Cartridges: Who got it right, who got it wrong.

[lost_within]

Neo Geo AES...know why? If I drop ONE cart on 50 of your snes,sega,nes,n64, ANYTHING carts,....they would explode.

[Hatta]

Its wedge shape design ,while with a side label, is not easily stored or taken out of the system.

I never really had that problem. They stand up just fine, the wedge is only at the very top. Maybe it's different with a model I, but with my model II intellivision it's easy enough to grasp the cart on the side and pull it out. If there's a problem there, I'd say it's the side loading cartridge slot, there's often not enough clearance if it's in an entertainment center or whatever.

I will say however that the INTV ports to the 2600 (like this) pretty much suck. Try stacking those, heh.

[darthmunky]

N64 were the best design, but I think the win goes to Super Nintendo. If N64 had top lables, they would be best IMO.

[Luke]

I think the SNES cartridges got it the most right. They went to the limit with the FX Chip, Gameboy player and Donkey Kong Graphics. The Cartridge looks clean and it has a carrying case to protect from the dust unlike it's old NES, Genesis, etc.

NES games have dust sleeves, but for some reason most people chucked them out with the box and instructions.

Gotta love the Gameboy player. For me, it made all the difference for Metroid II.

[Pulsar_t]

family game(japanese snes)

Family game? WTF?

He meant the Famicom.. Which is short for Family Computer. Unofficial Nintendo 8-bit machines were simply known as 'Family' in some parts of the world, presuming the Computer word was redundant.

Anyway my favourite cart design is the MSX.

[Curlypaul]

I love collecting cartridges, I think the different shapes and designs make them more interesting than optical media, which pretty much looks the same.

I like the DS carts as they are tiny which makes them perfect for a portable machine.

I also love N64 carts, although they lack a label on the top and the curve makes them a pain to store. I think its because they were the last of their kind that I have a soft spot for them.

I hate the EA MD carts, not because they are different but because they are way thinner than the slot so I always feel like I'm damaging the contacts as I take it in and out. Codemasters got it right, the curvy design looked great and made there games stand out from the crowd and still fit the slot properlly

[AmishSamurai]

In terms of console cartridges, I'd agree with the Atari 2600, mainly because of the toplabels. For portables, I'd say the Gameboy Advance cartridges. The DS ones are too tiny, and I have this morbid fear of losing the poor buggers. It's like why I'm afraid of pulling out my MicroSD cards for my phone.

[Droid party]

No end label aside, I'd have to pick the n64 cart. That thing was just so well made. It felt so firm and sturdy and was no bigger than it needed to be. Just about perfect.

[manaman]

The Cartridge looks clean and it has a carrying case to protect from the dust unlike it's old NES. . . .

I was already beaten to the punch, but yes, the NES games did have protective sleeves--but I think the SNES concept was superior because no part of the sleeve overlapped the artwork and the SNES sleeve fit snugger around the pak than the NES sleeves did. The only unfortunate thing is that Nintendo stopped production of these sleeves sometime during the lifespan of the SNES figuring, I assume, that most people didn't use them and they could make a quick buck by selling them separately. I was one of the people who did make a purchase each time I got a new game.

As far as cartridge design goes, though, I think the Nintendo 64 wins hands down. The build quality is terrific and probably because it was the one of the last console systems to use cartridges--does anyone know if I can say it was the last console to use cartridges?

I think the lines are sleek and the only complaint I have is that it doesn't have a top label but I am honestly okay with that. My method of organizing my N64 paks is to have them in plastic cases anyway. Also, have you noticed the amount of metal in an N64 pak? It's beefy. It's solid. It weighs more than an NES pak!

As for the DS, I'd say they aren't really cartridges--they're cards. As for handheld systems in general, my vote for best cartridge design would possibly go to the Virtual Boy. Yeah, I think it would.

Peace,

manaman

PS: In the category of who got it wrong, I would say that the Genesis has some nice cartridges but Sega got it wrong to allow all these other companies to mess with the standardization. I really don't like anyone else's design of the Genesis cartridges but Sega's. Then, too, the Jaguar got some really weird cartridges.

[GSZX1337]

Who got it wrong? Atari with the Jaguar.

http://www.atariage.com/cart_page.html? ... ypeID=CART

What's with the stupid handle?