A HuCard is...

[nat]

I'll agree with everything Ceti just said.

It's just the suggestion that HuCards are somehow NOT cartridges that boggles my mind. You can't argue with dictionary definitions, people.

[OldRover]

You can't argue with dictionary definitions, people.

Of course you can... that's how dictionary definitions are changed.

[OldMan]

HuCards are just another form of cartridge

So the PS3 doesn't read various formats of "discs" and CDs, DVDs and BluRays are all something different?

And another example from another realm.

Just like cars and trucks are both automobiles,

I believe the point is that 'card' is a specific type of 'cartridge' (although it is actually the other way around), much like a 'cd' or 'dvd' is a specific type of optical media. And just because a more restrictive definition exists does -not- imply that it has to be used.

there are enough media variations in the world of video games to warrant specific terminology. 

By strict definition, which is really what you have to go by...

I feel it is no more wrong to describe the pce media as cartridges than it is to describe human beings as mammals. Moreover, by the strict definition ruling, one could never call anyone 'human'; you would need to specify caucasoid, negroid, amerind, etc.
There are times when it is just awkward to list out to possible sub-classifications, and the more generic one sounds better. Or does radeon-based personal computer interface video display edge card really sound better to you than "PCI VGA Card" or even "Video Card" ?

Deal With It.
---------------------------------------------

You can't argue with dictionary definitions, people.

If every dictionary had the same definition all the time, I might agree. But definitions differ depending on who edits the dictionary, and words change in meaning all the time. Keep in mind even dictionary editors agree that their definitions are based on "common useage" - that is, the way people use the words: not any specific meaning, but the meaning in relation to other commonly used words.

[nat]

Show me a definition of "cartridge" that would exclude the HuCard medium from falling under the term.

You couldn't change the definition of "cartridge" and still have it describe all the items it currently does, but not HuCards, short of tacking "except HuCards" on the end of the definition.

[OldRover]

cartridge:
A small modular unit designed to be inserted into a larger piece of equipment.
-OR-
A removable unit in a computer, such as an integrated circuit, containing software.

There ya have it. A HuCard is a cartridge.

[Bernie]

But..  I thought it was a breakfast item??

[OldRover]

Anything can be a breakfast item. It need not be exclusive to one definition only.

[grahf]

For me:

CDs, DVDs, floppys and various flat rotating media are "disks".
Small plastic enclosures containing a pcb with some sort of memory are "cartridges".
An exposed circuit board is either a "board", "circuit board", or "pcb".
Hucards, Bee Cards, Sega Cards, credit cards, business cards, or any similarly shaped thing is a "card".

[esteban]

We have reached a consensus: the HuCard is a card.

Next topic...

[Arkhan Asylum]

So the PS3 doesn't read various formats of "discs" and CDs, DVDs and BluRays are all something different?

All of the things the PS3 reads have "disc" in the name of them.

Compact Disc, Digital Video Disc, BluRay Disc, and they all fit in the same slot.

With the master system example.  Carts go in the cart slot, cards go in the card slot.

Does your PS3 have a new opening for each disc?  No.

Anyway, cartridges are just cards shoved in a plastic shell.  They're pussy versions of HuCards.  They need big protective shells when all the HuCard needs is sleek plastic.

[CrackTiger]

So the PS3 doesn't read various formats of "discs" and CDs, DVDs and BluRays are all something different?

All of the things the PS3 reads have "disc" in the name of them.

Compact Disc, Digital Video Disc, BluRay Disc, and they all fit in the same slot.

With the master system example.  Carts go in the cart slot, cards go in the card slot.

Does your PS3 have a new opening for each disc?  No.

No, but that's my point, they are all types of discs. Gamecube discs are tiny as well, but they're still a type of disc. The 32X accepts different types of carts through the same slot like the PS3. The DS has(had) two different cart slots, for two different types of carts, just like the SMS.

The overall method that "discs" interact with hardware is the same.
The overall method that "cards" and "carts" interact with hardware is the same.
The overall method that "digital downloads interact" with hardware is the same.
The overall method that "cassette tapes" interact with hardware is the same.
The overall method that "disks" interact with hardware is the same.

SMS/SG-1000/Mark III card games coexisted with standard cart games. They had to call them something to indicate the difference. Especially since they were asking the consumer to buy an add-on to run them. Same with the MSX. They couldn't just call them "Wimpy Carts", there had to be some sort of marketing to sell them.

Famicom carts say that they're "Cassettes". NES carts say that they are "Paks". It doesn't matter what kind of marketing term they're presented with, they're still types of cartridge games.

Anyway, cartridges are just cards shoved in a plastic shell.  They're pussy versions of HuCards.  They need big protective shells when all the HuCard needs is sleek plastic.

Obviously.

[turbogrfxfan]

We have reached a consensus: the HuCard is a card.

Next topic...

yup it sure is a card

[neoxeno]

Come on guys, 11 pages on that! What a waste of time  OBEY!!! Go play 

[BlueBMW]

....Gamecube discs are tiny as well....

They look like cookie

[neoxeno]

....Gamecube discs are tiny as well....

They look like cookie

Just tried it. Not so yummy

 

[Senshi]

I'd say it meets the definition of a cartridge, its just a more compact variation.

[Tatsujin]

If a Hucard is no Card anymore but a Cartridge, I wonder how peeps would get mad if they suddenly have to carry around MD, SFC or even Neo Geo sized "Cartridges" to get some cash out of an ATM.

[guyjin]

that would be freaking awesome.

ATM: "please insert cartridge to begin"
me:(inserts Samurai Showdown)
ATM:(splits in half, spilling money like sakura petals all over the place)

I'd have to carry a backpack though.  

[Arkhan Asylum]

Wait wait, how about

Its a card, because Hudson said so.

It says Card on it.  its a card.  The bee doesn't lie.

[Otaking]

eerr... it's a card.

BeeCard, HuCARD, Sega Card etc.. they are all card media, simple, no argument.

The clue was in the name  


edit: haven't read through the entire topic just in case this conclusion was already reached.

[NecroPhile]

And the SNES doesn't have cartridges either then, eh?  Just Game Paks and Cassettes.

[CrackTiger]

If a Hucard is no Card anymore but a Cartridge, I wonder how peeps would get mad if they suddenly have to carry around MD, SFC or even Neo Geo sized "Cartridges" to get some cash out of an ATM.

The 'pro-cartridge' people aren't saying that it's not a card as well, it's the 'pro-card' people who are saying that it's not a cartridge.

The opening post and poll aren't even asking if HuCards/Turbochips are carts or cards, only if they count as carts:

Was watching a youtube video this morning talking about Famicom cartridges; while doing so, it was suggested that PC Engine/Turbografx HuCards are not cartridges.

Are they, or aren't they? And what, exactly, is the definition of a cartridge?

A HuCard is:

A cartridge.
Not a cartridge.    
I don't know and have no opinion.
A nutritious part of this complete breakfast

Although the "it's a card because it says so" people are ignoring the contradiction of their own logic, with various carts labeled as Paks, Cassettes, Chips, etc... the thing is that they don't even say "Card", they say "HuCard". Because Hudson had to copyright something original. What's the best way to market slim carts that are similar in size to business cards? Incorporate "card" into the made-up name.

As I said early on, if a console's cart games were pcbs encased in wooden spheres (with a connection to plug into the console), they wouldn't be "Spheres" and not "Carts". It'd be fine to call them Spheres and if they were made by Hudson, maybe they'd be stamped with a moniker like "WooSpheres". But that wouldn't mean that they weren't technically cartridge games.

What if HuCards were called "CD-ROM2 System Compact Discs"? Would they still not count as carts?

I probably should have brought this up earlier, but I have a copy of a PC Engine game from a little known format that Hudson marketed for a while after the SuperGrafx bombed. I'm surprised that I'm the only one hardcore enough to be aware of it.

They're called "HuConsoles". The one I have is Snow Bros. Game magazines at the time incorrectly listed the game as being planned for CD, because they were really just guessing. Although they function exactly the same as Cartridge, Cart, Pak, Cassette, etc, games... it's obviously a "Console" and not a "Cart", -because it says so right on it!

[Bernie]

Holy Crapola!!   What is that?  How does it work?  Ive never seen anything like it.  Looks neat.

[guyjin]

[Ceti Alpha]

Well, seems that the inventor of the cartridge based gaming console has just recently passed away:

Cartridge Inventor Passes Away

[guyjin]

https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=9613.msg168458#msg168458 *cough*

[esteban]

Finally, we have reached a consensus.

A card is, quite simply a card. A card is not a cartridge, for the same reason that a card is not a wildebeest--they're entirely different beasts!

[NecroPhile]

Heh, you should add a .22 round for the PCE and a .50 for the NeoGeo.

[esteban]

Heh, you should add a .22 round for the PCE and a .50 for the NeoGeo.

If HuCards were cartridges, I would definitely do that

[Ceti Alpha]

https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=9613.msg168458#msg168458 *cough*

lol Guy.

[JoshTurboTrollX]

HuCards are Chips.  much like chips found in SNES or Genesis carts.  Just without all the wasted plastic shells!

Chips!  TurboChips!!

Get it?

[Arkhan Asylum]

mmmm CHIPS.

i need some.

[rag-time4]

Well, seems that the inventor of the cartridge based gaming console has just recently passed away:

Cartridge Inventor Passes Away

I had no idea that the inventor of the video game cartridge was black. Nice post Ceti!

[DragonmasterDan]

My personal definition of cartridge relative to video games requires that there is a PCB that has a shell. A HuCard, Lynx game, DS Game or Sega Card are not a "cartridge".