4 ms·

Don't you recall how unreliable that media/interface was? I don't think most carts aged well.

by spydum 10y ago

chipsambos 10y ago
But blowing the cart and hoping it would work was part of the fun. I hope (and assume) it could be updated somehow though e.g. usb or micro sd
- mkesper 10y ago
  The blowing actually damaged the connectors, though: http://nerdist.com/we-blow-into-video-game-cartridges-because-of-weird-psychology/ http://nerdist.com/we-blow-into-video-game-cartridges-becaus... http://mentalfloss.com/article/12589/did-blowing-nintendo-cartridges-really-help http://mentalfloss.com/article/12589/did-blowing-nintendo-ca...
techdmn 10y ago
They do pretty well if you keep both the carts and the console clean. I have an original that works as well as it did when it was new. You had to blow on the games then too. :-) (By keep them clean I mean that you have to actively clean them periodically.)
fzzzy 10y ago
The ZIF connector on the original NES was unreliable. The carts are perfectly reliable. The NES 2 does not have the ZIF connector and doesn't have issues.
- msbarnett 10y ago
  > The carts are perfectly reliable Depends on the cartridge. Any of the ones with a battery save (like Zelda or Final Fantasy) need to be opened up, have the welded in battery clipped off the board, have a CR2032 socket soldered on instead, and then put a new battery in and reassemble. It's a LOT of pain to get a NES cart with a dead battery working again. That's probably why they opted not to put a slot in this thing -- many people's dusty old carts are dead, and not knowing any better, they'd blame the new console.
  - mikejmoffitt 10y ago
    Replacing the battery takes a couple minutes. Many of those carts are still running. The number of decent NES games that used battery saving can be counted on your hands, so to call it a LOT of pain might be exaggerating a little.
    - tdy721 10y ago
      I think it's fair, Remember being 12? Then again, when I was 12, my elders we're a very different set of folks.
    - msbarnett 10y ago
      A "couple of minutes" for a confident, competent solderer, which excludes about 99% of the target market for this thing. (Here's how to do it, if anyone's curious: http://www.retronintendoreviews.com/nes-cartridge-battery-replacement/ http://www.retronintendoreviews.com/nes-cartridge-battery-re...) And while overall most NES games didn't use a battery, many of the most popular ones (many of the ones included in this thing, in fact) do need a working battery. Final Fantasy, both zeldas, startropics, tecmo bowl, crystallis, kirby's adventure...
      - ashark 10y ago
        If Crystalis has a battery-backed save system it's news to me. And I've beaten the game on the original hardware.
        msbarnett 10y ago
        Crystalis absolutely has a save/continue system. You can see some guy demonstrating the save system in crystalis in this video, complete with save functionality: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=73za3LHWzwk https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=73za3LHWzwk Are you thinking of some other game?
        ashark 10y ago

Don't you recall how unreliable that media/interface was? I don't think most carts aged well.

by spydum 10y ago

Don't you recall how unreliable that media/interface was? I don't think most carts aged well.

But blowing the cart and hoping it would work was part of the fun. I hope (and assume) it could be updated somehow though e.g. usb or micro sd

mkesper 10y ago
The blowing actually damaged the connectors, though: http://nerdist.com/we-blow-into-video-game-cartridges-because-of-weird-psychology/ http://nerdist.com/we-blow-into-video-game-cartridges-becaus... http://mentalfloss.com/article/12589/did-blowing-nintendo-cartridges-really-help http://mentalfloss.com/article/12589/did-blowing-nintendo-ca...

techdmn 10y ago

They do pretty well if you keep both the carts and the console clean. I have an original that works as well as it did when it was new. You had to blow on the games then too. :-) (By keep them clean I mean that you have to actively clean them periodically.)

fzzzy 10y ago

The ZIF connector on the original NES was unreliable. The carts are perfectly reliable. The NES 2 does not have the ZIF connector and doesn't have issues.

msbarnett 10y ago
> The carts are perfectly reliable Depends on the cartridge. Any of the ones with a battery save (like Zelda or Final Fantasy) need to be opened up, have the welded in battery clipped off the board, have a CR2032 socket soldered on instead, and then put a new battery in and reassemble. It's a LOT of pain to get a NES cart with a dead battery working again. That's probably why they opted not to put a slot in this thing -- many people's dusty old carts are dead, and not knowing any better, they'd blame the new console.
- mikejmoffitt 10y ago
  Replacing the battery takes a couple minutes. Many of those carts are still running. The number of decent NES games that used battery saving can be counted on your hands, so to call it a LOT of pain might be exaggerating a little.
  - tdy721 10y ago
    I think it's fair, Remember being 12? Then again, when I was 12, my elders we're a very different set of folks.
  - msbarnett 10y ago
    A "couple of minutes" for a confident, competent solderer, which excludes about 99% of the target market for this thing. (Here's how to do it, if anyone's curious: http://www.retronintendoreviews.com/nes-cartridge-battery-replacement/ http://www.retronintendoreviews.com/nes-cartridge-battery-re...) And while overall most NES games didn't use a battery, many of the most popular ones (many of the ones included in this thing, in fact) do need a working battery. Final Fantasy, both zeldas, startropics, tecmo bowl, crystallis, kirby's adventure...
    - ashark 10y ago
      If Crystalis has a battery-backed save system it's news to me. And I've beaten the game on the original hardware.
      - msbarnett 10y ago
        Crystalis absolutely has a save/continue system. You can see some guy demonstrating the save system in crystalis in this video, complete with save functionality: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=73za3LHWzwk https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=73za3LHWzwk Are you thinking of some other game?
        ashark 10y ago