The evolution of video game media

From jumper cards to hard disks, these are the cards, cartridges, and drives that have shaped the world of gaming.

"We Need a Place to Put These."



Video games began in a primordial technological soup whose origin point shifts depending on how you define the term "video game." From 1972 through today, we've rounded up 67 distinct game cartridges, cards, disks, and other important storage systems that have defined the gamer's world since the dawn of the industry. All of the media formats in this slideshow (except those in slide 15) are presented to scale with each other to give you a clear picture of how far gaming has come.
Photos by Benj Edwards

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