Game Save Battery Mod

Includes but not limited to: SNES, Genesis, Sega CD, PlayStation 1, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Game Gear and I guess the Virtual Boy.

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Turbo Tax 1.0
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Post by Turbo Tax 1.0 »

jeffman that rumor is no rumor, if you replace the battery fast enough the saves arent deleted i found this out when i replaced donkey kong country's battery very quickly
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Kurt_
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Post by Kurt_ »

I guess the purpose of this wasn't very clear. Let me clear a few things up.

This mod is so that you will never have to replace your game save battery again. As long as you've played the game for a few minutes, even after 20 years of sitting in your rat-infested box in the basement of hell, it will save your game without having to hassle with nintendo screws ever again once you do this mod.
A few problems I see, mainly that you'd need a charging circuit too and a way to cut of power to the battery but not the ICs when it's fully charged.
But you see, that's the ENTIRE point of the protection circuit. It prevents it from overcharging and undercharging.

I felt that this mod was worth doing if soembody was planning on keeping a game for a long long time. It was just an idea, and I guess most people would rather just replace a battery every 10 years or so then spend a bit more to have a permanent battery for life. I guess it's the more practical way to go...
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Gamelver
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Post by Gamelver »

gannon wrote:If you're smart you just have to hook up a 3V source to the battery spots before replacing the battery and remove them when done so your game doesn't reset.
Of course, if you take too long there's a risk of damaging the battery :P
wouldn't you have to leave it in there for a few hours, though :P? I highly doubt it takes that long to change a battery ;)....anyway, this would be kind of cool, though I suppose it's techinally easier to just replace the battery every ten years or so. Shouldn't take long, if you have the right equipment ;).
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G-force
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Post by G-force »

I'm sorry but this is absolutely pointless. The cartridge uses so little power to keep the ram alive it dosn't need to recharge. and Li-ions can only be charged 500 times. So every time you plug it in to play/charge you use up one of those charges (this is all guesstimating), that would happen in around 10 years, thus being pretty much pointless.

If you wanted to replace the battery, you could get a bigger amperage 3V Li-ion battery (not rechargable). I've seen them pretty big (even in D cell size!), and they are mostly used for battery backup. That could last you a lot longer than a wimpy coin battery.
marshallh
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Post by marshallh »

Even better? Just connect 4 Lithium coin cells in parallel! Then you'll probably throw away the game before the game saves ever die...
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bicostp
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Post by bicostp »

I don't know, the game saves in my Legend of Zelda NES cart are all still there after 20 years... :?

Sonic 3? it's OK. (Funny story: I bought the copy from the store that had everything complete for Sonic. Level select, credits, Super Sonic...)
psychotic_mechanic
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Post by psychotic_mechanic »

I had a couple of AA's attached to the top of a genesis cart a couple years ago for game saves. (It was the middle of the night and no stores were open, I had to use what I had laying around)

If you are worried about loosing your save, just use some alligator clips and another 3V power source to ensure uninterrupted power to the memory.
American gamer stationed in Japan, PM with your import gaming desires.

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