---> Classic Cartridge-based Console Video Games <---


The latter '80s is considered the "golden age" for Home Video Games. 
The cartridge game era spans the Second through Fourth Generations of 
home based video game systems (including two Fifth Generation systems 
that continued to use them as primary media).  In First Generation 
systems, the game data was hard-wired in the game console. By the 
Third Generation only a few companies remained in the Home Video game 
market.  Duuring the Fifth Generation, most game consoles switched to 
using CDROM media as their primary data storage method.  

Home Cartridge Video Consoles had several advantages over other video 
gaming systems.  Although they had inferior graphics and sound when 
compared to Arcade machines, they didn't require a special trip to an 
arcade and were available for play in your own home 24/7.  Because the 
consoles weren't designed as coin-op income generation machines, 
designers had the option, like as with a computer games, to offer 
turn-based strategy and adventure games that took a long time to 
complete.  However unlike with the computer games, plug-in cartridges 
meant you never had to face any software compatibility issues. 

There were some disadvantages however.  While the cartridges had an 
advantage over hard-wired home video games in that you could swap games, 
this flexibility came at the cost of forcing a single type of input 
device.  Unlike on a computer you couldn't perform hardware upgrades, 
so the available games were both memory and graphics constrained.  Also 
unlike on a computer, special interest games were extremely rare, and it 
was extraordinarily difficult to create your own games.  While it was 
often easier to play two person games on a console, you couldn't connect 
to a Telnet/BBS/Internet to play massive multi-player games.

Initially the cartridge games were very similar to the First Generation 
hard-wired electronic home games, in that they had very simple sounds, 
graphics, and play mechanics.  This changed quickly as popularity 
increased, so that by the end of the Second Generation, you had games 
that were both in color and that were a reasonable facsimile of popular 
Arcade machine games.  

Third generations games started to diverge in style from Arcade machine 
games, and while they had a major graphics capability improvement, they 
also initiated the slow decline of sacrificing game playability for 
graphics wow factor.  Fortunately however throughout the Second through  
Fourth Generations, a decent selection of games continued to be offered 
that were still designed to appeal to average adults, and not just to 
little children and aggressive teens.
  
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We are limiting our scope to only HOME video game Console Systems 
of the Second through Fifth Generations.  Although there were some 
hand-held game systems that used cartridges, as well as some computers 
that could also read data from game cartridges, these are not included 
here, because they are not "game consoles". Also not here are the NeoGeo 
cartridges, as these were designed for use inside coin arcade machines.  

Listed below are the Cartridge-based Console Video Game Systems in their 
historical order of release to the US consumer market.  Of the 8-bit 
systems, Atari initially dominated; while by the time of the 16-bit 
systems, Nintendo became the leader. 

NOTE: New discoveries are sometimes made, and fans occasionally port 
new games to their favorite old console.  Therefore, although these 
ROM counts were as complete as possible at the time of posting, there 
may be some recent additions that are not accounted for here.  Also 
be aware that a few of these counts include games that were released 
on non-cartridge media, that was read through expansion peripherials.  


Second Generation ------------------------------

(1976) Channel F by Fairchild [the first cartridge-based raster console].
	There are 27 known ROMs.


(1977) Studio II by RCA.
	There are 8 known ROMs.


(1977) Atari 2600 by Atari.
	There are 2687 known ROMs.


(1978) Bally Professional Arcade by Bally.
	There are approximately 84 ROMs (full inventory not yet known).


(1978) Odyssey2 by Magnavox.
	There are 136 known ROMs.


(1979) Intellivision by Mattel.
	There are 193 known ROMS.


(1982) Arcadia 2001 by Emerson.
	There are 76 known ROMs.


(1982) Atari 5200 by Atari.
	There are 277 known ROMs.


(1982) ColecoVision by Coleco.  
	There are 300 known ROMs.


(1982) Vectrex by GCE [the first cartridge-based vector console].
	There are 274 known ROMs.



Third Generation ------------------------------

(1985) Nintendo Entertainment System by Nintendo.
	There are 8820 known ROMs.


(1986) Atari 7800 by Atari.
	There are 130 known ROMs.


(1986) Master System by Sega.
	There are 665 known ROMs.



Fourth Generation ------------------------------

(1989) TurboGrafx-16 by NEC.
	There are approximately 242 unverified ROMs.


(1989) Genesis by Sega.
	There are 4231 known ROMs.


(1991) Super Nintendo Entertainment System by Nintendo.
	There are 4900 known ROMs.



Fifth Generation ------------------------------

(1993) Atari Jaguar by Atari.
	There are 139 known ROMs.


(1996) Nintendo 64 by Nintendo [the last primarily cartridge-based console].
	There are 2476 known ROMs.