Why are NES carts always so dirty?

[ccovell]

The thing is, back when the NES first came out, no one thought to keep their boxes and manuals because they didn't think they would be worth anything. The same goes for the condition of cartridges. As children, all they thought of was playing it and not keeping it in the best condition.

I always kept boxes and manuals... not because I ever thought they'd have "value". Conversely, why would you throw out something that you or your parents just paid money for? Something that explained how to play the game if you got stuck, and featured cool cover art in many cases? Am I alone/insane on this one?

[stalepie]

It's how popular they were. The most popular system of any time has the dirtiest carts. They get passed around the most, sold for the lowest prices.

[Duke.Togo]

The worst is when there are droppings on or in them. G-d I hate cleaning that stuff. Good news is the stuff is really resilient and generally cleans up well. At least dirty=profit.

[stalepie]

The worst is when there are droppings on or in them. G-d I hate cleaning that stuff. Good news is the stuff is really resilient and generally cleans up well. At least dirty=profit.

You mean you buy a game that is only in "acceptable" condition and then shine it up and it's now in "very good" condition? (I was wondering about that myself, doing that).

[Duke.Togo]

You mean you buy a game that is only in "acceptable" condition and then shine it up and it's now in "very good" condition? (I was wondering about that myself, doing that).

Yes. I've picked up several local lots that the games were ugly looking to begin with, and after a thorough cleaning look great. I don't turn away this stuff since you can negotiate a low price for it and use it for trades/sales. A lot of dirty carts will clean up very well if you take the time to do the job thoroughly.

[Aussie2B]

I always kept boxes and manuals... not because I ever thought they'd have "value". Conversely, why would you throw out something that you or your parents just paid money for? Something that explained how to play the game if you got stuck, and featured cool cover art in many cases? Am I alone/insane on this one?

Not that I disagree, but did you really keep every bit of packaging of everything your parents or yourself bought? I mean, it's easy to understand why people would throw out boxes. Cool cover art or not, people see it just as disposable packaging. I mean, even the companies publishing the games did. Just look at how Super Nintendo boxes are marked as recyclable. I know that's what I did. I broke the boxes down right away and shoved them in my bag of paper waiting to go to the recycle bin outside. Sure, I regret that now, but I wasn't a "collector" then. I bought the games to play them. I kept the manuals because they contained useful information that I may want to reference from time to time, and I even kept the plastic baggie or cover because that kept the game clean, but the box, cardboard tray, assorted generic inserts, etc. all got tossed, being viewed just as useless as the plastic wrap that covered the box.

Go figure that less than 10 years later I would even try to preserve the plastic wrap on boxed games by using a knife to cut it open at the flap, leaving the rest of the plastic intact.

[stalepie]

Wait, some of you answer this: Are Atari carts just as dirty? I'm a little too young to know.

[stalepie]

Hmm my copy of Star Luster doesn't have the least bit of luster to it. It's covered in grime. It's going to take 45 minutes to clean this one. And yet my two Famicom carts of Spelunker are relatively clean...

[stalepie]

On one of my Spelunker carts the guy (kid? ) poked a deep hole into the forehead of the pink demon on the cover. Like he stabbed it with a ball point pen or something. Must have hated him.

Reminds me of this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/170598662718...84.m1438.l2649

Someone hated Mike Tyson! haha

[Emperor Megas]

I always kept boxes and manuals... not because I ever thought they'd have "value". Conversely, why would you throw out something that you or your parents just paid money for? Something that explained how to play the game if you got stuck, and featured cool cover art in many cases? Am I alone/insane on this one?

Same here.

Not that I disagree, but did you really keep every bit of packaging of everything your parents or yourself bought?

Yeah, pretty much. I don't know if he did, but I always kept everything. Now, I wasn't the best when I was young at storing it all, or keeping it in pristine condition, but I usually held onto everything. I think it started with The Transformers' boxes. They were just so damn cool to me. I felt like I had "more" toy by having the boxes. They had these cool invisible stat graphs that you could use a clear red piece of celluloid to view. There was no way I was throwing that out.

Go figure that less than 10 years later I would even try to preserve the plastic wrap on boxed games by using a knife to cut it open at the flap, leaving the rest of the plastic intact.

I do that as well.

[otaku]

As others have stated I believe this issue to be due to people generally being piggy. Children are a factor of course a huge one. Age is an issue and not everyone cherishes these things like we do. Even gamers for the most part don't care about things like packaging or long term care of consoles.

[Aussie2B]

Well, I wouldn't automatically associate throwing away packaging with dirty games. I'm sure plenty of complete NES games still need a good cleaning, and people can be clean and keep their games in good working order even if they did throw away all of the packaging. I mean, all of my childhood games that I bought new have stayed perfectly clean, even though I threw away boxes, because I kept the plastic bags/sleeves, and even if someone threw away those too, you can store completely loose carts in a drawer or tub or whatever and keep them perfect.

Also, from the perspective of mainstream society, keeping every bit of packaging could be viewed as untidy, akin to hoarding.

Of course, it is fair to say that people who treat their games like shit probably would discard or destroy the packaging too.

[AceAerosmith]

I enjoy buying games off eBay "Like New" condition from "Child-free" homes that show up scratched to hell. "What the fuck? Did you use the thing as a coaster or for trap shooting?"

Too many people don't value what they own or place different values on things. That's why you see great cars parked in front of shitty houses. At least it's that way in parts of St.Paul.

[ccovell]

... it's easy to understand why people would throw out boxes. Cool cover art or not, people see it just as disposable packaging.

...inserts, etc. all got tossed, being viewed just as useless as the plastic wrap that covered the box.

SpaceHarrier, you're not wrong in your generalizations. Look at the above quote; it's a generalization too. "people see it just as" and "being viewed as" means it's a number of people, hence, cultural (or at least in a large group around Aussie), meaning many of us Westerners view too many things as disposable and do not treat our stuff with care.

It is a cultural thing. Japanese people are anal about cleanliness, paperwork, etc. No harm in saying it.

[Rickstilwell1]

If everybody had the special gamebit screwdriver needed to open up the games, they would never be so dirty, but almost nobody has one. Only people like us have them or even know they exist for public use.

[Doonzmore]

On a related note as a Gamecube collector what annoys the hell out of me is inserts with stains on them. Do people use the cases as coasters or something?

[8bitgamer]

In my experience going to garage sales, etc., I've noticed that NES games tend to be dirtier, grimier, slimier, etc. than SMS, Atari, Genesis, etc. Not exactly sure why.

[stalepie]

In my experience going to garage sales, etc., I've noticed that NES games tend to be dirtier, grimier, slimier, etc. than SMS, Atari, Genesis, etc. Not exactly sure why.

That's what I was thinking too, but haven't had much experience with Atari carts. I just notice thought that Genesis carts DO tend to be dirtier than SNES ones. Did they sell to lower-income families? (Sorry if that's offensive -- I was a Genesis fan as a kid and had upper-middle class background... but I remember SNES being more expensive and seemingly richer families getting them first).

Maybe it was just due to the culture of time, the rad 80s We just didn't take things like NES games that seriously. So many of them were bad and we were always blowing on them to get them to work.

[Duke.Togo]

I'd also say that a very large amount of NES games were rentals opposed to Atari and SMS. Rentals are naturally going to have a rougher life. When I was young there was only one place in town that rented SMS games and none that rented 2600, 5200, or 7800.

[The 1 2 P]

I actually like cleaning Nes carts and other old cart based games. But I too have come across some that even the one-two punch of rubbing alcohol and goo-be-gone couldn't fix. I usually pass on those entirely now but if it's an in demand title thats only a dollar I might take a chance on it.