ROM cartridge

ROM cartridges allow users to rapidly load and access programs and data alongside a floppy drive in a home computer; in a video game console, the cartridges are standalone. At the time around their release, ROM cartridges provided security against unauthorised copying of software. However, the manufacturing of ROM cartridges was more expensive than floppy disks, and the storage capacity was smaller. ROM cartridges and slots were also used for various hardware accessories and enhancements.

The widespread usage of the ROM cartridge in video gaming applications has led it to be often colloquially called a game cartridge.

History

ROM cartridges were popularized by early home computers which featured a special bus port for the insertion of cartridges containing software in ROM. In most cases, the designs were fairly crude, with the entire address and data buses exposed by the port and attached via an edge connector; the cartridge was memory mapped directly into the system's address space such that the CPU could execute the program in place without having to first copy it into expensive RAM.

The Texas Instruments TI-59 family of programmable scientific calculators used interchangeable ROM cartridges that could be installed into a slot at the back of the calculator. The calculator came with a module that provides several standard mathematical functions including the solution of simultaneous equations. Other modules were specialized for financial calculations, or other subject areas, and even a "games" module. Modules for these devices are not user-programmable. The Hewlett-Packard HP-41C also had expansion slots which could hold ROM memory as well as I/O expansion ports; modules for these devices are more versatile than those of the TI-59 calculators.

Computers using cartridges in addition to magnetic media are the VIC-20 and Commodore 64, MSX, Atari 8-bit computers, TI-99/4A (where they were called Solid State Command Modules and were not directly mapped to the system bus) and IBM PCjr (where the cartridge was mapped into BIOS space). Some arcade system boards, such as SNK's Neo Geo, also used ROM cartridges. Cassettes and floppy disks cost less than ROM cartridges and some memory cards were sold as an inexpensive alternative to ROM cartridges.

A precursor to modern game cartridges of second generation video consoles was introduced with the first generation video game console Magnavox Odyssey in 1972, using jumper cards to turn on and off certain electronics inside the console. A modern take on game cartridges was invented by Wallace Kirschner and Lawrence Haskel of Alpex Computer Corporation as well as Jerry Lawson at Fairchild Semiconductor, for use with the Fairchild Channel F home console in 1976. This cartridge approach became popular with the release of the Atari 2600 the following year. From the late 1970s to mid-1990s, the majority of home video game systems were cartridge-based.

As compact disc technology became widely used for data storage, most hardware companies moved from cartridges to CD-based game systems. Nintendo remained the lone holdout, using cartridges for their Nintendo 64 system; the company did not transition to optical media until the release of the GameCube in 2001. Cartridges were also used for their handheld consoles, which are known as Game Paks in the Game Boy family of handhelds and as Game Cards in the DS/3DS line of handhelds. These cartridges are much smaller and thinner than previous cartridges. In the case of Game Cards, flash memory is used to store the game data in lieu of dedicated ROM chips used in most previous game cartridges. Sony's PlayStation Vita handheld also used a similar cartridge design known as the PlayStation Vita Game Card, which uses flash memory technology much like Nintendo's Game Cards.

In recent years, Nintendo has moved away from utilizing its own proprietary optical disc-based media after producing the last few first-party games for the Wii U in 2017 with the launch of the Nintendo Switch that year, which featured small cartridges instead of optical discs. These cartridges are known as Game Cards, similar to previous Nintendo handhelds since the DS, and are much smaller and thinner than previous cartridges for consoles as well as Nintendo's own Game Cards for their DS/3DS handhelds. They used a form of flash memory technology similar to that of SD cards with larger storage space. The final games made for Nintendo's optical disc media (specifically the Wii and Wii U) were released in 2020, three years after the release of the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo's approach of using cartridge-like Game Cards continued on with the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025. Today, Nintendo is the only major company to exclusively use cartridge-based media for its consoles and handhelds as others such as Sony and Microsoft continue to use optical disc-based media for their consoles.

In 1976, 310,000 home video game cartridges were sold in the United States. Between 1983 and 2013, a total of 2,910.72 million software cartridges had been sold for Nintendo consoles.