Nintendo Jedi and programmer James Lambert spent the last few years developing a Nintendo 64 demake of Valve’s Portal.
However, the project, known as Portal 64, was recently canceled at the request of Valve’s lawyers. Lambert anticipated this outcome and urges supporters not to blame Valve, acknowledging the project’s likely fate.
The demake, crafted in the official Nintendo 64 SDK Libultra, raised concerns with Valve’s legal team. Lambert, considering a switch to the open-source alternative libdragon, is hesitant due to the extensive work it would entail.
Despite the setback, Lambert remains calm, expressing satisfaction with his two years of effort. He is now contemplating an original game developed for both the Nintendo 64 and PC. This dual-platform approach provides an engaging project for the N64 while allowing him to reach a broader audience and monetize the game easily.
Lambert plans to continue sharing Nintendo 64 hacking insights on his YouTube channel. The prospect of creating a new game for the console gives him a project to document and a product to potentially sell on Steam and a cartridge, as long as it excludes Nintendo branding.