Ive played the NES, genesis, and N64, and out of those 3 cart based consoles, the NES I recall, you had to blow on those carts a lot or something to get them working here and there. But with genesis or even SNES and n64, I hardly recall blowing on the cart. Was there some major cart difference with NES carts compared to other basic cart styles for other consoles?
well I always had to blow on any cart to get it working well lol. NES was especially bad since the cart went in horizontal. That ment that the connection didnt have gravity in its favor. For instance with the SNES the cart sits vertical so it stays in place unless its kicked or seomthing. Well with the NES the cart is long and dosent have good support so gravity gets to working on the no supported end and it starts to teeter making the conenction unstable. And as a side note blowing air really dosent do anything, its the mosture in your breath.
I dont think blowing the into carts really helped.It was all about the crappy 72-pin connectors the NES had.
Yeh that was pretty much why, but blowing on them seemed to work. If it didn't turn on after blowing on it, blow on it some more and harder than before. talk about an easy way to fix a problem...
The Genesis and SNES (and later the redesigned NES) had tighter cart slots, allowing for a better, secure connection. The Neo Geo AES is prone to a lot of problems do to its two PCB connector design. The PCBs in the carts would sometimes warp a bit causing the slots to eventually "loosen" thus leading to all kinds of weird garbled video and other problems. They'd also get really dirty over time by way of dust buildup and whatnot...the AES is probably one of the problematic systems I've ever owned. That doesn't even factor in all the various board revisions SNK made---some serial #'s display cleaner video than others, etc.
actually, the difference is that top-loader cartslots involve friction when inserting a cartridge. this friction can be considered as a self-cleaning mechanism that removes dirt and oxidation layers. the nes-cartslot is frictionless. when you slide the cart in, the pins dont make connection until you push the cart down. the idea behind this probably was to prevent the cartridge edge connectors from wearing down. bottom line: the nes' cartslot doesnt clean itself so you'll have to do it yourself from time to time.
Actually it really isn't the blowing that helped it was probably just the reinserting of the cartridge. Also by dragging it to the left or right it can affect the connection. When I put my cartridges in if they don't work I just pull the cartridge to the right or left and try again. That always does the trick. And ofcourse you can replace the NES's poor connector yourself. I still play my NES to this day. Ussually playing a game of Ninja Gaiden or Mega Man for fun.
Another trick that work was to leave the cartrige just a little bit off so it would touch the plastic on the nes, then just push it hard downwards.
That and using a game genie always seem to do the trick for me. Also pushing down on the cart(as you would do when you are removing a game) and putting another game inside the nes(on top of the one you're trying to play) would sometimes get unplayable(by any other means) games to work.
The stock pin connector did not conduct elecricity well, AND because of the spring loader, the connectors did not always make contact at all. Blowing on the carts, shaking them, and cleaning them did in fact contribute to their conductivity ( a little), and sticking another cart on top of the inserted cart helped to ensure the pins touched. Top loaders have no springs = better connection every time.
