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[nkarafo]

I have collected a lot of different consoles over my 30 years of gaming and pretty much they all work (except for the fat XBOX 360 of course). I always treat my stuff as well as possible and keep them away from dust and other elements. Always inside their boxes or closets while enjoying their games through accurate emulation.

Sometimes i want to use them just for the nostalgia. Especially my handhelds. So once every year or so i put some fresh batteries and play something. I did that yesterday with my original purple GBA and original fat DS.

The GBA wouldn't turn ON. Checked the batteries, the metals where the batteries touch, etc. I had to to put some specific pressure to the power switch in order to work. And after that i noticed that the Start & Select buttons don't work unless i press them way in with some extra pressure. The shoulder buttons also lost some of their "clickiness" and they feel more loose.

The DS had it worse. It got a few brand new stuck/burned pixels! It's a line of around 7 or 8 pixels (and a smaller one of 2 pixels next to it) right in the middle of the touch screen.

These were not the case about a year ago when i last tried them. Now i know things break with time and all but i didn't expect such a big jump in just one year while keeping the consoles in their boxes... Honestly, i was expecting them to outlast me so i can give them to my nephews or something when i get too old.

I have more handhelds but i decided to not try them this time, two blows in one day was enough. I rather not know and continue using emulators, good thing they exist right?

Edit: RIP my English i think? Is "Slowing die" a thing?

 

[mhirano]

Oxidation is a b!tch, ain't it?
If you live in a wet place, you have to take extra care of your electronics.

 

[acm2000]

capacitors go bad

 

[Cyberpunkd]

You are surprised by the law of physics? Everything will break sooner or later. The problem is it can almost never be repaired.

 

[SweetTooth]

You are surprised by the law of physics? Everything will break sooner or later. The problem is it can almost never be repaired.

Oh please no.. I cannot afford losing my PS1 (best console ever for me)

 

[Davevil]

 

[Robochobo]

Wait until it happens to your ding-a-ling.

 

[cash_longfellow]

Wait until it happens to your ding-a-ling.

 

[PanzerCute]

My VITA died this way. My Game Gear seems immortal tho, no idea how that thing can still work that well after so many years.

 

[Bernoulli]

Wait until it happens to your ding-a-ling.

They need to find a way to remake or remaster them

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Oh please no.. I cannot afford losing my PS1 (best console ever for me)

My PS1 is still going strong.

Scrapped my old Dreamcast last year though, the GD-ROM drive packed in and the unit had gone puss yellow.

 

[CloudShiner]

Edit: RIP my English i think? Is "Slowing die" a thing?

Slowly dying is the correct English, but I prefer 'slowing die' anyway

 

[nkarafo]

My VITA died this way. My Game Gear seems immortal tho, no idea how that thing can still work that well after so many years.

I always assumed things don't break as easily if they don't have moving parts in them.

I won't be surprised if any of my CD/DVD Rom consoles don't work.

 

[rodrigolfp]

GBC, DS Lite and PSP still working here. Luck.

 

[Diseased Yak]

My old handhelds (PSP, various 3DS/2DS's, GBA, etc) seem to all be fine, last I checked.

However, I guarantee my boxes in storage containing multiple Saturns, Dreamcast, PS1/2/3, and certainly the OG Xbox have various issues, exploded caps, etc.

 

[delfrickintree]

Oxidation is a b!tch, ain't it?
If you live in a wet place, you have to take extra care of your electronics.

This. Whats your climate like OP?

 

[JimboJones]

Oh please no.. I cannot afford losing my PS1 (best console ever for me)

PS1 emulation as a fallback is pretty good these days.

 

[Davevil]

 

[Magic Carpet]

I hope the Steam Deck 2 is released before the battery wears out.
My PSVita battery went all fat and bowed out the shell.
I removed the battery and took it to BestBuy and put it in the battery disposal box.
I still have the Vita though I don't know if it works. Plugging it in with no battery doesn't do anything.

 

[nkarafo]

This. Whats your climate like OP?

I live in Greece. We have summer for 11 months and maybe 1 month of Winter if we are lucky.

I suppose we also have high humidity. I live in a basement so it should be high. Though since the items are in an enclosure and plastic bags, are they still affected?

 

[Judge Magister]

I recently bought a 128GB microSD and a battery for my PSP. Sony's battery swollen, cracked and made an explosion sound. Glad i kept it stored it out of the console.

 

[cash_longfellow]

Robochobo said:
Wait until it happens to your ding-a-ling.

They need to find a way to remake or remaster them

Say no more fam…

 

[Minsc]

I hope the Steam Deck 2 is released before the battery wears out.
My PSVita battery went all fat and bowed out the shell.
I removed the battery and took it to BestBuy and put it in the battery disposal box.
I still have the Vita though I don't know if it works. Plugging it in with no battery doesn't do anything.

Battery should last a good 10 years, it's only the second year of the Deck's life and already most people are dying for a new model. There's plenty of time.

But the answer to this thread largely is emulation or ebay.

 

[Sleepwalker]

The buttons shouldnt be that hard to fix, take it apart and give it a good clean. Rust can be removed as well and the board should be ok.

As for the DS, there are screen replacements out there, a bit more involved but doable.

If you want to hold on to older electronics my best advice is to learn to repair them.

 

[mhirano]

I live in Greece. We have summer for 11 months and maybe 1 month of Winter if we are lucky.

I suppose we also have high humidity. I live in a basement so it should be high. Though since the items are in an enclosure and plastic bags, are they still affected?

Greece means lots of Sea Air, that means humidity all year long.
Plastic bags or sealed containerd are good enough, but don't forget the Silica Gel to absorb any humidity inside

 

[ReyBrujo]

Are you storing them in a bag or on the open? In box with a ziploc would last longer but then you wouldn't be able to display them. And if you got a Game Gear it most likely needs to be recapped, that's a notorious point of failure.

 

[nkarafo]

Are you storing them in a bag or on the open? In box with a ziploc would last longer but then you wouldn't be able to display them. And if you got a Game Gear it most likely needs to be recapped, that's a notorious point of failure.

I have a closet that has a glass door. There i display the consoles without boxes. But the handhelds are inside their original boxes, some also have a bag but not all.

 

[Katatonic]

Use it or lose it.

 

[Bloobs]

 

[Harlock]

Screen rotting. You need to use them or it gets worse.

 

[Aenima]

My Master System II has been in my old grandparents house since i was a teen in a room that gets humidity easy during winter. Last year i decided to bring the Master System back to my home just for collection purposes as it was my 1st Console. I tried to connect it to my tv just to see if still worked and it still does. But if i want to play Alex Kid again i would probably just boot Lost Judgment and play Alex Kid on my PS5 instead.

 

[justiceiro]

Lack of use can be equally bad for the durability of the buttons and stick. My would was getting sticks all mushy after being putted away for a year. After I started playing again, it got better.

 

[angrod14]

Physical future.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

Lack of use can be equally bad for the durability of the buttons and stick. My would was getting sticks all mushy after being putted away for a year. After I started playing again, it got better.

the sticks on a bunch of my controllers have gotten sticky from lack of use
sticks getting sticky
how bizarre

havent seen it happen to an n64 controller though

 

[cireza]

You need to use your old devices regularly. It helps keeping them in working condition.

They also need to be refreshed at some point. Old capacitors, old solder joints etc...

 

[Dr. Suchong]

You need to use your old devices regularly. It helps keeping them in working condition.

This.
I'm sure that's why my fat DS had dead pixels (hadn't used it in years)

 

[PaintTinJr]

I have collected a lot of different consoles over my 30 years of gaming and pretty much they all work (except for the fat XBOX 360 of course). I always treat my stuff as well as possible and keep them away from dust and other elements. Always inside their boxes or closets while enjoying their games through accurate emulation.

Sometimes i want to use them just for the nostalgia. Especially my handhelds. So once every year or so i put some fresh batteries and play something. I did that yesterday with my original purple GBA and original fat DS.

The GBA wouldn't turn ON. Checked the batteries, the metals where the batteries touch, etc. I had to to put some specific pressure to the power switch in order to work. And after that i noticed that the Start & Select buttons don't work unless i press them way in with some extra pressure. The shoulder buttons also lost some of their "clickiness" and they feel more loose.

The DS had it worse. It got a few brand new stuck/burned pixels! It's a line of around 7 or 8 pixels (and a smaller one of 2 pixels next to it) right in the middle of the touch screen.

These were not the case about a year ago when i last tried them. Now i know things break with time and all but i didn't expect such a big jump in just one year while keeping the consoles in their boxes... Honestly, i was expecting them to outlast me so i can give them to my nephews or something when i get too old.

I have more handhelds but i decided to not try them this time, two blows in one day was enough. I rather not know and continue using emulators, good thing they exist right?

Sometimes the issues are temporary just due to moisture and cold circuits getting back to room temperature. For reasons I had stupidly agreed to store my boxed cube out in the playhouse for a year and recently fired it up and got all sorts of weird crashes and load errors for the first 30mins. and it wasn't until I got Double Dash up and running and timetrial-ed Yoshi Circuit at sub 2:05 after 6 goes, had the machine worked hard enough to fix itself and work flawlessly now.

So well worth 30 mins of something like karting on each or - after unpacking - putting them in a room with a dehumidifier running for a day to be sure the damage isn't temporary IMO.

Edit: RIP my English i think? Is "Slowing die" a thing?

slowly die is a thing.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

The only issue I've had is my PSP's battery starting to balloon. I took it out, put in a replacement and it works just fine. DS and Vita are fine. I even have two Wonderswans (one with IPS screen replacement) and they work great as well.

 

[Kamina]

Nothing on this earth is forever unfortunately

 

[nkarafo]

Nothing on this earth is forever unfortunately

Not forever. Just for a lifetime.

 

[nowhat]

I always assumed things don't break as easily if they don't have moving parts in them.

If you think how electrons move within electric circuits, there are moving parts. Like constantly. In a frequency/speed you can't even begin to comprehend or observe. So while there may not be any visible wear&tear, a lot of movement has already happened.

 

[Trilobit]

Not had any problems with my GBA and DS Lite. Works just as good today as when I bought them. One A or B button squeaks a bit on the DS, but works perfectly.

 

[Dacvak]

This is why I own 5 OG game boys, 5 game boy pockets, 6 GBCs, 4 GBAs, 4 GBA SPs, 3 game boy micros, 2 DSes, 4 DS Lites, 2 DSis, 2 DSi XLs, 6 3DSes, 3 New 3DSes, 4 New 3DS XLs, 3 Switches, and that’s just the Nintendo handhelds.

Spoiler

Okay the real reason is because I have a collecting problem.

 

[UltimaKilo]

You are surprised by the law of physics? Everything will break sooner or later. The problem is it can almost never be repaired.

Everything can always be fixed, if you know what you're doing.

 

[nkarafo]

This is how my DS screen looks:

You can see the blue line in the center of the pic. It's not always this color, it depends on the background. But it always takes the opposite brightness compared to the background so it's always noticeable in both bright and dark scenes.

 

[Futaleufu]

Entropy sucks. Electronic devices were not made to last, specially those made this century. I own several retro PCs and its a losing battle.

 

[Complistic]

Dust to dust

 

[vodka-bull]

The only thing that‘s really bad if it breaks are DSs, even today in 2024 nothing plays DS games as good as original hardware. The other platforms, well, it‘s nice to play on them, bur for playing games you don‘t really need the devices as they can be easily emulated.

 

[Ozzie666]

Analogue should consider a 2d 3d console pocket. I keep waiting for my PSP street to die on me or my Vita l. Sad times.

But the original tank game boy is a tank. Even my old Nintendo game and watches work perfectly. Incredible build quality.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Not gaming related, but my dad's lawnmower lasted over 30 years. It was an orange, small, shitty looking mower too. But it mowed like a champ and was even corded, as opposed to more powerful gas mowers.