The Video Game Critic

Why you ask? Well, I bought a cartridge of Pitfall II: The Lost Caverns. It was the game only. The description said it was tested AND WORKED. It costed 13 bucks and when it came in the mail, I plugged it in my Atari, blew into the game, wriggled it around, flicked the power switch, messed with the picture. But nothing. Just colored lines with a dooming 8-bit buzzing sound.

Next time I buy an a2600 game, It will have to be sealed. 

Oh, and Venture is one of the more common ones, I picked THAT up sealed for 10 bucks. And THAT worked.

Before I stick any used carts in my system I thoroughly clean the contacts with q-tips and rubbing alcohol.  You keep going over them until no black stuff is coming off.

Then you let it DRY.

That will fix 99% of non-working cartridges.

pitfall ii is an especially finicky cart.  give it a good cleaning before giving up on it.

If they sell you a game that doesn't work you can return it for a full refund. Even if the seller tries to be a jerk and not return it eBay will cover your back. They will force the seller to take back the item and they will take the money out of the person's Paypal account and refund it to you whether he/she takes back the game or not.

Make sure sellers have good return policies before bidding. As for your situation, e-mail the seller to see if you can't work something out. Sellers generally want to help you out (since they want positive feedback).

On a side note, I've been seeing sellers state that the game they're selling works on THEIR system, and usually dump a TV screenshot on ebay.

This may sound weird, but I have an Atari system that only plays Activision games if I lick the circuit board, or else I get the same problem. Don't ask why, but it's true. Even if I clean it it goes back the same way later.

[QUOTE=weallmissedme]This may sound weird, but I have an Atari system that only plays Activision games if I lick the circuit board, or else I get the same problem. Don't ask why, but it's true. Even if I clean it it goes back the same way later.[/QUOTE]

What made you think to lick the circuit board to begin with?

Activision cartridges are notoriously finicky. I assume it's because the board appears to be thinner than that of other manufacturers so it's more difficult for good contact to be made.

Even cleaned, it's rare that I'm able to start one on the first try where as something like from Atari almost always works from the get go. I bet I average about four or five attempts of removing and inserting a cartridge and hitting power before one of them will boot up for me. And they don't handle the system being bumped very well compared to many other brands.

So I really doubt the cartridge is dead. Especially if you only tried it once like your post makes it sound like you did. 

Lick the circuit board?  That sounds dangerous, not to mention unsanitary.

Pitfall 2 is definetly a finicky cartridge.
Both copies I have will not work on my 7800
what so ever.
And have to fight with them at times work
on my 2600!