How long does your average console hardware last? Which setup do you have?

BerryTogart

Bolt Thrower.,
Joined
Mar 21, 2014
Posts
1,403
I've had very little time on my hands to spare for console gaming recently and looking at my console shelf I wonder - what's your average lifespan for a console?

I thought about safely storing some of them away for some time (any tips for that btw?) and re-pick them up when more time becomes available again, but perhaps it would also be feasible just to keep the CMVS (or get an AES), finally grab that NeoSD and do the rest with emulation?
(Apart from the DC however - it's just too good to ever be parted with - but then again I can just hook that up to any vga monitor)
 

titchgamer

Guerilla Warrior
Joined
May 31, 2018
Posts
1,731
Well I still have a NES hooked up to my TV upstairs which is 30 years old so.....
 

StevenK

ng.com SFII tournament winner 2002-2023
10 Year Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2012
Posts
10,085
In 30 years of gaming and probably a similar number of consoles the only console that's ever failed on me was my original playstation that I used to have to turn upside down to run games.

Controllers is a whole other matter.

Edit: key to storing them safely is shove them in any old corner or draw, don't eat or drink stood over them, don't have children.
 
Last edited:

RAZO

Mayor of Southtown
15 Year Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2006
Posts
8,788
No one knows. I think some of these consoles might out live us and some will fail. As long as we have guys out there who could repair them, it's all good.

I just had a Neo Aes get some internal short out of the blue for no reason at all. James is looking at it. Eventually some of these components inside these consoles are going to fail and need to be fixed or replaced.
 

fake

King of Spammers
15 Year Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2008
Posts
10,977
Only a few consoles have died or gotten wonky on me.

My NES (which I got maybe in '91 or '92) died after only 3 or 4 years, so I got a used one as a replacement and it's been fine ever since.

My original GBA's cartridge slot somehow got misaligned and you really have to force a cart into it, so I stopped using it to avoid messing up my carts.

Ny Xbox's disc drive started making weird noises when I tried to play Ninja Gaiden. I called Tecmo's support line and they said that newer games used extra layers of copy protection, which could make some drives work overtime. I ended up trading mine in and getting a newer version, which itself worked fine until this summer. My house had a power surge and now the Xbox won't turn off without being unplugged. I'm hoping I can get it fixed rather than buying yet another console and a memory card to transfer everything over.

Everything else has worked great.
 

ggallegos1

Cholecystectomy Required.,
10 Year Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2013
Posts
5,153
I've only had to replace a GameCube that started acting really weird, and that was years ago.

Modern consoles are going to fail sooner than the older ones. More moving components, more complicated hardware means more room for errors. I think as long as they are kept in a dry, dust free area and cleaned out every once in a while they should last a long time.
 

titchgamer

Guerilla Warrior
Joined
May 31, 2018
Posts
1,731
The only consoles ive had die on me are the newer ones.

PS3 and Xbox 360’s.
 

GohanX

Horrible Goose
20 Year Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2001
Posts
12,490
I've had very few consoles die on me, it's too random to tell. I would say the newer PC based consoles should probably have the thermal paste on the CPU replaced every few years like a pc.
 

thermaltreasure

Ninja Combat Warrior
Joined
Apr 6, 2013
Posts
529
FPGA to the rescue. Jokes aside, the only consoles I've ever had fail on me were a Duo R and an xbox 360. The RROD debacle was unbelievable, what an absolute shit show. I imported an OG Japanese Mega Drive a few years ago and it hasn't missed a beat, I love that console.
 

ShootTheCore

Bead Banger
Joined
Feb 11, 2015
Posts
1,498
I'm still running original hardware for all my retro consoles and I have all the major ones. I've preemptively replaced caps on the consoles that use surface-mount caps (TurboDuo, Genesis CDX). I had to replace the laser pickup recently on the Duo and CDX as well.

Only console I've had consistently die on me was the XBox 360. I'm on my fourth console there - previous 3 were all replaced under RROD warranty.
 
Last edited:

madman

Blame madman, You Know You Want To.,
Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Posts
7,518
My Wii was the only console to die on me, luckily it happened under warranty.
 

GohanX

Horrible Goose
20 Year Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2001
Posts
12,490
i think Wii consoles will outlive all others from its era

I've had to replace the DVD drive on my Wii. Thankfully, the replacement drive is cheap and it works like new now. I had a Wii U go bad on me too, but was able to tale two broken systems and make one good one.
 

oliverclaude

General Morden's Aide
Joined
Feb 3, 2013
Posts
7,688
Launch jpn. PS1 needed a new laser in, eh... 2017. So yeah, you should be good Berry ;). BTW, nothing wrong with an NGH/NeoSD combo, RGB-bypass, stereo- and switchless mods included. Comfy & good looking.
 

Heinz

Parteizeit
15 Year Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Posts
22,333
I have yet to have a console shit itself on me, touch wood.
 

GohanX

Horrible Goose
20 Year Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2001
Posts
12,490
Launch jpn. PS1 needed a new laser in, eh... 2017.

Oh man, PS1s were such garbage. My first one lasted a couple of years, and by that point the failings were well known so I went to EB, bought a used one with a replacement plan and over the next year or so swapped that thing out every few months. They did finally get their shit together by the end of the PS1s run, I haven't had one die on me in a while. Older systems seem fine with newer replacement lasers as well.
 

fake

King of Spammers
15 Year Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2008
Posts
10,977
Oh man, PS1s were such garbage. My first one lasted a couple of years, and by that point the failings were well known so I went to EB, bought a used one with a replacement plan and over the next year or so swapped that thing out every few months. They did finally get their shit together by the end of the PS1s run, I haven't had one die on me in a while. Older systems seem fine with newer replacement lasers as well.

I think the revised ones with lenses at 3 o'clock instead of 1 o'clock are pretty durable, right? My console that I got in...1998? still works fine (been playing Chrono Cross on and off over the past few months).

I was actually reading about the PS1 revisions over the summer and I was surprised by what I learned. Instead of making each revision slightly cheaper to produce, they were actually improving the console's sound and graphics output in the majority of cases. IIRC, there were only a few revisions (out of maybe 10) that actually detracted in any sense. And then there's the PSone, which did compromise on the AV quality, but for the obvious purpose of making a more portable system.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, PS2s have always seemed really flimsy to me. I've been extremely careful with my original console, so it's fine, but my friends who haven't coddled their PS2s have gone through at least three or four.
 

GohanX

Horrible Goose
20 Year Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2001
Posts
12,490
Yeah, I don't remember the exact model numbers of the PS1s, but after a certain point they were pretty reliable.

I did have a launch PS2 die on me too. It actually worked out though, due to some weird Gamestop promotion they still gave me like $80 credit for it to put to a new PS2 slim, which was I think like $120 at the time.
 

titchgamer

Guerilla Warrior
Joined
May 31, 2018
Posts
1,731
I still have my launch PS2 and it works fine.
I put a HDD in it last year but that was more out of convenience than need even the laser is still good which considering the hammer it took is quite impressive!

I have been on the lookout for a 2nd one recently though just as a back up before they start going back up in price!!

I sold my original PS1 to fund the PS2 purchase but I still have a fair few of my original games.

I have however since picked up a “faulty” PSOne for free which turned out to be fully functional and a older PSX with the data port on the back which I intend to hook a PSIO up to.
 

ChopstickSamurai

I have earned the, right to PM Rot.,
Joined
Sep 18, 2003
Posts
2,188
The only consoles ive had die on me are the newer ones.

PS3 and Xbox 360’s.

Same here. My warranty replacement 360 is still going strong after all these years. Every time I turn it on I expect it to be the last, but it’s still trucking on.
 

famicommander

Tak enabled this rank change
15 Year Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2007
Posts
13,381
I replaced my childhood NES last year
I have had a couple PS2s crap out on me
Replaced an optical drive in my OG Xbox
Had a couple random handhelds die due to physical damage
Had a bad chip replaced on my Colecovision
Had some work done to my Neo CD
Had my Virtual Boy repaired
My Vectrex is broke'd right now

That's it though. All my SEGA systems still work, all my Atari systems still work. Intellivision, Odyssey 2, N64, SNES, Gamecube, Wii, 360, PS3, TG16, PCE, 3DO, CD-i... All fine.
 

Late

Reichsf?rer-Finnland,
20 Year Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2001
Posts
8,348
In 30 years of gaming and probably a similar number of consoles the only console that's ever failed on me was my original playstation that I used to have to turn upside down to run games.

Same, my PS2 also became a bit picky about reading discs, especially music cd's.
 

BerryTogart

Bolt Thrower.,
Joined
Mar 21, 2014
Posts
1,403
Thank you for all the feedback guys, all in all that's good news for durability for non-cd based systems it seems.
 
Top