Commodore ROM Cartridges
Plug-in cartridges gave Commodore owners instant-loading software at a time when tape could take minutes, and Commodore published many of its own.
On the VIC-20, Commodore's game cartridges were numbered from VIC-1901 to VIC-1941, with titles such as Star Battle, Jupiter Lander and the text adventure Adventure Land. Programming cartridges included the Super Expander VIC-1211, which added graphics and sound commands, the VIC-1212 programmer's aid with a machine-language monitor, and the VIC-1213 assembler. There was also a VIC-1214 voice synthesiser, a VICterm terminal cartridge, and an expansion box that held several cartridges at once and switched between them.
The Commodore 64 range carried C64 catalogue numbers. Games included arcade conversions such as Gorf, Wizard of Wor, Omega Race, Lazarian, Sea Wolf, Kickman and Le Mans, along with Jupiter Lander, Radar Rat Race, Clowns, Pinball Spectacular and International Soccer. Educational titles included Visible Solar System, A Bee C's and a series of maths games. Productivity cartridges included Easycalc, Financial Advisor, the Music Machine and Music Composer, and Magic Desk I.
Two programming cartridges stand out. The Super Expander 64 added graphics, sprite and sound commands, and Simons' BASIC, written in 1983 by David Simons when he was 16 years old, added 114 new keywords for graphics, sound, structured programming and editing; reviewers in Creative Computing and Ahoy! thought highly of it. Late in the 64's life, a four-game cartridge was produced for the C64GS console.
Cartridges were never the main way C64 owners got their games, as most software came on tape or disk, so boxed Commodore cartridges in good condition are worth seeking out.