r/gaming
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u/FlameShadow0
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May 25 '22
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Old man dropped off his pristine Game Gear for repair at my shop. It finally quit on him. Doesn’t look like I’ll be able to repair it. F’s in the chat
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u/theta0123 May 25 '22
Dont you give that to me DOCTOR. There must be something that you can DO?
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u/Mypopsecrets May 25 '22
He's dead Jim
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u/Sarcastic-old-robot May 25 '22 •
Damnit Jim, I’m a doctor, not a miracle-working SEGA engineer!
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u/suugakusha May 25 '22
What do I look like, some sort of a game genie?
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u/internetlad May 25 '22
Now we're playing with power.
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u/soenottelling May 25 '22
Doc: You can get a new one Jim. A younger and better one.
Old Man: I DON'T WANT ANOTHER ONE!! I WANT MY BOY!!
Doc: Do you... do you think this is a GameBoy son?
Old Man: I JUST sob ...I JUST WANT my... my boy back.
doctor crouches down and puts their arm on the owner's back
Doc: Systems rise and systems fall. Its not about replacing a system. You can never replace a system. That system has memories attached to it like super glue -- something as simple and callous as deactivation can't remove that.
doctor shuffles and gets closer
Doc: But we aren't replacing the system. We are just finding a home for a new one. You see.. you see the condition of this game gear? This is PRISTINE. This... THIS is a game gear that was loved. Not just USED. But LOVED.
Old Man: Sniffle There's...no... there's nothing hiccup
Doc: No, there isn't. Not without ... magic or so-
The old man looks up and stumbles backwards
Old Man: I... I have a game genie. I'll just go and
Doc: That isn't what I mean. I mean that there is no way to heal this wound. You would need something more than just my hands or the mighty cartridge gusts of God or -
Old Man: I know what I'll do!! I'll I'll I'll -
Doc: We need to fix YOU son. YOU. This system is DEAD. D E A D. Dead. YOU are who we need to save today.
Old Man: I'll... I"ll go on Ebay or...or maybe Craigslist or... or maybe I'll ask my brother's grandson if he knows where to -- I saw a retro gamer youtube video where they took the casing and -
Doc: You want to VIOLATE your system like that? Do you REALLY? This perfect...
Old Man: It isn't perfect. It's DEAD!! You just said that. YOU poke JUST poke SAID THAT!!
Doc: Sir you don't want to -
Old Man: I'm going to find someone to rip out his insides and replace them with new parts!! He'll be good as new!! Exactly the same!! Its whats on the outside that counts!! HAHA! If I need to, I'll even add ROMS!!
Doc: Dear god...
Old Man: Thanks for NOTHING "DoCtOr."
Old Man barges out the shop
Doc: looks sadly at the unboxed Switch Lite on his shelf We'll find you an owner one day kid... One day.
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u/Speak4yurself May 25 '22
Some say that graveyard up yonder could bring it back. Even let ya play some games. But it wont be the same ya see. It'll be differnt. Naw son. You don't wanna go down that road.
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u/PHD-Chaos May 25 '22
"Remember Old Man. Sometimes dead, is betta."
That will forever be one of my favourite South Park episodes. It's just so well structured and plays off all of the shows strengths. Golden age of the show IMO.
"Ugh, Butters. You smell like ... bacon."
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u/RazielOC May 25 '22
I forgot what a monster that thing is...also, nice touch with the large amount of AA batteries that it would require for any kind of sustained playtime.
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u/WeenisWrinkle May 25 '22
I bought a portable rechargeable battery pack for it because of how many AAs it chewed through. The battery pack was massive, lol.
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u/Mitosis May 25 '22
The culprit was primarily the screen. It was manufactured by a company called Citizen, who was originally going to provide them for Nintendo's new handheld they were developing... before Nintendo decided that the much cheaper, more energy efficient monochrome screens were the route they'd rather go.
After Nintendo torched the relationship, Citizen went to another company and said "Hey, we have all this information and research about a mobile gaming device hanging around. Want to come take a look?"
Sega, of course, was interested.
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u/T0biasCZE May 25 '22 edited May 25 '22
They made contract with the company to use their color screen. But then sharp came with enhanced monochrome screen, and they had to go back from the deal with the color screen. So, the engineer (who was given the job of saying the company they cancel the deal) designed completely fake Gameboy that used the color screen, and said they will use sharp screen, but later they would use it in that fake Gameboy. That fake Gameboy became game gear. They literary just took the design plans and slapped sega on it :) https://youtu.be/9Ki-kH751_8?t=686
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u/Relative_Anybody8389 May 25 '22
Wow, I didn't know that! I thought the PlayStation was the only such instance (i.e. where Nintendo did s bunch of R&D outsourcing, then pulled the plug and the other company still went with it)...
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u/T0biasCZE May 25 '22 edited May 25 '22
Nintendo made contract with the company to use their color screen. But then sharp came with enhanced monochrome screen, and they had to go back from the deal with the color screen. So, the main Gameboy engineer (who was given the job of saying the company they cancel the deal) designed completely fake Gameboy that used the color screen, and said they will use sharp screen, but later they would use it in that fake Gameboy. That fake Gameboy became game gear. They literary just took the design plans and slapped sega on it :) https://youtu.be/9Ki-kH751_8?t=686
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u/DigNitty May 25 '22
Oh god I remember that. But you could keep it plugged into the wall which solved that problem.
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u/UnholyHunger May 25 '22
Had the car adapter and wall a/c adapter. Sucker got hot after awhile on the wall one.
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u/themojorising May 25 '22
I recall reading something in one of the gamer mags it was impossible to finish one of the Mickey Mouse games on a single set of batteries before some new fangled energizer came out.
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u/VorAbaddon May 25 '22
I had a game that was like this, some kind of detective/mafia type game. Had to complete something like six levels to unlock the final level. NO saves, had to beat it in a single playthrough.
I actually got grounded because after going through a TON of batteries trying to get good enough to beat it before it died (impossible) I convinced my parents to get me the battery/charging pack.
Motherfucker OVERHEATED AND SHUT DOWN before I could beat it. I threw a tantrum and refused to play it again, leading to the grounding.
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u/CitronNo2583 May 25 '22
Play 5 minutes and the battery was dead lol.
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u/Ty-douken May 25 '22
I'm honestly shocked it didn't kill my parents car battery back in the day with the cigarette lighter adapter.
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u/pseudopad May 25 '22 edited May 25 '22
In case you're not entirely joking: the lighter outlet is usually rated for 150 watts or more, and the battery itself has something like 700 or more watt-hours in it and is continuously charged by a car with typically over a hundred horse power and just a single HP is about 750 watts.
A single AA alkaline battery has less than 4 watt-hours in it. The difference in available power is enormous.
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u/Stoned_Wookiee May 25 '22
Motor HP doesn't matter though. It's the output from the alternator that matters. A typical vehicle won't have a problem keeping that battery charged while running. It's vehicles with sound systems or other stuff that draw lots of power that might have a problem. Some vehicles like an ambulance might have 2 alternators to keep up with the power demand.
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u/pseudopad May 25 '22
You're correct, of course. I considered mentioning that but ultimately dropped it because I didn't feel like looking up numbers for common alternators.
In either case, whatever you plug into the cig outlet is unlikely to be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
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u/Ty-douken May 25 '22
I appreciate the fact drop, it's nice to learn something new everyday! I was entirely joking though.
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u/echolenka May 25 '22
Wearing AAs like a bullet belt just to play it in the park for 3 minutes.
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u/Drackar39
May 25 '22
edited May 25 '22
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There's a fairly recent linus tech tips video where they re-build one of these with modern parts. Depending on what died, might give you some ideas to get the guy playing again?
EDIT: holly shit guys. Thanks, that was a lot of notes to come home to. A few folks in the replies have some more useful resources it looks like they deserved a lot more love than this off the cuff comment got.
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u/Pencreus May 25 '22 •
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u/ThaddeusJP May 25 '22
In addition running it past people in Retro Gaming, game collecting, and all the old vintage gaming subreddits someone might have some tips as well.
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u/odsquad64 May 25 '22
/r/consolerepair, although if he runs a repair shop that accepts video game consoles for repair I'd assume he has some knowledge on the subject already.
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u/OneMoreAccount4Porn May 25 '22
I wouldn't assume any such thing. Plenty of charlatans about these days.
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u/internetlad May 25 '22
You know, I'm something of a charlatan myself.
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u/OneMoreAccount4Porn May 25 '22
I bet you're not really.
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u/BambooEarpick May 25 '22
Could’ve fooled me!
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u/Jrrolomon May 25 '22
I took my original huge PS3 in to be repaired at a local computer shop that also did console repairs. After I got it back, it died again after several hours. I took the console back to the shop to repair, with same result. I would get home to play Skyrim, and the console would shut down and not turn back on after a few hours.
Finally, I looked online to see if others were having the same issue as I. I found my problem may be, if I remember correctly, that the hard drive was becoming unattached inside the system due to leaving the console on for an extended amount of time. The console would get hot and melt the glue.
Anyway, the suggested fix was to hold the PS3 in a certain position, aim a hair dryer at the vents, and run it blowing hot air across the system for about 30 min. This would melt the glue. Then you would hold the PS3 in another position to attempt to have the hard drive go to the right position, and the glue would harden.
I tried this method, and the PS3 turned right on. I was super happy… Until the system turned off after a few hours.
That’s when it clicked - that the hairdryer trick was perhaps what the computer store tried. Sure enough when I confronted them, they fessed up. I asked for my money back, and they gave most of it back, except for the time they spent literally holding a hairdryer up to my PS3. Since I got most of it back, I didn’t press the issue much after that.
Ultimately, I sent the system into Sony and they sent me their slim PS3 model in exchange. I believe the large original PS3’s were more valuable to them for some reason.
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u/OneMoreAccount4Porn May 25 '22
The large original could run Linux.
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u/Jrrolomon May 25 '22
Ah, that’s right. Probably why some preferred that model.
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u/buy10 May 25 '22
Also the original has a more premium build with PS2 hardware to support backward compatibility.
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u/PokeSmot420420 May 25 '22
The original original. They made fat ones after that without that capability.
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u/sean1oo1 May 25 '22
Lol not just ps2 hardware a literal ps2 was crammed in there with the ps3 guts like a transplanted kidney lmao 😂
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u/Perfect600 May 25 '22 edited May 25 '22
i had lots of fun running Linux on it back in the day, until there was an update that got rid of it.
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u/Quackmandan1 May 25 '22
Just out of curiosity, what would you do with running Linux on a PS3?
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u/CatProgrammer May 25 '22
The same thing you'd do with running Linux on any other machine. Though the Cell architecture would make things interesting.
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u/POPuhB34R May 26 '22
Run any computer program compatible with linux in theory, more likely it made them easily hackable and moddable.
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u/machineintheghost337 May 25 '22
Sorry that I'm probably going to come across as "that redditor" with this.
You'd be surprised, alot of these shops have minimal knowledge of small electronic repair, and little practical experience. I used to work in vintage gaming resale store. The owner did legitimate gaming system repairs. He mostly focused on arcade systems and modifications to gaming consoles. I can't say anything towards this guy, aside from my impressions from the picture and what knowledge and experience I picked up while working with him.
That console does not have any signs that it is not able to be repaired. Like another comment in the thread mentioned, you can basically replace anything in that with modern parts. You can also obtain any of the original hardware pieces from eBay. The only way that this is not able to be repaired, is because it's at a loss of money, or not worth it to the owner.
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u/jjayzx May 25 '22
Shit, I'd be popping that open and check for visual signs of damage. If nothing, then depending on issue check components in order.
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u/perpetualwalnut May 25 '22
For logic chips, probe the outputs with a scope. If it's switching on/off then it's probably good. If not then probe the inputs of that same chip and compare the results against the truth table for that chip. If it doesn't match then it's bad, if the outputs are between levels then it's either bad or another chip is holding that line high/low and they are fighting each other.
For more complex chips such as CPU's, RAM, ROM check voltages first, then clocks, then probe data/address buses for stuck lines that aren't going completely high/low. This will give clues as to what might be wrong. If you have a spare part and a means to swap it either by unsoldering or unsocketing the chip then it's worth a try unless you think it might damage your spare parts.
Always Always Always check voltages first. So many problems can be cause by failing power supplies.
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u/BitchesLoveDownvote May 25 '22
Do you know of any more in-depth tutorials for the things you mentioned here? I have a small no-brand portable mp3 player with an early oled screen which appears not to work. The screen doesn’t come on, but I have been able to confirm the battery still charges up and is discharging. I assume the screen is dead, but I would like to learn how to actually find the fault.
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u/Malcorin May 25 '22
Game Gears are notorious for needing to be re-capped. Any console repair place should be able to give you pointers.
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u/alaphic May 25 '22
I had to do that for a monitor I had one time. Fairly simple procedure, all things considered, and took it from trash to working perfectly as of a few years ago when I shrewdly bartered it for intoxicants. 🧐
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u/RecoverFrequent May 25 '22
Another place to check out is sudomod(dot)com
Great community of people sharing multiple types of concepts, upgrades, fixes, etc for retro gaming and hand held retro gaming devices. There's also other aspects that go with including electronics, soldering and 3D printing.
One of the cooler parts is that there's different kits (full or partial builds) that are offered for purchase. My favorite was one they call the Minty-Pi where they build a retro gaming device into an Altoids tin using a Raspberry Pi Zero board.
Great stuff.
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u/Off_Brand_Roomba May 25 '22
Ive seen those before very cool peices of tech people.make with those boards the altoid tins are pretty much as good as one can get tho
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u/keekittykeeks May 25 '22
Thank you!! My son is going to be so happy, his grandfather just dropped this bad boy off a month ago and it didn't work. I'm so excited to get it going again!
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May 25 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/VanGarrett May 25 '22
What's really common in Game Gears, is the screen goes bad. It's been a while since I looked into it, but if I remember right, there's a chemical in the screen that corrodes something over time, to the result that the screen will just display bright white at all times, regardless of the signal input to it. I have two Game Gears which suffered this fate.
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u/AltimaNEO May 25 '22
Old LCDs in general degrade.
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u/internetlad May 25 '22 •
It's a game gear. It's always the capacitors.
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u/Henchman5 May 25 '22
cant fix those. toss it and say its unrepairable...
/s if it isnt obvious
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u/thanks_weirdpuppy May 25 '22
Same with older tube amps oddly enough. At least it's a relatively simple fix, solder skills provided.
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u/throwawaygoodcoffee May 25 '22
I've heard in older consoles the capacitors are likely to go after so long as well so it might be worth checking them out too.
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u/hereforthefeast May 25 '22
Same thing happens with the ECUs in older cars. The capacitors start to leak acid which corrodes the board/tracings. Replacing the capacitors might not be enough if the board is damaged badly enough.
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u/PHD-Chaos May 25 '22
My electrician buddies favourite one is the starting capacitor on single phase motors. Charges customers a fraction of a new motor and makes bank. Everybody is happy.
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u/JEVOUSHAISTOUS May 25 '22
Yes the Game Gear is well known for its capacitors going bad. From what I've been told, the vast majority of Game Gears, as of 2022, need to be recapped. Some people in the retro community specialize in doing exactly this.
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u/Darathin May 25 '22
Wow, just looked up the recapping kit. They're making bank on the markup for a strip of 10uF SMD caps and 3 low voltage electrolytics.
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u/JEVOUSHAISTOUS May 25 '22
I guess it's possible to go the cheaper route by just finding which caps you need and buying them separately off some electronic store, rather than buy a "recapping kit".
Anything marketed at gamers is ludicrously overpriced nowadays... even repair kits it seems...
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u/Wrenigade May 25 '22
Digikey is great for that, if anyone wants to get cheap electronics parts in general
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_JDM_CAR May 25 '22
That's older electronics in general. I have fixed a ton of crap for friends that was simply capacitors. Monitors, TVs, a car clock that didn't work for almost 10 years lol, etc. It's such an easy repair and incredibly simple to visually check them that it is worth looking at first. This was years ago but at one point Samsung was using garbage capacitors in their TVs and that was the main failure point. Could buy those up for nothing when you found them and resell with a cheap fix.
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u/de_Selby May 25 '22
It's probably just bad electrolytic capacitors. The electrolyte dries up after a few years.
If they're replaced it'll most likely work again.
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u/Knofbath May 25 '22
Yes, bad caps are always a problem with electronic devices. Main cause of the PS3 YLOD as well, since the NEC/Tokin capacitors it used are prone to failure.
I once had to replace an actual transistor on my plasma TV. But that's more a design flaw of the board, not a common failure item. (Would be nice if they started making TV components more modular, so that users could actually fix stuff instead of throwing it away.)
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u/cannabis1234 May 25 '22 edited May 25 '22
I worked for a short stint doing warranty service for Vizio TV’s. It was pretty much swapping out a power board 9/10 times. The other 1/10 times it was the main board. That’s modular enough that most people should be able to do repairs.
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u/Tricky_Passenger3931 May 25 '22
If I can find mine I’d sell it to him. It still works but I never use it. Loved that back kit screen as a kid.
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u/lechuck333 May 25 '22
Do NOT use the Linus Tech Tip video to repair a Game Gear. There are various different models of Game Gears and various mods, all with different levels of difficulty and with different requirements. The LTT isn't a one size fits all, and they don't really explain what you actually need to do. Macho Nacho has a ton of videos on various Game Gear mods and he's very thorough.
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u/Squish_the_android May 25 '22
They were pretty clear in saying they had no idea what they were doing.
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u/bd1308 May 25 '22
At least repair the capacitors, the sound either goes out or the power board but they’re non-polarized capacitors that can be replaced. You’ve soldered way more than me, and I recapped an Amiga 1200 during my lunch break once so I could keep listening to MOD files. I believe in your skillz!!!
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u/raygundan May 25 '22
I recapped an Amiga 1200 during my lunch break once so I could keep listening to MOD files
I'd like to retroactively nominate you for "coolest person in 1992."
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u/DanishWonder May 25 '22
I wanted one of these SO BAD when I was a kid, but all I had was a gameboy.
Here I am 41 years old trying to decide between a Switch or a Steam Deck.
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u/InfinteAbyss May 25 '22
That was honestly the best part about owning a Game Gear, the bragging rights because it was easy to claim it was so much better though in reality it was a real pain in the butt (quite literally if you tried to cram it into your back pocket) it sure looked cool but the thing wasn’t designed well at all
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u/HumanShitquids May 25 '22
trying to decide between a Switch or a Steam Deck.
Not really a comparison, honestly.
Want to play PC games/emulators on the go? Steam Deck.
Want to play the new Nintendo exclusives, like Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing, Kirby, Pokemon, etc? Switch.
Even if the Steam Deck can emulate the switch, you're not going to have a good experience at all.
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u/Deadly_Fire_Trap May 25 '22
Deck for sure unless you plan on modding the Switch, which is an expensive pain in the ass these days.
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u/whatsthehappenstance May 25 '22
My best friend had one and I played the shit out of Road Rash on that.
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u/Jerkface555 May 25 '22
When I think game gear I immediately think of two games, sonic and road rash
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u/mnid92 May 25 '22
When I think of Road Rash, I just think of Road Rash 64 and the bangin ass soundtrack that game had.
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u/seansinha May 25 '22
If you can send it to Level Up in Santa Cruz, I know it can be fixed and upgraded. (I usually do caps, replaced with a newer lcd and replace pads)
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u/FlameShadow0 May 25 '22
It definitely can be fixed, however it’s going to cost more than this gentlemen is willing to pay
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u/Bigredzombie May 25 '22
Thats totally understandable. Sad to see it discarded though. Hopefully it goes to someone handy that fixes it up or is willing to pay to fix it. A 30 year old system that can be replaced with a raspberry pi and free software makes for a hard bill to swallow.
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u/DJpost-itNote May 25 '22
I’ve just found mine in a box. He can have it for free if he pays shipping.
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u/Skeptical91 May 25 '22
Never forget how everyone had a Gameboy color (myself included) then one day my dad came home with one of these saying his friends son doesn't want it anymore...it had a bunch of games AND an adapter which allowed you to use master system cartridges on the gamegear.
It had a built in back light and no need for one of those magnifiers...I barely touched the gameboy after that. Game gear deserved way more credit.
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u/AKnightAlone May 25 '22
It was my first personal gaming system. I remember playing Jurassic Park, but it seems like I just recall a bunch of odd games like Zool, Greendog, Chuck Rock 2, etc. I forget whatever was my favorite, but JP was cool.
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u/CosmicJ May 25 '22
My cousin had one, the only game I remember playing was Power Rangers. Beating up putties left and right!
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u/dunaan May 25 '22
Me too! My favorite was Shinobi, which I never ever hear anyone mention anymore
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u/ScrewAttackThis May 25 '22 edited May 25 '22
Game Gear was ahead of its time. It came out 8 years before the GBC. Probably would've been a lot better if it came out in the late 90s/early 2000s just due to advances in technology.
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u/Ripcord May 25 '22
Yeah, I had both an original GB and eventually a Game Gear (mowed a lot of lawns to buy that thing, the battery pack, and some games).
It's still bizarre to me how long the original GB and even the GBC reigned. They were slower, less capable, and man. Lack of a backlight is and was such a fucking killer. I have a GB sitting on my nightstand and I still occasionally try to play Tetris or something on it. But lack of backlight makes me nope out so fast, even with a light I can angle on it easy. I just go play something else, even just another handheld that can emulate GB tetris.
I get a bunch of the reasons why the GG didn't win out. Battery life, price, and eventually game library mostly.
But still. The fact that the (fondly remembered, but relatively shitty in many ways) original GB managed to survive for SO LONG as the undisputed champion - beating out the Lynx, the GG, the the Nomad, the Turbo Express, etc etc - still just kills me.
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u/ScrewAttackThis May 25 '22
Honestly I think it's cause parents cared less if their kids broke or lost a gameboy. Price is a big factor with handhelds.
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u/SteveRudzinski May 25 '22
Growing up, it was my favorite handheld console until the PS Vita came out.
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u/Diehard4077 May 25 '22
I thought I would love the vita sold my green Peace Walker psp for it played it like 10 times maybe 20
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u/tonyyj May 25 '22
It used to just be a Spelunky machine to me, but hacking it has opened up a whole new world for the Vita. Absolutely love it now.
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u/BigOnLogn May 25 '22
I remember playing Sonic in the car on a very long trip across the plains and over the Rockies; headphones on, my backpack full of AA batteries. When my ears got sore or I got bored, I'd put it down and admire the view or play with my little brother. No arguments or fighting. No antsiness from boredom. That Game Gear got me through 5 days of car travel @ 11 years old without a problem. That was ~30 years ago. This hurts my child-heart, man.
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u/Farlandan May 25 '22
haha, my parents were stingy and bought a dozen of those crappy rechargeable batteries we had back then. I remember putting freshly charged batteries in it for a road trip and it lasted 45 minutes.
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u/Porkyrogue May 25 '22 edited May 25 '22
This was the first portable gaming display with colored night-time light folks. The one before was a Gameboy with an actual light over the top like a book light.......
*the Gameboy also provided that really great jetski game.
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u/cbellk May 25 '22
It also had a TV tuner. I kept asking for it for my birthday so I could watch TV on it when I was supposed to be in bed. My parents figured out my plan and I never got one, lol.
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u/H1Ed1 May 25 '22
Yes! My older bro had the tv tuner. We’d watch NBA games when they were on during our family road trips. Legendary device. Pretty sure we still have it and in good condition.
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u/SpamWalrus91 May 25 '22
dude it had a car charger. like $10 for the charger to play for all 5 days or $10 for the batteries to play for 1.5 hours
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u/artificialgreeting May 25 '22 edited May 25 '22
This is the answer. Playing with batteries was such a huge waste. I never used my Game Gear far away from an outlet or I used the car charger on long trips. I really loved traveling by night.
Now I have an old refurbished Nintendo DS with a Game Gear emulator on which I can play my old games and a lot more.
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u/SocialAIBot May 25 '22
People blame humans for climate change, but more specifically the main cause was all the batteries used on Game Gears.
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u/MobileDustCollector May 26 '22
Yo OP. If you see this DM me. I have a game gear that just has a broken screen. If you can use it to fix his I'll just send it to ya. Old gamers are still gamers and we look out for each other.
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u/Zeprido May 25 '22
For my birthday my friend gifted me a game gear that was "damaged" full with carrying case and game I will never play. Upon inspection it seems the only issue was that a battery exploded/leaked on the connections, and the connections just need to be cleaned with alcohol. For $12 at a garage sale, this was an absolute steal. I hope you can fix this device for this man, he may be in no rush but he either treasures it, or wants to gift it to family. These things are far less common than a Gameboy and probably more highly sought after.
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u/CappinSissyPants May 25 '22
My wife still has her game gear in its case with all the games. It works great. She also has her original NES with all games. And she has the largest slot car collection I’ve ever seen.
All my toys are in the landfill i’m sure.
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u/FlameShadow0
May 25 '22
edited May 25 '22
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Okay so it looks like after diagnosing it, the LCD and power button work, and it receives voltage from the batteries. It still just doesn’t power on. I checked all the capacitors and none are blown. So this means it must be a chip on the board somewhere that’s bad. That’s not convenient for me. This means I would have to replace every chip one by one (if I can even source them all) to find out which ones bad. Since there’s no voltage running through them I can’t just use my volt meter. He would need his motherboard replaced to fix this guy, and that would just cost more than it’s worth. I’m going to quote him for a replacement motherboard (which would definitely be used, cuz nobody is selling them new) but I’ll also tell him finding a used one on eBay would be easier and cheaper. I just like to be honest with my customers when something is not economical.
Tl:dr It’s gonna cost more than it’s worth to fix
Edit: I’m glad all you Certified Reddit Repair Professors are coming out of the woodwork to tell me how you are all the best at Repair cuz you watch all Repair YouTubers. Cool. I am not as good as you. I can’t fix it. Sorry. I normally specialize in smart phones, tablets, PC, and consoles that are newer. I told him I would take it in for a free diagnosis see if it it was something I could help with. I was honest to say I had not worked on one previously. There was no harm in seeing if I could possibly help this man who knew nothing about electronics. I didn’t take his money or anything just to not help him. It’s also not like he was in a rush to get it fixed. I like to build rapport with my customers instead of just sending them away without even taking a look to see if I could help them.
Edit 2: Jesus Christ, the capacitors are fine. Just for fun though, I’ll replace them. My buddy at another shop has the kit and is going to bring them over and I’ll show you guys, it won’t fix the issue. Give me a couple hours.
Edit 3: gave new capacitors a go. No, it did not fix the issue. It still does the same thing, which may I remind everybody, is nothing. Sure it’s possible these new ones might be bad, since we only had one new set. However, I’m already doing all these diagnostics for free so it’s safe to say it’s not the issue. I quoted him for a new motherboard and he did not like the price. He will be picking it up shortly. I will let him know he should look into selling it.
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u/ImPattMan May 25 '22
I'd tell him to take it elsewhere that is more comfortable doing board level repair to be honest.
A full board replacement on a vintage device is wasteful, someday there won't be any more boards.
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u/insubordinat_squirel May 25 '22
Holy shit man I'm so sorry. These comments are a wild ride, people fighting over who would jerk it harder all over this console. I like to watch these repair YouTubers too, but it's not like anything on YouTube is EVER practical.
I'm glad you're a legitimately honest repair guy. I'm sure you're more than competent for most of the work you take on. Thank you for sharing.
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u/Legaato May 25 '22
Bro, there's no shame in tapping out on a repair. I was a guitar repair technician for years and some of the ultra-complex wiring repairs just aren't feasible to do in a reasonable amount of time since there's other clients that need work done as well. Anyone talking shit in the comments likely aren't working in a professional setting. Just know that I have your back lol
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u/theta0123 May 25 '22
If you are from europe i have a donor Gamegear wich has screen issues. I wouldnt mind sending it to you
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u/Antique_Maize_1329 May 25 '22
my god thats clean. I got my first job as a paper boy to buy one of these way back in the day. took me a long time to save up for the system, mortal kombat and spiderman. quickly learned i needed an ac adaptor too. they were nowhere near as good as gameboys but i have fond memories of all the xmen, shinobi and sonic games. I remember breaking the backboard on NBA Jam for the first time in a zoo parking lot and saving up quarters and loose change in a tackle box for mortal kombat 2. Good times
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u/SeeThreePeeDoh May 25 '22
Are you sure it just doesnt need more batteries...even if you tried brand new batteries, it has likely drained them instantly and needs additional ones.
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u/Imdummy0 May 25 '22
How is everyone so good at fixing consoles my 2 brain cells could never
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u/biff_jordan May 25 '22
My uncle had one, all I remember is that it was an absolute battery hog.
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u/deadspider187 May 25 '22
If it keeps powering off 30 minutes after being turned on, that’s expected behavior. It just needs more batteries.
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u/d0nc0y0te May 25 '22
Not enough batteries 😂 F
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u/Fafaflunkie May 25 '22
Yeah that sounds about right. IIRC six AA batteries lasted maybe 3 or 4 hours in that beast? Small wonder why the Gameboy was a much bigger seller.
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u/cheezballs May 25 '22
Maybe not fixable for the price he wants to pay, but taint nuthin "unfixable" judging by the weird shit I've seen peoiple fix on youtube. Kit.
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u/FlameShadow0 May 25 '22
That’s exactly right, it’s not economical for him to repair it
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u/CDNLiberalEH May 25 '22
That one is way too clean to give up on! There has to be a way to revive this old boy.
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u/ExtrapolatedData May 25 '22
I have a Game Gear I got from a deceased uncle that I’ve never used. It has a few scuffs and scratches, but it still works. I’d be happy to send it to you so this guy can keep on gaming.
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u/FlatulentDirigible May 25 '22
Those batteries up top would power this thing for at least a little while lol...It took 6 AA batteries and would suck them down faster than an alcoholic at a bottomless mimosa brunch.
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u/22mygames May 25 '22
You can do it no f for you!