The Nintendo 64 (or N64) was the third games console from Nintendo which allowed you to use games cartridges and was launched in 1997 (1996 in Japan and North America).

It was based on a 64 bit processor (the VR4300) running at 93.75MHz, with 4MB memory (expandable to 8MB). making it one of the most powerful consoles at the time.

The games console could handle cartridges of up to 512MB in size, although this proved limited compared to the Compact Disc technology employed in other consoles at the time.  Progress through games could also be stored either on a memory card which plugged into the joypad, or on some cartridges which had a built in EEPROM.

With less than 400 games released for the N64, although a technological improvement on other consoles, this could not compete with the main rival of the day - the Sony Playstation.