Game Processor RAM Cassette for Super Famicom

[ferraroso]

Since today is a national holiday here in Japan, I went out on a little game hunting after lunch.

And among other goodies, I found a "Game Processor RAM Cassette" for the Super Famicom.



I'd never heard about it, so I bought it for ¥100 (around US$0.90).
Trying to find any information on this cartridge on Google is being very difficult (in both Japanese and English). It seems that it pops out on Ebay once in a while for between US$90.00 to US$180.00 and I could found one in a Japanese auction site for ¥12,800 (around US$115.00).

But apart from it, I couldn't find much more information about it. Apparently, nobody knows exactly what it is and what was it used for...
Does anyone have any clue surrounding this cartridge's origin or it's history?
How should I catalogue it here?

I welcome any help you guys could give me!

[ignition365]

I would say accessory.  Here's some info I found.

http://web.archive.org/web/20141107072039/http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?5326-game-processor-ram-cassette-snes-development-kit

Sounds like an early version of the NP cart... maybe the equivalent of a devkit for the NP cart.

Load it into a SFC and see if a game starts.

More info from the ZSNES boards
http://board.zsnes.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=10973

[ferraroso]

Thank you very much for the links!

That is very interesting because, even on those forums, it looks like people are never 100% sure about what it is. It looks that someone had found a patent for the product, but unfortunatelly the link seems to be long dead.

I tried cleaning up the connections and all, but there seems to be nothing inside the cartridge... I will try taking it to a retro store here in Nagoya to see if the guys there know something that we don't and, if I find any new information, I'll post it here.

I would say accessory.

And thanks again! I will catalogue it as an accessory then.