Questions about N64 cartridge safe-keeping

[Ace_ETP]

I just recently revived my N64 from a slumber of over a year. It still works perfectly fine in spite of a lot of rough handling . But I want to keep it that way as long as possible, and I fear for my cartridges.

I have 15 games, and I still keep most of the instruction manuals, but I threw away the boxes shortly after I acquired the games. So my question is: will anything bad happen to the cartridges if they are kept all together in a dry, clean drawer? For safety I made sure that their bottoms are not facing downwards (I keep them lying down with the label facing me).

I also have another question. I never bought Ocarina Of Time. I played it once an emulator and didn't get past Kokiri Forest, then I rented it and I never went past waking up as an adult and I finally saw some dungeon action as Adult Link when I a friend lent the game to me. But I want to own it and play it from beggining to end. Since I can buy it off the Internet for less than 15 dollars, should I proceed? Should I trust the descriptions made by the guys who are selling it saying that it is in "perfect condition"?

[Fryguy64]

First of all, don't worry too much about your carts. With Nintendo systems two things can happen:
1. Dust builds up in the connectors of the console causing games to not play properly. This is remedied in the short term by blowing into the connectors to clear the dust. For a long term solution it is possible to clean the connectors - if you kept your system manual it should have information on it.
2. Over a long time the battery backup will deplete. No worry with N64 games, though, as its memory is stored in an EEPROM chip, which is much longer lasting.

I've kept NES, SNES and GB games out of their boxes for years and they still go fine. Same with N64. Trust Nintendo... they tend to make things that last (unlike Sony, who makes things that break no more than 2 weeks after their warranty has ended).

As for Ocarina of Time and eBay lingo... it all depends on how much you're willing to spend. I always look for games that come boxed and complete. These are nearly always in pristine condition - sometimes unplayed. They also cost more than if you grab a standalone cart, but at least you can be more confident it'll work.

Always check the feedback rating of a buyer, and read the negative and neutral feedback, rather than the positive. Nearly everyone has a couple of negative feedback points because you can't please everybody all of the time, but see what it's for. Sometimes someone will have negative feedback for reasons like broken games sent out, incorrect listings, etc. If they have several of the same complaint, be wary of them.

[Ace_ETP]

Thank you for the feedback. So I guess I won't worry about my cartridges.

Buying Ocarina Of Time is a possibility in the non-immediate future. I'll take your advice into account if I decide to go for it. It's doesn't need a controller pack for everything, right?

[Fryguy64]

Nope! Majora's Mask requires the memory expansion pak, but Ocarina was made for the N64 as it stood.

Of course, you can also get Ocarina on the Gamecube, as either the Collector's Edition or Ocarina + Master Quest disk. That's always an option... but the controls seem weird (especially playing the Ocarina).