The T89 cartridge converter is a 60 to 72 pin

Pin

A pin is a device used for fastening objects or material together.Pin may also refer to:* Award pin, a small piece of metal or plastic with a pin attached given as an award for some achievement...

 adapter

Adapter

An adapter or adaptor is a person that adapts or a device that converts attributes of one device or system to those of an otherwise incompatible device or system.Some adapters may only affect physical attributes:...

 that allows NES

Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...

 owners to plug a 60-pin Famicom

Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...

 game into a 72-pin-based NES.

History

The original Nintendo

Nintendo

is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....

 console released in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 (the Famicom) used a 60-pin cartridge for games. When Nintendo decided to market it outside Japan, they redesigned a number of things, including changing the cartridge system to a 72 pin setup. This is problematic for anyone wishing to play Japanese games on a NES

Nes

-Localities:In Norway:* Nes, Akershus, a municipality in the county of Akershus in Norway* Nes, Buskerud, a municipality in the county of Buskerud in Norway* Nes, Hedmark, a former municipality in the county of Hedmark in Norway...

, and thus a number of companies (including Nintendo themselves) produced an adapter to allow 60-pin games to be played in 72-pin systems.

Interesting facts

Due to a production overrun of the two R.O.B.

R.O.B.

R.O.B. , released in Japan as the , is an accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in July 1985 in Japan and later that year in North America. It had a short product lifespan, with support for only two games which comprised the "Robot Series"; Gyromite and Stack-Up. R.O.B...

 games (Gyromite

Gyromite

Gyromite is a video game released in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, designed for use with the Robotic Operating Buddy. Gyromite is one of two games in Nintendo's Robot Series, the other being Stack-Up. The opening screen of the game shows the title Robot Gyro, the Japanese name of the...

 and Stack-Up

Stack-Up

Stack-Up is a video game released in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, designed for use with R.O.B. the Robotic Operating Buddy. Stack-Up is one of two games in Nintendo's Robot Series, the other being Gyromite . While Gyromite was a pack-in game with the R.O.B...

) in Japan, Nintendo ended up selling these two games in the US with an internal adapter. The game itself looks perfectly normal, but inside are the electronics

Electronics

Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...

from the Japanese version plugged into a 60 to 72 adapter. This has contributed to a shortage of the two games, with people looking for a cheap adaptor disassembling these games. Only the early editions have the adapters.