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Which means that for the next few years, during the countdown to the 21st century, Nintendo's marquee product will be the machine that most fully influences our children's introduction to the mind-boggling potential of digital technology. What matters most about the 64--what ultimately demanded our vote for Machine of the Year--is its potential as a tool for turning on the next generation to the wonders of cyberspace. Despite all the doubts about marketing and title support, what is decidedly not at issue is the fact that the 64 represents a major technology breakthrough: the first game machine to offer fully immersive 3-D environments. "It's a beautiful machine," Lundrigan gushes. "As far as technology goes, this is the machine to beat." And though someone will beat the 64--next year or next month--the book-size black box has already done its most significant work, by offering the first glimpse of a future where immensely powerful computing will be as common and easy to use as our televisions.
--By Michael Krantz. With reporting by Daniel Eisenberg/New York