AROM cartridge, usually referred to in context simply as acartridge,cart,cassette,card,or cardrige is a replaceable part designed to be connected to aconsumer electronics device such as ahome computer,video game console or, to a lesser extent,electronic musical instruments.[1]
ROM cartridges allow users to rapidly load and access programs and data alongside afloppy drive in a home computer; in a video game console, the cartridges are standalone. At the time around their release, ROM cartridges provided security againstunauthorised copying of software. However, the manufacturing of ROM cartridges was more expensive than floppy disks, and the storage capacity was smaller.[2] 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 agame cartridge.
ROM cartridges were popularized by earlyhome computers which featured a special bus port for the insertion of cartridges containing software inROM. In most cases, the designs were fairly crude, with the entireaddress anddata buses exposed by the port and attached via anedge connector; the cartridge wasmemory mapped directly into the system'saddress space[3] such that the CPU couldexecute the program in place without having to first copy it into expensive RAM.
The Texas InstrumentsTI-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-PackardHP-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 theVIC-20 andCommodore 64,MSX,Atari 8-bit computers,[5]TI-99/4A (where they were calledSolid State Command Modules and were not directly mapped to the system bus) andIBM PCjr[6] (where the cartridge was mapped intoBIOS space). Somearcade system boards, such asSNK'sNeo Geo, also used ROM cartridges. Cassettes and floppy disks cost less than ROM cartridges[citation needed] and some memory cards were sold as an inexpensive alternative to ROM cartridges.[7]
A precursor to modern game cartridges ofsecond generation video consoles was introduced with thefirst generation video game consoleMagnavox Odyssey in 1972, usingjumper cards to turn on and off certain electronics inside the console. A modern take on game cartridges was invented by Wallace Kirschner, Lawrence Haskel of Alpex Computer Corporation as well asJerry Lawson at Fairchild Semiconductor, for use with theFairchild Channel F home console in 1976.[8][9] This cartridge approach became popular with the release of theAtari 2600 the following year. From the late 1970s to mid-1990s, the majority of homevideo game systems were cartridge-based.[9]
Ascompact disc technology became widely used for data storage, most hardware companies moved from cartridges to CD-based game systems.Nintendo remained the lone hold-out, using cartridges for theirNintendo 64 system; the company did not transition to optical media until the release of theGameCube in 2001.[10] Cartridges were also used for their handheld consoles, which are known asGame Paks in the Game Boy family of handhelds and asGame 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'sPlayStation 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 their ownproprietary optical disc-based media after producing the last few first-party games for theWii U in 2017 with the launch of theNintendo 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 ofSD cards with larger storage space. The final games made for Nintendo's optical disc media (specifically theWii 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 theNintendo Switch 2 in 2025. Today, Nintendo is the only major company to exclusively use cartridge-based media for their consoles and handhelds as others such asSony andMicrosoft continue to useoptical disc-based media for their consoles.
In1976, 310,000 home video game cartridges were sold in the United States.[11] Between 1983 and 2013, a total of2,910.72 million software cartridges had been sold forNintendo consoles.[12]
ROM cartridges can not only carry software, but additional hardware expansions as well. Examples include variouscartridge-based chips on the Super NES, the SVP chip in theSega Genesis version ofVirtua Racing,[13] and achess module in theMagnavox Odyssey².[14]
Micro Machines 2 on theGenesis/Mega Drive used a custom "J-Cart" cartridge design byCodemasters which incorporated two additionalgamepad ports. This allowed players to have up to four gamepads connected to the console without the need for an additionalmulti-controller adapter.[15]
Storing software on ROM cartridges has a number of advantages over other methods of storage likefloppy disks andoptical media. As the ROM cartridge is memory mapped into the system's normal address space, software stored in the ROM can be read like normal memory and since the system does not have to transfer data from slower media, it allows for nearly instant load time and code execution. Software run directly from ROM typically uses less RAM, leaving memory free for other processes. While the standard size of optical media dictates a minimum size for devices which can read discs, ROM cartridges can be manufactured in different sizes, allowing for smaller devices likehandheld game systems. ROM cartridges can be damaged, but they are generally more robust and resistant to damage than optical media; accumulation of dirt and dust on the cartridge contacts can cause problems, but cleaning the contacts with anisopropyl alcohol solution typically resolves the problems without risk of corrosion.[16]
ROM cartridges typically have less capacity than other media.[17] The PCjr-compatible version ofLotus 1-2-3 comes on two cartridges and a floppy disk.[18] ROM cartridges are typically more expensive to manufacture than discs, and storage space available on a cartridge is less than that of an optical disc like aDVD-ROM orCD-ROM. Techniques such asbank switching were employed to be able to use cartridges with a capacity higher than the amount of memory directly addressable by the processor. As video games became more complex (and the size of their code grew), software manufacturers began sacrificing the quick load times of ROM cartridges in favor of greater storage capacity and the lower cost of optical media.[19][20] Another source of pressure in this direction was that optical media could be manufactured in much smaller batches than cartridges; releasing a cartridge video game on the other hand inevitably includes the risk of producing thousands of unsold cartridges.[21]
Besides their prominent usage on video game consoles, ROM cartridges have also been used on a small number of electronic musical instruments, particularlyelectronic keyboards.
Yamaha has made several models with such features, with their DX synthesizer in the 1980s, such as theDX1,DX5 andDX7 and their PSR keyboard lineup in the mid-1990s, namely thePSR-320, PSR-420, PSR-520, PSR-620, PSR-330, PSR-530 and thePSR-6000. These keyboards use specialized cards known asMusic Cartridges, a ROM cartridge simply containingMIDI data to be played on the keyboard as MIDI sequence or song data.[22][23]
Casio has also used similar cartridges known asROM Pack in the 1980s, before Yamaha'sMusic Cartridge was introduced. Models that used these cartridges were in theCasiotone line of portable electronic keyboards.[24]
Blaze Entertainment
Fairchild Camera and Instrument
Interton
Nikko Europe