause it to vibrate in select situations, such as when firing a weapon or receiving damage, to immerse the player i ...

. Game distribution followed a model similar to the

Famicom Disk System The commonly shortened to the Famicom Disk System, is a peripheral for Nintendo's Family Computer (Famicom) home video game console, released in Japan on February 21, 1986. The system uses proprietary floppy disks called "Disk Cards" for more ...

and

Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninte ...

cartridge rewriting service in Japan. Users would bring their memory cards to retail iQue Depot kiosks to download games directly. In October 2004, Nintendo introduced iQue@Home, allowing users to connect the console to a PC via USB and download games from iQue’s servers. With either system, games were bound to a specific console, a form of

digital rights management Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures, such as access control technologies, can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. DRM ...

(DRM). Games were downloaded to memory cards as encrypted files and re-encrypted on first launch using a console-specific private key. This system proved highly effective at deterring piracy, even in one of the world's most piracy-prone markets. The iQue Player was bundled with a memory card containing several games. ''Dr. Mario 64'' was fully playable, while ''

Super Mario 64 ''Super Mario 64'' is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan and North America in 1996 and PAL regions in 1997. It is the first ''Super Mario'' game to feature 3D gameplay, combini ...

'', '' Star Fox 64'', '' The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time'', and ''

Wave Race 64 is a 1996 racing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the second entry in the ''Wave Race'' series following the 1992 Game Boy game '' Wave Race''. Gameplay involves the player racing on a personal watercraf ...

'' were limited-time trials. The built-in real-time clock enforced trial limits based on minutes of play time. Full versions could later be purchased at kiosks or via iQue@Home without redownloading.

References

External links