N64 - Hurray, and Questions

[SlowCoder]

The Hurray:

I hit the rich GoodWill in town today. They had a bagged Nintendo 64 in good shape and complete with all cords, 2 original controllers, 2 memory packs and 10 good games, for $20. I think that's the best deal I've managed yet. The included games are:

Shadow Man

Rainbow Six

Aidyn Chronicles

Quake 2

Mario Kart 64

007 Golden Eye

007 The World is Not Enough

Turok 2: Seeds of Evil

Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion

Resident Evil 2

 

I only had 007 Golden Eye and Rainbow Six already, and most of these games really look like they can be fun, so these will add to the collection nicely.

 

The controllers are original Nintendo, and the thumb sticks are tight, a bonus when getting used N64s.

 

I have 2 questions:

1. I want to preserve the controllers as long as possible. What is the best method to keep the thumb sticks working? I saw a page somewhere that recommended lubing the sticks internally. Has anyone done this, and do you think it helped?

2. Anyone used component cables on a N64? Does it work, and is the video quality improved? The graphics are a bit blocky on my 37" LCD TV. Is it worth getting the memory expansion?

[Mirage]

Only some games use the memory expansion, but I've seen them for as little as $5, so yes, it's worth picking up. I can't answer your other questions, but you got a GREAT deal!

[Austin]

1. I want to preserve the controllers as long as possible. What is the best method to keep the thumb sticks working? I saw a page somewhere that recommended lubing the sticks internally. Has anyone done this, and do you think it helped?

 

Don't play Mario Party.

[+wood_jl]

What a deal!

 

I'm curious about the thumbstick lube as well, but don't know. Fortunately, you can get replacement thumbsticks (they look like Gamecube thumbsticks, but obviously they're aftermarket N64 replacements). It's extremely rare to find N64 controllers in the wild that aren't sloppy.

 

I use S-video cable. I haven't seen component cables, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. It's nice the SNES/N64/Gamecube use the same composite/S-video. However, the only component I'm aware of is the Gamecube one, that goes for HUGE bucks on Ebay and plugs into a different port than the others, so an N64 component cable would be unique.

[Young but loving the classics]

Resident Evil 2 is one of my favourite games.

[tz101]

Have you tried your LCD in different resolutions and video modes? Depending on the manufacturer, it may get rid of the blockiness by simply playing around with different video modes. My son got a Sony LCD and his standard def satellite setup looked blocky until we played with the video modes. We found one that made everything look nice and smooth. Most likely this will cure the video issue for your N64.