Why are cartridges so varied in size?

[dsheinem]

Ok, so this is going to seem like a dumb question to some of you, but as someone who doesn't know too much about the hardware inside my cartridges, I have always wondered why there is such variation in size.

Specifically, I have always wondered why NES carts are so big, why the PCE/TG-16 and SMS have card-based games but comparable (or better) graphics to those on carts (with more stuff in them), why Genesis carts are the only ones that vary in size, why the SMS has card-based and cartridge-based games, why Neo Geo carts had to be so massive, etc.

Can anyone explain the technical reasons behind the differences?

[noiseredux]

I have always wondered why NES carts are so big,

no reason other than to make them look big and important is the way I understood it. I mean the NES PCB is pretty f'ing small (obviously, considering the cute Fami carts).

[dsheinem]

I have always wondered why NES carts are so big,

no reason other than to make them look big and important is the way I understood it. I mean the NES PCB is pretty f'ing small (obviously, considering the cute Fami carts).

Sure, I get that - but they are much bigger than Hu Cards...is it just that the PCE has more stuff inside the console and the NES has less? What about the card/cartridge system of the SMS?

[MrPopo]

The Turbo chips, those came out after the NES, so they could take advantage of semiconductor improvements between when the NES launched and the Turbo launched. Also, I imagine that Turbo chips probably used more expensive chips than the NES specifically to get them down to that size. With the NES they decided they were going to use carts and that let them use these bulky chips. A better comparison is the SMS carts vs. cards. As I understand it the SMS card games tend to be much smaller and simpler than SMS cart games.

The Neo carts are huge because they cram a ton more data into them. There's usually 10 times or more the data of an SNES or Genny cart, and all that data needs room. And then you require larger control chips to be able to access all that data.

I'm not sure why the Genny carts vary in size. Maybe it's something as simple as EA wanting to have their carts stand out.

[noiseredux]

Maybe it's something as simple as EA wanting to have their carts stand out.

I heard that from an interview with SOMEONE who used to work at EA (DSH, was it the Racketcast???? Maybe it was a Retronauts episode...). Apparently the EA carts had nothing different in them, but the yellow tab made them really unique looking and they wanted that.

[EllertMichael]

it's quite possible that older US cartridge based games had to comply with FCC regulations, which would explain the difference in size between NES and Famicom carts

[CRTGAMER]

I have always wondered why NES carts are so big,

no reason other than to make them look big and important is the way I understood it. I mean the NES PCB is pretty f'ing small (obviously, considering the cute Fami carts).

Sure, I get that - but they are much bigger than Hu Cards...is it just that the PCE has more stuff inside the console and the NES has less? What about the card/cartridge system of the SMS?

Concur with the ridiculous oversized NES and even 5200 carts. A false sales tool, the bigger cart housing (with empty space inside) hinted at being more powerful? The TG16 cards were very small for the era, a shame most the industry did not do this at the time. MrPopo is right newer technology with smaller tighter chips. Hucards maybe also had to been something to do with majority of the related data between all the games kept in the console itself? Maybe Nintendo probably took a cheaper route to market an inexpensive NES. The game carts carried additional chips that could have been packed in the console itself?

[Hobie-wan]

As stated, NES carts are big for the same reason that we got longboxes for early CD games here. Bigger is better (yay marketers) and stands out more on a shelf and a larger package is harder to shoplift. Even later complex games and ones with the Fami convertor only take half the space. SMS and Genesis games are pretty similar inside and while a lot of GEN games don't quite fill the shell, RPGs do so they're appropriately sized. As for the FCC comment, N64 carts are the only ones I've encountered with metal shielding in them and that really only adds weight, not bulk.

[DinnerX]

I think NES carts were huge so that they looked a little more like a VHS tape rather than to make them look powerful. Kind of like why they made the original system a front loader. Didn't want it to look like other games and systems after the big crash.

Lots of later Nes cartridges do have extra chips in them to switch around between different ROM banks, because the nes could only be connected to so much rom at a time and companies wanted to make bigger games. Even those chips don't add much space. NES cartridges are just full of air.

This site has pictures of a great many NES cartridges insides if you want to see for yourself and lack the bits to open a cartridge.

[Hobie-wan]

Actually I could do a picture comparison later if I have time.