Wave Race 64

The image produced a ripple-like distortion effect, then cut to the loading screen.

"There was no frame drop in that transition effect." A technical director from Sony North America frowned. "That chip customized by SGI has stronger floating-point performance than we estimated."

They entered the stage.

Bomb Pirate Ship.

This was a fully open 3D sandbox world.

There was no clear finish flagpole, only stars scattered everywhere.

Shigeru Miyamoto controlled Mario as he ran through the scene and encountered a huge black Bob-omb.

Traditionally, Mario dealt with enemies by jumping up and stomping on them.

This time, Shigeru Miyamoto did not stomp.

He controlled Mario to circle behind the Bob-omb and press the action button. Mario lifted the Bob-omb, which was even bigger than himself.

He adjusted the direction with the stick and pressed the button. The Bob-omb was thrown out, smashing into a wooden crate in the distance with a tremendous boom. The crate shattered, and the Bob-omb vanished as well.

"Interaction," Probst said quietly below the stage. "Not just interaction between the character and the environment, but also physical interaction between the character and enemies. This engine is too powerful."

Inside the stage, Shigeru Miyamoto demonstrated all kinds of gameplay, such as pushing boxes, sliding down grassy slopes, and using cannons to launch himself out.

The entire demonstration lasted fifteen minutes.

In those fifteen minutes, there were no dull explanations of specs, no show-offy cutscenes flaunting technique.

It was all solid, real gameplay footage.

"This is Super Mario 64." Shigeru Miyamoto put down the controller, and the image on the big screen froze on Mario obtaining a star and flashing a V sign at the camera.

Applause thundered.

Someone stood up and whistled.

Shigeru Miyamoto's demonstration answered a question the industry had been discussing for the past year: