If you’ve been a fan of video games for a while, there are some rights of passage that you’ve no doubt experienced along the way. That’s especially true if you were playing games during the era of video game cartridges, which were the standard way to play games during the 80’s and 90’s. That’s why when someone shared an old photo of a child blowing into an NES cartridge, it immediately sent everyone down memory lane, and we cannot blame them in the least.
This all started when X user @ThrillaRilla369 shared a photo of the no. 1 remedy to all issues with an NES, SNES, or Sega Genesis, which was to blow into the cartridge and test it out until the game magically worked. They shared it with the caption, “Who remembers blowing into the Nintendo games and tapping the console to get the it to work?”, and many fans chimed in and shared their own go-to methods to get a game to work. It was an instant stroll down memory lane, and though most things are digital today, many still remember this as if it happened yesterday.
Who remembers blowing into the Nintendo games and tapping the console to get the it to work? pic.twitter.com/zpu66rf1TL
X user @SGTWipper1Each elaborated on the method, writing, “You also had to push it all the way in, then wiggle it back out a hair sometimes.” Then @Ben_Tinka wrote, “This technique works better than any technician on modern technology today!”
@cvvobh brought up several other methods to get a game to work or even the console at times, and you’ve at least tried one or two of these if you’re honest. They wrote, “That and more:
Even with all of those methods, we weren’t exactly the best at executing them directly, which was a topic @profdiggity brought up. They wrote, “shocked the kid isn’t using the harmonica method and drooling all over it like the rest of us desperate to get a game running”. @PapaJim1977 then brought up the fact that there was a warning against blowing into the cartridge, writing, “Me, the funny thing was there was actually a warning on the cartridge not to do it. Well, why the hell did it work then??? 
”.
@Kennylinecum had to add something extra to the method to get his game to run, writing, “I remember having to stick a matchbook slightly in with the cartridge to get it to play”. @iamMRJOUBREL had a whole routine, writing, “Rubbing alcohol and a q tip followed by the shirt covering it with the blow dry”.
Did you use to do this as well? Share some of your classic gaming memories in the ComicBook Forum!
