22nd Century retro
hi rg, first off, i love retro gamer and have every issue ever produced. i’m always first to the newsagency when the new edition comes out. i can’t seem to remember you doing an article on ‘futureproofing’ video game collections. By this i mean: what steps a games collector should take to ensure nothing bad happens to their collection.
for example, i have removed the battery backups from my early Game Boy cartridges after discovering that one of them had leaked acid all over the PCB. it was a tough decision to make for me as it went against my desire to keep the games completely original. also, how do you keep your game saves while replacing the battery, and can you install a battery holder to make it easier to change the batteries in the future?
i’d love to know if you should remove the internal batteries from Game Boy advance onwards when storing them. i read that you should leave the batteries in the machine and charge them once every six months. maybe you have an expert on board the team who could give their opinion?
i had a fair collection of Game & Watch consoles, but had to get rid of them as the lcd screens were slowly bleeding, rendering them black and completely unplayable. Could this be avoided?
i’m sure you have plenty of other ideas (like packaging, should it be stored in acid free, archival quality plastic bags), but thought an article on futureproofing might be great for your readers/collectors, i know i’d love to read it. mark hine this is a fantastic idea, mark. Preventative maintenance can go a long way towards keeping your collection working, and it’s hard to know what measures to take. we can’t promise it’ll appear soon, but this is an aspect of retro gaming we’d love to start covering.