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The question struck me this morning when I saw my old N64; there's a reset button on it. What does it actually do? Can't remember a moment where I did have to push it.

Is it simply a button that does exactly the same as if you were to turn off the console and back on, just in a fraction of a second? I feel it would be weird because its not like the on/off switch isn't right next to it and could be used to reset the console anyways.

So what does the 'Reset' button do? Is it just turning it off and back on again or is there more going on when you press it?

Fredy31
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2 Answers2

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Please use the Reset Button!! The difference is Save Game corruption.

The Power Switch is an "order" to absolutely right now, power off the console. So if you are saving your progress it will corrupt your save file. The save file may be on EEPROM or FLASH memory that is inside the cartridge, so it may not prompt for a Controller PAK, this could also affect GB/GBC cart save data if you are using the Transfer PAK.

The reset button is treated as a "request" which notifies the game code that it has 1/2 of a second to do anything it needs to before it will be reset. This would include to finish writing save game data.

James
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    Hunh that is interesting that they prevent that. Saving on N64 is a fraction of a second but there is a system in place to let it finish saving before resetting. Meanwhile, from what you write, turning the N64 off is basically the same as ripping the power cord from the wall lol – Fredy31 Aug 17 '23 at 19:41
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    Powering off is very comparable to ripping the cord out of the wall.

    There is another difference during startup that any gamer would consider negligible which is from Power On the RAM has to be fully initialized. If the console is reset this initialization step is skipped. The difference is < 1/4 of second but even this would only be relevant if you played the same game after the reset.

    Switching games should still be done by powering the console off and back on, bumping the reset button while reaching for the power button would be a good step to take.

     – James Aug 17 '23 at 21:18
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    It's also worth noting that because the game knows that a reset is about to take place, some of the game developers were able to add easter eggs or other features that occured when you pressed the reset button -- I know on the n64 at least a few games had custom reset animations. My favourite example though is the original X-Men game for the Sega Genesis, where in one later levels it tells you to "reset the computer", and the only way to proceed is by actually pressing the reset button on the console. – toastrackengima Aug 18 '23 at 05:22
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    For more information on the reset process, see PIF-NUS on the N64brew wiki. – Andrew Morton Aug 18 '23 at 10:57
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    It's interesting they didn't implement a soft Off button instead; obviously, it would also have to function as an On button as well. I assume it would work 99.999% of the time but for those times it doesn't then resort to pulling the power cord. At no point in my childhood did I think "hey I want to restart the console and then turn it off". I always assumed it was built for those too lazy to use the switch to restart their console. – MonkeyZeus Aug 18 '23 at 15:16
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    I actually lost my Pokemon Blue save (141 pokemon, Mewtwo, some big-time trades with friends...) by turning off the power switch too quickly after saving. I was distraught of course, and with Mom's help ended up on the phone with someone at Nintendo (!) who was very sympathetic and told me that for safety you should wait 20 seconds after saving before shutting off the Game Boy. He gave me some kind of cheat code over the phone that gave me all 151 pokemon, but that was honestly boring so I reset and managed to grind back up to ~100 before I got bored and moved on to other games. – shadowtalker Aug 19 '23 at 11:48
  • "at least a few games had custom reset animations" - Yes. I can confirm that Pokémon Stadium has a window-blinds animation when you hit the reset button. But basically every other N64 game I played just blacks out the screen, indistinguishable from powering off and on. – Nayuki Aug 20 '23 at 20:18
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The reset button reverted the cartridge to the state it was in when the power came on. It was a quick way to get you back to the start screen.

In reality, the button is really not needed when you can just flip the on/off switch.

JPHeile
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  • Reverting the cartridge to the state it was when the power came on: So that would mean that if you save your game, press reset, it would revert to your game that you had when you turned on your N64? – Fredy31 Aug 17 '23 at 17:42
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    Or if thats not what you mean, could you give any examples of moments where pressing reset would do something different than just powering off then back on? – Fredy31 Aug 17 '23 at 17:47
  • Yes from what I remember thats exactly what it means. I've never had to use it in the past but I know speed runners use it a lot these days. For example, if they mess up on a run they just hit reset. – JPHeile Aug 17 '23 at 18:12
  • I think some people could speak about how using the on/off switch could affect the electronics more than merely using the reset button. I won't because I don't know much about electronics. – Clockwork Aug 18 '23 at 10:29
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    I agree with newer consoles using hard drives, ssd's, etc. However, for the N64 they didn't have that. – JPHeile Aug 18 '23 at 12:01