Editing Nintendo 64 (section)

====Disadvantages====
Cartridges also had notable drawbacks. They took longer to manufacture than CDs, requiring at least two weeks per production run.{{r|maher20231208}}<ref name="asiaweek-marketshare">{{Cite magazine |last1=Bacani, Cesar |last2=Mutsuko, Murakami |name-list-style=amp |date=April 18, 1997 |title=Nintendo's new 64-bit platform sets off a scramble for market share |url=http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/97/0418/cs1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051226163418/http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/97/0418/cs1.html |archive-date=December 26, 2005 |access-date=February 9, 2007 |magazine=[[Asiaweek]]}}</ref> This forced publishers to predict demand ahead of time, risking either overproduction of costly cartridges or weeks-long shortages if demand was underestimated.<ref name="asiaweek-marketshare" /> Additionally, cartridges were significantly more expensive to produce than CDs,<ref name="NGen12" />{{r|maher20231208}} leading to higher game prices, typically {{US$|10|1996|round=0}} more than PlayStation titles.<ref name="Ryan gotta">Ryan, Michael E. "'I Gotta Have This Game Machine!' (Cover Story)." Familypc 7.11 (2000): 112. MasterFILE Premier. Web. July 24, 2013.</ref>

[[Third party developer|Third-party developers]] also complained that they were at an unfair disadvantage. Since Nintendo controlled cartridge manufacturing, it could sell its own [[First-party developer|first-party]] games at a lower price,<ref name="NGen20" /> and prioritize their production over those of other companies.{{r|maher20231208}}

Storage limitations were another key issue. While Nintendo 64 cartridges maxed out at 64&nbsp;MB,<ref name="The N64 Hardware" /> CDs could hold 650&nbsp;MB.<ref name="CD Capacity" /><ref name="NGen14" /> As games became more complex, this restriction forced compromises, including compressed textures, shorter music tracks, and fewer [[Cutscene|cutscenes]]. [[Full-motion video]] was rarely feasible, and many [[multiplatform]] games had to be scaled down for the N64.<ref name="NGen20" /><ref name="Curtiss wonder" /><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=May 1997 |title=What's Wrong with N64 Software? |url=https://archive.org/stream/NEXT_Generation_29#page/n43 |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |page=43 |issue=29}}</ref>

These cost and storage constraints pushed many third-party developers toward the PlayStation. [[Square (video game company)|Square]] and [[Enix]], which had originally planned to release ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' and ''[[Dragon Quest VII|Dragon Warrior VII]]'' on the Nintendo 64, switched to Sony’s console due to storage constraints.<ref name="nintendo3">{{Cite web |title=Nintendo 64 |url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/n64/916387-nintendo-64/reviews/review-71974 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126125325/http://www.gamefaqs.com/n64/916387-nintendo-64/reviews/review-71974 |archive-date=November 26, 2013 |access-date=January 15, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Elusions: Final Fantasy 64 |url=http://www.lostlevels.org/200510/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114174859/http://www.lostlevels.org/200510/ |archive-date=January 14, 2012 |access-date=January 11, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=March 1996 |title=Squaresoft Head for Sony |magazine=Maximum: The Video Game Magazine |publisher=[[Emap International Limited]] |page=105 |issue=4}}</ref> Other developers, like [[Konami]], released far fewer N64 titles than PlayStation games. As a result, new N64 releases were less frequent compared to its competitors.<ref name="videogameconsolelibrary90" />

Despite these challenges, the Nintendo 64 remained competitive, bolstered by strong first-party titles and exclusive hits like ''[[GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game)|GoldenEye 007]]''. Nintendo’s flagship [[Video game franchises|franchises]], including [[Mario (franchise)|Mario]] and [[Zelda (franchise)|Zelda]], retained strong brand appeal, and deals with [[Second party developer|second-party developers]] like [[Rare (company)|Rare]] further strengthened the console’s game library.<ref name="videogameconsolelibrary90" /><ref name="nintendo2">{{Cite web |title=Most Popular Nintendo 64 Games |url=http://www.gamespot.com/games.html?type=games&platform=4 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218211831/http://www.gamespot.com/games.html?type=games&platform=4 |archive-date=December 18, 2008 |access-date=January 11, 2009}}</ref>