Lodgenet Nintendo 64

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Lodgenet Nintendo 64
Topic Started: Jan 27 2009, 05:37 PM (1,097 Views)
alxbly	Jan 27 2009, 05:37 PM Post #1
Alxblymus Primus Posts: 8,722 Group: Admin Member #168 Joined: October 18, 2008	Lodgenet Nintendo 64 The Lodgenet Nintendo 64 is a pay-per-play Nintendo 64 console that was installed in hotels. As of 2007, there are still some hotels which have Lodgenet N64's installed and available for play. As you can see there's a number of differences between the console Nintendo launched and the LodgeNet system. The controller has a number of key differences; The nintendo logo has been moved from it's normal position to just underneath the analogue stick (on the middle prong of the controller). In place of the Nintendo logo is LodgeNet's game select buttons, in two rows of three: Top row: large orange ORDER button, small black RESET button, large yellow MENU button Bottom Row: small black # button, large yellow SELECT button, small yellow * button. The cord is coiled like a telephone cable. The system itself is very different. It's boxed into a wall to prevent tampering and doesn't have a casing as such. The system doesn't use cartridges at all, instead each unit is cabled to a main "server" within the hotel (basically, a hard drive that has the games on it) and the game is downloaded to the Lodgenet N64 consoles RAM memory once a person has selected it. The price of the games seems to vary between hotels, from $5 to $7.35 per hour. Here are some photos of the device in action, you can see that in this case the charge is $6.95 + tax for 60 minutes of play. The LodgeNet N64 pictured above is fitted with an expansion pak, but I've been unable to find out if all LodgeNet N64's were fitted with one. One source has quoted the Lodgenet as having 33 games to choose from but, again, I'm unable to confirm this. LodgeNet have a brief history of their company on their website, at: http://www.lodgenet.com/ Sadly, there's no photos of their videogames systems. Their abbreviated history is as follows: They started a partnership with Nintendo of America in 1994, supplying SNES consoles to hotels. In 1998 they started supplying and maintaining Nintendo 64 systems in hotels and hospitals (as well as televisons, etc) and they still do today. They also supply Gamecube systems to hotels/hospitals. I've not managed to track down a photo of their SNES or Gamecube system but, in honesty, I've not really looked very hard. If I come across images of them then I'll post them here. As you can see from the previous photos, the Lodgenet system used a pretty standard N64 controller without any real changes, except for the menu buttons. However, I've since discovered that Lodgenet issued a revised controller to some hotels: This controller has a Gamecube style analogue stick. As you can see from the first photos, the original Lodgenet controller had a standard N64 stick; one which has a seperate housing (the dark grey bit) and a long thin stalk. This new version has the Gamecube style analogue stick, with a half-ball base and small stalk (the style also used in the Hori Pad Mini), and there's no seperate housing. Here's a comparison photo for anyone who still doesn't know what I'm on about: This is (to my knowledge) the only verion of the official N64 controller that has addressed the problem of wear on the analogue stick. And this redesign raises other questions; did Nintendo ever consider this design for general release? It is purely speculation but I believe that this controller design may have been considered as a revised design in the later stages of the N64's life. I'd also speculate that perhaps if N64 sales had been stronger after the release of the PS2 we may have seen this controller being released. Confirmed games from this system include: Super Mario 64 Super Smash Bros Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask Excitebike 64 Mariokart 64 Mario Tennis Mario Party 3 and probably quite a few others. I'll add more games to the the list as soon as I'm able to confirm them. Lastly, here are some of the other accessories used with the Lodgenet systems (although not for the N64).
	Xbox Live: alxbly \| PSN: alxbly \| Wii friend code: 2326 4589 7536 6941


alxbly	Sep 16 2009, 11:28 AM Post #2
Alxblymus Primus Posts: 8,722 Group: Admin Member #168 Joined: October 18, 2008	I finally got one of these Lodgenet controllers. Thanks to Assembler at www.assemblergames.com for selling me one of these, and thanks also to Franklint for pointing this out and making sure I didn't miss it. Okay, so here's the controller: So, you can see it's one of the "old-style" controllers, i.e. one of the ones that doesn't have a Gamecube stick. We've all seen these before in this very topic, so I'll move swiftly on. The rear view looks pretty much the same as a standard N64 controller with the exception of the additional buttons and the fact that there's no controller pak arch (like you can see here). The controller pak slot does not feature on this controller. The cord is pretty long and is coiled like a telephone cord. The connection on the end is a standard telephone connection type thingy. Sorry, I dunno the official name of this kind of connector, but you can see if from the photo or see a close up by clicking here. The space where the controller pak should fit now states "Controller is not compatible with any home games system. If removed a $29.95 service charge will added to your room bill". Sounds like a bargain to me. What isn't that clear from the photos is that this isn't a insert to the controller pak slot; the controller casing is molded with this and, as it's part of the casing, it isn't removable. The screws beside where the controller pak slot used to be are protected by plastic coverings, maybe to discourage people from opening these controllers up. They're easy enough to remove, though... So here's an opened controller. As you can see, the controller pak connectors aren't on the circuit board, as they would be with any other official controller. Removing the circuit board doesn't reveal any unexpected surprizes... well maybe one... Anyway, here's the controller casing with the circuit board and then the buttons removed: But back to that circuit board. Flip it over and there is one surprise: Notice the branding? Here's a close up: The circuit board and the chip on the circuit board are Hori branded. It seems that they perhaps manufacture these controllers. Weirdly, even the Hori Commander controller, which is the Hori controller which shares the most with the official controller, doesn't have a Hori chip (although it does have a Hori circuit board), as you can see here. The white stuff on plastic ring isn't dust, it's plastic lubricant. Strange, because that isn't usually where the control stick wears down. Anyway, the stick in this controller is an official Nintendo one and it appears to be pretty new... maybe these were replaced semi-regularly? Since I can't use this controller without modifying that connector plug, I may end up using the nice new control stick in another controller.
	Xbox Live: alxbly \| PSN: alxbly \| Wii friend code: 2326 4589 7536 6941


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