It was a way to fix games that wouldnt load with the original NES…and most cartridge games come to think of it. Here is an excerpt from wikipedia.
Problems with the 10NES lockout chip frequently resulted in the system’s most infamous problem: the blinking red power light, in which the system appears to turn itself on and off repeatedly. The lockout chip was quite finicky, requiring precise timing in order to permit the system to boot. Dirty, aging, and bent connectors would often disrupt the timing, resulting in the blink effect.[32] Alternatively, the console would turn on but only show a gray or green screen. Users attempted to solve this problem by blowing air onto the cartridge connectors, licking the edge connector, slapping the side of the system after inserting a cartridge, and/or cleaning the connectors with alcohol which, observing the back of the cartridge, was not endorsed by Nintendo. Many of the most frequent attempts to fix this problem ran the risk of damaging the cartridge and/or system. In 1989, Nintendo released an official NES Cleaning Kit to help users clean malfunctioning cartridges and consoles.
I still need to take my NES apart from time to time to bent back the connectors and to rinse it from any dust. But usually I would just put another game ontop if it won’t work.
I was going to ask if anyone remembered the actual cleaning kit they released.
I was pretty young when NES was released but I recall it quite well and I remember alot of times I’d blow into it and just think I couldn’t do it hard enough so I’d have my dad help.
oh technology, how I love you.
haha, awesome.
It just so happens that I dug out my old N64 earlier this week and i had to do teh same thing to get Super Smash Bros.(the original) to work. It took me about 5 minutes to get everything to work right.
Ahh new age medicine!
Though I never put much stock into the “blowing” technique.
Saliva+Game Cartridge+NES+Electricity = Not a good idea.
I used the Wiggle/Reset technique myself.
=)
I’m not understanding this, could someone explain?
It was a way to fix games that wouldnt load with the original NES…and most cartridge games come to think of it. Here is an excerpt from wikipedia.
Problems with the 10NES lockout chip frequently resulted in the system’s most infamous problem: the blinking red power light, in which the system appears to turn itself on and off repeatedly. The lockout chip was quite finicky, requiring precise timing in order to permit the system to boot. Dirty, aging, and bent connectors would often disrupt the timing, resulting in the blink effect.[32] Alternatively, the console would turn on but only show a gray or green screen. Users attempted to solve this problem by blowing air onto the cartridge connectors, licking the edge connector, slapping the side of the system after inserting a cartridge, and/or cleaning the connectors with alcohol which, observing the back of the cartridge, was not endorsed by Nintendo. Many of the most frequent attempts to fix this problem ran the risk of damaging the cartridge and/or system. In 1989, Nintendo released an official NES Cleaning Kit to help users clean malfunctioning cartridges and consoles.
I still need to take my NES apart from time to time to bent back the connectors and to rinse it from any dust. But usually I would just put another game ontop if it won’t work.
I was going to ask if anyone remembered the actual cleaning kit they released.
I was pretty young when NES was released but I recall it quite well and I remember alot of times I’d blow into it and just think I couldn’t do it hard enough so I’d have my dad help.
oh technology, how I love you.
haha…the ol’ blow-in-the-cartridge technique, eh? What a blast from the past.
now if they start hitting ‘up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right’ on the defibrillator I would start to worry.
haha, awesome.
It just so happens that I dug out my old N64 earlier this week and i had to do teh same thing to get Super Smash Bros.(the original) to work. It took me about 5 minutes to get everything to work right.
If I never need an NES game, there’s plenty to download from the Wii.
My blowing cartridge days are over : )
*grumble grumble* i hated when the disks started losing their memory…