The most problematic game system you own?

[sabre2922]

I guess the system wich gives me the most problems would be my oldest Dreamcast its verry picky when it come to games but shes and old warrior I got it at a pawnshop and it was so nasty I had to take it apart and clean it from the inside out I also lubed the metal rails that the lens slides on it seemed to help tremendously :)
I have two DC but the other I bought new so it works great
also the most reliable and trouble free system ive ever owned has to be the Gamecube I guess IBM knows how to make a good system ;)

[chrisbid]

the NES easily, followed by the PS2

[gamegirl79]

I second the Dreamcast in terms of being problematic. I have two DC's, one of which will play everything and the other one will play every homebrew game I throw at it but orginal DC games it's VERY picky with for some reason. It likes Jet Grind Radio but not Shenmue, for example. :angry: :roll:

If you ever take a DC apart for repair, mods, etc., be SURE to remember what screws went where when putting it back together. I took mine apart to replace the outer casing and spent almost an entire week trying to get the thing working again....turns out I had used a wrong size screw on the motherboard and it was shorting it out or something. :roll:

[kainemaxwell]

NES for sure, then proably the DC for me.

[gamergary]

N64 because the carts are always so dusty.

[ECWSandmanECW]

Playstation 2

[Sosage]

NES is first for me also. It usually takes me 20 minutes of adjusting/cleaning to get my non-top loader to accept a cart. Then it becomes a toss up between Dreamcast and PS1/PS2. The PS2 is like a piece of fine china, however, compared to the Dreamcast’s brick like durability.

Story time: While moving some stuff around the living room, I had to put my PS2 on the floor. In doing so, I accidentally plopped my PS2 onto the carpet as opposed to “setting it down” (it was technically short of a full on drop, but I will admit it wasn’t the smoothest of landings.). Think of the bottom being from about below my ankle to the floor. Not a huge deal for most electronics. Hook it back up, turn it on and the door was jammed!! I fiddle with the door with my giant fingers and “snap!”…the front plate to the door comes right off (the ease of it snapping off reminded me of those vanilla, strawberry, chocolate wafers being snapped in half).

All of my PS1’s eventually had to go the “flip upside down” route to get discs to spin properly (urban myth perhaps? I need to read that thread).

All of my Dreamcasts are being very testy about what they will and will not read. Not just talking back ups, but retail titles. One unit won’t read anything at all (but I love this machine…so I don’t mind buying yet another unit).

[Ascending Wordsmith]

My Saturn has given me fits recently.

[charitycasegreg]

My Saturn has given me fits recently.

same here, I have an nes toaster but it works really good now that I got a new 72 pin for it.

[tom]

The PC for sure, especially the older stuff. Configuring sounds, Vga cards, IRQs and whatever, that was a nightmare sometimes.

[Cmosfm]

PS2 all the way, I can't even read black or purple back disks unless I turn the system sideways to load and then leave it upside down the rest of the time. And if the disk has ANY kind of scratch, ANY kind....even papertowl wiping marks....disk will not read at all.

[Crush Crawfish]

Well, my toaster NES is a nightmare to get games to work, which is why I love my top loader so much! LOL

But other than that, PS2's break and get that god-forsaken disc read error way too much. It's happened four times for me! :angry:

[Simply Dave]

Playstation 2, and cmosfm pretty much summed up the probs I have with it.

[sabre2922]

I had two PS2's and one used one they all had DRE or the disk doors screwed up I no longer own a PS2 or any PS2 games although I do collect 2-D and gamecompilations on PSONE
I decided not to throw another 150.00$ sony's way just becuase they make crap hardware
but I degress I really not trying to flame here and had no intention on starting another anti-sony thread
I guess its difficult to deny the probs with Sonys systems though :hmm:

[Pantechnicon]

Worst is my Toaster NES's. I've got three of them and not a one gives me onything other than blink blink blink. I've tried every trick in the book shortof buying new pin connectors. Not a big deal, though, since I've got three famiclones which have never given me a lick of trouble. Go figure.

Second worst would be my Atari 5200. Anybody who's cleaned a controller for these knows what I'm talking about, but it's a labor of love so I don't really mind.

[rxd]

Worst is my Toaster NES's. I've got three of them and not a one gives me onything other than blink blink blink. I've tried every trick in the book shortof buying new pin connectors. Not a big deal, though, since I've got three famiclones which have never given me a lick of trouble. Go figure.

Second worst would be my Atari 5200. Anybody who's cleaned a controller for these knows what I'm talking about, but it's a labor of love so I don't really mind.

You know they have those new gold plated 5200 controllers that work great....

[Azazel]

Sega CD.

[Algol]

I have two Virtual Boys, and neither of them work. Whenever I turn either of them on, absolutely nothing happens. Although there is a small pop when its turned off. I only have one battery box, so that may be the problem.

[Tricky X]

My 32x for sure. What a pain.. Got one a few weeks ago and spent two weeks waiting to try it. Didn't have the pass though cable from the Genesis to the 32x. Finally got one Wednesday!! Yah!! It worked!! Ate dinner, figured I'd play Star Wars 32x some more. Turn it one, no video. What the?? Tried without cartridge so I could see CD boot up. No video. Long story short, power supply shorted out. No problem right? Everyone has 10 of these, so I try another that does work, will it took out the 32x. Spent the last 4 days trying to find another. Found one today in box. :-) Worked for a few mins, then kept locking up. Well after an hour of cleaning, works great now.

NES used to be the worst. But at a show last week I picked up a top loader NES. Oh ya!!


Tricky X

[Nez]

Hmm as far as fixing the dreacast is the most picky. You have to put that thing back together PERFECTLY or it wouldl not work. Ii had to take mine apart 3 times before it would read games again. Now that it works howeverIve never had a problem with it.

[NintendoMan]

My Saturn has given me fits recently.

same here, I have an nes toaster but it works really good now that I got a new 72 pin for it.

The older nes models work perfect after the New 72-Pin is put in!

Anyways, the system that gave me the most trouble was my toaster nes before I put the new 72-pin in. I try to get the best condition system I can so they always work perfect. No troubles with any of my systems, yet.
(Knock of wood)

[Ed Oscuro]

Never did get the Saturn to work yet, and I don't have cables for my DC (or any opened US region games :P)

Genesis 3 is "problematic," I'd say.

I need to do something with my Performa 6290CD as well...

[tholly]

I got some dirty disc errors from my XBox and my DC once in a while will be a bitch with the controller ports...other than that, Ive had no real problems.

Knock on wood, my PS2 is running perfectly, same as the day I bought it, even after a cupboard fell on it, which thank god didnt hurt it cosmetically either.

[Flack]

Toaster NES by far. My wife and I both have the ones we owned as kids and both of them flash so bad they won't even play.

My launch PS2 is still going strong, btw.

[-hellvin-]

The FUCKING COLECOVISION.

The only system I've ever had to really work with to get it working.

I remember back in the day cursing my NES to death trying to get carts to work, but the two I own currently I have NO problems with. I can get almost any game to load flawlessly or on the 2nd try. What I always do if the game doesn't start right is push the cart with my thumbs and it always works after that.

[dreamcaster]

The NES. Admittedly, I've bent the pins back into alignment which has improved it's performance a lot (9/10 times it'll load first time).

It's just it's taken ages to get to this point, not to mention it's still no perfect.

My first Dreamcast had the resetting problem, BUT, I don't blame that on the hardware. The system was previously owned by a smoker, and the internals were literally clogged with ash. It was disgustingly thick. I'm surprised it even worked it all.

I cleaned it out fully and it looks like new, and has worked perfectly since.

My newer DC has given me no problems whatsoever.

So really, the only problematic console I've had to deal with is the front loader NES.

[Push Upstairs]

The only system (knock on wood) that i have ever had problems with is my NES....but this was before some major 72-pin replacement surgery.

As for taking systems apart:

I've found that when taking any system apart its best to place any screws in a thin piece of styrofoam in the exact same pattern/shape as they were in the system. Not only will they be held in place, but you will also know exactly where every single screw goes when you put your system back together.

[PapaStu]

My rarely blinky NES doesnt bug me, I do the standard blow on the Cart, and poof, all betta.

My just post launch PS2 works just fine (launch series 39001), though the initial load screen before it goes into the games, is lasting longer than it used to.

My real problems are lying with my XBox. Yes its a "Launch" system (got it Jan 02 so it was like 2 months out of launch) and it has the Thompsons drive. Lately ive been getting more and more DDE (Dirty Disc Errors) and lots of random loads in the middle of loaded segments/levels (Man does it suck playing XBL when this happens, its like freezing me for instant death). I know it's the drive, and i really just wish that i could switch the drive itself for a Samsung one, but thats most likely not going to happen. So ive got a Halo limited bundle XBox as my replacement system, which will be sent into MS should mine die so the HD info can be transfered saving me much sadness to loose so many game files permanently.

[RJ]

I just got a used DC & (from what I've read here) can't wait to experience my first error!

My Launch Day PS2 *FINALLY* started getting DREs & would only read 1/2 my discs. Thanks to some easy field-servicing (found in a past GamePro issue & possibly still on techtv.com) it's back to normal.

[Push Upstairs]

I have a used Dreamcast and i have never experienced these "errors" people mention.

I also have an orginal Playstation (10001) that has yet to give me any of the problems that people claim those models give (flipping over to read discs)

Luck of the draw i guess.

[anagrama]

I'd go with 32X for the most problems overall - that thing can be really fussy about playing anything, and throw in the added complications of it's set-up just makes it a pain.
My Power Base Convertor has been troublesome recently aswell - I prefer playing SMS games through it to take advantage of my 50/60Hz-switched Megadrive, but some games will take many attempts and much jiggling to play properly, when they will all play first time on my SMS1.

[Darkness X]

I also have an orginal Playstation (10001) that has yet to give me any of the problems that people claim those models give (flipping over to read discs)

Luck of the draw i guess.

Yeah, same here... My launch PS1(1001 model) has never given me any problems, and it reads just about every game(no matter how messed up). I don't play it as much as I did though, as I love that system, and I'm afraid it's about to break(been getting errors reading games more often then usual) :(

Speaking of which, my Dreamcast has never given me problems either. :)

Anyway, my systems that have given me the most trouble are...

Toaster NES, not only does it blink like crazy, but the controller ports are all messed up... I just retired that PoS, I'm going to buy a new NES this Summer(trying to find a complete ROB set)

Genesis, I've gone through 3 of these! And yes, I take good care of my systems... Just bad luck I guess?

32X, stupid thing never has worked right...

[Xhorder]

Welll,most trouble so far is my Panasonic Q. I bought it modded and after only one day of using it I got an error message on the display. The machine shut itself off and wouldn't turn on anymore. I've send it back to Lik Sang in Hongkong, who take up months to fix the damn thing and don't reply to my mails. I'm worried I might never get it back. :(

The Dreamcast is nothing compared to how much trouble a Q is... :P

[DigitalSpace]

Fortunately, all of my systems work very well. However, the PS2 has given me problems in the past. I used to store it vertically and after a few months of that, it would give me constant DRE's. A friend told me not to store it vertically, and to try putting a book under one end. I tried that, and since then, I've had hardly any problems. I've only had 1 or 2 DRE's since using this method. It still plays CD-based games, DVD's, and PSX games. By the way, I have a 30001 model that I've owned for 2 years. I feel lucky. :)