Nintendo Power (cartridge)

The flash writer at a Nintendo Power kiosk for adding games to flash cartridges

When this was on the market in the 1990s, the user would first purchase the RAM cartridge, then bring it to a store featuring a Nintendo Power kiosk.[6] The user selects games to be copied to the cartridge and the store provides a printed copy of the manual. Game prices varied,[1] with older games being relatively cheap, and newer games and Nintendo Power exclusives being more expensive.

The proprietary medium made illicit duplication much more difficult than a standard format such as a floppy disk.

Each cartridge's flash ROM is divided internally into eight blocks. Unless an 8-block game is loaded onto the cartridge, however, one block is reserved for the game selection menu, leaving only seven blocks for games.

In addition, each cartridge has a small amount of SRAM for saved games, which is divided into sixteen blocks. Games are rounded up in capacity; for example, a 10 megabit Super Famicom game needs three flash ROM blocks totaling 12 megabits, and a Game Boy game that needs 100 kilobits of save space would need two SRAM blocks totaling 128 kilobits.

Nintendo Power has no Super Famicom enhancement chips such as the Super FX, so such games are incompatible.

When the Nintendo Power for Super Famicom launched, it was perceived by the press as being in part an effort to free up retailer shelf space for more Nintendo 64 products.[1]

• SFC game list on Nintendo's website (Japanese) on Wayback Machine
• GB game list on Nintendo's website (Japanese) on Wayback Machine