Enhancer 64

The Enhancer 64, alternatively known by the codename "Mario Enhancer" while in development, would have been the release title for an unreleased piece of Nintendo 64DD hardware, intended to allow Nintendo 64 cartridges which did not possess Super Mario 64's Personalization A.I to experience "personalization" through on-the-fly memory editing. Memory editing through the Enhancer 64 would have permitted the modification of level assets, object positions and/or object banks, and the re-introduction of unused assets.

Cancelled before it could be released, or even advertised in any meaningful way, the Enhancer 64 is regarded as another, lesser known victim of the Nintendo 64DD's failure to launch in Japan.

The existence of the Enhancer 64 hardware was revealed to numerous gaming forums, and imageboards, by an anonymous source who worked for Nintendo of Japan, writing under the alias, "A", who supposedly discovered the disk in a box of their old office supplies.

Functionality
Functioning as any Nintendo 64DD disk could be expected to function, the Enhancer 64 can be inserted into the disk drive, and, only after launching a short "welcome" application to alert the user to its operational status, will silently, without interfering directly, begin processing and manipulating, reading and writing to cartridge memory when a Nintendo 64 cartridge is inserted into the Nintendo 64 deck.

The Enhancer 64 is capable of reading and writing to memory within almost any Nintendo 64 title's code. Unused content can be reintroduced, but only if there is associated code for the manipulated game to execute. Occasionally, the Enhancer 64 will pull unused text strings, and re-insert them into the manipulated game at odd, unexpected intervals. It can be inferred from this behavior that, perhaps, the Enhancer 64 did not receive thorough debugging.

Unlike the experimental Personalization A.I found within every copy of Super Mario 64, the Enhancer 64 possesses no intelligence or agency of its own, artificial or otherwise. It cannot retroactively increase or decrease level difficulty, or overall game difficulty. No instances of Dynamic Level Rearrangement in affected Nintendo 64 cartridges have been noted or described.

Use With Super Mario 64
As described by the former Nintendo of Japan source, "A", on a now-deleted imageboard thread, the Enhancer 64 is capable of modifying copies of Super Mario 64. If the Nintendo 64 hardware is physically modified to allow for NTSC-J and/or PAL region cartridges to be inserted into the deck, the Enhancer 64 can modify the "Shindou Edition" of Super Mario 64.

Contrary to assumption, the Enhancer 64 hardware does not, according to "A", interfere with the A.I's personalization process. In fact, the Enhancer 64 seems to have been developed with Super Mario 64's ability to be personalized in mind, as the Enhancer 64 will simply "pick up slack", as described by "A", for the A.I, should the A.I at all not succeed at, or otherwise blunder during gameplay personalization.

Cancellation and Subsequent Obscurity
Having failed to launch in Japan, and with no plans for a wider release - or any form of release, at all - in Western territories, the Nintendo 64DD's short lifespan likely claimed the Enhancer 64, dooming the hardware to languish in obscurity. Nintendo would likely see little to no value in releasing a hardware addon for the failing Nintendo 64DD peripheral, especially given that the Enhancer 64 was not a video game in and of itself, but, instead, a means of "improving" or "personalizing" video games.

According to former Nintendo of Japan employee, "A", there are less than a handful of Enhancer 64 disks in circulation. Those copies of the disk that are not held by Nintendo of Japan are presumed to be in the hands of other, former employees, and perhaps private collectors. Should a copy surface, it is assumed by those who are aware of its existence that it would command exceedingly high prices on the secondhand, gray market.

Theorizing
In circumstances where the Nintendo 64DD peripheral saw wider success in Japan, and potentially a release in Western territories, the Enhancer 64 could have, at the time, revolutionized the gaming industry. Although differing in form and function from common "cheat devices" which are used to manually alter a video game's code in such a way as to provide the player with an advantageous edge, the Enhancer 64 disk could have been recognized as such by the general public, although very likely not marketed as such by Nintendo, as an official piece of hardware.

Some theorize that the Enhancer 64 was cancelled, not exclusively because of the Nintendo 64DD's failure to launch, but, because it could have potentially allowed for Super Mario 64's personalization A.I to be uncovered and exposed. Before the Internet was widely accessible by the general public, and the true nature of Super Mario 64's capabilities of game personalization were discovered and became a widespread, documented phenomenon, little was documented, and less was known, about the A.I. It is theorized, then, that Nintendo wished to preserve this status quo, and subsequently cancelled the Enhancer 64 altogether.

Trivia
* "A" discussed testing several different Nintendo 64 cartridges with the Enhancer 64 disk, including, but not limited to, Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Banjo Kazooie, and Wave Race 64.



* According to "A", as described on a now-defunct gaming forum, the Enhancer 64 disk does not function at all when a Nintendo 64 cartridge which requires the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak is inserted into the deck, even when the Expansion Pak is present. Incomplete debugging may be to blame for this."* The Enhancer 64 disk could have rendered the 'improved' Nintendo 64DD port of Super Mario 64 irrelevant. It is widely known that the leaked 64DD port of Super Mario 64 occasionally malfunctions, and generally shows signs of poor, incomplete debugging; it was not intended for use, or viewing, by the general public."