Physical Quality of Carts

General and Gaming > Classic Video Games

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emporerdragon:

--- Quote ---Seriously, I swear 9/10 times its like someone turned the cart upside down and poured in a coca cola...

--- End quote ---

Or kept it in a protective sleeve made out of sandpaper and permanent marker.

shadowzero:
Yes, physical copies are not as abundant as they used to be. Yes location is a big factor but in my opinion offset by ebay as well as apps like offer up and letgo which are gaining ground. Where the are NOT to be found is flea markets, unless they are super marked up, and the mom and pop stores which were dwindling (but I hope and feel they may be rebounding). What got me excited is to hear that you have taken the initiative to at TRY and repair these things because most uninformed people will just toss it the trash and further dwindle the population. Personally I am terrible at soldering. However, I have been able to save several dozen console systems of the last few years simply by trying.

Now if you're good at recovery then you may consider very wisely picking out large wholesale bundles of systems/games on ebay with the hope of saving at least half and reselling the duplicates that are already in your collection. Take that revenue and use that to expand your collection. The trick is knowing your own skill set and knowledge well enough to make a quasi informed choice on what you buy. The automotive industry has been doing this for decades. Someone with the knowledge finds a busted car says, "yeah I've seen this before its probability this and will take that to fix it. So I can make X profit."

Warmsignal:
You're pretty spot on. What's turning up still is really coming out of the woodwork, really deep in the woodwork. Forgotten, or abandon wares that have sat dormant for many years, dug up by really hardcore resellers who know how fish it out. I would say it's quite difficult to find a cartridge that's actually in GOOD condition, rather than just acceptable, or worse. The good stuff is only changing hands from one collector to another.

Today I was at another game con, and they had Castlevania Legacy of Darkness and the label had one of those big BlockBuster stickers sprawled across the front of it. Essentially, the label was ruined. As good as no label. But the price was the standard going rate. That's what irritates me so much. I'd take a lesser cart, if I could get a lesser price, but most of the time they don't see it as ground for any price reduction. A complete condradiction of the idea that all of the value is in having an original cart, not the software itself. Okay then, condition should matter! ::)

I don't even care that much anymore, as long as it's not destroyed (ripped or faded), then I'll accept it. But I want a fair price based on it's condition.

brazbit:
If you are attempting to play them before cleaning them your cartridge slot is probably just about as dirty as the cartridges by now. if you haven't cleaned it in a while. That could easily be a contributing factor in games seeming more and more unreliable as it would take an increasingly more pristine cartridge to play on a system that is getting dirtier and dirtier with each round of purchases.

At a minimum I do a quick wipe-down of the contacts on a new cartridge to check for anything requiring a thorough cleaning before putting it in a system. If I have the luxury of time they all get a complete cleaning before I insert them. I have come to find it a rewarding and relaxing part of the hobby. Plus I would rather clean the cartridges than the system any day.

Just a thought and something often overlooked since well cared for cartridges tend to play almost regardless of how dirty the system is, although it is the system that is then transferring some of that gunk to the clean cartridges. An ugly cycle.

shadowzero:
Well said. I do the same BEFORE test them for the first time. If they still don't work then, if its a cart, I'll open it up and detail clean it. At least at that point I know I haven't contaminated my console with filth.

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