Lifetime of Videogame Boards?

[rarecube]

Whats the estimated life of a gameboard , if you take good care of it ??

example a genesis or snes cartridge?

I know its a tough question but does anyone know anything about this topic , if anyone knows its probably you guys.

Thank you

[udisi]

a machined board should last longer than you'll live granted the copper in the pins doesn't corrode. Really, the only danger I can think of other than mistreatment is wear and tear on the pins. You may have to replace backup batteries every now and then, but the solid state stuff sould be fine.

[blue lander]

Solder has a limited lifetime, too. It eventually goes "cold" and seperates from whatever it was soldered to. I'm not sure how long it takes, but it'd be fairly easy to remedy by simply reheating the solder with a soldering iron.

Of course, if it's a cheaper game and uses an EPROM rather than a proper ROM, that's going to limit the lifetime as well.