In 1993, while Sony and Sega were busy with their 32-bit consoles, Nintendo were working on a 64-bit machine, initially called Project Reality. However, it wasn't until November 1996, that the Nintendo 64 saw its release in Japan

What surprised a lot of people was the choice of game media for the machine. While other companies had made the switch to CD, Nintendo had decided to stick with the quick-loading, but far more expensive, choice of cartridges. This put off some developers and as Nintendo controlled the supply of cartridges, it also meant they had a tight grip on licensing. While the Nintendo 64 had a lot of quality titles such as the 3D incarnations of Mario and Zelda and other classics such as Wave Race 64 and Super Smash Bros, the Nintendo 64 struggled against the Playstation