Quote Originally Posted by Rob2600 View Post
The difference is in the way the cartridges are inserted. Genesis cartridges, SNES cartridges, N64 cartridges, etc. are inserted vertically. That results in minimal pin bending. However, NES games are inserted horizontally and pressed down. Each time a game is pressed down into position, the pins inside the NES are bent slightly. Over time, the bending gets worse and worse until games stop working.

Am I right?
That makes sense. But I'd imagine that would bend the pins back quite a bit, far more than tiny globs of spit would be able connect. Maybe at first it'd be enough to make a difference, though, but I guess we'll never know until someone does a real experiment.

Also, in my experience it was only certain games that needed to be blown into. Some would work fine yet others I'd have to blow in like crazy. If the pins were bent back, it should effect all cartridges equally.