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A ROM cartridge is a removable cartridge
Cartridge (electronics)

In various types of electronic equipment, a cartridge can refer to one method of adding different functionality or content; for example, a video game played on a video game console; or a method by which consumables may be replenished, such as an ink cartridge for a printer....
 that contains ROM
Read-only memory

Read-only memory is a class of computer storage media used in computers and other electronic devices. Because data stored in ROM cannot be modified , it is mainly used to distribute firmware ....
 devices and commonly, flash memory
Flash memory

Flash memory is a non-volatile memory computer storage that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It is a technology that is primarily used in memory cards and USB flash drives for general storage and transfer of data between computers and other digital products....
 devices to allow some read-write capability.




cartridge is a hardware device in the form of a printed circuit board
Printed circuit board

A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using Conductor pathways, or signal traces, industrial etchinged from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate....
 that contains ROM devices with software. Because most cartridge formats allow significant random access and no need to copy data from an external media like a CD
CD-ROM

CD-ROM is a pre-pressed Compact Disc that contains Computer data storage accessible to, but not writable by, a computer. While the Compact Disc format was originally designed for music storage and playback, the 1985 Yellow Book standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of Binary file....
 to use, they tend to be significantly faster and require little to no load time.






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A ROM cartridge is a removable cartridge
Cartridge (electronics)

In various types of electronic equipment, a cartridge can refer to one method of adding different functionality or content; for example, a video game played on a video game console; or a method by which consumables may be replenished, such as an ink cartridge for a printer....
 that contains ROM
Read-only memory

Read-only memory is a class of computer storage media used in computers and other electronic devices. Because data stored in ROM cannot be modified , it is mainly used to distribute firmware ....
 devices and commonly, flash memory
Flash memory

Flash memory is a non-volatile memory computer storage that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It is a technology that is primarily used in memory cards and USB flash drives for general storage and transfer of data between computers and other digital products....
 devices to allow some read-write capability.

Uses of ROM cartridges

  • Video games (Atari
    Atari

    Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Infogrames ....
     systems, NES
    Nintendo Entertainment System

    The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe and Australia in . In most of Asia, including Japan , the Philippines, China, Vietnam and Singapore, it was released as the ....
    , SNES
    Super Nintendo Entertainment System

    The Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Super NES is a History of video game consoles video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993....
    , Nintendo 64
    Nintendo 64

    The , often abbreviated as N64, is Nintendo's third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released on June 23, 1996 in Japan, September 29, 1996 in North America, March 1, 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1, 1997 in France and December 10, 1997 in Brazil....
    , Game Boy
    Game Boy

    The is an 8-bit handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in August , and in Europe in ....
     series, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
    Sega Mega Drive

    The is a History of video game consoles video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988, North America in 1989, and the PAL region in 1990. Mega Drive was the name used in Japan and Europe, while it was sold under the name Sega Genesis in North America, as Sega was unable to secure legal rights to the Mega Drive name in that region....
    , Game Gear, SNK Neo Geo
    Neo Geo (console)

    The Neo Geo is a Cartridge -based Arcade game and home video game system released in 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Playmore. The system offered comparatively colorful 2D computer graphics Computer graphics and high-quality sound....
    ); the first system to use them was the Fairchild Channel F
    Fairchild Channel F

    The Fairchild Channel F is a game console released by Fairchild Semiconductor in August 1976 at the retail price of $169.95. It has the distinction of being the first programmable ROM cartridge-based video game console....
    .


  • Personal computer programs (including Atari
    Atari

    Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Infogrames ....
     systems, IBM PCjr
    IBM PCjr

    The IBM PCjr was International Business Machines's first attempt to enter the markets for relatively inexpensive educational and home-use home computers....
    , Commodore
    Commodore International

    Commodore, the commonly used name for Commodore International, was a United States electronics company based in West Chester, Pennsylvania which was a vital player in the home computer/personal computer field in the 1980s....
     systems)


Benefits and disadvantages

The cartridge is a hardware device in the form of a printed circuit board
Printed circuit board

A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using Conductor pathways, or signal traces, industrial etchinged from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate....
 that contains ROM devices with software. Because most cartridge formats allow significant random access and no need to copy data from an external media like a CD
CD-ROM

CD-ROM is a pre-pressed Compact Disc that contains Computer data storage accessible to, but not writable by, a computer. While the Compact Disc format was originally designed for music storage and playback, the 1985 Yellow Book standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of Binary file....
 to use, they tend to be significantly faster and require little to no load time. They are also more expensive to manufacture. This factor became an issue in modern video game console
Video game console

A video game console is an game development that produces a video signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game. The term "video game console" is used to distinguish a machine designed for consumers to buy and use solely for playing video games from a personal computer, which has many other functions, or arcade machi...
s — newer consoles began using CD
CD-ROM

CD-ROM is a pre-pressed Compact Disc that contains Computer data storage accessible to, but not writable by, a computer. While the Compact Disc format was originally designed for music storage and playback, the 1985 Yellow Book standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of Binary file....
s or similar form-factor discs, which required waiting for data to load, but gave the publisher cheaper production costs, as well as higher capacity.

ROM cartridges could also be affected by dirt on the contacts of the cartridge or receptacle (as it was often practice to blow into video game cartridges before inserting them, to clear out dust).

Additionally, there was no standardization across cartridge form factors. While the PlayStation
PlayStation

The PlayStation is a 32-bit history of video game consoles video game console released by Sony Computer Entertainment in December .The PlayStation was the first of the ubiquitous PlayStation ....
 series and Xbox
Xbox

The Xbox is a History of video games video game console produced by Microsoft. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console market, and competed with Sony's PlayStation 2 and Nintendo's GameCube....
 series are different formats (how the game instructions and data are formatted on the media), they still use the CD/DVD
DVD

DVD, also known as "Digital Versatile Disc" or "Digital Video Disc,"is a popular optical disc data storage device media format. Its main uses are video and data storage....
 disc, allowing for identical storage cases, booklets, etc. ROM cartridge designs varied widely, and cartridges designed for one system could rarely be used in another — the sale of a game in one package for multiple systems is rare, regardless.

See also

  • Cartridge (electronics)
    Cartridge (electronics)

    In various types of electronic equipment, a cartridge can refer to one method of adding different functionality or content; for example, a video game played on a video game console; or a method by which consumables may be replenished, such as an ink cartridge for a printer....
  • ROM image
    ROM image

    A ROM image, or simply ROM, is a computer file which contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory chip, often from a ROM cartridge, a computer's firmware, or from an arcade game's arcade system board....