gaming Take care of your games/gaming hardware

[Ron Jeremy 2,032]

You may have a modest modern console collection. A single console, a Wii, perhaps. Or maybe you have all three of the big modern consoles, the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. Doesn't matter. The point is, you've gaming stuff. You sit there, playing Xenoblade Chronicles on your Wii. You let go of the controller and it tumbles to the floor. You reach your right hand into a bag of Doritos, and your left to grab a cup of Dr. Pepper. You reach your cheese powder-covered hand to grab the controller, and it slips. The cup in your left hand jiggles and slops a little soda which falls on the controller. You rub the controller against your jeans to halfheartedly get the mess off. The right analog stick's rubber piece catches on the denim and tears. You go back to kicking some Mechon ass.

 

You then decide to play something else. Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors, perhaps? You take the disc out of the Wii, and set it upside-down on the table beside it. You then shuffle through your pile of upside-down discs looking for Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors. You jam it in your Wii, which cannot read the disc through the coat of dust, cheese-flavored or otherwise. The scratches don't help either. You take the disc out, rub it against your jeans, then breath on it. The disc fogs with your breath and you jam it back in the Wii. After about twenty seconds of attempting to read it, it succeeds and you're playing Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors. You don't bother using a wrist strap because those are for sissies, right?

 

You're fighting Grobmeisser, and get rather angry. You swing your Wii remote around and whack the ceiling light above you. The black shield on the tip of the Wii remote gets a deep scratch in it. Grobmeisser is almost dead, so you decide to finish him off with a thrust. The Wii remote slips out of your sweaty hand and flies into the TV. The case of the Wii remote cracks. You save the game up, push the power button on the Wii too hard and turn it off, then duct tape the Wii remote back together.

 

This wall of text of a hypothetical situation is an example of people abusing their games and gaming hardware. While most people don't abuse their hardware to this extreme, many people abuse their hardware in less extreme ways.

 

While at the end of the day, your possessions are your own, remember that taking care of them makes them last a long time. Don't leave your discs upside down on tables. When not in the console, keep them in their case, or at least a protective sleeve. When using your controller, if you have to eat, then at least eat foods that won't get your hands messy. Don't get fluids in your controllers, on your discs, in your consoles.

 

Today, many people have an interest in classic gaming. Many people collect for systems such as the Atari 2600, the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Sega Genesis. They keep their games clean, and are sure to protect their collection. While there are a great many abused pieces of classic gaming hardware and cartridges in existence, many collectors have obtained abused hardware and cartridges and cleaned them up to be enjoyed once more.

 

Years from now, the modern consoles of today will be the classic games of tomorrow. People will be buying copies of old games like Halo 3 and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts to play on their ultra-rare minimal surface damage non-red-ringing Xbox 360, complete with set of four wireless first-party controllers.

 

Those of us who own these systems today should take care of them, for one day they might belong to somebody else who would appreciate them to be in good condition. One day, they won't be new consoles. They'll be retro consoles. It would make it easier on the classic gamers of the future if only people would take care of their possessions, something that should be common sense anyways. Now that we have seen what happens to abused hardware, with such examples as sticky-buttons SNES controllers with 20-year-old Coca-Cola in them, and cartridges with spatters of rust on their contacts where gamers of yesteryear blew into them, we should know better.

 

Wouldn't it be better if that guy who owned that copy of Kirby's Dream Land 2 hadn't etched his name into the back of it? Wouldn't it be better if that guy who owned that copy of Link's Awakening DX hadn't sharpied his initials in it? Don't you wish that guy hadn't put a Barney the Dinosaur sticker over the label of the copy of Blaster Master you have?

 

To sum it up in a single line: Don't be that guy.

 

Now, here are some simple tips for maintaining your collection:

 

Discs: Don't leave them unprotected. When not in the console, they should be in their case. You shouldn't keep your console in a sandy area where sand could get in the console's disc tray. As long as your disc isn't abused, it will never become unplayable, unless an accident of some sort occurs. Keep the disc cases themselves in a safe place, such as on a shelf.

 

Consoles: Don't use your console as a shelf, or a coaster. It has vents for a reason. Air needs to be able to enter and escape so it remains properly cooled. Set it on a rigid surface, and not a towel, which could block lower vents. Don't get it wet. Don't keep it by potentially humid things like an aquarium or faucet. Dust it as needed.

 

Controllers: Don't eat finger foods while using the controller. Don't pour liquid on the controller. Don't play with greasy hands, be it from food or automobiles. Don't throw the controller in rage. Set the controller down properly, back side down. Never set it down in a way that the analog stick(s) will be tilted. This can damage them. If using the Wii remote, take measures to avoid throwing it across the room and slamming it into things.

Everything in general: Regular dusting helps. Don't use an abrasive scrubber to clean your gaming equipment. Don't use harsh cleaning chemicals. It damages the plastic.

 

Following this simple advice, your games and hardware should last you years, probably even outliving you.

[Aaramus 449]

First of all, so much win for making this post!

 

This is something that really bugs me, especially when we only had the one console in the house which me and and brother shared. I am very conscientious of both my own and other peoples property so when we used to put away what was at the time a SNES cartridge I made sure that I put them back in the protective bag that we had with all our games in.

 

However my brother was the exact opposite and just left them in a pile on a table for either my parents or myself to put away and it really used to irritate me.It actually got a little worse when we had the Playstation 1 where due to his neglect some of the games were damaged much to my annoyance. He's a lot better now he's got his own console of course.

 

I have to make sure my CD's are in their correct cases and not just scattered anywhere, I even have a load of clear CD cases in case I misplace the original case. I clean all my PC equipment once a week (headset, mic, mouse, keyboard) just so it looks nice and for general cleanliness. 

 

I'm sure we've all managed to spill something on our gaming stuff though at one point or another but as long as it's frequent and you make sure to clean it should all be fine.

[Just some guy 1,070]

I always take good care of my stuff.My old fat PS2 and 360 are running perfectly fine since the day I got 'em.

 

Though the AV cables are another story. :x

[Skye Starlight 223]

I've never broken a home console... A portable console, however, I have broke 2 of. One DS lite, one DSi. On the lite I bent the screen back too far, the DSi I accidentally sat on it and the screen shattered. I still have 1 DSi and 2 DS lites left working.

[bladereaper07 42]

Now, this is what I like to call, "Console Rape", really...people these days, lol. Though I never did have a lot of consoles, I did have a PS2, PSP, Gameboy, and a good 'ol XBox... Unfortunately though, due to my childish behavior I managed to: break the XBox, overheat the PS2, lose the Gameboy and other misfortunes... Well, that was when I was a little boy, so I wasn't to blame.

[Harmonic Revelations 8,833]

I always take care of my gaming hardware, I'm a collector.

 

Let me list some of the consoles I own,

 

Odyssey

NES

SNES

Nintendo 64

Atari 2600

Atari 5200

Sega Genesis

Super Famicon

Sega Saturn

Gameboy

Gameboy Advanced

Wii

Gameboy Advanced SP

Gameboy DS

Playstation

Playstation 2

Xbox

Xbox 360

PC

 

As for games, I have several hundred games. So I do infact take care of my gaming hardware.

Edited March 26, 2013 by ┼☼Harmonic Revelations☼┼

[Ron Jeremy 2,032]

First of all, so much win for making this post!

 

This is something that really bugs me, especially when we only had the one console in the house which me and and brother shared. I am very conscientious of both my own and other peoples property so when we used to put away what was at the time a SNES cartridge I made sure that I put them back in the protective bag that we had with all our games in.

 

However my brother was the exact opposite and just left them in a pile on a table for either my parents or myself to put away and it really used to irritate me.It actually got a little worse when we had the Playstation 1 where due to his neglect some of the games were damaged much to my annoyance. He's a lot better now he's got his own console of course.

 

I have to make sure my CD's are in their correct cases and not just scattered anywhere, I even have a load of clear CD cases in case I misplace the original case. I clean all my PC equipment once a week (headset, mic, mouse, keyboard) just so it looks nice and for general cleanliness. 

 

I'm sure we've all managed to spill something on our gaming stuff though at one point or another but as long as it's frequent and you make sure to clean it should all be fine.

 

 

The world needs more people like you. <3 It's funny you posted a story about your brother being a slob with games, because my own brother being a slob with games is part of why I thought to make this topic, though I'd be willing to bet he's far worse than yours. He moved out a while back, and I had to help clean his room and pack up some of his gaming stuff to be mailed to him. It was a mess of tangled cords, soda stickiness, black grease, scratched plastic, holy-crap-how-does-this-disc-work-it's-scratched-to-hell, and other horrors. And probably the most rage-worthy? He threw away his cases because they're "stupid crap that take up space". But I'm starting to rant, which I don't think people wanna read.

 

I've never broken a home console... A portable console, however, I have broke 2 of. One DS lite, one DSi. On the lite I bent the screen back too far, the DSi I accidentally sat on it and the screen shattered. I still have 1 DSi and 2 DS lites left working.

 

Handhelds break really easy. I should know, having seen a few broken myself. One I broke accidentally on my own, the other my brother thought would be funny to shove in the fridge and the humidity got it. <_< They're handheld, so their biggest threat is being dropped.

 

It's interesting with handheld gaming that the more bells and whistles the systems get over the years, the more delicate they become. Take for example the classic brick-style Game Boy and the fact that there's literally one that survived a bombing on display at Nintendo World if I'm not mistaken, while the screen of the DS easily shatters from a not-light-but-still-not-heavy impact to the back of the unit, as well as easily-broken hinges, etc.

 

I'd say the advance in technology is worth the tradeoff in durability though.

[Harmonic Revelations 8,833]

Handhelds break really easy. I should know, having seen a few broken myself. One I broke accidentally on my own, the other my brother thought would be funny to shove in the fridge and the humidity got it. They're handheld, so their biggest threat is being dropped.

 

I

I had to replace my Gameboy Advanced one time because it, I kid you not, got struck by lightning, and was destroyed on the inside. It was really freaky when that happened.

[Viscra Maelstrom 3,718]

this is an interesting read and this can also apply to other areas of interests with people not maintaining their items very well.

 

myself, i cringe quite a bit when say, walking into a thrift store for records, and finding some interesting records with tattered covers, ranging from minimal annoyance to maximal "why would you do that?!!!"

my room might be quite messy, and i shouldn't point too many fingers since my mouse and keyboard are both rather dirty, but i'd still like to think i maintain my "treasures" quite well. i just don't have that much room to store them in.

[Ron Jeremy 2,032]

I had to replace my Gameboy Advanced one time because it, I kid you not, got struck by lightning, and was destroyed on the inside. It was really freaky when that happened.

 

Struck by lightning, eh? If life was a '90s cartoon, that would have pulled you into the video game world and you'd have to fight your way out of whatever game happened to be in the system at the time.

[Aaramus 449]

 

The world needs more people like you. <3 It's funny you posted a story about your brother being a slob with games, because my own brother being a slob with games is part of why I thought to make this topic, though I'd be willing to bet he's far worse than yours. He moved out a while back, and I had to help clean his room and pack up some of his gaming stuff to be mailed to him. It was a mess of tangled cords, soda stickiness, black grease, scratched plastic, holy-crap-how-does-this-disc-work-it's-scratched-to-hell, and other horrors. And probably the most rage-worthy? He threw away his cases because they're "stupid crap that take up space". But I'm starting to rant, which I don't think people wanna read.

 

 

To be fair he was just doing what little brothers do, annoy the older brother! He got much better after the time my father spent ages repairing his Gamecube after he'd somehow managed to break the laser that reads the discs. He's pretty good now but not as he's as aware of it as I am.

 

The problem I'm having at the moment is that my PC has so many wires due to the amount of peripherals that I have going into the back of my machine. Fortunately I have those clips that you can use to tie wires together, an absolute lifesaver!

 

He threw away his cases? I feel a quote from Rarity coming on!

 

 

 

[Killian Jones 2,653]

This is why I hate being forced to lend it to my brother or nephew, they do no not take care of my CD's or even game and DVD cases at all, I have so many DVD's which don't play on older hardware cause someone else got them scratched up. Even lost some DVD's to my brother.

[Mudkip 100]

I always take care of my gaming hardware, I'm a collector.

 

Let me list some of the consoles I own,

 

Odyssey

NES

SNES

Nintendo 64

Atari 2600

Atari 5200

Sega Genesis

Super Famicon

Sega Saturn

Gameboy

Gameboy Advanced

Wii

Gameboy Advanced SP

Gameboy DS

Playstation

Playstation 2

Xbox

Xbox 360

PC

 

As for games, I have several hundred games. So I do infact take care of my gaming hardware.

What? No Atari Jaguar, Sega Genisis, or CD-I! You have to get the derpy systems to!

 

As for me, any advice for safely keeping cartridges?

[Ron Jeremy 2,032]

What? No Atari Jaguar, Sega Genisis, or CD-I! You have to get the derpy systems to!

 

As for me, any advice for safely keeping cartridges?

 

Cartridges are durable, and while having a case for them is nice, they don't need one. Keeping them on a shelf is enough, though stacking them isn't a good idea because the pressure could cause problems if you stacked too many. General rules of keeping away from excessive sunlight and moisture apply. Instead of blowing in cartridges, take a cotton swab and wipe the dust of the metal contacts, using isopropyl alcohol if they're really dirty.

 

And blasphemy. The Sega Genesis is far from derpy. However, when you pile on the mess of add-ons... yeah. Still don't get why every one needs 92494732948723984723 cords.

[Scootalove 10,684]

This pretty much sums it all up.

 

Especially when you have your own console, it is better to take care of it then treat it like a piece of trash. Pretty much, if you treat a console well over the years it will work out in the end.

[Creamy Arty 6,251]

Every month I spray out my consoles' vents and such with some compressed air and give everything a good wipe-down. I'm more thorough with my computer, taking off both side panels and giving all the fans several passes. The video card and processor trap some dust farther in the heat sink than I can spray out, so I use a pair of tweezers to remove the more stubborn crud and follow up with Q-Tips and alcohol. For the past couple months I've fallen off my schedule, but I plan to rectify that today. The only piece of hardware of mine that's ever been ruined was my Game Boy. Took great care of that thing since I got it in '91, but eventually decided to retire it to a cardboard box in the shed since I was running out of room for all the stuff that was piling up in my bedroom. Some mice chewed into the box and urinated all over everything, ruining the screen on my Game Boy and filthying up some other stuff. Didn't bother keeping it since every screen I could find for one cost almost as much as getting a whole other Game Boy.

 

All of my PC game CDs and DVDs have now been converted to ISOs so I no longer have to worry about damaging the disks. Too bad console games don't have that luxury.

 

 

This thread reminds me of something I overheard at EB Games not long after the PS3's release. One of the employees was trying to convince a customer who was buying a PS3 to sell them his PS2. He said, "You aren't going to play your old games anymore." Maybe I'm overly attached to these machines, but I was dumbfounded. He was probably just trying to lure a sucker into parting with his old hardware so the store could eventually resell it. I get that. It's still perplexing to me that there are people who have no sentimental value for their old consoles or games and would either ditch all of them when something new comes out or not take proper care of what they own. A game with a good story, like Metal Gear, is as carefully preserved in my house as a good book would be.