The Nintendo 64 console was the last of the Japanese company to use cartridges as a means of selling its games. However, its successor adopted the use of compact discs instead of the circuit boards that protected the games inside the cartridges. This transition began with the Super Nintendo, where a special container for this purpose was implemented for the first time.
Although many of the games for the Super Nintendo took up a small footprint compared to the size of the cartridge, this was not a mistake on the part of the company, but rather a strategy for the future. A video posted on TikTok by user mariopfhorg offers an answer to the question why Super Nintendo cartridges were so big, and the answer is directly related to the level of complexity of the games they contained, andAs explained in the video, the most basic games only used half of the available space on the cartridge, since their circuitry contained only a couple of basic chips.
In this way, using the entire space of the container would result in a waste of materials. On the other hand, the most advanced games completely filled the cartridge, since in addition to the chips of different brands, they also included flat batteries used to store the user’s data and games.
These games also featured additional processors that allowed the Super Nintendo to offer enhanced graphics in the most demanding games. Some even had additional connections to the console for better power supply.
In this way, Nintendo foresaw the advancement of technology in containers, leaving the necessary space for more electronics inside the cartridges. This was taken advantage of by the developers who brought better gaming experiences to the users who enjoyed these games.