revvo Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Hello fellow NES owners and players. We all know what kind of a system the NES was. some very fun and classic games but almost everytime, getting a game to work was a game of itself. The most common way was blowing in the cartridge (gotta love those "blow me" nintendo shirts!) but I've heard of all sorts of tricks unique tricks like forcing it down twice or not closing that door that would always end up break and fall appart. What was your trick to make your NES games work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoNut Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 all of the above :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKuro Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 All the above, but even now it will not play games without the gamegenie, I'm prettty sure the genie stretched the connectors, so now the game swon't make a solid connection in the socket. But it doesn't matter, with the game genie it boots every game nearly the first time (the exceptions I will use the good old blow the cartridge technique) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattmatik Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Blow on the game from side to side and if that didn't work, I would push the game down in the slot with the edge of the game hitting the front. Hard to explain I guess. Usually that worked though...not sure why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lnmnky Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Turning the unit upside down once the cart was in was usually my trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfoos Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Blow on the game from side to side and if that didn't work, I would push the game down in the slot with the edge of the game hitting the front. Hard to explain I guess. Usually that worked though...not sure why. Same thing I used to do. I used a lighter to jam the cartridge down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gunslinger Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 all of the above :p LOL...Yip, that should have been a voting option... :whistle: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoL Veteran Posted January 26, 2007 Veteran Share Posted January 26, 2007 Blow in the cartridge :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rev. sK Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 I used to blow on the cartridges till my cousin showed me the jamming trick. you slide the cartridge in just enough so that it barely passes the front edge of the unit and force it down. Powered everytime after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Teej Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Blow the cartridge traditionally, the "Tap the Cartridge" technique is the one I use on the N64 :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravensworth Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Blowing in the cartridge ruins them and your system. The reason it works is the moisture from your breath causes it to make contact, but that moisture also causes them to corrode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltLife Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 ^ yeah, but I was just a lil kid, and it WORKED! that's all that mattered to me :shiftyninja: Also tried the upside down trick, I forgot all about having to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavalyr Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 all of the above and in that order. used to get mad like heck when it would not want to work..hehe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Carlton Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 I snipped the pin on the security IC so I never got the red flashing on off screen...then I took a straightened out paper clip and bent each of the contacts on the zif socket out more so they made a good contact with the cartridge. After that, never had a single hiccup, everything worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Teej Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Blowing in the cartridge ruins them and your system. The reason it works is the moisture from your breath causes it to make contact, but that moisture also causes them to corrode. And yet, all my NES games still work. Score! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DELTETHISACCOUNT Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 I licked the bottom of the connector, it always worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackwanders Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 The problem isn't the slot on the cartridge, it's the connector in the system. The original NES used copper connector pins, which oxidized after so many years, making good contact between the connector and the cartridge nigh impossible. Also, the pins acted like springs, and after a while, they'd fail to return to their extended position, failing to make solid contact with the cartridge. Two years ago I went on eBay and bought a new gold plated connector for a few bucks, installed it, and all my games work flawlessly, like a brand new console. Ravensworth is right. Blowing on the cartridge doesn't remove dirt, it adds moisture, which helps make the necessary contact. However, it only speeds the corrosion of both the cartridge and the connector in the console. That's also why licking the cartridge slot also works, as Ruiz noted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 LOL Awesome Poll! Bring back some good memories :laugh: Blow in the cartridge and and sometimes beat the &@%# out it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathachew Veteran Posted January 26, 2007 Veteran Share Posted January 26, 2007 Should've been multiple choice, or an All of the above, because my three brothers and I sure did everything we could. :laugh: :laugh: I never heard of the licking trick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilentMage Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 My tools of the trade: 1 Q-tip, 1 bottle of rubbing alcohol, 1 NES game that doesn't want to work. I'd first have one end of the Q-tip soak in rubbing alcohol. Then I'd use that to scrub the connectors on the NES cartridge until they glistened (and smelled) like alcohol. I'd then use the dry end of the Q-tip to carefully dry off the tip of the connector so that the sides were still somewhat wet but not to the point where it's dripping. I put the cartridge in and BAM! it works without a hitch! However, one of my tech-savvy friends who's an electrical engineer told me that by using rubbing alcohol on the NES cartridge, I'm slowly degrading the copper connectors (or something like that) and that if I keep doing that the console will ultimately never take games again. I never followed up on this, but I bet it's true cuz he's very smart. Nevertheless, I'm still cleaning my games that way and my NES (the original boxy grey one with the front-loader, not that ugly top-loading "new" one) still works after over 20 years of use and abuse! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacer Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 My tools of the trade: 1 Q-tip, 1 bottle of rubbing alcohol, 1 NES game that doesn't want to work.I'd first have one end of the Q-tip soak in rubbing alcohol. Then I'd use that to scrub the connectors on the NES cartridge until they glistened (and smelled) like alcohol. I'd then use the dry end of the Q-tip to carefully dry off the tip of the connector so that the sides were still somewhat wet but not to the point where it's dripping. I put the cartridge in and BAM! it works without a hitch! However, one of my tech-savvy friends who's an electrical engineer told me that by using rubbing alcohol on the NES cartridge, I'm slowly degrading the copper connectors (or something like that) and that if I keep doing that the console will ultimately never take games again. I never followed up on this, but I bet it's true cuz he's very smart. Nevertheless, I'm still cleaning my games that way and my NES (the original boxy grey one with the front-loader, not that ugly top-loading "new" one) still works after over 20 years of use and abuse! :D +1 Although now, all I have to do to play my nintendo games is turn on my computer and boot up JNES. Life is sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myxomatosis Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Emulation :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimplySchizo Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 All the above. BUT, the most effective for me was stuffing another cartidge ontop of the one already inserted. And if that failed, the last resort was a q-tip dipped in alcohol and cleaned the tape. (Yes any olskooler will tell you we called'em 'tapes' :p) Worked everytime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvme Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 use an eraser to clean the contacts, and then blow out the eraser dust Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goji Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 O this thread is awsome! My bros. and I would blow into the cartridge and into the console until our faces were blue, then we would attempt to start up a game and see if it worked or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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