Transfer Pak

The Transfer Pak 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. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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.

A similar accessory for the 64DD, the "64 GB Cable", 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. 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. The cable and ''DT Bloodmasters'' were ultimately never released, though its GBC counterpart, ''DT: Lords of Genomes'', was released in May 2001. '' 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. 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. '' 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". However, this feature was removed following the cancellation of the GBC version.

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. The game was planned to allow players to transfer their pet to the Game Boy and continue to nurture it throughout the day.

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. Similarly, Peer Schneider of ''IGN'' considered the Transfer Pak functionality in ''PD Ultraman Battle Collection 64'' to be the game's sole redeeming feature. 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." ''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. Writing for '' GamesBeat'', André Bardin was also critical of the Transfer Pak's lack of support, particularly outside of Japan.

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. 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. 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.

See also

* Nintendo 64 accessories
* GameCube – Game Boy Advance link cable

Notes

References

{{Nintendo hardware

Game Boy accessories
Nintendo 64 accessories
Products introduced in 1998