Ya, I don't get why it's so hard to understand, Nintendo can't make a different cartridge for every variant of storage.... Also they have to account for the need of each studio, some games are 100MB, others are 32+ GB so ofc the size of the chips will vary as more storage is needed
@@ethan44866storage isnt an problem, most moder micro ssd and sad cards can have up to 1 terabyte of space on them. The size of the chip dosent realy change the storageapace it has
1. They're easier to handle 2. There'd be more space for labeling 3. They'd be harder to lose 4. They're sometimes necessary like the full sized PCB you showed, so best to keep the size uniform 5. (and this is the point I think people tend to forget) Making it smaller would make it even more of a choking hazard than it already is.
The larger one was a cheaper game. Meaning less room for profit, so instead of using smaller and more expensive storage mediums, they used pcb and a chip. AAA games have volume and sell for more, so they use more reliable and smaller chips.
@@Tbug20 This is the correct answer. The whole point was it was supposed to feel like putting a video cassette in a VCR. Plus a handful of NES games actually did fill the whole cartridge and didn't have overheating issues... and the whole Famicom games being way smaller and not having such issues.
@@KertaDrake I tried to (spring-loaded) eject a 128Gb micro-SD card from my new dashcam, without realising how powerful the spring behind it was. It's still somewhere in my car - via con dios SD card...
NES cartridges were also mostly empty space, with the bank of chips and the connector taking 1/3rd or less of the space. The standard size allows for larger boards when needed (save functions or extra hardware included; although for the NES this was not really used AFAIK), and so that kids would have an easy time handling them.
@@deejay4am yes, there was a small handful of times that extra hardware was included in the NES cartridge. Better to have the space and not need it, than to need the space and not have it.
clearly showing its not actually "nintendo" doing it but the game makers and such. Nintendo could care less how much space is used or unused as long as its producing money.
@crisnmaryfam7344 He proved Nintendo does use small PCB and it is Nintendo that decided that. What am I missing here? He made a video that proved a point. If anything he got it more on point when he said "Nintendo does this".
And why should they change the cartridge? It would piss people off, if they had to buy adapters because the cartridge is to small and won't fit in the slot.
The op of the video sounds old, so he probably remembers that they need a taco looking shapped cartridge to fit Super Mario 64. Its understandable to be shocked at the technological progress.
Why not? its not like he destroyed the actual hardware, just open the case (a drops of glue, and its done). And its his cartridge, so I dont care lolol
As many have said, trying to make them smaller is only counterproductive. As long as the size of the cartridge doesn't require sacrifices in the hardware of the console, I think going back to GBA game size would be awesome. Turning the cartridge itself into a work of art like that has been lost to time but I'd love to see it return.
i think they first should allow to have multiple cartidges inside your console. Changing cartdiges on the switch is a pain specially if you have it docked. They should allow you to have 3 or 4 cartidges inside and just select the game you like
@@josendI’ve saw some adapter that can hold up about 8 but has 4 slots for switching the games and 4 for storing cartridges. Can’t remember what it’s called.
I agree I miss them putting some good effort into the cartridges and like you said basically making them pieces of art, it felt special opening them up when I was younger.. I never wanted to get rid of the boxes but was told to to save space etc.. oh how I regret throwing some boxes away… I wonder if kids now days have that same excitement tho if they open a physical game… or if they have that excitement when they download a new iPad game or something lol I have no idea. I hate to see an all digital future and last time I was at Walmart it was apparent it’s sooner then later… sad to see cause I’ll stop buying games almost altogether lol… got a pc like 1-2yrs ago and bought like 2 games on it that’s it.. I’m rambling lol but I’m weird about shit if the game is already all digital and I get into it and like it a lot I’ll want to support it if it’s free to play etc.. but I also don’t like buying a game and not being able to play it offline 😂 will talk me outta buying a game if there’s no offline mode.
@@TrillMurray I just meant that having the option for a dimensionally larger chip instead of only doing the small one to save on internal component space was the better idea.
@@silversonic1 I agree. I'm saying if the cartridge size wasn't standardized, the bigger carts would either stick out the top of a switch like a GB color cartridge in a gba or the smaller carts would be recessed into the switch and hard to remove
@@TrillMurray This is also the reason why NES cartridges are all the same size while Famicom ones are not. The NES frontloader requires the carts to be a uniform size in order for the latching mechanism to work properly. The Famicom was an ordinary top-loading console, so they could make larger games have longer carts (and a few games in fact did).
Its wild to me the size of a switch cart still blows people away like we've had 128gb micro sd cards literally 1/4th the size of a switch cart for like a decade UPDATE as of last yesr 2tb micro SD cards are available to consumers 2 terabytes and 1/4th the size of a switch cart
Ikr, 2 terabyte sd cards exist, and the switch carts only have like 8 gb, though there usually isn't all that much of a need to have any more than that cause switch games are tiny and nintendo needs to make the physical copies dirt cheap to make sure they don't cost any more than digital
@@muddle3017 well, physical copies do cost more as you have to share the profits with the supply chain. With a digital copy, Nintendo is the supply chain.
things can always be smaller. but designers figured out that, ergonomically, things get harder to use the smaller they are. just think of those tiny keyboards on your phone screen. we could make them smaller and use up less screen space, but then it will be harder to type the correct letters.
It's only half because the game isn't huge data wise (5.7 gb). It's basically fitting on a micro SD card that is 8 gb. Edit: I'm not trying to suggest that the physical size inside the cart is related to storage. I'm just saying MicroSD cards are tiny. So whether the cart is half full or completely full it doesn't matter. It's not like something is "missing". Probably has to do with whatever storage size they chose and what parts were available.
Imagine they didn't do this. You stay up till the midnight release of the new game. You get home and open the case. Inside is a Itty bitty micro SD card. You drop it and now it's lost in the shag carpet. The clock hits 2am. You're still picking through the shag. 😂
3 reasons 1.) If it get's any smaller it'll be impossible to keep track of 2.) Uniformity so that the cartridges have their same look and size to know they are for nintendo switch. 3.) Future expansion, similar to the other cartridge based consoles nintendo has made the extra space was for adding new hardware later on down the line for "future proofing"
Future expansion is the part that not a lot of the other comments mentioned, and that's definitely a big part. Or rather, Nintendo had made the plastic shell to this size to accommodate all the different capacity chips they intended for Switch, and if a company didn't need the full 16GB cart (or 32GB, as those were introduced only later in the Switch lifecycle), they didn't need to pay extra for a bunch of unused space on the cart, just to fill the physical space inside the plastic shell. Bunch of PlayStation games could also fit on much smaller discs if such alternative Blu-ray sizes existed (physically), and if that was as easy and also as cost effective to do as smaller capacity carts, they would do that as well. It's just that discs are ultra cheap to print, so there's no point in fiddling with their physical size in order to optimize costs (at best you can pick between dual, triple and quad layer Blu-ray discs, which otherwise look the same but have different capacities). With carts there's a noteworthy production cost saving if you can opt for a smaller capacity cart, even if the plastic shell is still the same. Cost optimization, while also trying to keep things more uniform in design.
@@shmish5818 Aren't the Switch Game Cards, like, serial? I'd expect any Flash memory chip in 2024 to be serial. If so, and with probably a reduced bandwidth to optimize costs (*because honestly, game cartridges don't need a lot of bandwidth), I doubt they'd throw more hardware to expand the Switch's capabilities in the same way as they did with the SNES, whose cartridges had a parallel bus.
Every cartridge needs to be the same size because of the port design specifications but the internals are as small as they can be because bigger pcb and more silicon = more money. This has always been how cartridges have worked going back to the 2600 and NES, all cartridges are a uniform size and the internal electronics are only as big as they need to be.
Eventually the games will simply work via scanner detection, wireless, or even nfc. No more blowing cartridges or missaligning direction. Just a simple slide in and close. Like an amiibo
That was already the case with their very first cartridge systems. I never took it as being unusual. Game Boy Color cartridges were even transparent and you could see, when the internals were weirdly small.
Back in those days the extra space was also there so game makers could fit extra components. For example, on the NES, one of the most common extras was a RAM chip + a coin cell battery to implement saves Or on the Game Boy line of consoles, some games had rumble motors or accelerometers for motion controls Or probably the most esoteric was the Glucoboy, which had a glucose meter and LCD and could be used on its own, but when paired with a GBA it had games you could unlock by keeping your glucose levels in check, to encourage diabetics to get enough sugar
I remember when I was like 6, I got my first NES game for my birthday. I knew what Nintendo was but wasn’t super familiar with the console/cartridges yet… but so I unwrapped the present. Peeled the cellophane off the box. Opened the cardboard box. The cartridge itself was in one of those black sleeves, so I slipped it out. At this point I had the NES cartridge in my hand, but did I know when to stop? Nope! I unscrewed the back of the cart, broke it open, then pulled out the green hardware/ circuit card / PBD (whatever it’s called), and tried to jam that into the console slot. Was super confused when no videogame appeared on the tv screen haha
@@severalwolves Sounds like somebody was already on a path of an engineer at a very young age. =) And if you might need the word again.... It's PCB (printed circuit board)
They do this because it saves money in large volumes. The SING cartridge uses off-the-shelf components to convert an EMMC chip to switch contacts, but Mario has the memory and contacts produced in a single process.
No, It's a standarized cartrige size for the nintendo switch game cart slot, the chip size is irrelevant at that point, it just has to fit inside the cartrige
@@CarlosSantos-kh4ru You really missed their point. Nintendo designed the slot and the cart to be that size because it allowed the use of easily, and cheap, off the shelf components. Nintendo's in house games probably use smaller internals because Nintendo felt it was worth the extra cost in manufacturing to have the nicer nand directly on the contacts. A small developer might not be okay with that extra cost, so they still have the option for a more "basic" carriage. Nintendo could have designed the Cart and slot to be anything, they could have made it similar to a micro sd card, Like the Ps Vita memory slot. But too small is more expensive, especially if its not a standardized port. and to large is not ideal for a small device. Its a compromised size, big enough that you can fit cheaper components, but not so big its unwieldy, or takes up to much room in the device itself.
For those who don’t understand, only the cartridges for games made AND published by Nintendo are half full to prevent piracy. Other cartridges like Minecraft, Dragon Quest, and Sonic are full.
It’s probably designed to be that size and form factor so it can fit a lot of different types of memory chips depending on which is most cost effective or necessary for that specific game.
I was thinking that too. The cartridges are sold in sizes of like 4, 8, 16, 24 gb I think. My numbers may be off but Nintendo will try to buy the cheapest cartridge they can for the given game. (If a game is 9 gb they will buy the 8 gb cartridge and make you download 1gb of a game. This is what happened with pokemon gen 4 remakes.)
@@neosharkey7401 Btw, Switch cartidges tend to have 8, 32 or 64 gb of space Edit: What? Damm I thought that what I needed to download in the gen 4 remakes were updates, what a shitty company. Still, the base game without internet is completely into the original cartridge, I guess you also download the replacement of the compi park
Fun thing is, the ones that are only half full are actually the higher quality and higher capacity carts than the ones that fill up the whole cartridge
But other companies SWEAR that their games are too big to make physical copies. Just a way to gatekeep games and control what you actually own by forcing you to go digital. Their gonna start deleting games off stores just like streaming services do with movies, even though you bought it for full retail price
Is just a bunch of transistors that create a maze for current flow, simple but can generate complex results. Nowadays you create a code and convert it into a physical schematic that can be printed into a chip. I like it more than coding, I hope to stop being a programmer and become an electronic engineer. More logical, less stressful.
Just so you know: The "full" PCBs store in fact less than the "half" chips. Green PCB is up to 4 GB and the chip is 8 GB upwards. And its not that one is exclusive to Nintendo and the other one exclusive to third party. A few Nintendo games have the green 4 GB PCB as well like Toads Treasure Tracker. It is just that probably most third party games are smaller than 4 GB. I do own third party with half size chip like Asterix XXXL collection
@@xuryous You understand "you can intall the game with out net. so yeah that mario is on the cartridge"? Really? Then please, tell the world exactly what it means, because I do speak English and it does not make any sense.
@@darrylkinslow3357 He's pointing out how you can play the game without having to install or download about 200% more the size of the contents in the cartridge as you do with ps5 and xbox, don't be pedantic dude. the message is clear even if the grammar is not correct.
@@midleno8364 None of what he said, says any of that. You are just assuming things. If you read your comment, you're the one being pedantic. No, the message is not clear.
I figure they designed the cartridge so it can fit most common flash chip types to avoid supply chain bottlenecks. The larger chip is the same size you see on most USB thumb drives so it's probably easy for third party manufacturers to retool existing production lines for Switch cart production. I have only seen the half sized chips on first party cartridges, so that's probably Nintendo's dedicated manufacturing line that was only ever for Switch carts and nothing else.
I mean, they also have to have a standard cartridge shape and size, or you’ll end up either with half the card sticking out of the console all the time, or it being impossible to get back out because it’s too small
That is pretty smart of them that "half full" one is literally a very specially packaged chip with the pads in the form for the cartridge while the other uses a standard footprint for flash memory chips but has to use a PCBa to get it to the outer pads format. I could imagine the 1st party one is much cheaper in volume but the upfront costs to make that chip are high and some 3rd party cartridges might use off the shelf parts.
As time goes on, things get smaller. But it's better if they're bigger so one day they can put in extra chips to make it do things it can't normally do. Somehow I don't think the Switch is like the NES and other cartridge systems in that regard.
Some games need a bigger chip that fills the whole space though hence the cartridge size. As for games that can run on smaller chips, there is a point where if they made the cartridge as small as the microchip, it would be too difficult to handle with your bare hands and would need tweezers to insert the game, so it's better to just keep it at a manageable size.
@@gragogflying-anvil3605 for games and most software that's probably fine but the amount of stored video material from my phone and vods is creating a giant data pile
"its crazy that a game fits on a motherboard that small nowadays" oh man, please nobody tell him that micro sd cards exist, with up to 1.5TB of storage. he will have a heart attack.
@@DorperSystems Im failing to see where the other person mentioned anything about a sata ssd, all he stated was that it is a modified read only micro sd card (which it is)
That's my trade! I suspect that physical games are already an endangered species. Many (most) are just "proof of purchase" that just give the device permission to download from the store.
That's not how it works. Most sizes of Game Card come on both kinds of Game Card, either board mounted or custom chip. Large production run, high storage production runs, like Tears of the Kingdom, use custom chips to save money on the PCB.
By the way you can actually tell if they're half full of full by shaking them if you hear it rattle that means to half full if you don't that means they're full
*Nintendo only turned to the darkside once. And even then, they only used 1.4GB mini discs.* *Outside of that, Nintendo loves the loading time of solid state memory.*
No Nintendo used Mini Disc, that's a technology from Sony. GCN, Wii and Wii U used custom optical discs. But yeah, never HDDs and no optical in their mobile consoles.
@@melley420I don't think it's been done like that, at least not on the Switch. On the Wii/U you could probably just put the disc in a standard DVD drive though. But for the Switch, you can dump the cartridges to an SD card using homebrew. Every Switch cart comes in a format called XCI. It has two main sections, one containing non-sensitive, unencrypted data (a copy of the minimum required Switch OS for offline updates and title and icon of the game). There's also an encrypted section, which contains the executables (ExeFS) and assets (RomFS) The ExeFS has at least a file called main (the main executable) and main.npdm (metadata such as what permissions it has). It can also contain dynamic libraries. All executables are in a format called NSO, which is similar but not compatible with ELF (mainly used on non-macOS Unixes) The RomFS doesn't have to be in a specific structure, as only the game has to read it. But for games released on other platforms, it's usually the same or at least similar
@@melley420 Yes, at least there's a way to connect it to a computer and copy the files (to get the rom), which I guess some people then used to make a Switch emulator Usually for older consoles (any that uses cartridges at least), you take away the cartridge reader and connect it to your computer. For 3DS, you can just install some programs that can copy the files of the cartridge inserted and paste it into the sd card you putted For discs consoles its always been much easier. You just put the disc in a computer, get some programs to bypass the disc's security and its done. That's why Nintendo often decides to use cartridges even if discs are superior, because they want to avoid piracy (and to be fair they have been able to accomplish that pretty well. The methods I mentioned above werent always around or as easy to as today) Edit: Also its much easier to make long lasting pirated disc of quality close to the original that cartridges. Cartridges are more complicated, always need save data storage and a battery (which is why Switch cartridges in reality are just microSD cards), and if any element is cheap, you will have a game that doesn't run properly, or can't save data. Even official Pokemon games for the Gameboy Colot have the problem of the battery lasting barely a decade because they get drained by the internal clock, and when that battery runs out, all saved data is deleted and it won't save until it is replaced
@@lunlunnnnnWiiU used non-standard BluRays. The drive also needs to spin in the other directions as regular drives. Contents are encrypted (IIRC using a common key for all discs). Not sure about the filesystem, probably proprietary as well. Way easier to simply dump using HomeBrew.
You literally have to make the cartridge as big as your largest possible chip to keep it uniform for all carts. How were you not able to comprehend this
I mean, of course it can fit on that. When you buy a new game and put the chip in, you have to install the game. It probably has nothing more than a hash or something telling the switch which game it is.
@@FunnyParadox I get that you're a furry and as such brain damaged, but the DS isn't the first to use a cart, or solid state storage. NES did it first. If you're talking portable, then the gameboy did.
@@FunnyParadox no, tech is the same as N64 cartridge with different protocol. solid state storage is very ancient thing at this point, and by this i mean it is not new at all.
.....why would you A. destroy something on warranty on Live video? B. destroy a perfectly good game someone else who could've enjoyed it, for? This feels like a massive waste somehow...
Btw You can tell if its full of not by looking at the pins a full cartridge would have a bright/lime green while a jalf full one would have a kinda black/dark green! Hope you found this useful! (Yes i opend my games to to prove this to my friends)
It is so that all slots would fit in the reader because some are bigger or smaller also it depends on the reader that the gold colored prongs go into also if they where all different sizes there would be too many sizes for slots so they put the same size outer shell so that they will all cooperate the same
It's been a very long running thing for Nintendo cartridges. Extra space is useful if you want to later make expanded capacity cartridges, and in this case makes them harder to lose.
Most of the time, same with disks, the physical copy is just a physical license so you are able to download the game. It acts as a physical key, so when you don’t have the card installed into your switch, you can’t play the game, but when you put in the key / cartridge, it unlocks the game.
They always do that with every system. They’re a standard size white being modular. You can fit whatever you want in there and you’re not so limited. Plus you wouldn’t want it smaller
It's because there are like 4-5 different sized carts available to devs so depending on the size cart they use will determine if the whole case is filled
They did that with earlier consoles like the NES too. It’s in case they produce games that need more space in hardware, without changing the appearance or the need for an adapter.
Nintendo has been doing this since the NES there’s always been some extra room in cartridges so 1 it’s easier to handle, 2 it can extend the life of the console with cartridges getting more complex and 3 it allows them to push the capabilities of the console later on.
For smaller games I’m pretty sure they put it on a full cartridge because it can all fit on one but I think some of the bigger games it’s just an activation code to buy the game and saves a little bit of space
Tasting the label th-cam.com/users/shortsueP2zUf-EiQ
Ok bro
you should pin my comment the one where i say it tastes good
"Tasting" 💀💀💀
Did you mean "testing"?
@@Ashfon124 he meant your mom
People don't believe it when told they are intentionally made to taste bad. A lot of people will test the statement.
It's easier to manage a cartridge than a microscopic chip
Sd card
@smort9907 wrong.
@@ThatOneSkywalkerI think he was saying it’s like having a micro sd
@GengarHexadecimal 👍
Ya, I don't get why it's so hard to understand, Nintendo can't make a different cartridge for every variant of storage....
Also they have to account for the need of each studio, some games are 100MB, others are 32+ GB so ofc the size of the chips will vary as more storage is needed
At this point they’re just adding extra size to it to make it easier to handle. Too tiny and they can get lost and be difficult to get into a console
there are different capacity game cartridges the small one is 8GB, and the full sized one is either 32 or 64GB
also allows developers to fit a bigger chip for more storage if they have a particularly big game.
@@ethan44866storage isnt an problem, most moder micro ssd and sad cards can have up to 1 terabyte of space on them. The size of the chip dosent realy change the storageapace it has
@@Findus_the_cat it depends on a lot of variables. But... having a larger size allows for easier second sourcing of components.
the did the same thing with the nes and i think the gameboy
This guy is gonna lose it when he opens a 2.5" SSD or a thumb drive.
2240 M.2 2TB SSD would destroy his sense of reality
🤣
🤣
1. They're easier to handle
2. There'd be more space for labeling
3. They'd be harder to lose
4. They're sometimes necessary like the full sized PCB you showed, so best to keep the size uniform
5. (and this is the point I think people tend to forget) Making it smaller would make it even more of a choking hazard than it already is.
The larger one was a cheaper game. Meaning less room for profit, so instead of using smaller and more expensive storage mediums, they used pcb and a chip. AAA games have volume and sell for more, so they use more reliable and smaller chips.
Nintendo takes the next step in preventing people from eating their games; saliva-activated taser defense
@@BierBart12that is a lie why would you lie to people about that
@@adolfbitlergo lick a cart and come back here
This guy isn’t talking about Nintendo cartridges at this point 😂
Gonna be really shocked when he opens an original Nintendo cartridge.
There's a reason they take up only half the cartridge, so they have air to cool down, and not overheat.
@@beauwalker9820pretty sure it was so they wouldn’t look like “video games” due to the negative stigma at the time
@@Tbug20 This is the correct answer. The whole point was it was supposed to feel like putting a video cassette in a VCR. Plus a handful of NES games actually did fill the whole cartridge and didn't have overheating issues... and the whole Famicom games being way smaller and not having such issues.
@@beauwalker9820 What if I told you NES cartridges produce next to no heat.
@@adamsfusion yeah look at a famicom cart, they're not worried about heat dissipation.
"i cant believe a whole game fits on this tiny little thing nowadays"
-1TB microsd card
I think there are 1.5TB micro SD cards now
Hay tamaños más grandes que los "TB".
From 4 MB cards in the late 90s to a tiny micro SD card that can fit 1 TB, times sure have changed
4TB SD cards already coming soon
@@MarauderVN Not even 2TB exist yet. Even though the Switch will apparently be able to handle them once they do.
Same reason the packaging on the shelf isn't just the size of the cartridge - you need to be able to *_find_* it.
Indeed! Anyone who has ever set down a loose MicroSD on even a slightly cluttered desk can attest to that!
@@KertaDrake I tried to (spring-loaded) eject a 128Gb micro-SD card from my new dashcam, without realising how powerful the spring behind it was. It's still somewhere in my car - via con dios SD card...
Not to mention the smallest chip needs the same sized case as the largest so they ALL fit into the console and plug in correctly
@@KertaDrake good luck with it falling in a carpet
Also: not being easily swallowable by children
It’s crazy how small these chips are now, but worth pointing out that even some original Game Boy games didn’t use all its space either.
NES cartridges were also mostly empty space, with the bank of chips and the connector taking 1/3rd or less of the space. The standard size allows for larger boards when needed (save functions or extra hardware included; although for the NES this was not really used AFAIK), and so that kids would have an easy time handling them.
@@deejay4am yes, there was a small handful of times that extra hardware was included in the NES cartridge. Better to have the space and not need it, than to need the space and not have it.
Man, I remember someone was hiding their stash in old cartridges, lol.
@@darkvulpes4826yo, could you pass me Punch Out
@@darkvulpes4826lol, smart 😮
"why does Nintendo do this?"
*immediately opens a game that doesn't do this*
I bet he never opened an SD card or a 2.5" SSD either. Same thing there, the smaller ones usually contain more air than anything else.
clearly showing its not actually "nintendo" doing it but the game makers and such. Nintendo could care less how much space is used or unused as long as its producing money.
@crisnmaryfam7344 He proved Nintendo does use small PCB and it is Nintendo that decided that. What am I missing here? He made a video that proved a point. If anything he got it more on point when he said "Nintendo does this".
And why should they change the cartridge? It would piss people off, if they had to buy adapters because the cartridge is to small and won't fit in the slot.
@@crisnmaryfam7344*couldn't care less?
Bro we have 1TB Micro SD cards and this guy is surprised about “this tiny little thing”
Guess you're young. I remember when 256mb was the size of a filing cabinet and cost a few grand lol
ok boomer @@bologna3048
@@bologna3048 back then technology was still in the early stages but now it's evolving and it's both a good thing and a bad thing
@@bologna3048are you larping as an old person? That's incredibly cringe tbh
The op of the video sounds old, so he probably remembers that they need a taco looking shapped cartridge to fit Super Mario 64. Its understandable to be shocked at the technological progress.
Alternative Title: Why did you do this?!
захист від піратства.оіцензія.і т.д.
@@playgames9082 Uh idk what you saying
@@playgames9082 no i mean he litrealy destroyed the catrege
@@Oscorpior99 Wtf you can put it back in dmbss
Why not?
its not like he destroyed the actual hardware, just open the case (a drops of glue, and its done). And its his cartridge, so I dont care lolol
As many have said, trying to make them smaller is only counterproductive. As long as the size of the cartridge doesn't require sacrifices in the hardware of the console, I think going back to GBA game size would be awesome. Turning the cartridge itself into a work of art like that has been lost to time but I'd love to see it return.
i think they first should allow to have multiple cartidges inside your console. Changing cartdiges on the switch is a pain specially if you have it docked. They should allow you to have 3 or 4 cartidges inside and just select the game you like
They're not gonna make a console with multiple cartridge slots 😂😂😂 at least no more than two like the DS 😂😂
@@josendI’ve saw some adapter that can hold up about 8 but has 4 slots for switching the games and 4 for storing cartridges. Can’t remember what it’s called.
I agree I miss them putting some good effort into the cartridges and like you said basically making them pieces of art, it felt special opening them up when I was younger.. I never wanted to get rid of the boxes but was told to to save space etc.. oh how I regret throwing some boxes away…
I wonder if kids now days have that same excitement tho if they open a physical game… or if they have that excitement when they download a new iPad game or something lol I have no idea.
I hate to see an all digital future and last time I was at Walmart it was apparent it’s sooner then later… sad to see cause I’ll stop buying games almost altogether lol… got a pc like 1-2yrs ago and bought like 2 games on it that’s it..
I’m rambling lol but I’m weird about shit if the game is already all digital and I get into it and like it a lot I’ll want to support it if it’s free to play etc.. but I also don’t like buying a game and not being able to play it offline 😂 will talk me outta buying a game if there’s no offline mode.
@@Cuhryzwrmzthat 8 slot cartridge mag thing sounds sick. I'm gonna have to look now
The extra size is, as you demonstrated, sometimes necessary. It's good to have some room to build out when needed.
Yeah imagine if they made half size carts for the ones that didn't require the space 😂 you'd have to jam a stick in your switch to pop it out
@@TrillMurray I just meant that having the option for a dimensionally larger chip instead of only doing the small one to save on internal component space was the better idea.
@@silversonic1 I agree. I'm saying if the cartridge size wasn't standardized, the bigger carts would either stick out the top of a switch like a GB color cartridge in a gba or the smaller carts would be recessed into the switch and hard to remove
@@TrillMurray I get ya now. Sorry. It's late here and my brain's ready for bed.
@@TrillMurray This is also the reason why NES cartridges are all the same size while Famicom ones are not. The NES frontloader requires the carts to be a uniform size in order for the latching mechanism to work properly. The Famicom was an ordinary top-loading console, so they could make larger games have longer carts (and a few games in fact did).
Its wild to me the size of a switch cart still blows people away like we've had 128gb micro sd cards literally 1/4th the size of a switch cart for like a decade UPDATE as of last yesr 2tb micro SD cards are available to consumers 2 terabytes and 1/4th the size of a switch cart
Ikr, 2 terabyte sd cards exist, and the switch carts only have like 8 gb, though there usually isn't all that much of a need to have any more than that cause switch games are tiny and nintendo needs to make the physical copies dirt cheap to make sure they don't cost any more than digital
@@muddle3017 well, physical copies do cost more as you have to share the profits with the supply chain.
With a digital copy, Nintendo is the supply chain.
They're very cheap too. A 128GB microsd is about $20 USD for a reputable brand.
@@JrIcifynot 12 years ago though.
I remember times when I had to split data on several floppies, amazing progress indeed.
things can always be smaller. but designers figured out that, ergonomically, things get harder to use the smaller they are. just think of those tiny keyboards on your phone screen. we could make them smaller and use up less screen space, but then it will be harder to type the correct letters.
It's only half because the game isn't huge data wise (5.7 gb). It's basically fitting on a micro SD card that is 8 gb.
Edit: I'm not trying to suggest that the physical size inside the cart is related to storage. I'm just saying MicroSD cards are tiny. So whether the cart is half full or completely full it doesn't matter. It's not like something is "missing". Probably has to do with whatever storage size they chose and what parts were available.
About to say the same thing
I too was about to say the same thing.
Micro SD cards that size can be a terabyte large. So Im certain the size difference got nothing to do with the file size here.
Naw one is chinamade fake shit
@@TheDude50447 Probably because it's cheaper
Imagine they didn't do this. You stay up till the midnight release of the new game. You get home and open the case. Inside is a Itty bitty micro SD card. You drop it and now it's lost in the shag carpet. The clock hits 2am. You're still picking through the shag. 😂
Sounds like a stoner storyv
@@jimmyjones6086A stoner engineer moment?
3 reasons
1.) If it get's any smaller it'll be impossible to keep track of
2.) Uniformity so that the cartridges have their same look and size to know they are for nintendo switch.
3.) Future expansion, similar to the other cartridge based consoles nintendo has made the extra space was for adding new hardware later on down the line for "future proofing"
like him or not he spittin' out facts!
IT CAN GET EVEN SMALLER?!
@@coolguyx14there are micro SD cards that can fit 1 tera byte worth of data at is almost 1000 gbs and it's about the side of a pinky nail
Future expansion is the part that not a lot of the other comments mentioned, and that's definitely a big part.
Or rather, Nintendo had made the plastic shell to this size to accommodate all the different capacity chips they intended for Switch, and if a company didn't need the full 16GB cart (or 32GB, as those were introduced only later in the Switch lifecycle), they didn't need to pay extra for a bunch of unused space on the cart, just to fill the physical space inside the plastic shell.
Bunch of PlayStation games could also fit on much smaller discs if such alternative Blu-ray sizes existed (physically), and if that was as easy and also as cost effective to do as smaller capacity carts, they would do that as well. It's just that discs are ultra cheap to print, so there's no point in fiddling with their physical size in order to optimize costs (at best you can pick between dual, triple and quad layer Blu-ray discs, which otherwise look the same but have different capacities). With carts there's a noteworthy production cost saving if you can opt for a smaller capacity cart, even if the plastic shell is still the same.
Cost optimization, while also trying to keep things more uniform in design.
@@shmish5818 Aren't the Switch Game Cards, like, serial? I'd expect any Flash memory chip in 2024 to be serial. If so, and with probably a reduced bandwidth to optimize costs (*because honestly, game cartridges don't need a lot of bandwidth), I doubt they'd throw more hardware to expand the Switch's capabilities in the same way as they did with the SNES, whose cartridges had a parallel bus.
Every cartridge needs to be the same size because of the port design specifications but the internals are as small as they can be because bigger pcb and more silicon = more money. This has always been how cartridges have worked going back to the 2600 and NES, all cartridges are a uniform size and the internal electronics are only as big as they need to be.
Give the label on the cartridge a lick
Why
It taste good
@@Jacob.bottner.productionsits supposed to be super bitter
Please don't tempt me..
Next video:
I herd it was awful so ofc like any human would I tried it. DO NOT lmao
-Easier to handle
-Makes it look the same as the ones that need the bigger chip
-Will actually fit into the switch's game slot
i bet you didn’t know they actually taste pretty good
Let me try. .. brb
with or without the shell?
@@Zreknarfwith the shell
oh wait I remember now. they're coated with bitterant o prevent kids from putting them in their mouth
Proof?
Bro is baffled that a 5.7gb game fits on a flash memory chip twice the size of a micro sd card that can go up to 1tb
Eventually the games will simply work via scanner detection, wireless, or even nfc.
No more blowing cartridges or missaligning direction.
Just a simple slide in and close.
Like an amiibo
That was already the case with their very first cartridge systems. I never took it as being unusual. Game Boy Color cartridges were even transparent and you could see, when the internals were weirdly small.
Back in those days the extra space was also there so game makers could fit extra components.
For example, on the NES, one of the most common extras was a RAM chip + a coin cell battery to implement saves
Or on the Game Boy line of consoles, some games had rumble motors or accelerometers for motion controls
Or probably the most esoteric was the Glucoboy, which had a glucose meter and LCD and could be used on its own, but when paired with a GBA it had games you could unlock by keeping your glucose levels in check, to encourage diabetics to get enough sugar
@@lunlunnnnn I would also count the internal clocks in some pokemon games
I remember when I was like 6, I got my first NES game for my birthday. I knew what Nintendo was but wasn’t super familiar with the console/cartridges yet… but so I unwrapped the present. Peeled the cellophane off the box. Opened the cardboard box. The cartridge itself was in one of those black sleeves, so I slipped it out. At this point I had the NES cartridge in my hand, but did I know when to stop? Nope! I unscrewed the back of the cart, broke it open, then pulled out the green hardware/ circuit card / PBD (whatever it’s called), and tried to jam that into the console slot. Was super confused when no videogame appeared on the tv screen haha
@@severalwolves Sounds like somebody was already on a path of an engineer at a very young age. =)
And if you might need the word again.... It's PCB (printed circuit board)
They do this because it saves money in large volumes. The SING cartridge uses off-the-shelf components to convert an EMMC chip to switch contacts, but Mario has the memory and contacts produced in a single process.
Good point. The cart was likely designed to fit the off-the-shelf components but large production runs can save cost by going smaller.
No, It's a standarized cartrige size for the nintendo switch game cart slot, the chip size is irrelevant at that point, it just has to fit inside the cartrige
@@CarlosSantos-kh4ru You really missed their point. Nintendo designed the slot and the cart to be that size because it allowed the use of easily, and cheap, off the shelf components.
Nintendo's in house games probably use smaller internals because Nintendo felt it was worth the extra cost in manufacturing to have the nicer nand directly on the contacts.
A small developer might not be okay with that extra cost, so they still have the option for a more "basic" carriage.
Nintendo could have designed the Cart and slot to be anything, they could have made it similar to a micro sd card, Like the Ps Vita memory slot. But too small is more expensive, especially if its not a standardized port. and to large is not ideal for a small device. Its a compromised size, big enough that you can fit cheaper components, but not so big its unwieldy, or takes up to much room in the device itself.
For those who don’t understand, only the cartridges for games made AND published by Nintendo are half full to prevent piracy. Other cartridges like Minecraft, Dragon Quest, and Sonic are full.
It’s probably designed to be that size and form factor so it can fit a lot of different types of memory chips depending on which is most cost effective or necessary for that specific game.
I was thinking that too. The cartridges are sold in sizes of like 4, 8, 16, 24 gb I think. My numbers may be off but Nintendo will try to buy the cheapest cartridge they can for the given game. (If a game is 9 gb they will buy the 8 gb cartridge and make you download 1gb of a game. This is what happened with pokemon gen 4 remakes.)
@@neosharkey7401 Btw, Switch cartidges tend to have 8, 32 or 64 gb of space
Edit: What? Damm I thought that what I needed to download in the gen 4 remakes were updates, what a shitty company. Still, the base game without internet is completely into the original cartridge, I guess you also download the replacement of the compi park
Ironically the smaller chips are more likely to be soldered onto a larger board. The 32GB games are the ones that are only a single chip
If that blows your mind then just wait until you see a micro SD card.
Fun thing is, the ones that are only half full are actually the higher quality and higher capacity carts than the ones that fill up the whole cartridge
Not surprising, these are small enough that the limiting factor is wanting kids to be able to physically put the carts into the system.
"Yo, why do people buy pickup trucks if they aren't constantly transporting 2000 pounds of rock?"
Wait till he finds out how smart phones hold 512GB or even 1TB on one Chip.
But other companies SWEAR that their games are too big to make physical copies. Just a way to gatekeep games and control what you actually own by forcing you to go digital. Their gonna start deleting games off stores just like streaming services do with movies, even though you bought it for full retail price
The Australian 'Galah' accent is so great
As an Australian, it's also a surprise to hear this accent sometimes
I’m sorry, but technology just seems like complete magic at this point 🫥
Computer engineers are so ridiculously impressive.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" Arthur C Clarke
Is just a bunch of transistors that create a maze for current flow, simple but can generate complex results.
Nowadays you create a code and convert it into a physical schematic that can be printed into a chip.
I like it more than coding, I hope to stop being a programmer and become an electronic engineer. More logical, less stressful.
Bros the kinda of guy to complain that his drink isn’t filled to the very brim.
Just so you know: The "full" PCBs store in fact less than the "half" chips. Green PCB is up to 4 GB and the chip is 8 GB upwards. And its not that one is exclusive to Nintendo and the other one exclusive to third party. A few Nintendo games have the green 4 GB PCB as well like Toads Treasure Tracker. It is just that probably most third party games are smaller than 4 GB. I do own third party with half size chip like Asterix XXXL collection
you can intall the game with out net. so yeah that mario is on the cartridge
Is this even English?
@@darrylkinslow3357 I'm not an English speaker, but I understand.
@@xuryous You understand "you can intall the game with out net. so yeah that mario is on the cartridge"? Really? Then please, tell the world exactly what it means, because I do speak English and it does not make any sense.
@@darrylkinslow3357 He's pointing out how you can play the game without having to install or download about 200% more the size of the contents in the cartridge as you do with ps5 and xbox, don't be pedantic dude. the message is clear even if the grammar is not correct.
@@midleno8364 None of what he said, says any of that. You are just assuming things. If you read your comment, you're the one being pedantic. No, the message is not clear.
I mean, odyssey was one of their first games so(depending on when you got that cartridge) it could just be that older cartridges were made like that
I figure they designed the cartridge so it can fit most common flash chip types to avoid supply chain bottlenecks. The larger chip is the same size you see on most USB thumb drives so it's probably easy for third party manufacturers to retool existing production lines for Switch cart production. I have only seen the half sized chips on first party cartridges, so that's probably Nintendo's dedicated manufacturing line that was only ever for Switch carts and nothing else.
I mean, they also have to have a standard cartridge shape and size, or you’ll end up either with half the card sticking out of the console all the time, or it being impossible to get back out because it’s too small
You can't believe the game was in that little cartridge? Smaller than that can be a 1TB+ SD card...
That is pretty smart of them that "half full" one is literally a very specially packaged chip with the pads in the form for the cartridge while the other uses a standard footprint for flash memory chips but has to use a PCBa to get it to the outer pads format. I could imagine the 1st party one is much cheaper in volume but the upfront costs to make that chip are high and some 3rd party cartridges might use off the shelf parts.
" You have 152 missed calls from Nintendo "
They've already sent the ninjas
@@skycloud4802 We Already Got 'em
As time goes on, things get smaller. But it's better if they're bigger so one day they can put in extra chips to make it do things it can't normally do. Somehow I don't think the Switch is like the NES and other cartridge systems in that regard.
Some games need a bigger chip that fills the whole space though hence the cartridge size.
As for games that can run on smaller chips, there is a point where if they made the cartridge as small as the microchip, it would be too difficult to handle with your bare hands and would need tweezers to insert the game, so it's better to just keep it at a manageable size.
I've recently upgraded to a 4TB NVme SSD and yeah it makes you realize how little space you actually need for storing a lot of data.
I've put a 2 TB one in my PC 4 years ago (2019) and I only recently passed the 50% usage mark. Didn't even care to clean up things I no longer need.
@@gragogflying-anvil3605 for games and most software that's probably fine but the amount of stored video material from my phone and vods is creating a giant data pile
"its crazy that a game fits on a motherboard that small nowadays"
oh man, please nobody tell him that micro sd cards exist, with up to 1.5TB of storage. he will have a heart attack.
"I switched your game boards is that bad?"
TIMMY NOOOO
Smuggle wikipedia into north korea by hiding a microSD inside a Nintendo switch Mario Odyssey cartridge
Whoever comments about storage units like oily naked old men 👇
its a custom nintendo byte serial protocol
@@crazydogowner yeah but the protocol and interface is entirely different. What were you expecting to find inside the cart? lol
@@crazydogowner i mean if you want to say that a sata ssd is the same as an sd card yeah that analogy works to a point.
@@DorperSystems Im failing to see where the other person mentioned anything about a sata ssd, all he stated was that it is a modified read only micro sd card (which it is)
@@marquistucker5464 its not an sd card. its like saying that a compact flash card is a bigger sd card.
I can’t believe that that tiny little thing cost me $80
BECAUSE THE MOST BETTER THINGS COME IN SMALL SIZES ....LOL
You're in for a surprise with microSD cards, which also fit in the Switch.
I wsh they put them in bigger cartridges. Then maybe I wouldn't have to fetch my reading glasses to select a game. 😅
Keep them in their original package? Or too much space taken up by those?
First party games are half because of Nintendo's technology lol
Nintendo's stelar technology: a micro SD.
@@iNkenbiLLyet sony and microsoft still rely on download discs. fat L.
@@joogled1839 you push to play, I double-click to play, we are not the same.
@joogled1839 or we just don't use disks at all....
@@Blandscorpion76 ah yes. the long lost physical media of not discs nor carts. now tell me, where did you think you were going with this?
Wait until he discovers NES cartriges
industrial design has entered the chat
That's my trade! I suspect that physical games are already an endangered species. Many (most) are just "proof of purchase" that just give the device permission to download from the store.
If they make the new cartridge half the size, how are you going take the cartridge out of the slot?
"Then I picked up this super mario game. This is a game made and produced by Nintendo." Nah really 💀
Mans gonna shit his pants when he learns there exists microSD cards (size of fingernail) that can hold 2TB of data
It's done to save money. If a game is small, it doesn't need that much memory to store, so a smaller board is used to save on manufacturing costs
Well if you havent heard of MicroSD.
@@JailerGamer MicroSD and physical switch games use the same type of data storage
That's not how it works. Most sizes of Game Card come on both kinds of Game Card, either board mounted or custom chip. Large production run, high storage production runs, like Tears of the Kingdom, use custom chips to save money on the PCB.
Tears of the Kingdom uses a 32GB chip and it's the chip style rather than the PCB style.
@@JailerGamerdenser storage is more expensive
This is Perfect size. No need for smaller. So hard to hold it and tiny label.
3ds size is best but abit thick.
By the way you can actually tell if they're half full of full by shaking them if you hear it rattle that means to half full if you don't that means they're full
- hey man do you want some chips
- Yeah sure!
- *brings Nintendo games*
- what is that?
- chips
Ah yes, the very same treatment they did for the NES.
imagine if dev in the 90 had this technology
we be in cyberpunk by now
When you end all your sentences in questions.
*Nintendo only turned to the darkside once. And even then, they only used 1.4GB mini discs.*
*Outside of that, Nintendo loves the loading time of solid state memory.*
No Nintendo used Mini Disc, that's a technology from Sony. GCN, Wii and Wii U used custom optical discs.
But yeah, never HDDs and no optical in their mobile consoles.
This is the most Australian man ive ever heard.
Glue it back on and your good
Bobs your auntie
Nintendo has always been good on file compression
I wanna solder the flash chip to a usb stick and see what the file structure looks like
That would be very interesting if it is possible,😮
Is this already done with older consoles like the Nintendo DS Wii or 3DS?
@@melley420I don't think it's been done like that, at least not on the Switch. On the Wii/U you could probably just put the disc in a standard DVD drive though. But for the Switch, you can dump the cartridges to an SD card using homebrew.
Every Switch cart comes in a format called XCI. It has two main sections, one containing non-sensitive, unencrypted data (a copy of the minimum required Switch OS for offline updates and title and icon of the game). There's also an encrypted section, which contains the executables (ExeFS) and assets (RomFS)
The ExeFS has at least a file called main (the main executable) and main.npdm (metadata such as what permissions it has). It can also contain dynamic libraries. All executables are in a format called NSO, which is similar but not compatible with ELF (mainly used on non-macOS Unixes)
The RomFS doesn't have to be in a specific structure, as only the game has to read it. But for games released on other platforms, it's usually the same or at least similar
@@melley420 Yes, at least there's a way to connect it to a computer and copy the files (to get the rom), which I guess some people then used to make a Switch emulator
Usually for older consoles (any that uses cartridges at least), you take away the cartridge reader and connect it to your computer. For 3DS, you can just install some programs that can copy the files of the cartridge inserted and paste it into the sd card you putted
For discs consoles its always been much easier. You just put the disc in a computer, get some programs to bypass the disc's security and its done. That's why Nintendo often decides to use cartridges even if discs are superior, because they want to avoid piracy (and to be fair they have been able to accomplish that pretty well. The methods I mentioned above werent always around or as easy to as today)
Edit: Also its much easier to make long lasting pirated disc of quality close to the original that cartridges. Cartridges are more complicated, always need save data storage and a battery (which is why Switch cartridges in reality are just microSD cards), and if any element is cheap, you will have a game that doesn't run properly, or can't save data. Even official Pokemon games for the Gameboy Colot have the problem of the battery lasting barely a decade because they get drained by the internal clock, and when that battery runs out, all saved data is deleted and it won't save until it is replaced
@@lunlunnnnnWiiU used non-standard BluRays. The drive also needs to spin in the other directions as regular drives. Contents are encrypted (IIRC using a common key for all discs). Not sure about the filesystem, probably proprietary as well. Way easier to simply dump using HomeBrew.
You literally have to make the cartridge as big as your largest possible chip to keep it uniform for all carts. How were you not able to comprehend this
I mean, of course it can fit on that. When you buy a new game and put the chip in, you have to install the game. It probably has nothing more than a hash or something telling the switch which game it is.
They're making them bigger so toddlers can't eat them.
Xbox and PlayStation solved that with discs
@Shufflingisahabit Xbox will solve it by go digital download in very near future
You're underestimating toddlers 😂
@@Shufflingisahabitdiscs that only have a small bit of data on them and make you download the full game online so you can actually play it.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
or newer micro sd card
Completely different protocol. but yes, it's solid storage. it's the same tech that's been used since the nintendo 64 lol it's not new conceptually
@@ThePacmandevil*since the DS, the N64 was still using ROM cartriges
@@FunnyParadox I get that you're a furry and as such brain damaged, but the DS isn't the first to use a cart, or solid state storage. NES did it first. If you're talking portable, then the gameboy did.
@@FunnyParadox no, tech is the same as N64 cartridge with different protocol. solid state storage is very ancient thing at this point, and by this i mean it is not new at all.
"I can't believe the whole game fits on this tiny little thing!" Nobody tell this clown about 2 TB micro sd cards...
Bro its called technological advancement!
it rlly doesn’t matter how “full” a cartridge is it’s not like these are potato chips or something as long as the game is inside it’s all g
"they weren't telling porkies!" 😂 So funny.
Current consoles are still using DVD while Switch doesn't
Wait until he finds out about the NES...
Monolithic flash storage... At least it's read only
.....why would you A. destroy something on warranty on Live video? B. destroy a perfectly good game someone else who could've enjoyed it, for? This feels like a massive waste somehow...
Because it’s hard for children to handle a microSD card, and far easier to lose.
Btw You can tell if its full of not by looking at the pins a full cartridge would have a bright/lime green while a jalf full one would have a kinda black/dark green! Hope you found this useful!
(Yes i opend my games to to prove this to my friends)
wait til he finds out about nes carts
It is so that all slots would fit in the reader because some are bigger or smaller also it depends on the reader that the gold colored prongs go into also if they where all different sizes there would be too many sizes for slots so they put the same size outer shell so that they will all cooperate the same
It's been a very long running thing for Nintendo cartridges. Extra space is useful if you want to later make expanded capacity cartridges, and in this case makes them harder to lose.
Most of the time, same with disks, the physical copy is just a physical license so you are able to download the game. It acts as a physical key, so when you don’t have the card installed into your switch, you can’t play the game, but when you put in the key / cartridge, it unlocks the game.
They always do that with every system. They’re a standard size white being modular. You can fit whatever you want in there and you’re not so limited. Plus you wouldn’t want it smaller
classic cheeky companies only filling half a bag of chips
It's because there are like 4-5 different sized carts available to devs so depending on the size cart they use will determine if the whole case is filled
they didn't fill the NES cartridges either
Bro is gonna have a heart attack when he looks at a NES cartridge
They did that with earlier consoles like the NES too. It’s in case they produce games that need more space in hardware, without changing the appearance or the need for an adapter.
Nintendo has been doing this since the NES there’s always been some extra room in cartridges so 1 it’s easier to handle, 2 it can extend the life of the console with cartridges getting more complex and 3 it allows them to push the capabilities of the console later on.
Ngl I wish they were a bit bigger
Like the size of a game boy advance cartridge
Just feels to smol to handle
I was just thinking this exact same thing, with the GBA size wish too.
For smaller games I’m pretty sure they put it on a full cartridge because it can all fit on one but I think some of the bigger games it’s just an activation code to buy the game and saves a little bit of space