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Post by wyldephang on Nov 19, 2013 14:37:31 GMT -5
Well, the latest addition to my game library is the PlayStation 2 "fat" (original) model. It arrived today, and as soon as I removed it from the box, I knew I had some work to do! The console was covered in dust inside and out. So, after hunting down a screwdriver kit, some rubbing alcohol, Q-tips/paper towels, and a can of compressed air, I got to work cleaning the outside, wiping down all the little grooves and spraying out the vents, then took the console apart and worked on the inner parts. At one point, the eject button housing fell out of the case assembly, and that was a blessing in disguise as it allowed me to clean out the dust behind the buttons. There was quite a bit of dust accumulated in and around the rear fan, and I knew I had to blow that out lest I face overheating problems in the future. For good measure, I shot in some compressed air around the disc tray assembly because the dust was causing the tray to jiggle and grind. And finally, I wiped off the lens with rubbing alcohol on a fresh Q-tip and screwed everything back together. I was about to hook the console up to my TV when I noticed some corrosion around the pins on the A/V cable and decided I'd rather not risk sticking corroded metal into the PS2. I'm not sure if this is a Sony-approved way of fixing the problem, but I used a small bit of Brasso on the end of a old toothbrush and massaged the solution onto the pins. I rinsed off the excess Brasso from the brush then dipped the bristles into rubbing alcohol and used that to clean off the corrosion from the pins. It seemed to work fine. I snapped this photo as I was about to reattach the top of the console to the base: So, the PS2 is clean and smells faintly of rubbing alcohol. It works great. As an aside, a lot of people on the Internet have reported problems with the PS2 "fat" models reading PS1 discs, so I wanted to test out my own PS1 collection. The verdict is that my PS2 has some difficulty detecting PS1 discs if the console is standing upright, but if it's flat, then it reads all discs without any issues. Whether I have the console vertical or horizontal, it plays the PS1 games perfectly once they've been detected--it just takes a little longer to detect in vertical mode. All PS2 games tested have run fine in both positions. Now I'm ready to start building my collection. It's good to see that the majority of the PS2 library is available for a low price. If things go well in the beginning, I might consider upgrading that A/V cable to a PS2 component cable for enhanced picture quality.
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Post by wyldephang on Nov 20, 2013 2:58:57 GMT -5
Tonight I turned my sights on a particularly dirty PS2 controller, which came with the console bundle and smelled like cigarette smoke. I have a theory that the tar from smoke either attracts dust or allows it to adhere to surfaces. The PS2 obviously came from a smoker's home, and it took me a good hour to scrub off all the dust. Now, this controller was in good shape overall, but there was a lot of dust accumulated in every possible nook, so I pulled out the precision screwdriver kit and got to work. The inside of a PS2 controller is a sardine can of complex micro-machinery. Here are its contents (minus the circuit board and analog stick housing), and you can imagine them all stuffed into one compact shell: Since every button was dirty around the edges, I decided to give them all a bath in some hot, soapy water and massage the dirt off with my fingers. You should've seen the water after I got done cleaning the parts--no, maybe it's best that you didn't. The project was looking promising until I accidentally washed a piece down the drain! You see, there is a thin rubber strip stuck into place on the inside of the back panel; I wasn't aware of its function as it didn't seem to be connected to anything. As it turns out, that rubber strip is absolutely crucial to the operation of the controller, as it pushes a ribbon connector against some metal contacts on the circuit board and essentially allows the controller to communicate with the PS2. Since the rubber strip had washed down the drain, I had to come up with an improvised replacement. I was about to use a piece of folded-up paper, but my mom alerted me to some cork board that she had in the kitchen, so I cut a piece to fit and used that instead. Turns out the cork board was just about the same size and density as the rubber strip, so the replacement worked perfectly. The controller is clean and functional. Mission accomplished.
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Post by VectorX on Nov 20, 2013 9:05:20 GMT -5
So once you eventually resell your old PS2 stuff on ebay, you can sell one as to being the very rare "cork board" controller for the big bucks
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Post by wyldephang on Nov 20, 2013 15:23:16 GMT -5
Modded for enhanced performance. I don't think I'll be selling it; the problem is that I tend to collect things and never want to get rid of them! Imagine if I had a Sega CD/32X combo. It'd be attached to my Genesis right now, and I'd have to buy an entirely new power strip for the power adapters alone.
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Post by VectorX on Nov 20, 2013 16:07:14 GMT -5
I don't think I'll be selling it; It was just a joke. I figured you wouldn't sell, as there's hardly anything in my collection I want to, not even 2600 Pac-Man (which I'll admit isn't that great), just for collection's sake.
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Post by wyldephang on Nov 20, 2013 19:41:11 GMT -5
That's right. You've got to hang onto your treasures! Especially that Vectrex, since you're part of a pretty exclusive club of Vectrex owners and I'm on the outside looking in. Speaking of the 2600, that is definitely a console I'd like to own one day. Or, maybe I'd pick up a 7800 and leave it there. I do have the Junior model of the 2600, but it's in storage and I'd need to buy new cables and controllers for it.
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Post by VectorX on Nov 20, 2013 19:52:08 GMT -5
You can at least use a Genny controller if need be (of course, you need the cables first though, like you said...). You've got to hang onto your treasures! Especially that Vectrex, since you're part of a pretty exclusive club of Vectrex owners and I'm on the outside looking in. Yep, never selling that!
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Post by TrekMD on Nov 20, 2013 23:40:37 GMT -5
Well, Christmas is getting closer and, with that in mind, this is my most recent acquisition...
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Post by gliptitude on Nov 20, 2013 23:53:01 GMT -5
I've been thinking of this subject of collecting lately. It really weighs me down. I need to have access to all this stuff, but sometimes I don't want to be a guy with $5,000 worth of video games in his bedroom. I'd otherwise be leading a more ascetic lifestyle. I think my ideal setup would be to have an entire collection controlled and assembled by myself, but owned and maintained by someone else, preferably someone who lived a few doors down from me, (but NOT right next door). I would have direct access to the whole collection, 24/7, and the rights to borrow anything for any length of time. He/she would own it, but no one besides us could touch anything without MY permission. I guess I would have to call that person my own personal video game slave. ... Perhaps not practical. Especially that Vectrex, since you're part of a pretty exclusive club of Vectrex owners and I'm on the outside looking in. Wait a minute. Are you saying you don't have a Vectrex!?
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Post by wyldephang on Nov 20, 2013 23:58:19 GMT -5
In all the PlayStation 2 excitement, I forgot to mention that I did make one GameCube acquisition. This is a bit of an oddity as I don't consider myself a GameCube collector. I don't mean to suggest that the GameCube is lacking in great games; there are a handful of titles I'd like to pick up someday, and as a whole I feel the GameCube is a criminally underrated console. But collecting for it has become a bit difficult as the titles have been skyrocketing in value. Nonetheless, I managed to pick up a copy of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door from eBay for a good price. The interesting thing is that Paper Mario was the first GameCube game I rented when I moved to Maryland in late 2004. I remember not having a memory card to save my progress, so I went to the local Wal-mart to purchase one. I returned later that night to save my file, which has endured on that memory card to this day. It will be interesting to pick up the progress from a nearly ten-year-old save file. I progressed all the way to the end of the game, so chances are I'll be jumping headfirst into the final boss battle, which was a bit difficult if memory serves correctly. Maybe it'd be better to start a new file, actually, and relearn the game the proper way. I do remember that I liked the gameplay and battle system a lot, and that I would wake up every morning with the urge to play and get a little further in the storyline. Paper Mario has its roots in Super Mario RPG for the SNES. I beat Mario RPG a few years ago, so I think I'm adequately prepared to tackle Paper Mario and complete it finally. Wait a minute. Are you saying you don't have a Vectrex!? That's right. Unless we count the Atari 2600 Junior, which is in storage, the NES is currently the oldest console in my collection. I've popped on eBay to check Vectrex prices occasionally, but the well-preserved consoles are always the most expensive, and I'm somewhat particular about the condition. Well, I wouldn't turn away a Vectrex if the price was right. But if I'm going to own only one Vectrex console in my lifetime, then I'd like it to be as nice as possible. I'll work my way to it eventually.
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Post by VectorX on Nov 21, 2013 0:04:21 GMT -5
I guess I would have to call that person my own personal video game slave. ... Perhaps not practical. Just as long as she looks like the one on the cart in Trek's post. Are you saying you don't have a Vectrex!? No, he does not. I guess you missed the posts where he said he doesn't have one, or you just selectively chose not to read that part
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Post by gliptitude on Nov 21, 2013 0:18:00 GMT -5
I did miss those posts.
As a frequent poster here, I just assumed wyldephang was a Vectrex guy, since that's how most people seem to have ended up spending time here.
... So wyldephang, if you're a console collector and you don't have a Vectrex, what's your angle on Vector Gaming?
... After seeing your recent edit about Vectrex I'll add: Why only one in your lifetime? Have you played one before? I'd recommend grabbing the first working one you can find for around $100. If you like it you can easily re-sell it and then quest for a better condition one later. From what you say that PS2 was pretty dirty when you got it. Why not go for a Vectrex in similar condition?
Also if you get a rough Vectrex and carefully restore it over time, you will be making the world a better place.
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Post by wyldephang on Nov 21, 2013 0:30:06 GMT -5
I did miss those posts. As a frequent poster here, I just assumed wyldephang was a Vectrex guy, since that's how most people seem to have ended up spending time here. ... So wyldephang, if you're a console collector and you don't have a Vectrex, what's your angle on Vector Gaming? edit x Nothing evil. I came here in the beginning to support my friend, Darryl, and stayed for the great company. I had wanted to join a retro gaming forum for a while, but too many of them were bogged down by competitive traders, techies, and egotists. I like that I can have a conversation with just anyone here about any console (and even some computers) from the late 1970s to the early 2000s, and that this is an all-inclusive gamer forum, though its name would imply otherwise. I may not own a Vectrex, but I do pop into the Vectrex-related threads out of curiosity. I'd like to own a Vectrex one day, too, so you could call this field research in a manner of speaking. Edit: Sorry, I missed your edit. I'd likely want to own only one Vectrex because I usually go for the best-looking machine in the early running and then try to keep it good condition as it ages under my care. I suppose I could purchase a dirty Vectrex and clean it. But I'm not technically savvy, nor am I particularly graceful with tools or sharp objects, and I think it's a miracle that I was able to open the PlayStation 2 without breaking anything. (I did manage to tear a piece of skin off my knuckle in the process.) Also, the Vectrex has a built-in monitor, and I'm more than a little worried that I'd slice or blow my fingers off while tinkering with the insides.
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Post by gliptitude on Nov 21, 2013 9:57:16 GMT -5
Fair enough. It IS pretty difficult to come across a really solid Vectrex at a decent price. And I wasn't speaking from experience when I said you could restore one. I've never even opened any of mine. I have a couple non-working Vectrexes, then one that is so off-center that fully HALF of the game graphics don't display, one with a BB size hole in the monitor coating and a cartridge slot that grinds when inserting for some reason, two with acceptably off-center graphics, (those are the ones I play), and then I have just ONE that is clean all around and very nicely centered.
I do think we are heading into the buyers market (time of year). If not now, then right after Christmas, up until tax return time, will be best time of year to shop for Vectrex and others, and get a decent price.
Probably best time to buy a used car as well.
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Post by VectorX on Nov 21, 2013 10:06:59 GMT -5
^Yeah, the beginning of the year models have been out long enough to get a good savings on them. Inventory is usually being cleared out now.
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