Random Gaming Thoughts

[Ziggy]

Anyone remember when old people called nes games tapes? Nothing was better than going down to a local video rental store and renting some nes tapes to go with my VHS tapes

I never heard anyone around here refer to NES carts as tapes, but a lot of pre Wintel home computers had tape drives that loaded programs or games from cassette tapes. So if they were referring to those, they would actually be correct! The Atari 2600 had an unofficial cassette tape peripheral.

Speaking of cassettes, it always made me chuckle that Nintendo's Japanese carts were called cassettes on the back label. I suppose it's also kind of funny that here they're called "Game Pak" on the back label but no one ever called them that.

[pook99]

Anyone remember when old people called nes games tapes? Nothing was better than going down to a local video rental store and renting some nes tapes to go with my VHS tapes

I never heard anyone around here refer to NES carts as tapes, but a lot of pre Wintel home computers had tape drives that loaded programs or games from cassette tapes. So if they were referring to those, they would actually be correct! The Atari 2600 had an unofficial cassette tape peripheral.

Speaking of cassettes, it always made me chuckle that Nintendo's Japanese carts were called cassettes on the back label. I suppose it's also kind of funny that here they're called "Game Pak" on the back label but no one ever called them that.

That's surprising you never heard that terminology. Being from long island like me I figured you would be the most likely person to relate.

I guess video game dialect varied wildly from town to town in the 80's

[RCBH928]

Video just refers to a graphical display. Your video card on your computer isn't limited to generating FMV. The earliest video cards focused on text and still images.

I didn't know that, I thought video was more specific to tape recordings and then the term was used for digital recordings. Movies shot on film, are called film or movie. No one says I will watch the Terminator video, but film or movie. Also no one refers to game graphics as video, they say the graphics look good albeit they do refer to the image on the tv as "video signal".

Anyone remember when old people called nes games tapes? Nothing was better than going down to a local video rental store and renting some nes tapes to go with my VHS tapes

I remember when they used to be called Atari.

I never heard anyone around here refer to NES carts as tapes, but a lot of pre Wintel home computers had tape drives that loaded programs or games from cassette tapes. So if they were referring to those, they would actually be correct! The Atari 2600 had an unofficial cassette tape peripheral.

I think people unknowingly how media formats work, saw the VHS cartridge called VHS tape and the audio cartridge called cassette tape, then NES cartridge must be called NES tape!

[o.pwuaioc]

Did anyone ever actually call them Game Paks as Nintendo wanted? I don't really remember what my friends and I called them bitd, but I don't think we often referred to the physical medium. We didn't go to the store to buy a Game Pak or cartridge, but simply a game.

[Ziggy]

Nintendo really loved to use "Pak" for N64 accessories. The memory card was officially called the "Controller Pak," but I remember everyone calling it a memory card. Then there was the Jumper/Expansion Pak and the Transfer Pak, which I remember that's what people called them because it was the name on the box and what the hell else would you call them? The RD-RAM Expansion Module and the Gameboy Cart Adapter? And I remember always calling the Rumble Pak by it's actual official name. Again, what the hell else would you call it? The Vibration Controller Expansion Module? It was the Rumble Pak!

The Game Pak though, I remember everyone calling them carts and knowing that it was short for cartridge. I feel like that's what most people must have referred to them as back in the day because it seems like that's what most people call them on the Internet. Like "cart only" or "flash cart." But yeah, we wouldn't say "let's go rent a cart." You'd say, "Let's go rent a game."

[RCBH928]

I think it was very smart attempt by Nintendo marketing team.
1)The name pak will differentiate their products from any other thing called cartridge
2)Pak sounds more fun than cartridge, IIRC they were aiming at kids
3)Pak will give some uniqueness to N64 games since they are competing against CD based consoles. Instead of Nintendo using the "old cartridge" technology they are using N64 Paks. Its like in the 70s show where Red Forman would say to his son that he has G.I. Joe dolls and Eric would reply "They are ACTION FIGURES"

[Ziggy]

1)The name pak will differentiate their products from any other thing called cartridge

Then why in Japan call them cassettes when there are other things called cassettes?

2)Pak sounds more fun than cartridge, IIRC they were aiming at kids

Nintendo wasn't aiming solely at kids, they just always wanted their products to be fun for all ages. Sega's marketing made it out to be that Nintendo is only for kids, and sadly that always stuck. But there's a difference between things that are created specifically for kids and things that are fun for all ages.

3)Pak will give some uniqueness to N64 games since they are competing against CD based consoles.

It wasn't just N64 carts that they called Paks though, they always called their cartridges "Paks" in North America (and cassettes in Japan).

[MrPopo]

My suspicion is that Pak was used as part of the initial "we swear it's not a video game console" campaign in the post-Crash world of North America.

[Ziggy]

My suspicion is that Pak was used as part of the initial "we swear it's not a video game console" campaign in the post-Crash world of North America.

That makes sense. Weren't the Atari 2600 carts officially called cartridges?

[SamuraiMegas]

anyone grab ghosts of tsushima? Played a little last night and got my ass absolutely handed to me trying to take over a dojo and then had to go to bed. Seems like it really needs a lock on system.