Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Nintendo 64 used ROM cartridges for game storage instead of compact discs. This choice resulted in faster load times and greater durability but also led to higher production costs and lower storage capacity compared to the 650-megabyte discs used by competitors like Sony's PlayStation and Sega's Saturn.
Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI) partnered with Nintendo to develop the Nintendo 64 hardware. SGI founder Jim Clark pitched the idea to Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi in early 1993, and the collaboration aimed to create a console with unprecedented graphical power using the MIPS R4300i CPU and Reality Coprocessor.
The Nintendo 64 was released in Japan on the 23rd of June 1996 and in North America on the 29th of September 1996. The console was originally slated for release by Christmas of 1995 but faced multiple delays due to hardware problems and the need to ensure high-quality launch titles.
The Nintendo 64 used ROM cartridges instead of compact discs due to a strategic gamble rooted in Nintendo's history of quality control. This decision provided faster load times and greater durability but resulted in higher production costs and lower storage capacity compared to the 650-megabyte discs used by competitors like Sony's PlayStation and Sega's Saturn.
The codename for the Nintendo 64 development project was Project Reality. This collaboration between Nintendo and Silicon Graphics, Inc. aimed to create a console that could deliver unprecedented graphical power by adapting SGI's supercomputing technology for the consumer market.