Nintendo 64 ROM formats

@Nintendo64

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N64 various

 · 1 Nov 2019

File extensions

 
Extension	Usual byte order	Notes 
.n64	        Byte-swapped            Previously used by No-Intro 
.n64	        Little-endian           Very rare 
.v64	        Byte-swapped            Named after the Doctor V64 backup device 
.z64	        Native                  Named after the Z64 backup device 

Note that the actual byte order of a ROM may not always be the one expected from its file extension.

Byte orders

 
Format                  Order	Header (hex)	Example string 
Native                  ABCD	80 37 12 40	 SUPE   R␣MA  RIO␣   64␣␣  
Byte-swapped            BADC	37 80 40 12	 USEP   ␣RAM  IR␣O   46␣␣  
Little-endian (rare)    DCBA	40 12 37 80	 EPUS   AM␣R  ␣OIR   ␣␣46