Nintendo 64DD
English-friendly titles in this collection: 5
Tested with Ares (138)
File size (uncompressed): 358.2 MB
Format: .ndd
The Nintendo 64DD, with the "DD" meaning "Dynamic Disk" or "Disk Drive," was a rare, interesting add-on for the N64 only released in Japan.
It was a financial flop with only about 15,000 total units sold, and it was only available through mail purchase instead of in stores. It also came into the market far too late, already eclipsed in the shadow of the upcoming GameCube.
The disks could store an amazing 64 megs, which was about 50 more than the average Nintendo 64 carts at the time, but the CD media already in use by other consoles could utilize around 700 megs, making it a moot point.
Another neat feature was the social internet service that dropped at the same time as the unit: "Randnet." The software came on a disk, and the disk cartridge itself was the modem when inserted!
Sadly, due to lack of public and developer support, only a small handful of titles were ever made for the add-on. However, half of those are some of the coolest "Mario Paint" style creator tools ever made on a console!
Special items included: Unreleased prototypes, English-patched translations, and games not in English that are easy enough to play without being fluent in another language.
Items removed: Non-working dumps, duplicates, and titles that require proficiency in another language to play.
Release notes: In order to play the "F-Zero Expansion Kit" or the games included in "Dezaemon DD," you will also need to load the original Nintendo 64 cartridge as a combo just like you would have to do with the actual hardware. This is very simple when using the Ares emulator - First, you load the included matching title with the .z64 extension found in the Champion Collection. Ares will then ask you to load another file - Select the matching title with the .ndd extension this time.
Just because I know I will get asked "Where are the Mario Paint-like games?!" - Don't worry, they're in the "Extras" collection.
Where to put the included BIOS files? Check your emulator/frontend's documentation. However, if you're using Ares, you'll get to browse and select the different BIOS files individually from the setup menu.