Scrapped System BIOS 

Why do I feel nostalgia towards a menu that never even existed

The Super Mario 64 Beta Archive channel will only be active for a limited time, and will become inactive after the end of March 2021.

This is sick as hell, feels exactly like the dreamcast's internal BIOS.

"Position your hand on the controller" "Do not turn the console off, or let go of the controller" "a system that automatically applied settings to the user" "the console's shell looked mostly the same, but the interior was much different" ... Well no wonder I felt so uneased...

God that BIOS is ridiculously well made, this is above Nintendo quality.

For some reason, this video makes me uncomfortable but relaxed as well

This BIOS feels like a nice cross between the Dreamcast and Gamecube's BIOSes. It also feels like an appropriate evolutionary step down from Gamecube's BIOS.

Oh man, the way the logo turns red after the “Game Sync” is so cool. I love subtle details like that.

this has such a well defined foreboding atmosphere like petscop. especially when there's error screens; they give me such a feeling of existential dread :)

“Don’t make a every copy is personalized joke” “Don’t make a every copy is personalized joke” “Don’t make a every copy is personalized jo-“ Galaxy 2 was too personalized to be in the new game

This looks WAY WAY too nintendoy, Might as well stop guessing and start believing you're ACTUALLY a nintendo employee. The game sync gives off a lot of personalzation vibes though :o

This looks... Pretty modern all things considered. Even used the loading icon from the 3DS I think, the square loading icon.... Also >After the Game Sync is done the logo went from blue to red

No one's gonna talk about the cut off explanation about the "incident" on the boot menu?

Even though this is fake, it still would have been cool if the N64 actually had a BIOS like this.

Holy shit Game Sync is just the personalization part of the iceberg

**coin sound** YEAH!

I was kind of expecting during the game sync part for everything to just stop and have a pop up that just says “you took your hand off the controller” in ominous looking text

This is real. Too real. Cmon, wheres the "THEN A SKELETON POPPED OUT" formula back when these Mario 64 things started a few months back? Amazing vids, i like the actual realism and time taken into these videos

I actually thought this was real lol also I like how it freezes during the game sync. It makes it feel more realistic.

So now we have an official term for Personalization: "Game Sync" or "Synched".

Lol I love that its Argonaut that’s responsible for the BIOS considering the narrative is how nintendo screwed them over a bit Nice little detail there

this is literally the technology they mention in the original "every copy is personalized" copy pasta. the player places their thumb on the control stick and the system collects data with the "game sync" when mario 64 is booted up again, the opening logo changes from blue to red, to match the players favorite colour. that's just... so cool

This looks like it could've been an actual Nintendo 64 menu!

Former Nintendo employee hear to elaborate on this a bit, this menu was in the system boot memory until about 4 months before release, Argonaut had a huge fallout with Nintendo behind the scenes, leading to this menu being scrapped. Ironically, Argonaut later sold this menu to Sega for use in the Dreamcast a few years later, all though it had been heavily modified from its original N64 version. Game Sync was some thing where you could kind of personalize your N64, it was based of how you used the joy stick, thus why you had to put your thumb on it for setup. The controller would change stick tightness and stuff like that for the best game experience. Hopefully Nintendo won't take this down.

This is seriously high-effort stuff. I can't believe how authentically Nintendo it all looks and feels. You guys have real talent.

N64:Uh-oh! I can't read my settings ! Now I'm gonna play the SM64 Game Over Audio.

I always dreamed of a start menu like that for the Nintendo 64.

Argonaut working on this game with us is important ever since that one incident happened with that one **text cuts off** Oh no, they can't be doing it.

Ever since the influx of "every mario is personalized" videos, it got boring real quick, but I think there's something very special with this channel =)

My theory is that the Game Sync was the experimental AI and was what made the game personalized in the first place. Spooky

One thing that makes this eerie for me is that the screen freezes as the console processes the game sync information

all creepiness aside, the loading sound at 1:25 is actually pretty sick :P

I really admire how this channel has strayed from the usual SM64 iceberg cliches like the wario apparition and whatnot and chosen to create its own story out of the personalization and Argonaut sections of it, like they threw darts at a picture of the iceberg and decided to make the plot out of whatever they hit, and they’re doing a damn good job of it. I absolutely adore this, keep up the good work.

I like where you're taking the whole "every copy is personalized" thing, and actually trying to explain how that could work. So far I'm theorizing that the "game sync" is an experimental AI that would somehow customize your experience by scanning your body, but they gave up on the idea because of some unknown, possibly sinister reason. Maybe it was just too ambitious for the time, but maybe there was something more to it...

Even the Japanese is really good. Japanese manuals usually write "Nintendo" in all capitals, and when they refer you to another manual usually write ご覧ください (please take a look at) rather than 確認してください (please check). But either way works. Really fantastic work on this.

i love the AU-style story this channel is telling, along with the really well-made visuals please keep this up i love it

Well, now we know that Argonaut was definitely more involved with more than just the games, and they're pretty prideful about it too. The whole Game Synchronization that has been shown is quite the technological feat, especially considering that some of these menu assets seemed to go used on things like the 64DD to a certain extent. The fact that they show the Nintendo logo changing from blue to red shows that this tech, even after many years, is still functional and capable of synchronization with players. This ties back to what we see with Eric and the testing video. The game synchro literally can change things subtly, even text that was written by devs may seem different. By using this particular video, we can at least piece together a lot of the other unnatural content we've seen in some of the others. It's not seemingly malicious, but rather is the work of a prideful company that went way out of control. I can only hope that what we see next from Meg is a more in depth look at this sort of technology EDIT: Also, the cut off text seems to be hiding something pretty important. People are saying it's the Wario Apparition but I actually think it's something else entirely, perhaps the Yoshi Game? Either way, whilst we may have some answers ,more questions are being brought up in their place.

Seriously, this could have been a brilliant BIOS menu instead of the usual "going straight to the game" thing that most consoles do.

I love how some of these videos are just genuinely well made videos that seem like they’d be from the beta and others have a creepy twist, like it’s always got you on your feet

"game sync" ah yes the lowkey unsettling part i was waiting

> and a system that automatically applied settings for the user Spooky!

Things to take note (VERY LONG COMMENT): -The Nintendo logo changes blue to red after the game sync. -In the description, Eric mentions that the Ultra64 was exactly the same as the N64 from outside, but really different from inside. -There was an incident associated with an error with the "Save pack", I dont know what that is (I didn't have a N64), that memo was made maybe by Dan. -In the recent instruction video, mentions how not to scrape the exterior plastic, also remove carefully the power button (I don't know why is that "important" for the playtesting) -In that same video, mentions that the playtester need to stop playing if suffers deja vu, sickness or if the game display the tester's name (that's creepy). -In this BIOS has the date 24/10/95 , and the Spaceworld (or the Shoshinkai event) was in 22 to 24 of November of the same year. I think the N64 from this video is one of the few copies of the Ultra 64 from the Spaceworld, but I still don't know if this video was recorded that year, or Eric turn on the console this year. -Lastly, it says this BIOS is made by Argonaut (the creators of the SFX chip used in the first Starfox and Yoshi's Island, both SNES games). There was a rumor where Argonaut were the creators of SM64, but Nintendo stole the concept (or maybe the entire game), and made changes from it. Maybe this channel is based on that idea. I'm not good at english, but I want to support with information too.

The fact you have to keep your hand on the controller for "Game Sync" and the fact the system freezes up for a second while it's happening for a little bit too long is a nice unnerving touch.

Scary part is that this could potentially be a thing in the future.

this reminds me of what they did for the wii... interesting find, meg!

So basically, the N64 would have you hold the controller so it could personalize the games to you? That actually makes sense and I love it.

dude i would love to love in a world where the n64 had a system bios like this

This has too much of a "2000s" feel to be for the N64.

it's a shame that this whole thing is over, i'd have loved to see a video focusing more on the n64 itself

よくこんなそれっぽい画質で作れるよね笑

you so realistically depict what it feels like to spend all day playing video games as a kid then have weird creepy dreams about them when you sleep

Thanks Meg for helping Eric, honestly, I didn’t think you’re relationship in finding these unused items would go that far. But hey, expect the unexpected

Sm64 archive: uploads Me: I am speed

Dear God it's spreading from outside of Ultra 64 Mario Bros and onto the Ultra 64 it's self

I cant believe its a prototype of Nintendo 64 menu! This looks really cool.

This is like a cross between the Dreamcast, Gamecube, and Wii menus

damn. looks like a predecessor to the GC UI!

this is really, really well done-the only issue i have with this is that game pak storage is referred to as "blocks" instead of "pages"

i like that ambience/music for the system menu

I was seriously fooled there for a moment. Incredible work to make it look like it's running on real N64 hardware.

...I feel like that first error screen with the sm64 gameover music would've scared the shit out of me as a kid...

1:26 That loading symbol was used on a lot of systems after the N64 Beta. DS WiFi, 3DS System Updates, WiiU, Wii Internet Settings, 3DS Internet Browser, etc. Crazy how this would have been the first time seeing it had the N64 used this BIOS.

The Nintendo scrapped bios looks like the sega dream cast bios

Man I kinda wish the N64 actually had a proper BIOS like that now. Super cool, and props to you for how well made it is.

I love the Game Sync idea they had! I feel like in 2020, they could really get it right with fingerprint scanning and such, and not have it be scrapped.

How did they make "or let go of the controller" so damn unnerving

Somehow you made something more nostalgic then the wii menu and I wasn’t even born in the 90’s or seen this vid before.

NGL that 'BIOS' really gives me Dreamcast BIOS vibes and I love that.

1:56 YEH-

It’s not deliberately spooky with jump scares and shit. I feel like it’s creeping up on you, and that can be hard to pull off well. Everything should be fine, but something is a bit.......o f f.

wake up babe new super mario 64 beta archive video

These types of videos freak me out at night.

This made me feel incredibly uneased and I don’t know why.

This actually fits if an N64 had it's own Menu ^^

What sucks is this looks really good and real. Then the game sync thing really got me, how I wish for some alternate universe where the 64DD was successful

That current day brushed metal look on the buttons took me out of it right away. So sad, it's always the little details that break things. Still, absolutely amazing job on everything you've done in this Archive, it shows a lot that you put in a lot of work and care into this. Someone should archive/record the happenings surrounding this channel in case it gets taken down.

this channel is really neat, 10/10

1:34 I was expecting the crash handler screen when the N64 logo stopped moving

This channel is so mysterious and if these are fake there really good at making the slightly uneasy feeling without just making it creepy. Like when the music stops and everything freezes up

Honestly, Beta Archive, Your lore is fucking amazing. By applying the new fact in the ‘Every Copy is Personalized’ theory that the N64 had a system where the controller is synced to the Player is so great, and gives an explanation by how games can be personalized to people.

* Ba-ding * "Y E H H !"

0:15 this definitely would’ve scared me as a child, like the ps2 red screen of death

This BIOS is just incredible. It matches Nintendo’s quality, and now I wish it was real..

oh god I miss this era of videos

This is suspiciously similar to the wii’s menu, with the background music, the pointer thing, the general aesthetic.

The moment when you watch a video about Wrong N64 logos and notice that the first one featured in this had a green underside instead of a blue one

When it froze for a moment it made me think I was going to get jump scared

Dude, i wish that this bios could NOT be scrapped, the idea is so cool, i'd like when they make N64 Classic Edition, THIS could be the bios.

This is really getting interesting

"The Nintendo 64 Game Console has a built-in function, using the controller and the player together, to create new experience with the console's games." This could likely be referring to the "experimental AI" in Super Mario 64. Perhaps it was originally intended as a feature users could enable for any game by syncing through the BIOS, but the BIOS was scrapped and the feature was never released. However, it was secretly included in Super Mario 64, except it synced automatically when the player held the controller. That's my theory at least

I feel like this "game sync" was really a cover up for the personalization ai to scan your brain. But if it were for the system in general, that means that it's not the game pak that has the ai, it's the ultra 64 itself. This opens up the possibility of more games being personalized. Perhaps there are personalized copies of Ocarina of time or Banjo Kazooie? I'd love to personalize a copy of, like, Conker's bad fur day or something. That'd be freaking awesome.

LET’S A GOOOOO!!!! This is what I’ve been waiting for! I really can’t express enough how much I needed to see this. I’m personally impressed with how much content we’re getting. Although I am slightly confused. I’ve never seen the BIOS before!

Missed opportunity to use the N64DD start-up to make this more convincing.

Well, my turn to be the Walmart detective for this one. As the title said, this video shows a system BIOS created during the development of the Ultra64, but that was apparently scrapped for unknown reasons. The poster here seems to be Meg - so *apparently* nothing happened to her. That's something that was possible according to the previous video - Dan insinuating something horrible happened by saying Eric "I'm really sorry - but it's all your fault" . The white text at the begin is supposedly another note from one of the developers, or just from the project lead. Again, it's just suppositions, but this note also says a lot to me: *- "blahblah.. The last thing we need is a broken game."* Nothing new, apparently. It seems evident, a broken SM64 game would not be the best thing NIntendo would need. But the next points could give another interpretation to this line. *- "Argonaut working on this game with us is important ever since.."* Why is the presence of Argonaut Softwares so valuable to you? Do you need them for something "special" ? They're apparently involved in the development of SM64's debug GUI and the N64 menu system yet (that's a lot of things for a tiny British company). Did they launch some kind of threat? *- ".. that incident happened with that one.."* Okay, something happened and it was very bad, accordingly to the previous video. So it probably made a lot of trouble and maybe it putted Argonaut Software to launch some threats about their presence in the developement. Next scene: the N64 failed to read its own settings. That's really weird because just after that, it definitely can access to it. Was the console put on reset? A game console's settings are also something you put in the hardware's storage memory itself, so unless you open the console you shouldn't be able to edit it, so normally it shouldn't have been able to enter the system menu. Unless the console settings were put in the charge of the Controller Pak. We can notice the blue Nintendo logo at the startup whileas the official logo was always red before. What does it mean? Nintendo and SEGA merged and are both personn- Ok, seriously, until the end of the video it's nothing else than a disturbing detail. After, we get into the Nintendo 64 boot menu. It strangely looks like the Dreamcast one, but it also features some concepts that were used by Nintendo AFTER the N64 era: "blocks" were AFAIR first used by the NGC so the user wouldn't have to manage kb, mb or gb or data. And it's one of the most obvious parts of the video, the development of the N64 seems to be a lot tied with SM64's one. The menu cursor is the same than SM64's game menu, the error screen plays the SM64 game over sound. Funny when you know that Argonaut is involved in both developements. But there's probably a third part in the development. As much as the time goes on, it seems like it's definiteliy not Nintendo EAD working on either SM64 or the Nintendo 64 system menu. Why are all these notes written in English, and not Japanese? These three persons seemed like they were developers from Argonaut Software but the second line of the developer note at the begin ("Argonaut working with us") seems to confirm it's not the case... and no matter if neither of the three wrote this note, If they doesn't come from either Nintendo EAD or Argonaut, where are they from? There's evidently this "Game Sync" function but honestly Idk what to say. I could try to link it to one of the Mario 64 theories but people already did it so I'll just wait for the next hint. Finally we got the red Nintendo logo appearing but it is finally not so strange, because this time the user actually booted the Game Pak so it's probably the logo shown in a N64 game, that is probably the beta build of SM64. Well, it's what I keep from this video. I hope the story is not going into a full whatever, because SM64 deserves a qualitative ARG. :)

this shit is super unsettling for some reason, just enough subtle details and references to make it feels scary as hell

They love including the Mario 64 Game over music on any error

1:25 The game sync sound sounds like Boards of Canada - Open The Light

This reminds me a lot of the 3DS system menu, Especially with the sounds.

God I haven't slept all night and now I'm watching this. My legs are getting ready to run away any second

Very cool and snazzy-looking bios menu