What is Actually Inside of a Game Cart?

[fairyland]

Sorry if this topic was brought up somewhere else, I really don't know what proper words to use to do a search to find help on this topic.

Today I opened a SNES Mortal Kombat to properly clean it's pins. I was wondering what the heck are all these things inside. Obviously the circuit board, but what are those things on there called and what do they do?

I gather that the black chips is where the game program is stored. The lines on the board bring electricity between the chips and the system. There are two pink wire things and one black tube thing which I cannot start to guess about as I have no training in circuitry or electronics to have a clue.

Then there are other carts with other random things inside that I would like to more know about as well. Is a "Carts for Dummies" website out there that explains in pretty simple terms all of the stuff that we may encounter? Thanks!

[Enigmus]

Gold lines = traces - carry signals across the board
Black chips = ROM chips/add-on components (Super FX, DSP, etc.) - obvious to know what they do
Pink lines and black tubes = Transistors and fuses - regulate voltages
Button battery/flat disc battery = Power source for saving games (later replaced by magnetic saving chips)

[shadowkn55]

Pink lines and black tubes = Transistors and fuses - regulate voltages


Both of those are actually capacitors. The pink ones are non-polarized while the black one is a polarized electrolytic.

[dendawg]

Here's a page that identifies electronic components:

http://www.uchobby.com/index.php/2007/07/15/identifying-electronic-components/

[Enigmus]

Both of those are actually capacitors. The pink ones are non-polarized while the black one is a polarized electrolytic.

My bad, I get the two words mixed up on occasion.