What is going on with this copy of Super Mario 64?
I recently bought a group of games at the local Disc Replay chain, and with the Buy 5, get the 6th free policy, I got a free copy of Super Mario 64.
The game was dirty. I cleaned it up, cleaned the pins, etc, and I couldn't get it to play properly. The only time I got anything beyond a black screen, it went to the home screen for about 3 seconds and glitched out. So, I attempted to return it today. The employee puts one q-tip to the pins, removes no dirt, then it fires up perfectly. I ask if it saves, and I'm told that it's holding a save. I ask if it is reliable, and the game fires up perfectly 5 times in a row. The employee then turns the tv around to show me.
I decide that was odd, but maybe I wasn't patient enough. When I get the game back home, it no longer works again. Finally, I decide to "blow" into the cartridge a ton (I know this is bad). It finally boots up, but does not have a save file. I play through to the first save. Reboot the game, and there's no save file. In frustration, I turn it off until just a few minutes ago. Guess what? It won't boot up again.
What's going on here? At this point I'm more confused than anything else.
The game was dirty. I cleaned it up, cleaned the pins, etc, and I couldn't get it to play properly. The only time I got anything beyond a black screen, it went to the home screen for about 3 seconds and glitched out. So, I attempted to return it today. The employee puts one q-tip to the pins, removes no dirt, then it fires up perfectly. I ask if it saves, and I'm told that it's holding a save. I ask if it is reliable, and the game fires up perfectly 5 times in a row. The employee then turns the tv around to show me.
I decide that was odd, but maybe I wasn't patient enough. When I get the game back home, it no longer works again. Finally, I decide to "blow" into the cartridge a ton (I know this is bad). It finally boots up, but does not have a save file. I play through to the first save. Reboot the game, and there's no save file. In frustration, I turn it off until just a few minutes ago. Guess what? It won't boot up again.
What's going on here? At this point I'm more confused than anything else.
Comments
Do you have another power supply on hand?
Yes. Will try this right now.
Do you have another power supply on hand?
I think it is my HDMI system or the wall outlet. I did this:
HDMI with power cord A - does not work
HDMI with power cord B - does not work
Non HDMI with power cord A - fires up on second attempt with save
Non HDMI with power cord B - fires up on first attempt with save
Do you have any problems with any other games on the 64 or just this one? Could try cleaning the pin connector
Just this particular cartridge. Banjo Kazooie sometimes gives me fits, but everything else seems fine other than this Super Mario 64. I bought the N64 cartridge cleaner from a sister store for this particular situation. The pins on both systems I have appear to be clean.
The copy of Super Mario 64 that is in question was purchased by the store from someone that also snuck a reproduction CIB Super Bowling past the employees. It wouldn't surprise me if the SM64 cart has been tampered / tested / altered before entering my possession. I plan to open it up tomorrow.