Eric7100 Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 (edited) As part of my recent Intellivision homebrew sale, I sold a brand new, CIB copy of Super Pro Tennis on eBay. The CIB game was shipped exactly as it was received by David from IntelligentVision. I never even opened the flaps on the box. Today, I received the following message from the buyer on eBay: "I received the game and just around to checking it and I can't get it to work. I've tried it on both my machines to no avail. I cleaned the contacts and that didn't even work as it usually does. I guess I will have to return it. Let me no how to proceed." Besides the obvious answer of having the buyer return the game for a full refund, is there any other advice I can give him? Anything else that he can try? Can a brand new Intellivision homebrew cartridge simply be defective? Edited August 3, 2016 by Eric7100 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfy62 Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 As part of my recent Intellivision homebrew sale, I sold a brand new, CIB copy of Super Pro Tennis on eBay. The CIB game was shipped exactly as it was received by David from IntelligentVision. I never even opened the flaps on the box. Today, I received the following message from the buyer on eBay: "I received the game and just around to checking it and I can't get it to work. I've tried it on both my machines to no avail. I cleaned the contacts and that didn't even work as it usually does. I guess I will have to return it. Let me no how to proceed." Besides the obvious answer of having the buyer return the game for a full refund, is there any other advice I can give him? Anything else that he can try? Can a brand new Intellivision homebrew cartridge simply be defective? No, cleaning the contacts is the best advise. Other than that, this is your sale, your game and problem. Maybe testing your games before you sell them as new is a great idea as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric7100 Posted August 3, 2016 Author Share Posted August 3, 2016 No, cleaning the contacts is the best advise. Other than that, this is your sale, your game and problem. Maybe testing your games before you sell them as new is a great idea as well. I get that it is my problem, but a brand new game shouldn't be faulty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmart604 Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 I get that it is my problem, but a brand new game shouldn't be faulty. This falls directly under the category of "shit happens". I usually test all mine when they arrive and I have found a couple of homebrews that didn't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric7100 Posted August 3, 2016 Author Share Posted August 3, 2016 This falls directly under the category of "shit happens". I usually test all mine when they arrive and I have found a couple of homebrews that didn't work. So... is it unreasonable for the homebrew developers to test all of their carts before shipping them out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmart604 Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 Ideally, yes, but even if they did there's no guarantee they won't become non working over time. Sucks, but whaddya gonna do? You might try reaching out to David but I suspect he'll no longer have any extra copies lying around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfy62 Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 I will say this: David is a person of upstanding and great integrity in the world of Intellivision. Many years of great interaction through collecting..... I hope you guys can work it out some way. Best of luck,Wolfy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BriceZ Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 It happened to me with a copy of Super NFL Football. So I sent an email to David and he kindly explain me how the game could be fixed. It appears that a very small amount of these boards need to have the Option J3 point to be closed. One easy way to verify is to open the cartridge shell and take a look on the board. If you see something like the picture below (see the gap between the two little small squares) , that could be the reason why the game is not working. Normally, the fix is to solder J3 point on the game board. The solder is just to close the connection with a drop of solder. Yes, it worked with Super NFL but I believe your best bet is to ask to David just in case I’m wrong. He’s the expert for sure Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SoulBuster Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 So... is it unreasonable for the homebrew developers to test all of their carts before shipping them out? I test every cart before it gets sealed. For used ones I test just before I package and send them out the door. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric7100 Posted August 3, 2016 Author Share Posted August 3, 2016 Thanks, everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+fdr4prez Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 So... is it unreasonable for the homebrew developers to test all of their carts before shipping them out? This is not a just question. Do you know if David did or did not test all of his carts before shipping? I've spent the last 3 days trying to troubleshoot an issue on a $100K machine that is new, but has been sitting in the shipping crate for 3 years waiting to be sold to a customer. It worked when it left the factory (3 years ago), but it ain't working now that I am trying to actually get it installed at a customer. For all the discussions about "unopened CIB" collectors, you just never know if you have a working cart or not. You may have a pretty box, but that's it. I really hope that comments made by BriceZ would correct the issue, but please contact David for confirmation. Good luck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
First Spear Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 I never thought about manufacturing defects before with independent and homebrew games. I always keep the box from electronics I buy (especially from online orders) for a few weeks so I can return something whole in case there is a manufacturing defect. I wonder what the defect rate is for cart manufacture? It must be suuuuuper low as I have never had a bad new cart come my way ever and the old stuff I buy has given me maybe 2 defectives which could be attributed to "anything". It would be expensive for cart makers to keep n-% on hand in case a failure-return is necessary... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheel Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 For all the discussions about "unopened CIB" collectors, you just never know if you have a working cart or not. You may have a pretty box, but that's it. No kidding. While we think of bitrot as being a rare thing, it can and does happen. I suspect a few of the $1000 Spikers out there might well be paperweights - even when not sealed, some people are almost too scared to boot up a game that cost that much. It's part of the hobby. When I sell used stuff, I test every single cart to make sure it at least boots. But this thread did remind me - test all new homebrew as well. I have no idea whatsoever if the newer boards are DOA more often than Mattel's, or if they fail earlier or at a higher rate. I don't know that we have enough out there to really make that kind of determination. I know for the pre-crash stuff, I see less than a 1% failure rate as of today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric7100 Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 It was easiest for me to just refund the guy on eBay, and move on with my life. Thanks, guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+fdr4prez Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 It was easiest for me to just refund the guy on eBay, and move on with my life. Thanks, guys. Did you request to get the items sent back? You can see about Brice's comments... Or send it to me and I will play with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric7100 Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 Did you request to get the items sent back? You can see about Brice's comments... Or send it to me and I will play with it. Nope. I don't want the items back. I'd rather just take the loss. I don't care anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intvdave Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 You should have just contacted me first instead of posting out here. I would have made an effort to take care of the issue. The best approach to resolving issues is usually to deal with the manufacturer. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intymike Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 You should have just contacted me first instead of posting out here. I would have made an effort to take care of the issue. The best approach to resolving issues is usually to deal with the manufacturer. It's Eric...he has to complain...and do nothing about it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 It's Eric...he has to complain...and do nothing about it... Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric7100 Posted August 7, 2016 Author Share Posted August 7, 2016 You should have just contacted me first instead of posting out here. I would have made an effort to take care of the issue. The best approach to resolving issues is usually to deal with the manufacturer. Thanks anyway, David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Nope. I don't want the items back. I'd rather just take the loss. I don't care anymore. Must be nice to have money to burn.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Games For Your Intellivision Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 When I was manufacturing games, I'd burn the circuit board and verify the burn....install the circuit board, screw them together and then apply the sticker. I ALWAYS tested the cartridges again because sometimes the board would end upside down and not boot. Sometimes the board would not be programmed. Sometimes, we'd get a board that programmed but would not boot. Once, I even forgot to install a board into a shell. All of these were caught before being placed in the box for wiping down and shrinkwrapping. You can never be too careful when making these things. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Even with all the testing in the world stuff just doesn't work sometimes. I bring my example of going through 4 stupid Xbox 360 red ring of death. :-/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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