Cleaning video game equipment
Posted: April 9th, 2007, 6:11 pm
For the past couple of years I've putzed around with cleaning game equipment, and I have to say that your best friend is a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. It takes off everything: sticker residue, dirt, even permanent marker. You have to be careful on certain types of plastics, but most video game stuff is fine. Just don't wipe too hard/too much. With a lot of practice and caution, you can even clean certain labels without damage (but I wouldn't recommend it).
I use cotton swabs and rubbing alcohol for cartridge contacts, as well as controller circuit boards. You wouldn't believe what a difference scraping 10+ years of oxidation buildup can do for a button's response time. If some of the cartridge contacts are corroded, I use a small screwdriver/tweezer prong to scrape it off and then go over it again with the swab+alcohol. Worked great for my copy of MT's Punch Out. For discs I just go to a used CD store/Game Crazy and have them fully resurfaced; works WAY better than that Disc Doctor crap.
I'm in college right now, which leaves little time or money for video games. I hit up all of the thrift stores around here, buy rare video game stuff for next to nothing, clean it up, and sell it on eBay. It's good enough money to support my massive video game buying habit. My collection isn't anywhere near the Critic's, but it still takes up my entire living room. : D
Well, I've rambled on enough.
I use cotton swabs and rubbing alcohol for cartridge contacts, as well as controller circuit boards. You wouldn't believe what a difference scraping 10+ years of oxidation buildup can do for a button's response time. If some of the cartridge contacts are corroded, I use a small screwdriver/tweezer prong to scrape it off and then go over it again with the swab+alcohol. Worked great for my copy of MT's Punch Out. For discs I just go to a used CD store/Game Crazy and have them fully resurfaced; works WAY better than that Disc Doctor crap.
I'm in college right now, which leaves little time or money for video games. I hit up all of the thrift stores around here, buy rare video game stuff for next to nothing, clean it up, and sell it on eBay. It's good enough money to support my massive video game buying habit. My collection isn't anywhere near the Critic's, but it still takes up my entire living room. : D
Well, I've rambled on enough.