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

[RyaNtheSlayA]

2600/7800 carts for me.

[corn619]

I'm gonna go with the NEC Turbo Graphx 16. Hu Cards are small, easy to store and were ahead of their time.

[SpaceBooger]

No love for the Genesis carts?

They combine most of the best features mentioned above - they are smaller than SNES/NES carts (even though the label is about the same size as SNES games), have the title written on top, and come in stylish black. They even have some carts that are a little bigger (e.g. some EA titles, Virtua Racer, etc.) that stand out nicely from the rest. Most importantly, they used HARD CASES to protect the carts, which reduces the likelihood of picking up a random loose cart and hearing a rattling piece - a much more common problem in Nintendo carts.

I have love for the Genesis carts - see post above yours. I like them for almost all the same reasons you mentioned.

[Ack]

I like Genesis carts, but the variation in sizes bugs me, especially when trying to organize them. SNES carts are all uniform, so stacking, arranging, etc. is all easy to do. But I like that both have the name of the game on top, which is critical for identification. In fact, that's the main thing about N64 carts that I dislike.

[dsheinem]

No love for the Genesis carts?

We must have been expressing our love in unison

or...eh...It wasn't there when I started!

[Luke]

No love for the Genesis carts?

They're okay, but not the best for stacking. Especially when you have EA games, and other titles that don't fit the regular form, stacking is a pain. I would have to say that the Genesis games had the best cases.

N64 carts may have been perfect if they had end labels. Compact, clean lines, not too bulky, good design. But yeah, the lack of end labels is unforgivable.

[pepharytheworm]

Now yes, side labels can be important, but to me being constructed of durable material and easy on eye can be just as important. I doubt game makers said "lets not make side labels because kids are going to throw away their boxes. Now it will take an extra minute for them to find their game MWAHAHAHAHA."

The worst cartridge design has to go to the GBA. Not because of no side label (which would be to small to read anyways) but because of the lip at the top. Because of this there is no way to effectively store these games without a box. If I must name a console while they may look cool Magnavox Odyssey 2 is hard to store and hard to pick out a game. The handle while a neat idea and seperates them from the rest of the competition is an unnecessary peice of plastic. But now that I think about it there is one worse then all the Intellivison. Its wedge shape design ,while with a side label, is not easily stored or taken out of the system. I have hit my hand against the TV stand several time whilst trying to wiggle it out. Not to mention its angled head makes it hard to even see the side label at certain angles, by the way thats the only label. You heard right no beautiful game art to look upon. Word of advice to all Intellivison collectors if it doesn't have the box just pass it by. Without the box there is no way your going to have an inlay, and without an inlay enjoy trying to play a game not knowing what to do and how to do it.

[Hobie-wan]

Another thing to add about 2600 carts. Activision took them one step further. The tops have a groove on either side and the bottoms have two ridges. So if you stack Activision carts together the stack won't slide and fall if you bump whatever they're sitting on.

US SNES carts are good for all the reasons mentioned and they stack well if you don't have the dust covers on. Carts from other regions, not so much as they don't have end labels and the fronts are rounded so they don't stack well.

NES carts are mostly horrible wastes of space for that they contain, but they certainly stack well and have good space for art and edge labels.

[jp1]

I guess I'm alone in saying DS carts..

After that I have to say TG-16

Edit: I also agree that GBA is one of the worst along with Jaguar.

[sevin0seven]

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.

with the handheld, I will agree with the DS Cartridge over anything.