Before people were using discs and hard drives to play their games, cartridges were the ruling format. Classic systems like the NES, SNES, Genesis, and even the Nintendo 64 used cartridges to run their games.
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While the tech is now obsolete, many are nostalgic for the time when people stuck these squares into the top of the machine to start playing. For those wishing to relive those glory days, the ten memes below may help recapture the nostalgia. Some of the memes talk about theNintendo Switch, as well, which, in true Nintendo fashion, features some really strange, almost outdated design choices.
10CPR For Games
Any older gamer who had a cartridge-based console will remember having to blow into the copy of a game to get it to work. In a way, this method is like performing CPR on a person in order to bring them back to life. The success rate seems to be higher on game cartridges than on people, unfortunately. One should not put their mouth directly on the cartridge, either.
9It’s Not About The Taste
Nintendo Switch games are impressively tiny considering they fit such massive adventures likeLegend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildon them. The company tries its hardest to prevent people from swallowing them, but some simply cannot help themselves. Even if they taste rancid, some people just have to put anything swallowable down their gullet.
8When A Game Breaks
A broken disc generally does not start up or freezes at a specific point. With cartridges, all manner of strange things occur when a game was on its last legs. Older gamers are no stranger toSuper Mario 64orGoldeneye 007loading up like the above image. If blowing into the cartridge does not help, then maybe a swabbing out the dust with a Q-tip will do the trick.
7As Long As It Plays
Bootleg consoles always existed. Though the advent ofCDsmade piracy even more prevalent, it was still around during the NES and SNES era. Most gamers in Eastern Europe will fondly recall their days with the counterfeit Nintendo Console, the Dendy.
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However, if anybody ever comes up to you with a console looking like this, immediately refuse and attempt to leave the conversation. They clearly are not right in the head if they think they can sell such an obviously fake system.
6You Didn’t Have Blow So Hard!
Gotye’s 2011 single “Somebody That I Used To Know” was totally unavoidable for months after its release. The hype around it has died down, but it lives on as a silly cartridge meme. All those SNES and Genesis games collecting dust in storage spaces or in closets would die for some attention these days. Even if they do not work, some human air inside them would make them feel loved for the first time in well over a decade, creepy as that sounds.
5Smaller And Smaller And Smaller And Smaller
Even before the Nintendo Switch, thePlayStation Vitaincluded similarly tiny flashcards on which to play games. Much like cell phones in the early 2000s, this gaming format seems to just progressively shrink as the generations go by. How small will the Nintendo Switch successor’s games be? Maybe the console will come with a microscope so gamers can see what game they are inserting into the console.
4Maybe It Is Rocket Science
Nothing feels better in life than encountering a problem and fixing it without guides or help. One’s own ingenuity is all that’s needed to fix a cartridge on the fritz.
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If only any broken device could be fixed by simply blowing into it. Imagine how easily theXbox 360’sred ring of death pandemic would have subsided if people just had to blow on their console.
3Detective Conan
This meme is perhaps extremely dangerous. Anyone who haswatched the popular animeDetective Conanremembers the setup to the protagonist’s situation. He witnesses a crime, and the culprits administer a poison to him which turns him into a little child instead of killing him. There should be a disclaimer accompanying the entry saying eating a Nintendo Switch Cartridge will not turn anyone into a kid.
2Knowing Bethesda, It’s Not Too Far Fetched
Bethesda has releasedElder Scrolls V: Skyrimon almost every console under the sun. It would not be surprising to hear them releasing it on the original NES. If this were true, legions of fans would dust off their old console to check it out.Given their recent acquisition by Microsoft, it is difficult to say if future titles inThe Elder Scrollswill make their way to a Nintendo console again.
1Rules Are Made To Be Broken
Most Nintendo 64 owners never bothered reading the back of the cartridge, which clearly states not to blow into the apparatus. However, some would say rules are made to be broken. This is a far less cool phrase when the rule is put in place to prevent further damaging a video game. Apparently, blowing into the cartridge actually damages the connectors which lock the game into the console.
