Thus, if keyboard presses and mouse movements from a PC could be pumped to a microcontroller which reformatted the data into signals the N64 could understand, everything would work nicely. Four bytes are sent by the controller, with 14 bits covering the buttons and 8 bits covering the horizontal and vertical axes of the analog stick, respectively. The N64 polls the controller and receives button and analog stick data in return. For the FPS games that were so popular on the N64, a mouse and keyboard could do much better. However, its controller is of a design we wouldn’t consider ideal today.
The Nintendo 64 was one of the consoles that properly heralded in the era of 3D gaming.
