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Started By
Message
How did we all know to fix NES cartridges as kids in the 80s/90s?
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:25 pm
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:25 pm
We didn't have the internet and I never saw a magazine article saying blowing air into a Nintendo game cartridge would help the console read it, but everyone I grew up with knew this workaround.
You're telling me millions upon millions of American kids just figured this out on their own with no medium to share it yet everyone knew about it?
How?
You're telling me millions upon millions of American kids just figured this out on their own with no medium to share it yet everyone knew about it?
How?
This post was edited on 4/1/24 at 8:57 pm
38
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:25 pm to TideSaint
word of mouth
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:25 pm to TideSaint
I saw an article in Readers Digest. That’s how I found out.
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:27 pm to TideSaint
Delete
This post was edited on 4/1/24 at 8:28 pm
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:27 pm to TideSaint
Did it really even work? 
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:27 pm to TideSaint
Tribal knowledge passed down from elder elementary schoolers.
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:27 pm to TideSaint
We used to have to wedge a skoal can on top of them sometimes to get them to work.
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:29 pm to TideSaint
Video game magazines existed (and still exist)
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:29 pm to TideSaint
The other fix I used was inserting the cartridge just barely enough so that you could push it down into the console. That seemed to work more than blowing on the end
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:32 pm to TideSaint
quote:
We didn't have the internet and I never saw a magazine article saying blowing air into a Nintendo game cartridge would help the console read it, but everyone I grew up with knew this workaround.
blowing on it did nothing.
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:33 pm to TideSaint
quote:
We didn't have the internet and I never saw a magazine article saying blowing air into a Nintendo game cartridge would help the console read it, but everyone I grew up with knew this workaround
Because we used our brains. People are stupid today and don't have to think.
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:34 pm to TideSaint
If the game wasn’t working, then the only workable solutions for us was to check the connection between the cartridge and the console. Considering most of us just left the games out on the floor, it made logical sense that the cartridge was gathering dust.
Blow on it to blow off the dust.
Once it worked once, it would be assumed to work all the time.
Blow on it to blow off the dust.
Once it worked once, it would be assumed to work all the time.
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:46 pm to TideSaint
I read an article in Readers Digest about doing this. That’s how I learned about it
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:49 pm to TideSaint
I learned it how I learned everything: on the school bus.
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:50 pm to TideSaint
Things I also used…
qtip with rubbing alcohol.
Pushing cartridge up and down really fast about several times.
Wiggling it back and forth to find just the right position.
qtip with rubbing alcohol.
Pushing cartridge up and down really fast about several times.
Wiggling it back and forth to find just the right position.
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:50 pm to TideSaint
I’m pretty sure I came out of the womb knowing the fix was to blow on the cartridges.
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:51 pm to TideSaint
Hate to burst your bubble, but people were blowing on cartridges before NES. It was a regular thing for Atari 2600 well before NES. So it was just a carryover.
Posted on 4/1/24 at 8:56 pm to TideSaint
I saw a meme that one of our generations most impressive accomplishments was that without internet or phones every middle school in the country circulated the rumor that Marilyn Manson had a rib removed so he could suck his own dick
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