Can old school Nintendo's be fixed?

I just found a unit someone trashed but alas as mine it does not work.

The red light/blue screen just keeps flashing as does my orig version.

I assume this was a common ailment for those of us that spent our summers camped in front of the old Nintendo.

-Sean in LA

remember those old cleaning tools that nintendo used to make? they actually work. quite well. See if you can get your hands on one of those.

or make your own. take a nintendo cartridge you don't want anymore and glue a thin layer of fabric over the data card on the inside of the game. attach some sort of long (6 inches or so) sturdy material to the cartridge to be used as a handle. put soap/rubbing alcohol on the fabric and shove the game in your NES. Push the game in as if you are going to play it and while it is in the machine, use the handle to push the game in and out (copulation style) as far as you can. wait for the system to dry. this cleans the system and you should be able to play your old games. at least for a little while. Unless it's your game that is old, in which case there's a whole 'nother method.....

I figured this technique out when my love for "GI JOE: The ATLANTIS FACTOR" became too great for me to let it sit next idle any longer

BUY A 72 PIN CONNECTOR!!!! Go to ebay search for 72 pin nes connector. Buy one they're about 6 bucks or so. Replace the one in the nintendo with it. It takes at most 3 or 4 steps. I did this to my nintendo and it works fabo. I added a new life to mine because the connector i bought doesn't have pins that corrode. Cleaning, blowing, and moister corrodes the old ones.

Hope that helps

I think that's a better idea. forget everything I said

I forgot I had my oldschool Nintendo in the closet. I think I'm going to have to take it out and play it now!

Yes, but you can also buy a new [to you] one for like, $19.95. So... don't spend more than that fixing one, unless it's one of the last-model top-loaders which are worth a shitload:



[Edited on Feb 24, 2004 by Keith]

I have a few old "broken" ones and I found that all it really takes to get them to work is some patience. Most games just load wrong so you need to find where they line up perfectly and then load them accordingly.

those things are damn near indestructable

Eh, forget it and get youself an emulator. Saves so much space!

The new connector chip is a miracle worker I swear. We have to NES's and games that won't do anything but give the blinking red light on the old chip work perfect on the one with the new chip. They're cheap to buy and easy to install. Seriously, they work like new after you get it installed.

Now if only I'd known that BEFORE I beat the shit out of my old NES games thinking they were the reason it wasn't working.

Emulators are nice, but if the ROMS you get are fucked up, there's not much you can do about it except go "Awww man, I wish I had my old NES to play this on instead."
Plus, I've encountered too many sites in my search for ROMs that my antivirus programs warn me are trying to install trojan viruses. Fuck all that noise, I'll pay the $5 for an old NES game and be happy doing it, thanks.

Tsk. Virus-free goodness right here on the site.

This is a standard NES problem and it's easily fixed.

Strip the unit, clean all the connectors with isopropanol (AKA propan-2-ol, isopropyl alcohol), leave for an hour or so and then put it back together.

If that doesn't work then you'll either have to bin it or you'll have to blow into the cartridge slot and hope for the best whenever you want to play a game...

Seriously, save yourself a lot of trouble and listen to this dude. That's what I was getting at in my first post but I got distracted and couldn't remember what they were called. It works, it works, it works fucker geesh how many times do I have to tell you?

After taking th advice on the pin I scored one on ebay for under $10.

I also called Nintendo to hear what they ahd to suggest and they told me the parts are long gone but to take it to a service center for a look. I called the joint and they seemed like they wanted to gouge me out price wise.

With the second unit I found today that makes two completes so when I get the pin plug I will hope for the best.

I also need to clean some of the game cartridges.

Ideas on that?

Time to get the old Contra and Ghosts N' Goblins running again!

-Sean in LA

For cleaning connectors I'd use Isopropanol (propan-2-ol, yada yada yada) and wait for it to dry before hooking whatever's been cleaned up again. You could always do this with the '72 pin connector' as that's what I suggested you clean earlier on, but not by name...oh hang on, you already bought one off eBay for almost the price of a second hand NES...

just use rubbing alcohol and a q-tip to clean the games

Why does this make me think that I'm either wasting my time or just talking to myself...?

I'm still trying to get my hands on a NES2

Take the NES unti itself apart and clean the connectors too. When I broke out my old one all it did was flash too. Now it works fine. Be careful though. You might void the warranty.

What warranty? it is 20 years old. As for the 72 pin connector this is your best bet. You can clean damn near everytime you want to play or spend 5-10 buck and 10 minutes and have your NES running like new. About 10 philips head screws and you are in. Unplug the old connector, plug in the new one, replace the screws and rock the fuck out old skool.

i cleaned my old 8-bit nes a while ago, it works fine now.

that thing is so freakin ugly.

the old boxy nes is much better lookin but does the newer nes have the same problem with not being able to read cartidges after time?

Well I ordered minbe and cant wait for it to show up.

When it does I will post my results.

I havent used it in the better of 10 years so some serious Contra-Fests are in the works.

Also Contra fans do this as the game boots up after you hit the power.

Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-B-A-B-A start.

-Sean in LA

*sings* i have an nes top loader! with one of those sweet dog bone shaped controllers... i work at a video game store and a customer gave it to me!!!!!!! MWAHAHAHA *dances*