Nintendo 64

Nintendo chose cartridges over CD-ROM to guarantee zero load times and fight piracy — a decision that cost them third-party support but left today's N64 library tight and first-party-strong. Internal save cartridges use a CR2032 battery that after 25 years is almost certainly dead: if saves disappear on boot, that's your culprit. The 4MB Expansion Pak was mandatory for Majora's Mask and Donkey Kong 64 — and many PAL boxes included it in bundle. Cartridge tri-wing screws require a specific driver to open. Among the rarest PAL boxed titles: Majora's Mask (first print with Expansion Pak), Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Paper Mario — the latter never released physically in Europe.