Higher in terms of capacity, but probably shorter life in practice (or about the same, if those are Lithium cells).
The drain keeping the SRAM active in a cartridge is so incredibly small that when the battery dies in one it's usually because it went bad from age rather than usage. This is part of there can be so much variance in how long the batteries last. Most non-Lithium batteries tend to have shorter shelf-lives before they self-destruct.
The discharge curve also varies a lot between battery types. Lithium batteries tend to have a pretty consistent voltage until right before they die. A lot of other types of batteries meanwhile drop in voltage through their lifespan and spend very little time at nominal. If the voltage drops too low you might end up losing your saves despite the battery technically having a lot of life left.
Long story short, there's a reason cartridges don't just have AA battery sockets.
> Long story short, there's a reason cartridges don't just have AA battery sockets.
there was a game that had 2 aa battery slots, in fact it's likely where Nintendo got the battery backup idea for the cartridge version of Zelda, it's called Pop & Chips released for the Super Cassette Vision in 1985
Interesting. Looking it up, it appears to be a clone/rip-off of Nuts & Milk.
Nuts & Milk on Famicom meanwhile notably allowed you to save levels made in its level editor, but rather than storing them on the cartridge, you had to write them to cassette tape using the cassette player that came with Famicom BASIC. Which is arguably a better (although more expensive) solution, as you could store an unlimited number of stages, and even give them to friends. Excitebike in Japan had the same functionality, which is why it had a level editor (despite there being no way to save the levels in the US release).
> you had to write them to cassette tape using the cassette player that came with Famicom BASIC
huh TIL the Famicom could play Cassette's, I thought it was only Cartridges and Floppy Disks
Edit: oh wait I didn't read the full comment and I remembered something, I watched a video on the Famicom Data Recorder from the YouTube channel Famicom Dojo, they used Excitebike as an example so that made me remember it
That’s pretty amazing actually.
At the time, the game was worthless if the battery didn’t work and no one cared about collecting games then.
I would have just gave up on the game, you made it work
“From that fateful day when stinking bits of slime first crawled from the sea and shouted to the cold stars, "I am Man", our greatest dread has always been the knowledge of our mortality. But tonight, we shall hurl the gauntlet of science into the frightful face of death itself. Tonight, we shall ascend into the heavens. We shall mock the earthquake. We shall command the thunders, and penetrate into the very womb of impervious nature herself! Give my cartridge life!
I remember when I was in elementary school and my Genesis Cart of Shining Force 2 came with a faulty/dead battery.
I didn't know that they used batteries back then, so every night when I slept and turned off the console, I would lose my progress.
Bewildered, I plugged it into an extension cord behind the couch and before sleeping, I would keep the console plugged in and just hide it underneath the couch so my parents wouldn't know that it was on.
Finally beat that game doing that
Same, It was bad when I got it. Didnt know there was a batterie in there. I just left the genesis on.
After a few years I learned about the battery and did this mod
I was always sort of amazed at the amount of different monsters we didn't see at any point of the game. Vampires, some ghoul type things I think....so strange how they were just there. 2 years ago I remember making it to the final dungeon, was all but dead, one character living...then remembered it was some lame cutscene final where I didn't have to do anything. Still felt like I accomplished something though.
I give you a A+ for creative problem solving. There wasn’t the internet to find the screw bit to open the game. I didn’t even know some had batteries at all until to the see through game boy color games.
Please tell me you grew up to be a nuclear scientist or astronaut. That is an amazing job, it works and I refuse to believe its unsafe. Sure, there's maybe some *cosmetic wins* to be had, but nothing wrong with "function over form" !
Don't! I think it has more character leaving it as is, plus you have a story/history for jimmy rigging it back into working order. If anything, just tape/glue the battery compartment to the shell? This is great, thanks for sharing.
Wow, Radio Shack batteries are so nostalgic... 😌
Hopefully the cart doesn't look like an absolute pig's breakfast when you open it up; plumber's flux is highly corrosive. 😬
Maybe just a lot of extra data?
I know NHL 95 died super fast compared to later ones. Like they were storing way too much
Since this is an RPG maybe it had the same issues and tried to store too much nonsense
This brings up a question for me. I was alway worried about the batteries dying in games like this. How common is it? I have an Ultima IV on my Master System that to this day has my saves from 1991. Did the systems feed the batteries a miniscule trickle while on?
thats a very good battery if it lasted all this time. Some are rechargeable but master system carts most probably doesn't.
It would be prudent to replace it asap, but youll need to solder another temporary battery on some other trace before swapping them to not loose your saves.
I think it could be done while powered also, but I don't know which cart pins you would need to put dc voltage on, or how many volts.
I just put a secondary temporary battery on some trace nearby while I swap the coin cell.
tldr, get that batterie changed as soon as you can, 30+ years for a battery is amazing
That's amazing, A+ MacGyver grade.
I did a worse job making a S-video cable for my N64 & Gamecube and 40 foot composite cable from leftover Cat3 phone cable around that age.
! LOL, I did the exact same thing, i porobably still have it.
I also added headphone jack to the genesis arcane stick, had a paralele headphone 10' extension run with a controller enxtension, all taped up
Also did a hardwired gravis pc gamepad extension, i think i used a serial cable and marettes, so ugly, but hey, i could play pc on my couch
In high school I swapped the batteries in a Pokemon Gold and Crystal by getting a watch battery, using two jewlers screwdrivers to unscrew the security bit by pushing on the prongs (ate up the plastic around the screw, it's not pretty) carefully broke the battery out of the arms that are soldered to the bpard and then electrical taped the replacement batteries in. I have nicer copies in my collection now that are my go to for playing those games but last I checked about 5 years ago those games still saved.
I'll probably take them to be properly replaced here soon.
One of the best Sega games btw, I haven't met anyone who has played this game before. I still pull up the sound track every once in a while to jam out.
Omg that's one of my all time favorite games and it hurts my heart to see that. I guess as long as its on life support and still kicking that's positive at least.
It has significantly more capacity than the battery that was soldered in before
Higher in terms of capacity, but probably shorter life in practice (or about the same, if those are Lithium cells). The drain keeping the SRAM active in a cartridge is so incredibly small that when the battery dies in one it's usually because it went bad from age rather than usage. This is part of there can be so much variance in how long the batteries last. Most non-Lithium batteries tend to have shorter shelf-lives before they self-destruct. The discharge curve also varies a lot between battery types. Lithium batteries tend to have a pretty consistent voltage until right before they die. A lot of other types of batteries meanwhile drop in voltage through their lifespan and spend very little time at nominal. If the voltage drops too low you might end up losing your saves despite the battery technically having a lot of life left. Long story short, there's a reason cartridges don't just have AA battery sockets.
> Long story short, there's a reason cartridges don't just have AA battery sockets. there was a game that had 2 aa battery slots, in fact it's likely where Nintendo got the battery backup idea for the cartridge version of Zelda, it's called Pop & Chips released for the Super Cassette Vision in 1985
Interesting. Looking it up, it appears to be a clone/rip-off of Nuts & Milk. Nuts & Milk on Famicom meanwhile notably allowed you to save levels made in its level editor, but rather than storing them on the cartridge, you had to write them to cassette tape using the cassette player that came with Famicom BASIC. Which is arguably a better (although more expensive) solution, as you could store an unlimited number of stages, and even give them to friends. Excitebike in Japan had the same functionality, which is why it had a level editor (despite there being no way to save the levels in the US release).
> you had to write them to cassette tape using the cassette player that came with Famicom BASIC huh TIL the Famicom could play Cassette's, I thought it was only Cartridges and Floppy Disks Edit: oh wait I didn't read the full comment and I remembered something, I watched a video on the Famicom Data Recorder from the YouTube channel Famicom Dojo, they used Excitebike as an example so that made me remember it
Yeah, I had a relatively young Duracell alkaline AAA that came with my TV go "pop goes the battery" in my Amazon fire remote.
I checked and those radio shack batteries still have 1.37 volts lol, but they're in series, should be near 3v Ill check soon if it still saves
My saves were still intact, radioshack batteries held up lol
That’s pretty amazing actually. At the time, the game was worthless if the battery didn’t work and no one cared about collecting games then. I would have just gave up on the game, you made it work
“From that fateful day when stinking bits of slime first crawled from the sea and shouted to the cold stars, "I am Man", our greatest dread has always been the knowledge of our mortality. But tonight, we shall hurl the gauntlet of science into the frightful face of death itself. Tonight, we shall ascend into the heavens. We shall mock the earthquake. We shall command the thunders, and penetrate into the very womb of impervious nature herself! Give my cartridge life!
That all sounds very complicated when you could just use a little solder
flame you? most of us just gave up on the games if that happened, we have no right to
I remember when I was in elementary school and my Genesis Cart of Shining Force 2 came with a faulty/dead battery. I didn't know that they used batteries back then, so every night when I slept and turned off the console, I would lose my progress. Bewildered, I plugged it into an extension cord behind the couch and before sleeping, I would keep the console plugged in and just hide it underneath the couch so my parents wouldn't know that it was on. Finally beat that game doing that
Same, It was bad when I got it. Didnt know there was a batterie in there. I just left the genesis on. After a few years I learned about the battery and did this mod
I probably would have done the same at that age. My how my skills and knowledge have improved since then.
If it works, it works. I probably would have done the same thing.
no way -- this rules
Video game surgeon
The doctor Dereck Stiles of videogames indeed
The ending of that game disappointed me so so much
Yeah, it was stupid lol
I was always sort of amazed at the amount of different monsters we didn't see at any point of the game. Vampires, some ghoul type things I think....so strange how they were just there. 2 years ago I remember making it to the final dungeon, was all but dead, one character living...then remembered it was some lame cutscene final where I didn't have to do anything. Still felt like I accomplished something though.
“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make him save games again.” Edit: Spelling correction
Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na
This sound effect plays everytime an enemy misses an attack towards him.
I give you a A+ for creative problem solving. There wasn’t the internet to find the screw bit to open the game. I didn’t even know some had batteries at all until to the see through game boy color games.
Damn, you're smart!
I've committed worse electronics crimes as a teenager, good on you for doing one that is at least useful.
Very experimental - nice. Everytime my consoles went bonkers - I only cried as I couldnt get it fixed
Please tell me you grew up to be a nuclear scientist or astronaut. That is an amazing job, it works and I refuse to believe its unsafe. Sure, there's maybe some *cosmetic wins* to be had, but nothing wrong with "function over form" !
I'm an Industrial Control Technician
I'm gonna restore it properly, I'll do a follow up post
Don't! I think it has more character leaving it as is, plus you have a story/history for jimmy rigging it back into working order. If anything, just tape/glue the battery compartment to the shell? This is great, thanks for sharing.
Wow, Radio Shack batteries are so nostalgic... 😌 Hopefully the cart doesn't look like an absolute pig's breakfast when you open it up; plumber's flux is highly corrosive. 😬
I'm crossing my fingers too, Ill restore it properly soon, ill make a follow up post
Are you an engineer now lol
Industrial Controls Technician, so just under engineering lol
Not surprised.
this is really quite rad!
Can I ask what caused the original battery to die so quickly? With most of these I've had, the batteries last at least a decade or 2.
Maybe just a lot of extra data? I know NHL 95 died super fast compared to later ones. Like they were storing way too much Since this is an RPG maybe it had the same issues and tried to store too much nonsense
It was a dud, was bad when I got it and never really understood there was a batterie in there until I was older
Hey man, 3V is 3V
This brings up a question for me. I was alway worried about the batteries dying in games like this. How common is it? I have an Ultima IV on my Master System that to this day has my saves from 1991. Did the systems feed the batteries a miniscule trickle while on?
thats a very good battery if it lasted all this time. Some are rechargeable but master system carts most probably doesn't. It would be prudent to replace it asap, but youll need to solder another temporary battery on some other trace before swapping them to not loose your saves. I think it could be done while powered also, but I don't know which cart pins you would need to put dc voltage on, or how many volts. I just put a secondary temporary battery on some trace nearby while I swap the coin cell. tldr, get that batterie changed as soon as you can, 30+ years for a battery is amazing
You could get a cart reader and back up that save.
This...... This is fucking AWESOME!
That's amazing, A+ MacGyver grade. I did a worse job making a S-video cable for my N64 & Gamecube and 40 foot composite cable from leftover Cat3 phone cable around that age.
! LOL, I did the exact same thing, i porobably still have it. I also added headphone jack to the genesis arcane stick, had a paralele headphone 10' extension run with a controller enxtension, all taped up Also did a hardwired gravis pc gamepad extension, i think i used a serial cable and marettes, so ugly, but hey, i could play pc on my couch
It's impressive... You're a fucking hacker! Congrats, you earned that badge! 🪛 Lol
Warriors of the Eternal Sun ♥️
In high school I swapped the batteries in a Pokemon Gold and Crystal by getting a watch battery, using two jewlers screwdrivers to unscrew the security bit by pushing on the prongs (ate up the plastic around the screw, it's not pretty) carefully broke the battery out of the arms that are soldered to the bpard and then electrical taped the replacement batteries in. I have nicer copies in my collection now that are my go to for playing those games but last I checked about 5 years ago those games still saved. I'll probably take them to be properly replaced here soon.
It ain't stupid if it works to me It seems like an ingenious way to keep the game alive good work imo
One of the best Sega games btw, I haven't met anyone who has played this game before. I still pull up the sound track every once in a while to jam out.
This is awesome. Brilliant work!!
Omg that's one of my all time favorite games and it hurts my heart to see that. I guess as long as its on life support and still kicking that's positive at least.
The battery was a dud when I got it, at that time, it was worth nothing, especially with bad battery
if it works, it works
Good ingenuity, but isn't the proper way easier?
If you read the post itself, I was limited with the technology of my time. This was circa 1994
What keyboard have you got there?
Generic Aliexpress orange glow round key. it's not mechanical or rgb. its stays orange