To get your Nintendo to play right, did you blow in the cartridge or wiggle it in place?

by Gibbers on January 12th, 2007

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Answers. 313 helpful answers below.

Andy-B Jan 12th, 2007 haha yeah...I remember that...I always blew into the game and then if that didn't work i would blow into the nintendo....I miss mario paint..that was a fun game...
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donovan reynolds. Jan 14th, 2007 Hahah, when I read this commercial, I thought of this guy's Nintendo bit.

Edit: lmao, Why did I say commercial? No one even asked!

I apologize for my lack of thought process =P
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PurpleRN Jan 12th, 2007 Omg, lol yes I used to have to do that all the time.
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bigkado69 Jan 12th, 2007 yeah i did and was luck forget this crap.i bought a new 1 with my newspaper delivering money.lol
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curiousKristy Jan 14th, 2007 I had one of these when I was a kid and we, my brother and I, had to blow in it. I would put my shirt over it so dust and stuff didn't blow all over my face. Sometimes we would blow into the Nintendo itself--just in case.

I miss that system...oh, the good old days.
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BlackWidow2112 Jan 14th, 2007 Wow I remember the NES. I used to blow in the cartridge, then wiggle it if that didn't work. After that I said screw it and put it in the Game Genie, which always worked. LOL.
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Drublic Jan 14th, 2007 Yeah, blowing in the cartridge was always the first step, but I don't think it actually worked. It think it was the fact of removing and replacing the game that probably did the trick.
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anonymous Jan 14th, 2007 Yes,...there were so many different ways to get the to work.

It acually works if you put them in the freezer for a while.
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Lilkanyevel Mar 25th, 2007 I still just keep a can of condenced air by my side. really came in handy for the sega games too.
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Gebber7 Jan 14th, 2007 Hahaha I always blew for a good 5 minutes into the game, then gave a quick puff to the machine itself. I don't think it ever occured to me to wiggle.

OH YEAH! And then we found out that if we stuck a pencil above the tray (to hold it solidly down), it would help, too.
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princessemmabelle Jan 15th, 2007 Yes, and what's funny is that my son who's five will do this to his gameboy advance games :)
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... Jan 14th, 2007 Yeah...I remember that.
...good times...good times...
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ChrisDG Jan 14th, 2007 Same with my Sega Megadrive. Blowing cured nearly every hardware problem back then. Nowadays with my PC it's a slightly different story of course.
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webob3 Nov 1st, 2007 blew in the catridge
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devrst Feb 15th, 2007 i remember i would blow into the cartridge and if that didnt work then i would blow into the NES itself, which reminds me you should probably spit your gum out when you do that because i blew a piece of gum into mine when i was a kid. basically ruined my NES :(
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FLYxNIGHT Jan 29th, 2007 All the time!

What's messed up is that there are people with driver's licenses in some places who are too young to know what you're talking about!
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Anonymous Jan 21st, 2007 I still have my NES and this trick still works! Blow into the cartridge, wiggle it in the slot.. the pencil trick is nice, too. Also sometimes the carts require a good slap before they'll work properly!
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Octane06 Jan 15th, 2007 I'm yet another gamer who is guilty of blowing into NES carts. I sometimes do it with other carts as well, especially Genesis. I don't do it as much anymore, for I've learned that the moisture can attract more dust or even corrode the pins. I now use rubbing alcohol to clean games, and instead only use blowing as a last resort.
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RockyRun2011 Jan 15th, 2007 Blow, worked every time!!
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DV8Donn Mar 21st, 2008 BLOW and WIGGLE, It's a requirement!!
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eric Feb 4th, 2008 Yep. In 1988.
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dumbdweeb Feb 3rd, 2008 blew in the cartridge and console. if that didnt work, i licked the cartridge and blew dry it.. some nasty tastes were left back then.... best game ever was Blaster Master and tiny toons
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Sabrina Ashraff Oct 25th, 2007 yup i'd blow and wiggle thousands of times until it started working.
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Mort The Conqueror Oct 23rd, 2007 I usually tried to blow in it first, if that didn't work then I would do the "cuss and wiggle" method.
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Angelica Oct 23rd, 2007 i was a total pro at blowing into the cartridge! I could do it in one swift motion!
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Perfect Dark Sep 18th, 2007 I blow into the cartridge and the Nintendo if that does not work. If both of those fail, I use q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol to clean the connector of the cartridge.
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Ed the Jetpacking Headbanger May 18th, 2007 All the time with my Super Nintendo cartridges. I also found out that you could clean them with rubbing alcohol, it worked.
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Volt May 18th, 2007 I blow it.
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garnorche May 15th, 2007 I used to just wiggle a bit or tap on the cartridge, that worked too.
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Anonymous May 11th, 2007 I would do a little of both, and if the game still didn't work after that, I would use rubbing alcohol and Q-tips
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Mrs803 May 9th, 2007 you could do both but dont wiggle it to hard or you might break it
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mekare May 7th, 2007 both and then tap on the system 3 times.
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SweetWill62 May 7th, 2007 Well I always blew into it although the directions clearly said not to......but it worked about 90% of the time for me and when it didnt work anymore it was usually due to the nintendo itself being broken not the game itself.
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Carnage Carl May 6th, 2007 I will never understand why it worked, but I was always a blower. Of cartridges, that is.
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natzter the bionic has a broken hand May 2nd, 2007 Yes I remember that now! I always used to blow into the cartridge, and sometimes the console itself. Dont know if it did anything tho! If all else failed i would then turn it off and on again and blow all over again. I wonder where it all started... cant really imagine nintendo telling us to blow! I used to do it on gameboys too!
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Anonymous May 2nd, 2007 Yeah, I actually still have to do this when I pull it out...Thank God for the VC on the Wii.
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younghusstla101 Mar 30th, 2007 Who didnt.lol Even though it clearly says not to blow in the cartrige but it worked.lol (hope you like the pics!)
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punished? Feb 24th, 2007 i dont remember the whole routine exactly. but i know that blowing in it, wiggilng the game. something with the powere and reset buttons etc was in the process. I actually still have one of the few that works. its in pretty good shape, typically only have to hit it once and it works, but i remember the bad ones of friends.
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Littlemisswallflower Feb 24th, 2007 I was always a blower. I've found it works best...

I miss Diddy Kong Racing, and Mario 64....

and omg!!!!! I MISS BANJO KAZOOIE!

...i appologize in advanced for changing the subject a bit, I just miss those days sooooo much....
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Jedi-Coconut Jan 29th, 2007 XD I used to blow on the game and blow in the console then wiggle it around, throw a tantrum and stop playing it for like.. 5 minutes.. until I got bored and went back to it and IT ALWAYS WORKED :) It seemed to work!
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Getto Princess Jan 27th, 2007 at first I would blow into the game then the system I would only wiggle it wi'll its playing I still have three nintendos there way better but headsup don't put it in the freezer it will just wreck your system
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josetakapele Jan 23rd, 2007 I Blew in it.
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Area51 Jan 20th, 2007 Hells Yeah I did! I don't know if it helped or made it worse but in my mind it worked, and to this day I will still use that technique.
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LuckySOB Sep 22nd, 2008 Oh yeah.. And if that didn't work I had to wedge another game between the game I wanted to play and the top of the Nintendo. Ugh I miss the good old days sometimes.
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DarkTrent Jul 6th, 2008 Yeah, and push it up and down then shove a second game in on top of the first.
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Gold_Autumn Apr 30th, 2008 Totally! All the time. Stupid dust trying to ruin my gaming experience....
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Anonymous Apr 22nd, 2008 I always blew into both the game and the system. I have all the Nintendos,(Except for the Color)and I always blow into both for God's sake. Don't use violent methods because that could brake it.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Bigman Apr 4th, 2008 omg i love you what i question........well its always blow in the cartrige to get d dust out lol or id sumtimes just keep switching it on and off again that worked alot lol.
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Userfornow Mar 29th, 2008 well I never wiggled my game into place but I did blow into...and to be honest thats what I miss most about the whole video game experience... now all you do is put in a disk and go..there is no experience anymore... just good graphics
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Greenbean Mar 26th, 2008 Yeah been there done that. If it still didn't work I bang the game in. It always works. I guess I'm the wicked Witch of the west to the games.

Greenbean
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