R.I.P. NES Advantage

[Red Hedgehog]

After nearly 20 years of service, last night my trusty NES Advantage seemed to give its last breath.

I was playing Kid Icarus and had just made it through level 1-3 and into the fortress. Pit entered the fortress and then I couldn't control him anymore. The joystick wouldn't do anything. Pressing A seemed to pause the game. I then noticed I was wielding a mallet when I pressed A again, so I surmised that A now had the effect of pressing Start and Select simultaneously.

I tried unplugging and replugging in the controller. No luck. I grudgingly turned off my NES, cleaned it and the game and tried again. Same problem. I tried a different game and got the same thing. It was the controller.

My NES Advantage has served me well. I got it the first Christmas after I got my NES. What a difference it made. I can't even use a regular NES controller anymore or my hands and left thumb just start aching. The joystick and large buttons of the Advantage work very well for me. And every so often I abuse the turbo functions. :)

I suppose it is possible to repair it, though I'd have to look up how to take apart a NES Advantage (just removing the two screws on the back obviously isn't enough). Still, I bought another one (in great condition) a couple years ago and that works fine. Can I just abandon my original for a clean new one? I will have to ponder this.

[skaar]

I feel your pain. Mine is still going, thankfully. I would be greatly saddened if it ever kicked yon bucket.

If it's just a short in the board you could always take the board out of another one and replace the guts of the unit. Might feel better than a new controller.

[cyberfluxor]

Sorry to hear that. There's plenty of replacements out there and they aren't that expensive so doing as skaar said wouldn't be an expensive operation.

[XYXZYZ]

Hedgehog- I'm the same way; I play Nintendo with the NES Advantage exclusively. But I carried that tradition to all consoles past the NES, to this day I still can't use a gamepad- it's arcade joysticks or nothing. Did you turn out the same way?

Your problem could be a cable issue, perhaps two wires within the cable are shorting each other. Are there any tears or mangled sections in the cable?

But really, I'd say the most likley problem is a defective IC, perhaps with an internal short. If I really wanted to use my original Advantage, I'd replace the chip with one from another Advantage.

However, the first thing I'd try is to take it apart, clean it, and put it back together. Sometimes that mysteriously fixes things. Try prying off the rubber feet, usually there's more screws under there.

By the way, I still use my original Advantage. Haven't had any problems yet, but I'd better find some wood to knock on.

[CastNoShadow]

Tis a sad day indeed.

[Melf]

I have a brand new one, with box and foam and all, for sale if you want it. :D

[BocoDragon]

Pretty sad when you lose something "from your childhood" or whatever, but at least it's a common item.

[Red Hedgehog]

Hedgehog- I'm the same way; I play Nintendo with the NES Advantage exclusively. But I carried that tradition to all consoles past the NES, to this day I still can't use a gamepad- it's arcade joysticks or nothing. Did you turn out the same way?

Past NES/SMS, I think the game pads are fine and I usually use them just because that's what I have. They just seem more ergonomically designed. I do often prefer a joystick for SNES/Genesis, but unlike the advantage, I don't always have them out.


Your problem could be a cable issue, perhaps two wires within the cable are shorting each other. Are there any tears or mangled sections in the cable?

Cable seems fine. Nothing obvious there, anyway. At some point, I'm going to take it apart and see if there is any obvious problem inside. I guess I'll have to take the rubber feet off to get at all the screws, so I'll need to devote a day when I'll have all the proper equipment. Maybe it can be resurrected, and it would be cool to have my original working again, but other than knowing it is my original, it isn't that special. It is actually quite yellowed.
but I'd better find some wood to knock on.

For now I'll just use the like-new looking spare I got a couple years ago.

[8bitnintendogames]

A few of my favorite Advantage controllers have gone to the grave as well!