Why the line on some SNES Catridges?

[Wispmage]

I've been wondering this since I first got my SNES. Does anyone know why some carts seem to arbitrarily have a line while others are flat?

[flojocabron]

when you power on the first SNES, a little tab locks the game in place.

we have all yanked out carts before by accident before turning it off.

some games have built in batteries, and by yanking the cart, the battery might get damaged, and you might lose your saves.

so Nintendo was trying to be safe than sorry. and that tab keeps the game in place and you wont yank it out by accident.

so by the time the SNES Junior came out they didn't care anymore. the redesign removed the tab.

there are also some reissues and variants, reprints of certain games change the type of cart as well.

the original Gameboy and the japanese megadrive also had a lock to keep the game in place. most likely as a safety precaution to keep product from customers damaging it.

it seems to be a design choice from the early 90's, because later versions of other gaming products removed the tab.

[theclaw]

Flat style began some point in 1993, a bunch of older games were re-released that way.

Super Scope 6 is one of the rarest updates. It appears exclusive to Canada.

[Ziggy]

Those early carts were locked in, but the later carts are actually cooler. The slope design of them pushes the lock bar which in turn powers the console off. Try it, if you press the eject button it'll switch the power off. Although, I wouldn't rely on that. You should always turn the power off before removing a cart.

[8bit]

Those early carts were locked in, but the later carts are actually cooler. The slope design of them pushes the lock bar which in turn powers the console off. Try it, if you press the eject button it'll switch the power off. Although, I wouldn't rely on that. You should always turn the power off before removing a cart.

I never knew that! That's smart!

[MyNameIsVince]

I always wondered why the SNES cart went through this design change. I assumed that the design change was to cut down on the amount of plastic used for the cartridge, since the redesigned ones are thinner than the older ones. However it seems the locking mechanism one seems more accurate.

@ Wispmage, I saw your SNES collection and realized that your Star Fox is of the new SNES cart design and your Super Castlevania IV and F-Zero are of the old SNES cart design. Funny thing is, I have all 3 games and they're different. My Star Fox is of the old cart design and my Super Castlevania IV and F-Zero are of the new cart design (SCIV because apparently it was a Majesco re-release, F-Zero because it was a Players Choice million seller).

[ExedExes]

What everyone here said. Older games used the first cartridge style which "locked" the game into the SNES.

But also, it made for a tighter fit if you used the SNES Game Genie, which was designed to lock itself into that special *notch*. Newer carts don't lock in

[Ziggy]

But also, it made for a tighter fit if you used the SNES Game Genie, which was designed to lock itself into that special *notch*. Newer carts don't lock in

Yeah, that is pretty annoying.

[Ziggy]

Those early carts were locked in, but the later carts are actually cooler. The slope design of them pushes the lock bar which in turn powers the console off. Try it, if you press the eject button it'll switch the power off. Although, I wouldn't rely on that. You should always turn the power off before removing a cart.

I never knew that! That's smart!

I always wondered why the SNES cart went through this design change. I assumed that the design change was to cut down on the amount of plastic used for the cartridge, since the redesigned ones are thinner than the older ones. However it seems the locking mechanism one seems more accurate.

Yeah, I've always wondered myself. I only found out a couple of years ago. I had a friend over and we were playing some SNES games because to him it was a blast from the past. He was changing a game and just hit the eject button and I was like, "OH NO!" but then I noticed the console powered off and I was like, "OHHHHHH! That's what the shape of that cart does!"

Still, it's probably better to turn the power off first. When you eject a cart like that, it's turning the power off as the cart is already being ejected. It's probably best to have the power off before ejecting the cart. Or maybe it doesn't matter, since it was Nintendo who designed it that way.

Here's one interesting fact: Older carts used a different method of mapping and handling the battery. Like NES carts, they're more susceptible to dropping saves. Nintendo than made the "MAD-1" chip for their SNES carts. It's proprietary. It handles mapping and the battery, and is very less likely to drop saves. So, if you have a cart with the slope design, it more than likely has MAD-1 inside, and thus might be safe to eject the carts like that. Older carts that don't have the MAD-1, it's better to play it safe and hold reset while powering off.

When hunting for SNES games, you might wanna consider getting a later revision with the sloped design rather than the lock design, if possible. For one example, Sim City. I've had a few different carts of this game over the years. Most recently, I have an older one with the lock design. While aiming for a city of 600,000 (my next goal since hitting 500,000) the game froze and I lost that save file. I was so pissed. I couldn't help but think if it was a later cart with MAD-1, I wouldn't have lost my save.

Although, that's not a full proof thing. I've had my DKC3 cart (MAD-1) drop my saves recently when I accidentally knocked the cart while it was on. But, that's a different circumstance I guess.

[Wispmage]

Glad I could finally have that mystery solved after all this time. It makes perfect sense too from a design standpoint.