system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: In old cartridge console games, why would an image be frozen onto the screen if the cartridge was removed during play?

I can remember as a kid that if you were playing an N64 or Genesis and, while the game was running, removed the cartridge without turning off the console, the game's present image would be frozen onto the tv screen. How does this happen?
gpt
The graphics processor (if you will) would await commands from the central processor that would be awaiting responses from the cartridge based on the parameters in the rom file.

If the cartridge was all the sudden gone, the processor would move into a hold loop awaiting a response and thus the image would reside as the next set of commands to render (or draw depending on your POV) would never arrive as the processor wouldn’t receive a response from the cartridge.