For over 10 years prior to the launch of their N64 system, Nintendo sat fairly comfortably as the top dog in the video game console market. That all began to change by the mid-90s, however. Following Sega and Sony's (then) next-gen console face-off throughout much of 1995, Nintendo somewhat controversially opted to wait until the following year to release their own competing hardware. One of the main reasons for this decision was so that they could allow enough time for a sufficient pipeline of software titles to be ready to support the console (and not wind up in the same embarrassing predicament Sega had with their premature launch of the Saturn). While the delay did likely hurt them a bit with regard to potential sales lost, it also ensured that the N64 would make a strong impact when it did finally arrive (the lack of which for the Saturn no doubt contributed to that console's early demise).

Even though the official US launch date for the Nintendo 64 was intended to be Sunday, September 29th, 1996, as advertised, the vast majority of retailers broke that release date and began selling them before the start of the weekend. Following its successful launch, the Nintendo 64 achieved modest success throughout its life. The the decision to stick with cartridges in the age of the compact disc, along with a slight lack of third-party support, would cause Nintendo's system to be pretty handily outsold by Sony's PlayStation console. However, the Saturn's early departure from the field, combined with an absolute wealth of outstanding first and second-party titles, still solidified the Nintendo 64 as both an unquestionable success for Nintendo, as well as an object of great affection for Nintendo fans and gamers everywhere. 

Well, we're nearly three weeks into September, and that means it's about to be autumn, here in the Northern Hemisphere. But in case you wanted to hang on to that summer feeling for just a little while longer, Crytek has you covered with a beautiful-looking return to the lush jungles and crystal blue waters of the Lingshan Islands in their newly-refreshed first-person shooter classic, Crysis (Remastered). It's the legend you love, now with even better graphics (and this time around you don't have to worry about whether or not your system can handle it because it's on consoles now).

Also out in the last three weeks, an apparently limited-time three-in-one package of 3D Mario classics; a Steam port of the 4th entry in the scary good Disgaea series; and a pretty gnarly remaster of the first two titles of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater franchise. Adapt, Engage, Survive, then jump past the break to see more new releases from the last 21 days.