Why didn't the nes fail after people started having problems with it

[bradhig1]

In 1990 we bought a used NES from someone next to out cousins home and it was problematic until we sent it to Nintendo. I believe they replaced or repaired the 72 pin connector and it worked like new. I cleaned it and our games every month and they kept working.  Sadly I traded it in to get a super nintendo. I think the people that sold it to us were fed up with problems getting the games to work.  Why didn't the NES die 2 or 3 years after it came out because of everyone having problems getting the games to work?

[Tanooki]

Because most of them didn't really fail back in then in the day unless they were unlucky or abused.  The one time mine had to go in, this dumb neighbor kids little sister came in during summer and felt the Nintendo got too hot and stuffed a popsicle into it to cool it off which obviously didn't end well.  After that and around that fix I rarely had a problem, and blowing on the cart would get it or using the NES cleaning kit (Which I never used properly as I knew water was stupid I used alcohol even back then on their own pad.)  But it is fair to say now when they were a decade plus old they'd increasingly get worn, dirty (it and games), sloppy from the ZIF pushing on it so more would not behave.  In either case people largely until more recent years had no clue so they figured it was failing and would stuff it in a box or sadly probably trash it.

[Trinity]

That old hardware was simple and practically bulletproof compared to modern hardware. No fans, no drives etc.

 

[Trinity]

On the other hand, I worry about the long term SNES reliability.

I have one in great shape, but when I got out of good storage it had problems with Super FX games with glitchy graphics. Cleaning did no good. I remember hearing they can suffer from RAM problems.

[WavyGravy]

I mean, the Xbox 360 didn't fail due to the RRoD, the original model of PS2 had all kinds of problems with disc read errors, the PS1 had a lot of trouble with that as well. I think the reason they didn't fail is that if your hardware is failing, you're likely already invested in the ecosystem, so people will usually repair the machine or get a new one because the value of the peripherals and games that go with the machine is usually more than the cost to fix. Because the libraries of these consoles are pretty excellent, it's highly likely that you'll acquire a large enough collection to make it worth your while before you have these big problems, so it doesn't sink the machine. If anything, it boosts sales because the same customer is going to buy two or more machines.

Regarding SNES reliability, that could be a lot of things causing glitched graphics. If it's an early machine with the SPC700 in a module, a loose connection can cause garbled graphics. You might just have a bad solder joint somewhere as well. The Super FX pumps a ton of data across the cartridge bus, I'd start looking for trouble there. It could also be a power issue, since running the Super FX will strain the power supply a little bit more than normal, which if the power supply is marginal could cause other parts of the machine to run out of spec and throw errors, so looking into a recap could be a good idea.
The RAM being bad is one of the better issues to have if you're going to have one at all, since you can get replacements for those. It's if your PPUs, CPU, or SPC700 fail that you're in trouble since they're completely bespoke. Otherwise, the SNES is as reliable as any other solid-state machine of its era. Make sure the caps are good and it's clean, and it'll probably keep working happily enough.

[Trinity]

34 minutes ago, WavyGravy said:

I mean, the Xbox 360 didn't fail due to the RRoD, the original model of PS2 had all kinds of problems with disc read errors, the PS1 had a lot of trouble with that as well. I think the reason they didn't fail is that if your hardware is failing, you're likely already invested in the ecosystem, so people will usually repair the machine or get a new one because the value of the peripherals and games that go with the machine is usually more than the cost to fix. Because the libraries of these consoles are pretty excellent, it's highly likely that you'll acquire a large enough collection to make it worth your while before you have these big problems, so it doesn't sink the machine. If anything, it boosts sales because the same customer is going to buy two or more machines.

Regarding SNES reliability, that could be a lot of things causing glitched graphics. If it's an early machine with the SPC700 in a module, a loose connection can cause garbled graphics. You might just have a bad solder joint somewhere as well. The Super FX pumps a ton of data across the cartridge bus, I'd start looking for trouble there. It could also be a power issue, since running the Super FX will strain the power supply a little bit more than normal, which if the power supply is marginal could cause other parts of the machine to run out of spec and throw errors, so looking into a recap could be a good idea.
The RAM being bad is one of the better issues to have if you're going to have one at all, since you can get replacements for those. It's if your PPUs, CPU, or SPC700 fail that you're in trouble since they're completely bespoke. Otherwise, the SNES is as reliable as any other solid-state machine of its era. Make sure the caps are good and it's clean, and it'll probably keep working happily enough.

Thanks for the advice.

[Trinity]

Still some hope. It's not first gen though. No SPC700 in there.

 Now, I need to get that screwdriver bit to open it up and look around.

Edited June 15 by Trinity

[roots.genoa]

8 hours ago, WavyGravy said:

I mean, the Xbox 360 didn't fail due to the RRoD, the original model of PS2 had all kinds of problems with disc read errors, the PS1 had a lot of trouble with that as well. I think the reason they didn't fail is that if your hardware is failing, you're likely already invested in the ecosystem, so people will usually repair the machine or get a new one because the value of the peripherals and games that go with the machine is usually more than the cost to fix. Because the libraries of these consoles are pretty excellent, it's highly likely that you'll acquire a large enough collection to make it worth your while before you have these big problems, so it doesn't sink the machine. If anything, it boosts sales because the same customer is going to buy two or more machines.

Exactly, you can also add the Switch (through its Joy-cons) in the same category. Actually, the more a system is successful, the more units are sold, so the more some of them have a risk of failing. It's also because the Wii was a huge phenomenon that we saw a lot of videos of people destroying their TVs with a Wiimote. Which makes it seem way more widespread than it really is.

[Wayler]

I was so very close to thinking this is a J-Mu topic but then realized the title did not contain any glaring grammatical choices.

 

Wasn't blowing on the cartridge like being a part of some secret ritual or knowledge? I think it amplified the allure of the machine. I didn't know anyone from my childhood that had actual serious trouble with it. And let's face it, placing an electronic box on the floor of a kids room is bound to lead to circumstances where the machine's durability will be tested.

[Tanooki]

Nope no yo-hahn cthulu print here, the old script before man walked the earth.  I get the title leading to confusion totally.  I would have been there had I not seen the author of it as I read it.

 

And yeah everyone knew or told others so they knew that blowing in it got the 'dirt out' I mean come on, it was kid thoughts, and made them magically work again.  Few had any clue it was the warm breath just causing a hairs worth of surface moisture if someone didn't just blow spit into it to get the things to go.  And no doubt on the kids causing the problems, my first post up there was as much.  I still remember the little girl, the orange popsicle, and then the picture going out because she wanted to make sure the Nintendo stayed cool as it was summer...grrr.....was out that console for 2 weeks I think due to calling, mailing and repairing-return.

[Austin]

In the USA, we just put up with the cartridge port issues since there wasn't really anything else available for many of us. Mom/Dad were in control of what video games were purchased and brought into the home, and the SMS and 7800 were dead in the water so it's not like there was any meaningful competition for a while. Plus, it's not like a RROD or PS2 disc read issues where the system was basically completely useless. A lot of games would typically work fine, others required a lot of trial and error, but you'd eventually get them working. The fickle cart slot just came with the territory.

Edited Tuesday at 08:40 PM by Austin