Disgustingly Dirty Cartridges from Video Games Monthly - March 2022
78In this episode, we unbox, inspect, and clean some of the most disgustingly dirty cartridges we've ever received in a Video Games Monthly box.
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
2:04 - Unboxing Bonus Items
3:29 - Captain Skyhawk (NES $3 Value)
3:52 - Dr Mario (NES $7 Value)
4:30 - Mortal Kombat 3 (SNES $13)
4:52 - Tetris Attack (SNES $21 Value)
5:40 - GOTCHA! The Sport! (NES $7 Value)
6:04 - Opening & Cleaning Tetris Attack
11:52 - Opening and Cleaning Mortal Kombat 3
13:31 - Opening and Cleaning Gotcha
17:35 - Opening and Cleaning Dr Mario
22:32 - Opening and Cleaning Captain Skyhawk
28:00 - Initial Thoughts
30:13 - FInal Thoughts
31:17 - Credits
Overall March 2022 Video Games Monthly Game Value $51
Cleaning Supplies:
1 Up Cleaning Card
1 Up Cleaning Solution/Isopropyl Alcohol
Brite Boy Metal Cleaner
3.8mm Game Bit
Cotton Swabs
Going into this month, I actually changed what systems I had wanted to have them send me games for. I had received a number of PS4 and XBOX One games in recent months, but I removed these from the systems that I wanted. I opted just for NES, Super NES, and Famicom games for this month, as the disc-based games I had gotten recently didn't really add anything desirable to my collection. Well, this month had 2 really good games, and a couple terrible games.
This month's box did not feature any extra games, which VGM refers to as a 1Up, 2Up, or the unicorn, 3Up. As such, we lovingly refer to this as a "Tony Box" as Tony from Back in the Day Gamer (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5BApch4kn8YHINsSv4NXtQ) rarely, if ever, gets extra games. That left me both disappointed and excited, as there should be more value in the other games since there'd be less filler. And I was both right and wrong in this regard.
Pulling Captain Skyhawk out first was a gut punch. This is a terrible game for the NES, and to see a $3 game on top, ooooffff. Next up, however, was a superb game in Dr Mario for the NES! While not a super rare or expensive game, it's a terrific game in terms of gameplay and simply fun. One thing that was really concerning to me with this copy, however, was how dirty the outer case of the game was. Later on, I would find that the internals were as, if not more, dirty. The other games in the box, Gotcha (terrible), Mortal Kombat 3 (not bad), and Tetris Attack (Awesome!) were varying ranges of dirty to filthy on the outside.
I was glad that I opened up each of these games to inspect and clean the pins, and man, these were really bad. I started by cleaning the game I was most excited about, Tetris Attack, and it was just the tip of the iceberg. It wasn't just dirty, it was filthy, and I was super disappointed to see this. When I opened up Mortal Kombat 3, it was much, much better, to the point where I felt comfortable to simply clean it with a 1Up Cleaning Card, but this was the only game that clean. Dr Mario was not only dirty but there was a chunk of something stuck on the board. I proceeded to clean these games, minus MK3, with Brite Boy, and thankfully they all cleaned up beautifully.
The cleanliness of these games was really disappointing, especially thinking about subscribers out there who don't have the cleaning tools or knowledge I have. That's not arrogance, the average retro video gamer isn't going to go through these steps prior to inserting these games in their systems. In the end, I want to make sure that, just as with my games, my systems remain clean and functional. Putting in filthy games isn't something I will do to my systems, and these were really nasty. I get that margins are tight and time is limited, but I do feel that VGM needs to step up their game with not just delivering value in games, but also delivering clean games too. I don't think this is unreasonable to ask, as part of what I am paying for is them verifying the cleanliness and functionality of the games. They clean and polish discs, I'd love to see them take the same position with cartridges.
#VideoGamesMonthly #DirtyCartridges #GameCleaning
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