Your childhood systems - what shape are they in?

[BetaWolf47]

My NES works, but is in shoddy shape. When I opened it up to clean it, I lost all the screws, so the top shell just sits loose, and the PCB wiggles around inside. The 72-pin connector is the original, and I have to clean it often to ensure that it works. Plus, my parents dropped white paint on it and the AC adapter when I was young.

My SNES is in great physical shape. Luckily, only the controller sockets yellowed.

N64 I just got working well. Shame about the huge gauge through the N64 logo though.

Any of you have your original consoles in near perfect shape?

[Ro-J]

My 2600 is in great shape except for white paint speckled all over it from painting the basement decades past.

My NES has a new 72-pin in it and works fine. It occasionally blinks but I'm OK with that. There is also a circular soda stain on the top towards the left that I could clean up but refuse to do so. I don't know when I used the NES as a coaster but I consider the stain as part of it's history as I can never remember a time when it wasn't there.

Except for a stain that looks like it was left from a wad of gum some 15+ years ago my Genesis is pretty much in great condition. I've been meaning to clean that one up (not sentimental to that particular stain) but haven't gotten around to it yet.

My Sega CD, however, is a piece of junk. Basement flooded, Sega CD was forgotten about for awhile.....all metal is rusted, system is dead.

[Bojay1997]

My 2600 and NES are in excellent condition as is my Intellivision and Genesis. The stuff that really didn't hold up is the Commodore 64C and the Amiga 500. Both cases are bright yellow despite being stored in cool, dark environments for the past decade or so.

[obesolete]

My one NES is in great shape and only has a few blinking issues if a game is really dirty. The other one... not so much. Usually a game genie is needed to get things to run. From a physical perspective both look great.

I have a dreamcast is mystery stains... mysterious as in it was fine one day and the next it look like someone dumped a can of coke on the inside. I'll get around to cleaning it some day.

other than that my systems are pretty pristine. I take good care of my babies.

[UnpluggedClone]

google 4 gaga

[PapaStu]

Everything is nice, clean and all in perfect working order save my GameGear. The sound has gone out and the screen has gone away, but that wasn't due to me doing anything to it.

[lookfun78]

All, but two of my systems is in perfect order and that is my gameboy and gameboy advance. My gameboy screen is gone because of the glue used to hold it wore off and my gameboy advance has the back part broken so I have to use tape to use it with the AC adapter.

[ryborg]

My original SNES is still in immaculate condition. I had to give away my original NES to get the SNES (THANKS MOM), but it's in good hands with a friend and that too is in great condition. My Genesis.... not so much. That system was not built to last. I've had to replace it 3-4 times over the years.

[jb143]

The only original childhood system that I still own, mainly because it was the only one that was truely mine, is my Gameboy. It had a few lines go out of the display a few years ago so I replaced the inards, otherwise it's still in great shape. It rarely gets any love these days though since I play all the games on my GBA.

I think my brother might still have our old NES. Last I heard it still works with enough finagling.

[Tempest]

Hmm.. Let's see.

Atari 400 - A little banged up but still working. I use my 800 these days though
Atari 2600 - Died long ago :(
Apple IIe - Still in great shape. I still use it today
NES - Lid broke off years ago so I traded it for one in better shape
Gameboy - Was in good working shape, but I traded it years and years ago for a GameGear
GameGear - Still in minty shape (never really played it)
SNES - Yellowed pretty bad so I got a new case. The internals are still original.
Genesis - Still in good shape. I use my model 2 these days though
PS2 - The tray makes a nasty grinding noise, but it still works.

Tempest

[YoshiM]

My NES is in great shape except for a corner bit missing along the seam edge. It also has new pins. Controllers are just as good as they were back when I changed out the rubbers back in 1988.

My Atari VCS, one that my uncle used to have that I used to play on whenever I'd visit, is also in tip top shape. A little dust in the grooves but other than that, a-ok.

That's all I have for "childhood" systems. Only other systems I've never gotten rid of since original purchase is my N64 (bought on launch day), Dreamcast (also on launch) and my Saturn (which was used-bought from a video store sale for $30). Dreamcast is pristine, the N64 has a scratch along the logo with some remnants of cat puke that got ground onto the slide part of the power switch (cat used to like to sleep on the system) and the Saturn just has scratches from prior rentals. All still work.

[shopkins]

My first NES is grimy as all hell but it works even better than it did for a lot of the time I was a kid because I took it apart and cleaned and restored the contacts. The SNES was discolored and yellowed but working until someone stole it from my brother a few years ago. All the Ataris are long since lost or broken, I remember my other brother taking one apart so he could mess around with what was inside. He was always curious about stuff like that and now works as mine electrician.

[Greg2600]

All are excellent. I had to replace the top half of my SNES though, went yellow.

[Dr. Dib]

My SNES is all yellowed and somehow got a nasty crack on the back of it. My Game Gear works pretty, but I do notice now that I scratched up the screen pretty badly. Thankfully it's mostly scuffs.

And since I was still technically a kids when I got them: my N64 has its expansion port cover broken, but I still have the cover. My Game Boy Color still looks pretty good I think. It has been a while since I've used it.

[HurricaneAndrew]

My slim PS2 still looks and works great. The PS2 was the only system that was truly mine. Aside from the systems I have picked up since I started collecting, the rest were my brother's or my father's.

[osprey]

My Dad made a claim on the home and contents insurance when my Commodore A500 got a cup of tea spilt on it. A week later it was working fine, in the mean time a boxed A500 Screen Gems pack was either bought or had arrived .... anyway, it's still here, untouched. A brand new A500.

[Arkhan]

All of my systems are in pretty solid shape for being so old.

Original NES looks brand new, top loader does too.

SNES for some reason, the top half yellowed but the bottom didnt?

The Sega Genesis has some scuffs on the plastic. What they are from, I dunno.

They come off if you rub them with cleaner, but always show up again in random places :D



The Turbo Grafx looks brand-spankin-new also.


I think the reason all my stuffs done so good is i've always been anal about keeping things organized and neat, even when I was little. So nothing got broke, cause it wasnt just tossed around.


my uncle, who was like, 18 at NES time, and was an adult through most of this stuff, hes such a slob that he doesnt have ANY of his stuff anymore. Its all been jacked beyond repair

[Gentlegamer]

The NES I was gifted for Christmas 1988 is still in great shape, just needs a new 72-pin connector. The SNES I went halves with my brother on launch day in 1991 is in "used-pristine" shape with no yellowing.

[Thrillo]

My SNES has gone through a case-change: I found a genuine SFC in a thrift store but it had bad video RAM which resulted in graphical glitches no matter how much I cleaned it, so I did a mobo swap with my yellow-faded SNES. It's worth quite a bit in nostalgic value because I inherited it too, so I guard it with my life, even more so than my NES which I've had since before I can remember and love more.

Everything is nice, clean and all in perfect working order save my GameGear. The sound has gone out and the screen has gone away, but that wasn't due to me doing anything to it.
Ah, just like mine. It's 99.9% likely to be caused by old & bad electrolytic capacitors in the sound section, those damn things are the scourge of the electronics world. I haven't cracked open my GG yet since I have a working spare, but I have cracked open my TurboExpress and gave up fixing it because the damn caps are so small and tightly packed in there :/ .
A lot of electronics from the '80s (videogame systems, computers, stereos, etc.) are suffering from dying caps right about now, as they have a roughly 10-25 year lifespan. What's a real shame is that people toss the whole component into the trash, when all that's needed is a cap replacement. I guess that's better said than done, but still, we gotta save this technology!

[ubersaurus]

My childhood Atari 2600 broke when I was a child; those things have weak controller ports. My grandmother's jr, which I inherited since I played it so much as a child, is still working perfectly fine. Same with my 7800, though the power supply had to be replaced some years back.

We had a few NESs over the years due to pin connectors crapping out, but one with a broken dust cover (one of the pegs holding it in place broke off) is currently fine at my sister's place, while I have another, and the top loader. Both front loaders have new pin connectors and work great, and the top loader is as good as ever.

SNES is yellowing, but it's still good. N64 is still fine. Old Playstation 1 needs a new laser assembly though, as it has a lot of problems reading discs.

The Master System and Intellivision I got as a kid are both still doing perfectly well, and last time I checked, so are my old game boy and game gear.

[Steve W]

I'm not sure where my original 6-switch Atari 2600 is, and it wasn't in good shape. My brother and I had 'fried' games so much that the power switch was pretty much worn out. Then it stopped working, so it went into a box or something. I've figured out since then that it was probably the power supply that died in all likelihood. I wonder where that 2600 went to.

My original Texas Instruments 99/4A Home Computer has a fist-shaped dent in it from me smashing it. It's cartridge port also wore out, so I eventually bought another one (or four) as replacements.

My only NES was also the recipient of the occasional beating. So much so that the metal RF shield was bent so badly it was touching the motherboard and shorting it out, so I took it off. I smashed one of the controllers on the ground out of anger, completely destroying it. It was that instance that made me start controlling my anger and not taking it out on my game consoles. All my game systems from that point onward are in pristine shape.

[duffmanth]

I literally put my foot through my original NES about ten years ago, so it's long gone. I still have my black and white Gameboy from 1990-1991, or whenever it came out? The little face plate around the screen came off, but it still works.

[kupomogli]

Like everyone else with a fat brick GB, screen protector is no longer on it.

NES works, but after about 30 minutes it will freeze whatever game I'm playing and as long as I only reset after and don't turn it off, it won't do that again.

SNES works perfect but there is a very light yellow on the top of it.

GBA works perfect and is in perfect condition. Original GBA owns. SP versions suck.

No longer own my PSX, but my shortly after launch(less than a year,) PS2 has never messed up on me once and still works perfect. Only problem is that no memory card is recognized in slot one without re inserting it repeatedly, except for one which is always recognized as soon as it is inserted and the one I originally purchased(weird.)

Gamecube with GBA Player on the bottom. Fell off dresser and can be seen Gamecube is pressed more on one end with GBA Player. can't get the GBA player off. Both work perfect though.

Phat DS. Spilled soda on it previously and dried it, used water on the screen and on all the buttons to not be so hard when pressing. The L button was really clicky for awhile after and then for some reason later L button working fine. The Phat DS is a beast. Not even a full thing of soda can mess it up.

No longer have my phat PSP. UMD drive would no longer load any discs. Everything else worked fine when I had it though. I have two slims. One came with a bad looking scratch on the screen. Not able to see the scratch when system is on(White Darth Vader PSP 2000.) Second slim I have is a mint Green PSP 2000, has a screen cover on it and in perfect condition. Both are 5.00m33 CFW.

60GB PS3. I need to upgrade the hard drive.

[allyourblood]

My NES was sold off to buy Genesis games many years ago, so all the NES systems I have now are "new" to me and they all vary in their condition. My original worked perfectly when it left me though -- I never even had to wiggle or reinsert the cartridge. Kinda sad I let it go, especially since my complete copy of Mega Man went with it.

My Genesis is original; it's the original release with the Altered Beast pack-in, and it performs flawlessly. I have about 12-15 extra Genesis consoles purchased or received over the years and they all work perfectly as well!

My SNES is a hand-me-down from a friend in high school (around '95) who sold it, along with Super Metroid and Street Fighter 2, to me for 8 bucks so he could buy beer. :? It looks and performs like new. No yellowing whatsoever. I have multiple extras all in varying states of wear and yellowing, but at least they all function properly.

Every other console I own besides the above (that was purchased new) was obtained after my childhood and looks/plays like new.

[kupomogli]

Anyone selling a SNES, Super Metroid, and Street Fighter 2 for $8? I'll even pay for shipping.

Jk. I already own the games. Great deal that you got for the system and Super Metroid. Especially the fact that Super Metroid is a decent amount even loose nowdays(loose goes for about $15 still right? mine is complete.)

[Game Freak]

My original NES is busted (parents got it in '90 i think, broke a while after i was born in '93)

My SNES still works, but the plastic piece in the back is busted and needs repair. No yellowing though.
My GBColor is still in great shape, though the barcode peeled off. No heavy scratching.

yeah...i didnt have many systems >_> my dad's atari 2600 is still looking good, but his TRS-80 is on its last legs...

[josekortez]

The only one I still have is my original Super Nintendo. I traded the rest in at Funcoland. The only reason that they wouldn't take it was because something inside it rattled. It has yellowed considerably but it still works, so I'm keeping it for now. I might saw off the tabs inside it sooner or later so I can use it for Super Famicom games.

[namzep]

NES is in good shape but currently resides with my sister (I have one that I need to repair).

SNES no longer works correctly on some games (Mario Kart, especially) and is horribly yellowed. Have since replaced it with one that works but looks worse.

N64 is in great shape and still works 100%

PSX has a dead laser in it and I'm too lazy to fix it. Besides, can play those games on the PS2 and PS3.

[atariboy]

My ColecoVision is still in great shape along with all the accessories for it, eg.. Super controller, roller controller and steering wheel. it is my favorite console next to the dreamcast.

[PentiumMMX]

Of my childhood systems I still own, my Nintendo 64 is in pretty good shape for it's age; it's well worn, but works as well as it did when it was bought new. I even have the original box and instructions for it, which is carefully stored away.

My Game Boy Pocket, however, has problems. I drug it around with me everywhere, and it shows; the screen cover is missing (Leaving the screen exposed), all the stickers that where on the back are long gone, and it's AC Adapter jack is dead after an incident involving a faulty 3rd party AC adapter. Amazingly, if you pop in a fresh set of AAA batteries and a game into it, it'll work just as well as it did when I got it.

My Game Boy Color also went everywhere with me, although it's in much better shape; having it's screen cover replaced a few years ago. It's pretty well worn and no longer has it's serial number on the back, but hey; the system still works and I have it's original box and instructions in storage. It still gets some use, although my GBASP has pretty much taken it's place.

[NayusDante]

NES - My parents owned it before I was born (88), but they didn't get much use out of it until I came along. They say that my dad's parrents bought it for them "when they came out," so that could be anywhere between 85 and 88. I've been playing that thing as long as I can remember, and it works perfectly. The cart door has one broken inner prong, but I managed to get it to stay in there. Never replaced the connector, but after a proper cleaning and alignment it boots every time. Few little cracks on the casing and not as gray as it could be, but otherwise pretty good.

SNES - Dead, ever since I accidentally put Tetris Attack in BACKWARDS... That cart got fried in a regrettable accident, and I was trying to get it to boot again. Replacement was only about $30, but I went maybe a year or so without. The new one I got was never as solid though, carts wobble too much while my original kept them steady. My original is still in my closet, and I'm going to swap the casing someday.

N64 - Dead from the event that led to the SNES death. I must not have taken my Ritalin that day, because I made an unholy tower of the following: N64 <- GameShark <- SNES Game Genie <- Tetris Attack. Again, it was about a year before I got a cheap replacement.

Game Boy Pocket - Still works, but I don't have all the screws. Labels all wore off.

PlayStation - Perfect, probably because I played my N64 a whole lot more. All I ever played back then was Mega Man and Final Fantasy, and I didn't rent anymore, so it didn't see a ton of use. Still have the back port cover, which was usually removed for a GameShark.

PC - HP Pavilion 8260 (ca. 1997) - My current retrogaming PC. Loaded it up with 256mb RAM, 80gb IDE drive, etc. Still has my Voodoo 3 2000 AGP in it. I threw out the case not too long ago, which was getting really faded.

[dnehthend]

somebody broke into my parents house within the last 6 months while they were away and stole all of my childhood systems and controllers :(

except for NES and SNES, everything else is just gone, it's very depressing

[darkslime]

all got sold

[Ed Oscuro]

I managed to lose the sound on a secondhand Game Boy Color last year (or so).

N64 still in great shape, still works, just been bounced off concrete on its corner once, but I don't think anybody could tell unless I explicitly told them. The ancient monitor we used on it, in other news, is gone.

[Red Baron]

Got most of mine when they came out, or within two years after..

NES: Was the Mario/Duck hunt collection that came with the zapper, whenever that came out is when I got it.. All still in good shape except now it's a blinker that I need to fix, and one of the controllers has a weak A or B button.

SNES: Still works great, except the top half is quite yellow.

Game Boy Pocket: It's a bit banged up after I foolishly let my sister borrow it.. She lost the battery cover and left it under a car windshield, which messed up the screen for a while.. But then it miraculously got better. (Also when she borrowed it, she dropped my GB Tetris into a glass of orange juice.. But it got better as well.)

Game Boy Color: Still works fine, although it's lost it's stickers.

GBA: Still great, although my sister broke the peg on the AC adapter when she borrowed it so I have to be careful when using it, or the battery component will simply fall out during play. (Ow.)

N64: Still works and looks great, but some of my sticks are getting loose. Had a nice third-party controller(The black two-pronged one), but my sister destroyed it in a rage.

PSX: Last I tried it was straining a wee bit, but I think it was still in decent shape when I left it alone to concentrate on it's backwards-compatible big brother.

PS2: Had the fat one, sister borrowed it, and her pets killed it. Then got the thin one.. Sister borrowed it, and now it may slowly be on the death spiral.. Takes a bit to notice memory cards are in, or the disc itself.

Dreamcast: This was one of the only systems I didn't buy new.. Got it for fourty bucks at a pawn shop around 2008ish, and it still works great.

Gen-X: 2009, still works.

No points to anyone who notices the trend in what happens with my gaming systems.

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

My Sony Playstation (very first console I ever had) broke down after overuse by the time I was 7 or 8. I still have the PS2 I got shortly thereafter, and it works perfectly. The controllers are in great shape, and nearly every game I bought for it is scratched but works fine.

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

Got most of mine when they came out, or within two years after..

NES: Was the Mario/Duck hunt collection that came with the zapper, whenever that came out is when I got it.. All still in good shape except now it's a blinker that I need to fix, and one of the controllers has a weak A or B button.

SNES: Still works great, except the top half is quite yellow.

Game Boy Pocket: It's a bit banged up after I foolishly let my sister borrow it.. She lost the battery cover and left it under a car windshield, which messed up the screen for a while.. But then it miraculously got better. (Also when she borrowed it, she dropped my GB Tetris into a glass of orange juice.. But it got better as well.)

Game Boy Color: Still works fine, although it's lost it's stickers.

GBA: Still great, although my sister broke the peg on the AC adapter when she borrowed it so I have to be careful when using it, or the battery component will simply fall out during play. (Ow.)

N64: Still works and looks great, but some of my sticks are getting loose. Had a nice third-party controller(The black two-pronged one), but my sister destroyed it in a rage.

PSX: Last I tried it was straining a wee bit, but I think it was still in decent shape when I left it alone to concentrate on it's backwards-compatible big brother.

PS2: Had the fat one, sister borrowed it, and her pets killed it. Then got the thin one.. Sister borrowed it, and now it may slowly be on the death spiral.. Takes a bit to notice memory cards are in, or the disc itself.

Dreamcast: This was one of the only systems I didn't buy new.. Got it for fourty bucks at a pawn shop around 2008ish, and it still works great.

Gen-X: 2009, still works.

No points to anyone who notices the trend in what happens with my gaming systems.

Damn don't let your sister near your systems anymore. Not even my little cousin (who is wild as hell) hasn't done a thing to my Wii or other systems while he's over.

[Gentlegamer]

*feels like an old man with all the posts about PlayStation and later consoles being "childhood systems" for some*

[dnehthend]

*feels like an old man with all the posts about PlayStation and later consoles being "childhood systems" for some*that's how it goes, childhood for me was getting new NES games, childhood for others was 2600 games, I don't like to think about it

[BetaWolf47]

*feels like an old man with all the posts about PlayStation and later consoles being "childhood systems" for some*
If you feel strange about N64 being a childhood system for some of us, you ARE old, sir. I got mine for Christmas when I was eight! (Just kidding about you being old, by the way :P)

Forgot to mention, the GBC I had got lost somehow. It might have fallen out of my pocket, or buried by the dog, or just plain gotten stolen.

[dreamcaster]

Not sure how I'm going to define childhood, but the only systems I had as a "child" were as follows:

SNES: 1995-1997, ages 10-12. Mint condition but got traded on my N64. Someone basically got a brand new SNES when they bought my lovely Super Mario All-Stars set.

N64: 1997-today, age 12 onwards. Still have this system, box and everything and is still part of my regular system setup. Has worked perfectly for 13 years straight. Joystick is still excellent, though that's because I barely used the standard grey one.

Atari Lynx: 1997-today, age 12 onwards. Was bought second-hand, no box or anything, but in as-new condition. Only had about 1 year of regular usage though, as new Lynx games dried up hella fast that year.

Game Boy Color: 1998-today, age 13 onwards. Xmas '98 gift, still has box and everything and has stayed in mostly minty condition ever since. Was in regular usage until 2001 when I got my GBA.

Going to stop there as I feel that 13 isn't really "childhood" anymore.

[alec006]

Well my Sega Genesis is still in very good shape,granted I've taken it apart and ran the case through the dish washer to clean it,it still works flawlessly without any cartridge blowing.

My N64 however,a couple of months ago,the power supply fried but granted I used to play that thing all the time so it was just a matter of time. Controller wise,the original grey that came with the system is sunburned,yea it actually turned abit brownish. The joystick,well Mario Party destoryed it so,yea,I replaced it.

Also my first Gameboy,the screen isn't in too bad of shape,some regular usage scratches here and there but no major ones,I can always replace the screen cover if I wanted and no battery leaks at all yay!

Box wise,well,I still have all the boxes from the games I bought new for my N64,some are in better shape than others,its cardboard so yea,didn't expect much preservation out of them. And speaking of boxes,I ripped my N64 system box to pieces,why I don't know,I was 6 and dumb.

To think,my Genesis is 21 years old and my N64 14 years old,wow has it really been that long,ah good times,sucks getting old lol.

[otaku]

Well my first was an n64 which I believe got thrown out or traded off as many have

[8bitgamer]

All dead and gone. I had to replace my 2600, INTV, and ColecoVision.