What is the expected life for a cartridge game?

[indianatigre]

I have a lot cartridges.

Most of these from 1980 - 1990.

What is the expected life for the cartridges? (with correct use / packing)

Thanks.

[Graham Mitchell]

The great thing about the solid-state technology is that unless you actually TRY to break it, it's gonna hold up. If you here stuff rattling in the cartridge or the connectors look black a coal miner's lymph nodes, then yeah, you're gonna run into trouble. But with reasonable care, I don't see any reason why the carts should die. Does anybody else?

As for carts with batteries, they supposedly die on people, but let me put it to you this way: I have a Legend of Zelda from the first year of its release that still saves just fine, and I've never had a problem with it. If I did, I know Nintendo is really good about replacing the batteries in your cartridges for ANY Nintendo system (for a fee, that is), so I'm not worried. Don't know about Sega cartridges, though...

It's the consoles busting that you should worry about. The front-loading NES's are relatively fragile when exposed to too much gunk. Ataris always seem to work great, and I've never had any problem with Sega consoles. Nintendo ones I'd be suspicious about, IMHO.

[boatofcar]

I concur that there is no life expectancy (yet) for cartridges. When Channel F carts start dying for no reason all at the same time, some may take that as a sign that cart based games can only last x amount of years. Just as the last post stated, you have much better chances of your pin connector in the console dying on you than an actual cart.

[EnemyZero]

Id imagine there life expectancy is up to you and how you store them. I think someone who has there's lying all over there damp basement floor, there collection wont last nearly as long as the guy who has his boxed in a glassed up home entertainment center

[Flack]

I found a Combat cart in the dirt one time that still worked. I have a feeling that with proper care, most of our carts are gonna outlast us.

[Arcade Antics]

I have a lot cartridges.

Most of these from 1980 - 1990.

What is the expected life for the cartridges? (with correct use / packing)

Thanks.

Infinity+1.

:)

[v1rich]

I got a Breath of Fire II SNES cart one time that looked like it had been out in the weather for a while. Some of the connectors were worn off or corroded off. It did not work at all. Otherwise I have like 2 games ever that I bought that I could not eventually get to work out of probably over a thousand games. Super Battletank and Super Mario World. Mostly the carts are very durable. I think there may one day be battery problems with the ones with batteries though.

[Atarileaf]

I remember reading a story on the net about how a guy tried several creative ways to destroy an atari cart but it kept working. Only after completely shattering it, of course, did it actually die. I don't know the link but if someone knows what I'm referring to, maybe they know the link. Its an intersting read.

[Barbarianoutkast85]

I was borrowing a friends copy of The Adventures of Batman and Robin when I was younger, then I lost it but it found two weeks later...In the driveway in snow and it still works fine. And the save feature on my Sonic 3 game still works like a charm.

[allsport11]

I remember reading a story on the net about how a guy tried several creative ways to destroy an atari cart but it kept working. Only after completely shattering it, of course, did it actually die. I don't know the link but if someone knows what I'm referring to, maybe they know the link. Its an intersting read.

Yeah, I remember that one. It was a 2600 cartridge. I think he flushed it in the toilet, soaked it in water, stored it in the freezer, threw it in the air and let it hit the ground, ran over it with his car, and hit it with a hammer. Outside of the case breaking the chip still worked. Only after somehow finally breaking the chip then it was dead.

[rbudrick]

SOme games (like some old atari games--mostly imports or pirates) used EEporms. SOme of these I have are starting to suffer from obvious bit-rot....EEPROM carts CAN die. If exposed to light, they can die MUCH quicker.

Flash cartridges, I hear (can someone back this) can die from a good static jolt. I believe some GBA carts (all?) and other handhelds are like this.

As for other cartridges using ROM chips...hmmm, I supopose it would last as long as the components didn't decay or rust...which could be a very short or very long time. Weathering and humidity sure wouldn't help. However, I have indeed had cartidges die on me. I once was playing Thunder Force III for Genesis and I pulled the cart out while it was on. The cart was dead as a doornail after that. Luckily it was a rental. Zap any electronic component and it will die if you hit it right.

-Rob

[Graham Mitchell]

I have found a sure-fire way to destroy cartridges: the microwave. It's a long story involving a Spy Hunter NES cart and somebody I didn't like...you don't want to hear it.

But yes, if any electons leave their designated orbitals on the boards via electromagnetic radiation, kiss the cart goodbye.

[Atarileaf]

I have found a sure-fire way to destroy cartridges: the microwave. It's a long story involving a Spy Hunter NES cart and somebody I didn't like...you don't want to hear it.


I don't know. Sounds kind of interesting. :)

[Push Upstairs]

I wanna hear this tale of melted Spy Hunter and unending disgust for its owner.

[tholly]

I have found a sure-fire way to destroy cartridges: the microwave. It's a long story involving a Spy Hunter NES cart and somebody I didn't like...you don't want to hear it.


I don't know. Sounds kind of interesting. :)


yea, it does....please tell us the story....

video game lore is always fun.....even if you did destroy a perfectly good game...

[rbudrick]

All right, now my interest is peaked...you must tell now! :-)

-Rob

[Cmosfm]

Ahhh, microwaves are great!

ANyone ran a CD through a microwave before? GENIUS! LOL

I want to here the story as well.

[FOXXX]

Never put cat or dog in the wave.... :angry:

[Atarileaf]

Never put cat or dog in the wave.... :angry:

Or a gremlin! ;)

[TheMaestro]

I don't think GBA flash carts are suceptable (sp?) to static, because just about every flash chip made in the last 5 years goes through rigorous ESD testing and has all sorts of circuits/structures on the IO pins to prevent that. Maybe some of the really cheap stuff coming out of Taiwan, but I can't imagine Nintendo would use that stuff, except if they had supply problems.

[MarioAllStar2600]

Well isnt battery life on carts about 20-25 years. That might have been what this guy was talking about.

And yes please go on with this story. :-P

[LAGO]

Never put cat or dog in the wave....


it's quicker than the oven ... :P

[Sylentwulf]

Battery life is SUPPOSEDLY like 5-10 years, but as the above Zelda example proves, thats obviously crap since ALL NES games with batteries would have quit by now.

I HAVE had some batteries die on me, and I DO carry the tool bits and batteries to replce them, so that's not a problem.

Static will fry ANY cart if you zap it good enough.

Age, oxidation, and decomposition WILL eventually play a factor, maybe in another 50-75 years, no matter how well you take care of them (unless it's oxygen free, humidity controlled, temp controlled, etc...)

[SkiDragon]

50 year old electronics can still work. But usually that is vacuum tube stuff or something.

Sonic 3 still saves because it does not use a battery, it uses something else. Plus, its not that old.

Just a guess, but a microwave might fry a NES cart and not an Atari cart because the Atari cart uses what feels like a metal case, which would protect the cart from electric radiation.

[tholly]

Just a guess, but a microwave might fry a NES cart and not an Atari cart because the Atari cart uses what feels like a metal case, which would protect the cart from electric radiation.


atari carts dont use metal cases......they are plastic
and....NEVER put metal in a microwave...honestly...trust me on that one

[Daria]

Never put cat or dog in the wave.... :angry:

Or a gremlin! ;)

However nintendo does condone the use of hamsters in the microwave. (:

[Graham Mitchell]

Sorry, I wasn't around for a couple days...

Due to popular demand, here's the Spy-Hunter-in-the-microwave story.

There was a kid who moved into my neighborhood. His parents were relatively wealthy, and he had a huge collection of NES games which he didn't appreciate thoroughly. I became friends with him briefly because, well, we had a common interest. Somehow or another I ended up borrowing his Spy Hunter cart, at which time he proceeded to go completely ape-shit. He had attention deficit disorder, which made him rather volatile to be around. I think I made some "your mom" joke or something on the playground and he just went ballistic. He punched me in the back and slammed me in the dirt, then proceeded to do the military two-step up and down my spine (yes I'm quoting the Smiths) while squealing unintelligible gibberish like a demented pig.

Needless to say, we now had irreconsilable differences.

At home, I decided I hated him so much that I would destroy his damn game. I chucked that thing out of my second-story window; it still worked. I tried dipping it in toilet water; it still worked. I even stuck some potpourri in the connectors (???I can't explain this, your guess is as good as mine); it still worked. Having no access to a hammer, I spied the microwave and got a sinister idea.

I'm telling you people, I had it in there for 3 seconds. After one second, I heard a very loud "CLICK". I took it out and it smelled kind of funny. I proceeded to load it into my NES and turn on the power. All that happened was the screen flashed white, but a continuous low, grating tone like the "electric zapping" sound from Battletoads eminated from the TV. Success! I must have pissed my pants laughing. Now I think that's a pretty messed-up thing to do, but kids never think things through properly. I was no exception.

Oh, and he expected for me to pay for it. When he asked for money, I replied with "can I borrow Goonies II?"