How Do I Quickly Test a USED Game Console?
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- čas přidán 15. 06. 2024
- Here's what you should look for after buying a used video game / console! We go over a/v, power, cart, disc, etc. checks you can do when acquiring a used console to make sure your purchase was worthwhile.
00:00 Intro
00:22 The Basics
1:00 Video Out Test
2:43 Sniff Test
3:55 Wi-Fi
4:49 Checking Discs
9:00 Cleaning Carts
10:38 NES Pin Cleaning
13:08 Final Thoughts
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#retrogaming #gaming #repair #gametesting - Hry
That was more informative than i thought it would be. Good stuff.
0:15 And then there's the follow-up question: “Which Bush was in office?” 😳
I thought the same thing! (I watched the elder Bush give a speech in my hometown once.)
Not so much a tip, but a word of caution as I regularly see it recommended and even seen a decent number of (seemingly) professional reseller and amateur modders use it and recommend it, which is "don't use sandpaper or similarly harsh abrasives to clean contacts". You'd damage the contact and both invite rust and worst case scenario if its done either to much or to often is to damage the traces/contacts to the point that they dont function anymore.
So, I had no idea the pink pencil eraser method, so I gave it a shot on a cartridge of mine that’s always been finicky/kinda glitchy - my copy of DuckTales on NES. Opened it up, used the eraser and cleaned off the pins gently, put it in the NES and it worked *perfectly* - no artifacted/bugged graphics, first try. Holy goddamn, thank you John and Tony! Will absolutely be using this in the future ❤
Glad you guys are still making videos
Yeah, I was about to make that comment too, I've been subscribed pretty much since 2010 when I was at highschool and collected a lot. And those two got me so interested in 64dd trivia. Seeing these kind of videos pulls me right in their content once again
Boiling the NES connector works like a dream. Had a connector that just would not work reliably, no matter how much cleaning or pin bending I did. One boil and it works like new.
You never mentioned controllers! Obviously they're very important. PlayStation 2 controllers have been the least reliable by FAR for me; over half of the ones I own have at least one bad button, and that's just the way I got them.
One way to test a cartridge-based console's reliability is to wiggle the cartridge front-to-back while it's running a game. The N64 and SNES have fairly loose slots so it works well in them. If the game crashes, something is dirty. If it doesn't crash, you can rest assured that it's nice and clean.
I think that you've mentioned it before, and I know it's slightly off-topic, but everybody on the planet should know how to avoid cross-threading in plastic when putting something back together. Spin the screw backward and you'll feel a click when it falls into the existing thread. When that happens, immediately stop and then screw it in. If you keep turning a bit, just go another round backward until you get it. Much better than roasting the threads and stripping a post! The less torque you have on the driver, the easier it is to avoid damage.
I realise specialised contact cleaner is sold under the WD40 brand, but mentioning WD40 instead of just "contact cleaner" is a likely route to disaster. Don't use regular WD40.
Also don't directly blast it in the port.
The legends!!! I subbed somewhere in 2016 and haven’t looked since then cause I abandoned my game collection back then. Amazing to see you guys are still rocking and uploading! Cheers legends
Great video! And Jon talking about dumps always brings a smile to the face!
Great video as always
Great video, learned a lot. I thought blu-rays were supposed to be really strong/resilient to scratches. But I do take way better care of my stuff now opposed to being a kid and scratching up PS1 discs by leaving them out.
But i still don't recommend qtips(some contacts are rougher than others, even with doubles of the same game). I still find fibers in used games, transferring to the console if not cleaned(haven't had any issues but still). Usually I'll use a microfiber for the contacts wrapped around a sturdy plastic butterknife or something to fit in the cart and wipe. Or just take it apart and use the cloth, and really clean it.
And don't use a fresh, strongly dyed color microfiber. One time I used a burgundy one, put rubbing alcohol on it, and cleaned my game. When I finished, I looked at my hands and they were all red. Luckily, cleaning that crap off of the game was easier than my hands. Just test the cloth with your alcohol before using it(grey, white, and light colors don't seem to have that dye problem).
Oh and one tip concerning every controller ever and even more joystick ones (cue tip and isopropyl alcohol or medical alcohol, and a cloth of some type)... Clean them! I've been cleaning my controllers regularly (probably some kind of ocd) since i was a kid, and never got any problems with drift or anything.
Plus, it feels so much more comfortable handling a clean controller, free of any hand grease.
Great video guys!
Thank you! 😄
Nothing beat sn H4G video for starting the week
This is a great video. I use a white Staedtler white eraser on contacts and then use rubbing alcohol to clean. Keep up the good work guy's. :)
i use 90 percent alcohol on a qtip to start, and if that doesnt work i use lighter fluid. sound crazy but worked for me so far
That is the fist time I actually enjoyed John talking...🤣. Thanks for the video
I would love to see y'all do individual breakdown and cleaning of different consoles
_Do not use alcohol to clean the NES face plate, that red ink will just vanish in a couple swipes_
Guys the finder of Dream 64 has the zelda spaceoworld and E3 sm64 cartridges!
One thing I noticed when testing a N64 was it work but the picture got dimmer and dimmer and it cut out, it turn out to be the power supply was dying, I replaced it and it worked
This video is way more epic if you just watch Tony's attractive facial reactions and sly sips of his drink 🤪
That's how i watch every video where he's on camera. It's the right way.
He looks really cute and tired haha
The ice is a nice touch
😇😇😇😇
Two Sunday's ago I fix my colecovision it was so dusty inside and out I deep clean it. Before it showed bars lines and now not anymore it's good as new again.
My favorite "check first" of all is when GB/C games don't work. There's a pin that usually gets lifted because the PCB kind of bends a little when putting the cartridge in and out. Totally prevents games from booting. Resoldering that sole pin does the trick. It's the same damn pin most of the time. Should resolder every one of them anyway, future-proof.
What I ultimately want to do is make repros of the test carts or run the roms on flash carts.
I tripped and fell on my Jampack Winter '99 disc over a decade ago and haven't seen it since. Do you know how to build a time machine?
Video cables can also go bad. I have a PSX AV cable that is very finicky with the picture if you wobble the big cylinder on it, which I think is just an RF shield. (And yes, I made sure the connector was actually flush with the slot)
After swapping the cable with a different one though, picture was fine even after wobbling it around.
The Jimmy Johns bandit
Another reason the XBOX 360 can become Key Vault (serial) banned is that it was used for piracy and got caught on XBOX Live. There were at least 4 major banwaves for the pirated firmware, eventually with c4eva's LiteTouch 3.0 firmware defeating the XBOX Game Disk Version 3, Microsoft gave up trying to stop the pirates.
t. pirated XBOX 360 games since the King Kong exploit came out.
Best place to go to get Lena replaced around here?
I wonder if anyone has any insight on this, my snes is picky about running some games, but if I pull the cart out about a millimeter it works 100% of the time, my N64 does this too.
Why would that be the case? I replaced my Snes at one point and had super clean pins with a very clean cart had the same problem.
Also if you have a game that loads corrupted graphics every time but resetting always fixes it, is that a sign the console or caps are dying? Specifically Pocky and rocky does this, I tried multiple copies so it's definitely the console and it only happens with this game.
Meanwhile at GameStops Customer Service - oh wait, I forgot almost all the cubicles have been emptied out for nearly 3 years O_o
I wouldn't test any used cartridges from GameStop without opening first. I received carts from GameStop that had the rom board actually ripped off the board because people had sent in a fake of rare games and kept the real PCB, they know GameStop doesn't test
Cable crappy and making you unhappy? Give it a wiggle and it will make you giggle! 😊
What about if I want to test several Console games let say 100 or more in a short period, does exist some technology that allow me to test them automatically? Please let me know if know about it. Good Video!!
No, each one might have unique issues. They need to be tested on a case by case.
DKOldies could never
Ps3 slim is the apex for analog video support. Especially since it's the ultimate media player.
It's convenient, but it's far from the best. It has limited format support past H.264, it is kind of bulky for its abilities, it makes noise and it supports a very limited number of network protocols.
my genesis has a very minor sound problem on the left channel like its something only a perfectionist would notice. What could I do to fix it? Its a very early model 1 that skips the authorized by sega screen. Also should I worry about recapping every old console/cartridge I have or just wait until it becomes a problem?
Clean the contacts first otherwise it sounds like it could be a cap issue on the genny, late in the audio circuit or possibly in the cable. But worst case it could be a chip issue.
As for recapping, dont follow the trend and just blindly recap everything. It's a case by case basis, good and decent quality caps can last longer than 50 years so in a lot of cases age really isn't an issue especially if it sees some regular use as that reconditions the caps to an extend.
Some computers and consoles require recapping like the original Xbox clock cap, cassette vision, sega CD's or Amiga 1200's. However other consoles have a bad habit of self destructing when recapping or are hard to recap due to small traces and bad soldermask, for example sega CD model 1's CD unit should only be recapped as a last resort as the caps don't tend to get bad while replacing those caps have a tendency to stopping the unit from functioning even if not traces are damaged. However the caps on the motherboard and power lines should be replaced as they seems to have come leaky from the factory (shitty early SMD caps and caps close to a hot heatsink).
And don't recap when a system has relatively recently been recapped. (Amiga fans tend to do that a lot)
Or to keep it simple, if a system is infamous for bad caps or uses smd caps from the early 90's, recap with good quality ones if that hasn't already been done. (I prefer nichicons)
Otherwise only recap if it becomes an issue and when recapping do some research on what caps are normally done or which could cause issues.
Recapping for the sake of recapping only risks damage to the system.
@@relo999 man thanks for the great comment, I'll try out what you said to do for the genesis once I find it again in my room. And thanks for the cap info, I know most of the consoles I have are in very good condition and while I don't use/play every single game I own, I was just wondering if I should do something like recap them to keep them in good shape. But thanks for sharing your wisdom with me and I hope you have a good day
No one does all this because the profit margin selling used game consoles have gotten so ridiculous that it aint worth the time it would take. Easier to pay return shipping or just refund.
For your next video, can you tell us how to QUIETLY test a used game console, so I can do it without waking anybody up?
I've noticed on my N64 that there is a garbled static sound that comes from the audio during times when no audio is being played. Would wd40 contact cleaner be a fix for this?
Nooo!!! Always use 91% or higher isopropyl alcohol
@tdm17mn I don't think is the cart pins. I'm thinking it's the A/V port.
@@Flanman113 I mean in general, you should always use isopropyl for cleaning consoles
Honestly that is more likely to be caps than a port. But I am no expert on the N64's sound system.
As requested at the end: 0:03 well that was a f*cking lie
Voultar is great.
Didn't came here to get AV shame 😤... Just joking. For real at the time (2009) my slim PS3 got plugged half of the time on my CRT and I was happy back then, even though I couldn't read any text 😆
I use 99.5 isopropyl alcohol to clean all my carts and electronics.
I only realised in 2022 that my PS3 slim plays PS1 games 😂
wild
Hi tony Nintendo 64DD blue development prototype disk Rare on e bay 5000 euro
Brutal price
Roach piss/poop smell... Not a good sign
☠️☠️☠️
davie504 haircut
Dump.