I think GoldenEye was the most popular game for a good while even among Playstation and Sega fans, don't think Smash ever really accomplished that, it's a fighting game with Nintendo characters, it was naturally going to be very popular with Nintendo fans unless it played like shit. 

I remember people who hated Nintendo outright still saying they needed to buy GoldenEye. I had some buddies on my basketball team that were all about Sega (and later Playstation), but I always got asked to bring over the N64 with GoldenEye. That never happened with Smash Brothers. 

Bond is cool, no shame in admitting that, he's probably the coolest movie character too. 

Turok, Star Fox, and Yoshi's Island all came out 2017. I am definitely not saying any of these games would have been as big (mostly because they weren't, lol), but to say the N64 would have been dead until holiday 2018 is a bit much.

I assume you're saying 1997? Heh. 

Turok and Star Fox were already out by this point, Nintendo's holiday line up for 97 basically was only Diddy Kong Racing. 

Unfortunately though GoldenEye wasn't strong enough to prevent the Playstation from overcoming the N64 and starting to really outsell the N64, before that the N64 was outselling the Playstation fairly regularily in North America. But Final Fantasy VII came in September 1997 and too many other games, the N64 just couldn't plausibly stand up to it, though GoldenEye kept its head above water at least. 

Without that game I think Christmas '97 and 1st half of '98 at least would've been really, really ugly. 

That damn CD-ROM decision or inability for Nintendo to at least compromise with their development partners. Imagine if Nintendo had GoldenEye AND Final Fantasy VII for fall 1997 .... game over man, game over. 

It was a golden eyera (see what I did there!) For Nintendo back when rare was a powerhouse and Nintendo still seemed to care. Look at Nintendo now, barely a shadow of their former glory. Sad.

Great game. We played 4 player split screen, on a 13 inch tv, back in the day.

Hahaha, I remember I had a group of friends that would do the same. Like 12-inch TV that was *black & white*, I'd wake up and they'd still be playing at 6 AM. 

It was no fun to play multi against them because you be dead if they saw like a little pixel move, they were insane. 

Well, looking it up, I was mistaken about Yoshi's Island (which released 1998), but the other 2 released in 1997.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Fox_64

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turok:_Dinosaur_Hunter

Yes I remember that, but as I said, they were already released by summer 1997. After that Zelda 64, F-Zero 64, and Banjo-Kazooie were supposed to be the holiday games for the N64 and they all got delayed. 

The first half of 1997 was pretty good for the N64 actually, like I said until that point the N64 was still outselling the Playstation in North America. Unfortunately the lack of games just caught up to Nintendo. Sad really. Final Fantasy VII should've joined GoldenEye on the N64 and gone on to wreck holiday 1997. 

Without GoldenEye, I think N64 sales would've plumetted but they at least stayed stable. 

Or imagine a world where they got Xenogears and pushed it as hard as Sony was pushing FF VII. It'd be funny because it would have been S-E competing with itself, but it would have been interesting to witness.

Also, I see what you're saying, lol. Yoshi's Island would be the only game to fit the discription, not the ohter way around. march 1998!

Nintendo is a ubiquitously adored brand. It doesn't matter if a few PS/Sega fans don't like the characters. They are in a minority, even in Nintendo's worst years. Nintendo isn't a brand only adored by "Nintendo fans." It's a brand adored by everyone. That's why it's such a resilliant brand. "Cool" isn't defined as "not Nintendo."

Your anecdote is as flimsy as your definition of "cool." People will boot up Mario Kart/Smash 64 at a party lightyears before considering booting up Goldeneye. You just really like Bond. We get it. Lot's of people do, but let's not overstate Goldeneye's coolness compared to other games in Nintendo's history. Look past The 90s/early 2000s. Mario Kart Wii sold 35m copies, and was played my many people in that exact same teen/college age demographic. I should know, that's been my demographic. Not 35m "Nintendo fans/kids;" jocks, cheerleaders, frat boys, sorority sisters, everyone played those games. I've been to hundreds of parties/social gatherings, many with hundreds of people at a time. I know what these people think cool is, and it's not just guns and testosterone. If they're willing to play games at all, it's going to be something with a low barrier to entry, because "cool" people don't have the time to get good at precise aiming in Goldeneye. But they do have time for parties, and Smash/Mario Kart are party game kings. Not just for Nintendo fans. Not just for "video game nerds." For everyone.