Unlicensed cartridges were produced in black (Tengen, American Video Entertainment, and Wisdom Tree), robin egg blue (Color Dreams and Wisdom Tree), silver and gold (Camerica), gray (American Game Cartridges), white (Caltron), and clear (Active Enterprises) which bear a slightly different shape and style than a vintage Nintendo-licensed NES Game Pak. With the exception of The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, which are available as gold plastic Game Paks, all licensed NTSC and PAL cartridges are a standard shade of gray plastic. Production and software revision codes were imprinted as stamps on the back label to correspond with the software version and producer. These labels are gray for standard games and gold (or in rare cases silver) for games that feature battery-powered storage. The back of the cartridge bears a label with instructions on handling, explaining that the cartridge is not to be stored in extreme temperatures, not to be immersed in water, and not to be cleaned with benzene, thinner, alcohol, or other such solvents.

Around this time, the standard screws were changed to 3.8 mm security screws to further secure the ROMs inside from tampering. This is why older NES carts are referred to as '5-screw' and are distinguishable by their flat tops and five screws instead of three. Games released after 1987, designated 'Rev-A' on the back label, were redesigned slightly to incorporate two plastic clips molded into the plastic itself, eliminating the need for the top two screws. Early NES Game Paks are held together with 5 small, slotted screws. The Nintendo Entertainment System Game Pak is the software storage medium for the Nintendo Entertainment System.Īll officially licensed NTSC-U and PAL region cartridges are 13.3 cm (5.25 inches) tall, 12 cm (4.75 inches) wide and 2 cm (0.75 inches) thick.

500 in 1 nintendo nes game cartridge