Consoles breaking left and right.......all from the same generation

Gamecube- won't read discs
PS2- Started being unable to read Blue discs, now it won't read any. As if the system is punishing me for playing Soul Caliber III.
XBOX- Won't turn on, I sent it off to be recycled.

I suppose I can probably fix the PS2 and the GC I already made a thread on.

Yet my N64, Dreamcasts and Early Saturn work just fine. I just need to replace the battery in my Saturn. My launch dreamcast with rusty plates has trouble with GD roms but the Sega Sports Dreamcast works as well as the day I bought it. I do have a dead dreamcast with a Modchip inside I hope to one day bring back to life. When it turns on it's just black.

So am I just unlucky or was that console generation just bad with Lasers and Power supplies?

 

For GCN, depends. Is it the old model (with the Digital AV port), or the newer model (with just the regular AV out)? Because from what I've read, the newer GCNs' lasers were more reliable when they worked, but tended to crap out faster.

 

The 6th generation (Dreamcast, PS2, GameCube, Original Xbox) was weird with hardware. Some revisions are worse than others and have bad lasers. Others work perfectly fine.

For the PS2, clean the laser lens with either rubbing alcohol or a CD Player cleaning disc. Blue discs are CD-ROMs. Mine had this same issue. I used a CD Player cleaning disc and it works perfectly now. I had to keep trying to get the thing to read it before I could play the track that cleans the lens. As for the GC, try cleaning the laser lens with rubbing alcohol. If these systems still have issues, replace the lasers. You can buy replacements lasers on eBay or Amazon.com.

 

Launch GameCube,slim PS2

PS2 it seems all it needs is a good cleaning

My GameCube I might swap lasers with a newer model I have

 

It's all these damned optical discs. If only we'd stuck with cartridges.

Maybe the Retro VGS is on to something!

 

Yet my Saturn, 2 of my 3 Dreamcasts and N64 still work.

Also had a DSLite that shit the bed and my PSP needs a new battery

 

Well, your consoles are now at least 10 years old.

 

Yet my 20 year old ones, Still work

 

Cartridges man. Cartridges.

Except the NES, but it was stupid, so yeah.

My almost 40 year old 2600 still fires up like a charm.

 

The original Xbox wont turn on issue is pretty common and typically easy to fix. Most of the time It is either the AC plug that developed a cold solder or some specific traces that broke due to corrosion on the top of the board.

 

Luckily, the 7th generation and now the 8th generation has almost no such problems with optical drives. Sure, a lot of the early Xbox 360's and PS3's may have trouble reading discs, but in 90% of the cases, just cleaning it would fix it.

Most of the 6th gen consoles are easy to fix, unlike if you've got a RROD Xbox 360 or YLOD PS3. Fixing those permanently would require a reball, which for most is not available at home.

 

PSone does that too.

 

PS2 is a coin-toss.

SCPH-3900x seems to be the best bet for optical reliability. I've heard that the 5x tends to be a bit problematic.

I used to have a 1st-gen slim and it worked like a champ. When they first rolled out, they did have some trouble with their PSUs (something about fire iirc), but it would read miserably scratched up discs that my PS1 and older PS2 could not handle.

You can usually get some more life out of a Gamecube with proper cleaning and a light pot tweak.

 

Yeah my XBOX has probably been taken apart and used for parts by now. Some Recycling person has my copy of DOA3 too. I don't know how easy it is to get a premodded console I'd love to get one that's been worked over with either a soft mod or a chip, get an Ultimate XBOX.

My Cube I still have It's just a matter of opening it up which with a security bit screw driver with no handle is hard to do. How common are the component out Gamecubes? GCs are dirt cheap now like I mention below I'm considering getting a US model and a Japanese model.

My PS2 Slim apprenlty just cleaning them seems to fix them. the laser still fires up but it's probably really dusty as I don't dust my entertainmet center as much as I should. I'm pondering getting a PS2 Phat and installing a fliptop lid on it. My other option is getting another US PS2, a Japanese PS2 and a 3rd PS2 just for burns. I was thinking of that before the one I have now started with that problem.

Speaking of reading discs, My PS3 slim sounds like a blender when I insert DVDs no such noises when I actually play them, but when in standby it sounds like a plane is taking off.

 

Common enough, but the component cables themselves cost stupid money. You could literally buy three or four Wiis (with their dirt cheap component cables) for the price of the GC component cable on ebay.

 

Which is a bummer if you're real big on video quality. I was lucky to score my GCN D-terminal cable for $90 last year. And though I enjoy the quality, unless you've got eagle eyes and/or love the Gameboy Player I can't recommend the cable to anyone else. Although I really wanna see if the folks working on the cable clones can ever get a mainstream, consumer-friendly alternative released. Even something $60-75ish would be a huge improvement.

If you're really anal about video but not enough to drop hundreds of dollars on a measly cable for Gamecube games, you'll have to watch out with the Wii. The early models have worse component out, and the last ones before the Mini have almost Gamecube quality video but have dropped GCN compatibility. It seems 2010 models are the best if you want Gamecube compatibility.

 

That's sadly because of greedy sellers, and equally dumb people paying that much for a cable.

 

I have the GameCube component cable. It was just given to me like it was junk about 10 years ago.

Even with it some games still look like ass on an HD screen.

 

Gamecube is 480p max, so yeah. Most games should look like ass if you're on a big 1080p set. There's no magical fix that will make a Cube output a HD signal - if you want it to look "right", play it on something like a 480p-capable CRT (i.e. the best of the TV technology that was available at the time).

Honestly if I was in your position I'd sell the cable and make do with a Wii, I doubt you'll be able to see the difference if you're using your TV's built-in scaler. Bison's advice re: Wii revisions sounds solid.

Demand outstretches supply right now - just how it goes. In this case I reckon it's only a matter of time before either some retailer unearths a crate of a thousand of them, or a homebrew effort comes along that's way cheaper. Either way, £150+ doesn't seem like a price that's going to stick for long.

 

Demand or not, if buyers vote with their wallet and not cave in then the price is likely to drop.