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Contacts

W

Wandering Rhythmical Phoenix

rEvolutionary INC.
No, this isn't about that quirky little DS game, it's about the contacts in the game carts.
I was bored, and looking at my DS games earlier, and while flipping Devil Survivor around, I noticed something that bothered me a little: The contacts.

For those of you who don't know, the contacts are the little things that connect your game to the system and transfer data via electricity... or something. I'm not going to pretend I know, I'm just going for a quick explanation.

Anyway, they looked like they were copper, which bothers me a bit.
Then, looking at everything else, they were all copper too (which is why I have so many NES games that need to be cleaned before I can play them).

Why do they use copper, which is prone to corrosion, over gold, which isn't, and, if the impression I'm under is correct, gives better quality? I religiously make sure my headphone jacks are gold for those exact reasons. Is it a price matter? Does Nintendo just not care? or are these gold and I'm really just metallically blind.

Actualy, looking at it agin, the DS ones might be gold, everything else, on the other hand...
 
M

Mark_Chaos

WARP EVOLUTION!
You're half right, gold is used because it doesn't corrode easily. However, copper has better electrical conductivity.
 
T

Tabs The Omnipotent Hamster

And yet, it moves!
From what I recall, copper is much cheaper than gold. Using gold would push the production costs up, making the games much more expensive.

If you took care of your games in the first place they might not corrode as easily
 
S

(s.i.e)

★skydragon★
it's not that much of a problem if you have a can of contactcleaner, i have alot of old gamecasette's myself which half of them worked lately, cleaning them will keep them working for a few years again i don't see the problem with copper.

as others already mentioned, gold can be more expensive, maintaining them is much more easy.
 
W

Wandering Rhythmical Phoenix

rEvolutionary INC.
(s.i.e) said:
it's not that much of a problem if you have a can of contactcleaner, i have alot of old gamecasette's myself which half of them worked lately, cleaning them will keep them working for a few years again i don't see the problem with copper.

as others already mentioned, gold can be more expensive, maintaining them is much more easy.
Click to expand...


Huh, true enough I suppose.
I do take care of my games, though. I just bought an NES and tons of games second hand, which is mostly probably why they're in such bad need of cleaning.
Thanks, everyone, for answering my all consuming curiosity
 
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