Plugging into the extension port on the underside of the console, the 64DD allows the Nintendo 64 to use proprietary 64MB magnetic disks for expanded and rewritable data storage, a real-time clock for persistent game world design, and a standard font and audio library for further storage efficiency. Its games and hardware accessories let the user create movies, characters, and animations to use within various other games and shared online. The system could connect to the Internet through a dedicated online service, Randnet, for e-commerce, online gaming, and media sharing.
Describing it as "the first writable bulk data storage device for a modern video game console", Nintendo designed the 64DD as an enabling technology platform for the development of new genres of games and applications, several of which were in development for several years. Only ten disks had been released and Randnet had 15,000 subscribers, when the 64DD was discontinued in February 2001. It was a commercial failure, with at least 15,000 total units sold, and was never released outside Japan.
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