Video Game Clutter Report: Overview

Since I didn’t get to go to my convention last weekend I decided to work on a particular video for this site. I started doing the occasional “video review” over at my other site because video clips I would use in articles would be taken down. The same thing happened to me in a review for this site, Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game for the PC. While I may still Video Game Reports in article form, I will also use video reviews (or “video articles” as I like to think of them) in the form of a show called Video Game Clutter.

In this first episode, which was previewed on my other site, I just went over the various gaming platforms. It’s a bit slow at parts but will give you an idea as to what’s to come in future videos.

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Cleaning the NES

Image by freespamfree via Flickr

I lost a few pictures thanks to some technical difficulties. So you’ll have to use your imagination or memory to recall when your NES was glitching because it needed a good cleaning. You’d blow into the system or the game pak (that’s how they spelled it). I actually would break out the Game Genie even if I wasn’t going to use a code. Sometimes that worked.

Before starting this week’s project (thankfully a short one, as it’s a busy weekend for me) I actually tried that. I haven’t broken out the old system in years. I started playing Super Mario Bros. because there’s no need to review it. I plan to keep it and everybody knows that game, so it was a good one to try out. At some point in the playing it did something weird. The only control that would work was the “A” button, and that would work like the start menu. I’d be playing, jumping around and tossing fireballs, and suddenly the game would pause. That clinched it, I needed to clean the NES before reviewing any games.

You can easily find a tutorial of how to clean the games; isopropyl alcohol or a mixture containing it is usually recommended, although I’ve seen claims of Windex or similar cleaners, or a certain brand of countertop cleaner (I’m a bit skeptical about the long-term effects the latter would have on the connectors), so you may have to judge for yourself. However, when it comes to the console, the only solution I’ve seen is to open the thing up to get at the connectors. Lucky for me, I have an alternate tool for the task.

Last of the pre-game clutter cleaning

There it is, the last of the stuff I need to begin going through the video games. Like everything else, it’s buried in clutter. At the time I bought my NES I figured the best place to keep the controllers would be in the NES box. While the console remains on my shelf with a dust cover and the ergonomic controller was stored with the games, the regular controllers and the Zapper were left in the box until I wanted to use them.

However, as you can see it is not a pain to get them. Space has become a priority and I have a storage box I can put those controllers into. First I need to dig my way to them, though. Sometimes you have to clean in order to clean, if that makes any sense. So let’s get started.

Organizing some more game stuff

Truly I am the court jester of article titling.

I said I had more of these. Ignore the 8-tracks, they won’t be going anywhere because they’re not mine. When the other cabinet from last week was too full, I stuck a few things in here, but now that I have some room I can put them all together. This required me to take the LaserScope out, but once I review it, I’m going to sell it off anyway (you’ll see why when I get to it) so I can stuff it in an unused corner for now.

So what are we pulling out of there?