Editing Memory card (section)

== Video game consoles ==
{{more citations needed section|date=December 2011}}

Many older [[video game console]]s used memory cards to hold [[saved game]] data. [[Game cartridge|Cartridge]]-based systems primarily used battery-backed [[volatile memory|volatile]] [[RAM]] within each individual cartridge to hold saves for that game. Cartridges without this RAM may have used a [[Password (video gaming)|password system]], or would not save progress at all. The [[Neo Geo AES]], released in 1990 by [[SNK]], was the first video game console able to use a memory card. AES memory cards were also compatible with [[Neo Geo MVS]] [[arcade cabinet]]s, allowing players to migrate saves between home and [[arcade system]]s and vice versa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.neogeoprotos.com/memcardfaq.htm|title=The Official NEO-GEO Memory Card FAQ by Billy Pitt|website=NeoGeoProtos.com|access-date=2017-02-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=This Fall Everything Turns To Gold With Neo-Geo: The Player's Gold Card Keeps Them Coming Back For More |magazine=RePlay |date=November 1990 |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=26–7 |url=https://archive.org/details/re-play-volume-16-issue-no.-2-november-1990-600dpi/RePlay%20-%20Volume%2016%2C%20Issue%20No.%202%20-%20November%201990/page/26/mode/2up}}</ref> Memory cards became commonplace when home consoles moved to read-only [[optical disc]]s for storing the game program, beginning with systems such as the [[TurboGrafx-CD]] and [[Sega-CD]].

Until the [[sixth generation of video game consoles]], memory cards were based on [[proprietary format]]s; Later systems used established industry formats for memory cards, such as [[FAT32]].

Home consoles commonly use [[hard disk drive]] storage for saved games and allow the use of [[USB flash drive]]s or other card formats via a [[memory card reader]] to transport game saves and other game information. Though some consoles have implemented [[cloud storage]] saving, most portable gaming systems still rely on custom memory cartridges to store program data, due to their low power consumption, smaller physical size and reduced mechanical complexity.

<gallery>
File:Neo-Geo-Memory-Card.jpg| [[Neo Geo]] 2&nbsp;KiB memory card
File:PSX-Memory-Card.jpg| [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]] 128&nbsp;KiB memory card
File:Sega-Dreamcast-VMU.jpg| [[Dreamcast]] ([[VMU]]) 128&nbsp;KiB memory card
File:Nintendo GameCube memory card.png| [[GameCube]] 512&nbsp;KiB memory card
File:Xbox-360-512MB-MemCard.jpg| [[Xbox 360]] memory card
</gallery>