What many do not know about the PlayStation, released in 1994, is that Sony originally thought up the idea for the console eight years before in 1986. The idea of being able to store games on a disc instead of a cartridge was hot. The possibilities would be endless with more computer based gaming consoles. It was the wave of the future. However, their idea would be stalled for years. Nintendo, a rival company, had also thought about utilizing discs instead of cartridges to make games. The appeal was that discs could store more data and if needed a game could be placed on multiple discs unlike cartridges, which were very limited. The drawback, of course, was that discs did not last and were easily pirated. Nintendo and Sony would sign a contract to build a console together, but upon a second reading Nintendo backed out. Sony went on to complete their project and got sued by an angry Nintendo. Only two hundred units of the their original PlayStation were ever created. Now out of their contract with Nintendo, Sony got right back to work. Four years later they would release the PlayStation One or PSX we all know and love. It would go on to be the highest selling video game console until the release of the PlayStation 2. VS.
Released a year after the PlayStation in 1995, the Nintendo 64 or N64 represents the last of the classic breed of the video game consoles that uses game cartridges. After the N64 the only gaming systems still using cartridges would be handheld devices. The N64 would be the PlayStation's fiercest competitor and sometimes things got even a little ugly. Vicious rumours were spread about how neither system carried games that were suitable for children. This was aimed more towards PlayStation since N64 was released with the very family friendly Super Mario 64. The last of its kind, the N64 remains one of the most cherished gaming consoles of all time. While fewer games were created for it than the PSX, a few of the games such as Goldeneye and Zelda: Ocarina of Time would stand out as landmarks in the gaming world for generations to come. Needless to say, it's still cool to own a N64.