Saving a season on NES Tecmo Super Bowl

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Teddybear
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Saving a season on NES Tecmo Super Bowl

Postby Teddybear » August 23rd, 2015, 10:26 am

Question - these batteries inside NES cartridges that save season progress.....how do they work?

Over the course of a few weeks I had been playing a season of NES Tecmo Super Bowl through the first 10 games. I'd play a game or two then turn the console off and unplug it with no problems. I decided to remove the cartridge to play another game. Afterwards, I put Tecmo Bowl back in and the season was erased. I use a NES top-loader system.

I started another season and this time I won't remove the cartridge until I am finished (I always play the Detroit Lions and Barry has 1300 yards rushing thru game 8 :D ). It can be a few days between game sessions but when I turn it back on to play, everything remains saved as it should.

I am curious - does powering on the console "recharge" these batteries inside the cartridge? This game and battery (I am the original owner) is nearly 25 years old! For a battery this old that still works as intended I find this an interesting curiosity.

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Rev
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Re: Saving a season on NES Tecmo Super Bowl

Postby Rev » August 23rd, 2015, 12:37 pm

This isn't related to Tecmo Bowl however I have found that Internal Batteries that are on the verge of dying, slight nudges to the cartridge can trigger a complete erase of saved games. This happened to me with several older games. I replaced the battery and the nudging was no longer an issue.

Tron
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Re: Saving a season on NES Tecmo Super Bowl

Postby Tron » August 23rd, 2015, 6:00 pm

That would be awesome if the NES recharged the battery, but that is not the case. I can confirm that you aren't imagining things about changing cartridges & having the game getting erased. I played Baseball Stars for many years on the NES. I noticed many times that when I would take it out & play another game that once I put Baseball Stars back in the game would be erased. Surprisingly many of these batteries still work, yet they are probably near the end of their life. I've been planning on buying a Retron 5 now for some time. One of the reasons is that it can save NES games. I really just need to buy one already.

BTW are you from Detroit or do you just like Barry Sanders & Rodney Pete? I'm from Detroit that's why I ask.

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Atariboy
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Re: Saving a season on NES Tecmo Super Bowl

Postby Atariboy » August 23rd, 2015, 7:41 pm

Did the game boot up correctly on the first try?

I've always found it risky for battery backed save data when multiple attempts are necessary to start the game due to poor contact being made between the cartridge and the console's pin connectors. It's a recipe for losing that save data and is one reason why I try to not switch games when progressing through something like Super Mario World, once I know that a solid connection has been made.

Teddybear
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Joined: April 7th, 2015, 7:50 pm

Re: Saving a season on NES Tecmo Super Bowl

Postby Teddybear » August 24th, 2015, 7:45 am

Thanks for the input guys. I am assuming this is some type of a watch battery? And I'm also assuming that this isn't as simple as popping the cartridge open and replacing the battery?

I've been thinking about all my Genesis sports games - World Series, NHL 94, Madden, NBA Live, etc. that must have this same issue. But I am still amazed that these batteries have lasted this long!

I'm about 15 miles north of Ford Field and have high hopes for this upcoming Lions season. Of course, I have had these delusional thoughts about the Lions for the past 35 Augusts. They've got to make it to the Super Bowl one of these years Tron, don't they?

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Rev
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Re: Saving a season on NES Tecmo Super Bowl

Postby Rev » August 24th, 2015, 11:08 am

Yeah... It is a bit more complicated than popping open the console and changing out the battery. You will need a special screw driver to open up the NES cartridge (really cheap online, a few bucks), a soldering iron, solder, and replacement batteries. Basically you use the soldering iron to loosen the battery from the board, pull out the old battery, put in the new one, and melt the solder ever so slightly to attach the battery to the board. There are people online who actually can install battery holders to the games so from that point forward you can just pop the batteries in and out (only seen them for SNES and NES games though, due to the size of the cartridges).

I'm not very good at it...


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