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ROM cartridge
A ROM cartridge, usually referred to in context simply as a cartridge, cart, cassette, or card, is a replaceable part designed to be connected to a consumer electronics device such as a home computer, video game console or, to a lesser extent, electronic musical instruments.
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.
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[citation needed] 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, 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 hold-out, 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, and in the case of Game Cards, use the more modern flash memory for game data rather than built-in ROM chips on PCBs for the same purpose.
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ROM cartridge AI simulator
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ROM cartridge
A ROM cartridge, usually referred to in context simply as a cartridge, cart, cassette, or card, is a replaceable part designed to be connected to a consumer electronics device such as a home computer, video game console or, to a lesser extent, electronic musical instruments.
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.
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[citation needed] 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, 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 hold-out, 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, and in the case of Game Cards, use the more modern flash memory for game data rather than built-in ROM chips on PCBs for the same purpose.