Nice hack though, anyone know if this would be the same for an old Sega Saturn?

GrayBird

"Repair an Old NES System"
So, repair an old Nintendo Entertainment System system?

"it through the 1980s with collecting"

"a few dollars online, and a wee big of patience"

thanks

GrayBird

My NES still works, plays games great too. Have you tried blowing on everything. :D

Woodsyx

I did this a few years back when my NES stopped reading games. It is really not difficult to do and the old thing works like a charm again.

SpriteMV

Where do the connectors come from? Is that some sort of common part used in many other devices?

SuperCow

I've always wondered where the blowing thing started, and how it moved across the country, ask anybody about the old NES and they know about the blowing, who was the first to blow?

BugMeNot

I've heard about the new pin-connectors for a few years now, but this is a great video on how to actually do it.

Benjo

@GrayBird: Congradulations! You just won a weekend editor position! :)

baest

I did this with my NES about a year back or so, and it works like a dream.

If only I hadn't given away all my games... boo.

MisterC

I heard blowing actually is detrimental to the connectors.. moisture + metal = corrosion.

taybay

I think this is the trick everyone and their dog has been waiting for.

I think I still have 3 ish NES's in my basement.

Myles

I think blowing came about because it works, it gets the dust off those sensitive pins so no matter if it may cause corrosion at least your games and system work for the time being.

Woodsyx

Best. Post. Ever.

PinkNBlack21

@nikkomorocco, baest: Sorry guys, I suppose I forgot this was the internet. ;p

If I could delete that comment I would.

GrayBird

@GrayBird: wtf? no one likes a grammar d-bag.

nikkomorocco

@GrayBird: Don't apologize. In my opinion, editors should proof read their posts before actually posting them. Silly me. :P

eleazar

I'd like to know how to repair my old SNES actually O_o

surfmadpig

Dr. Mario here I come!

momoffour

@GrayBird: @eleazar: You're right, those kind of mistakes shouldn't happen, and I apologize if it meant for fuzzy reading (fixed now, FWIW). As for "NES" in the headline, that's a tough call between expanding for meaning and having a three-level headline.

Kevin Purdy

Crud... s/WTL/FTL/

mrmuskrat

The link is wrong... it looks like Word Autocomplete WTL! It should be [blog.wired.com]

mrmuskrat

So uh what happened to emulators?

the_hoodie

1. these guys are annoying.
2. the connector is more like $10

elislider

I repaired my old NES and gave it to my father-in-law. He loves playing Mario. I also have another one that I'm currently in the process of repairing (need to get the case all clean and everything), but it's seriously a piece of cake and makes the unit essentially brand new.

This one, though, I may sell on eBay with a bunch of games. I have enough emulation on my PSP right now.

edicius

When game not working...

Step 1.
The Blow

still not working

Step 2.
The Super Pop Your Ears Blow followed by inserting the game and then the double pump down/up down/up while holding the Reset Button move.

still not working

Step 3.
Put on your PowerGlove and punch the hell out of it.

HMGS

I won 5 different "72pin connector" auctions from different sellers on eBay - I paid and never heard anything from any of them. eBay and PayPal helped me reverse all 5 items but still, the people who are selling those parts are wankers.

My fix? I bought a Wii. Now I'm buying all my old games again as Ninendo releases them for the virtual console. Sure it costs me a bit more but c'mon ... wireless controllers and not needing to crack open my NES to repair it? Totally worth the $5 per title.

CapitalC

[ifelse.co.uk]
@HMGS: I love the Power Glove. It's so bad.

drjayphd

Ignore these losers and buy a RetroDuo system for $40 bucks. Plays NES games, SNES games (including Japanese and Euro PAL SNES games).

redslime

@redslime: Poorly. The emulation isn't totally accurate, and the sound's off. Unless I'm thinking of a different Famiclone.

drjayphd

To clean game packs, use a pencil eraser on the contacts to remove corosion. Alcohal helps clean dirt and sticky stuff from connectors.

lwylie

I worked Nintendo of America a service tech in the old NES days. We fixed coroded game packs with rubbing alcohal or a regular pencil eraser. They used to sell a wand that would clean the 72 pin connectors - rubbing compound cleans them up just fine. Hair, cockroach crap, sugar cola, and corrosion screw up decks. You would not believe how many roaches came to Washington via grubby nintendo boxes. We'd drop the whole deck in a hot sink of water to kill them, then take the deck apart clean it and let it dry. Nintendo breed super roches - hybreeding as they escaped to meet in the dark at night.

lwylie

@SuperCow The connectors are pretty common and pretty cheap on eBay. I got one a few months ago. Bye bye blinkies.

ondre

What I find works even better is tearing out the innards of an old NES, sticking in a microATX board with TV-Out and wiring up the USB ports to work with the old controllers (There are tons of converters available online for this). That way, you can simply have all of your games available on the NES without having to switch cartridges at all.

MrvnMouse