Console Degradation?

[super_quincy]

It occured to me today that my beloved console collection isn`t gonna last forever

Take my PC Engine Duo-R for example, Two owners from new, myself and my friend (who sold it to me in 1997). Kept in its box when not in use; I take great care of it. It occasionally wont boot a Hucard or sometimes a CD, but with a couple of attempts it does work.

Is this because of something like silicon degradation? I remember a batch of Dreamcasts that needed the solder on the board re-doing due to it apparently drying out and disconnecting (there were a few articles about it in DC-UK I think)

Does anyone else have any thoughts about this?

[eves pudding]

I think the biggest worry is for the CD based machines (especially the Saturn)

My PC Engine seems to be OK, but like you say they won't go on forever

[Davros sock drawer]

they won't go on forever

And when they do pack up, people will hopefully realise what a service to history emulation is.

Actually, I'd be interested to know how long tape/cartridges "live" for. I've got 300 CPC464 games, and I wonder how long they'll last.

[alexhighnumber]

Yes I think about the cassette issue, I'm often suprised how well they've held up when I load an old C64 game I remember buying back in 85.

[Stroker Ace]

Much like the Gamecube, the Saturn is as tough as old boots. You'll need a new PS2 before you need a new Saturn.

But yes, it's the media you have to worry about degrading, not the hardware.

[Cthulhu]

I had a couple of big arse boxes full of Amiga games (legitimate), and I came home from university a few weeks back to find that my parents had stacked them right next to the speakers in my room.

Gah.

Still, they were probably all degraded through simple time anyway.

[Jumble Jumble]

And when they do pack up, people will hopefully realise what a service to history emulation is.

Actually, I'd be interested to know how long tape/cartridges "live" for. I've got 300 CPC464 games, and I wonder how long they'll last.

Put them on minidisc/mp3, I reckon. To be safe.

[Davros sock drawer]

Put them on minidisc/mp3, I reckon. To be safe.

Tricky without a Minidisc player or a computer, but yes, I take your point.

[Yobo Ahoy]

I stashed a load of N64 controllers a while ago after realising they get buggered extremely quickly. [Mad scientist] Ahaahahaha!! [/Mad scientist]

In fact my N64 as a whole is a bit of a state, the old boy has had far too much use. Bless.

[X_2_0]

Put them on minidisc/mp3, I reckon. To be safe.

I was talking about this with SuperQuincy the other day, You could probably fit ever decent spectrum game on a DVD in mp3 format.

But has anyone tried converting them to MP3's yet ? is their too much loss in sound quality for them to load ?

[Stroker Ace]

You don't need to. The .tzx format is a 100% accurate copy of the source audio. The .tzx format is the big thing these days, with many of the large scale archiving sites doing their best to make sure every game is a .tzx copy. It's the only 'true' representation of the original that's widely accepted.

MP3 won't work, because a part of the MP3 compression process is to remove inaudible sounds. Sounds which the Spectrum (amongst other tape based systems) uses to store data.

[Sabreman]

The only consoles I had trouble with occasionally were the Megadrive and PC Engine. Sometimes I had to repeatedly insert the card/cart and power up, or wipe the connectors to get them to load.

[Dimahoo]

Hence the need for a PC.

Emulation, Emulation Emulation. Nation.

Tis the only way around this problem. HD, CD's or DVD should (in theory) last far longer, so having roms on them is the only way to guarentee their future.

But unless worked on, the machines will eventually die.

You might want to try seeing if the Jamma guys know anything about restoring old machines.

[Sabreman]

It makes me so angry that emulation gets sidelined as some kind of morally dubious area. The people maintaining rom sets, tape images, etc. for all systems are keeping the history of this medium alive.

[Floppy]

It makes me so angry that emulation gets sidelined as some kind of morally dubious area. The people maintaining rom sets, tape images, etc. for all systems are keeping the history of this medium alive.

So right. Without emulation, god knows how much of Britain's cultural heritage would have been lost to time.

[Gique]

at least with hucards , the connectors are exposed.. try giving them a rub with a pencil eraser..

[alexhighnumber]

So right. Without emulation, god knows how much of Britain's cultural heritage would have been lost to time.

Well, maybe a very minor and unimportant to most element of our culture, but yes I do think emulation has helped preseve - and more so bring it to a new generation.