Retro game cartridge restoration and console repair
Classic cartridges, restored to play like new. From one old gamer to another — let's bring your collection back to life.
What we do
Cartridges and consoles, done carefully — the way you'd want someone to treat your childhood collection. Most of what comes across the bench isn't broken so much as tired: dirty contacts, a dead save battery, a rental sticker somebody slapped on in 1993. Those are all fixable.
Cartridge Cleaning
Deep-cleaned contacts and housings so your games boot on the first try.
Learn more →Sticker & Label Removal
Old price tags and sticky residue gone, shells and labels intact.
Learn more →Console Repair
Retro consoles diagnosed, cleaned, and repaired so they boot up like it's 1995.
Learn more →Free On-Site Game Testing
Catch us at events and we'll test your carts on the spot, no charge.
Available at events
How it works
1. Tell me what you've got
Send a note through the contact form with the system, the games, and what's going wrong — black screen, blinking, lost saves, sticky labels, all of it.
2. I take a look
Every cart and console gets opened up and inspected first. If something can't be saved, I'll tell you straight before any work starts.
3. Clean, repair, test
Contacts cleaned, residue lifted, batteries swapped, boards checked. Nothing goes back to you until it boots and plays on real hardware.
What's actually wrong with your game
Four problems cover nearly everything that comes in. Here's how to tell them apart before you send anything over.
The screen is black, or the game flashes and resets
Almost always dirty or oxidized contact pins. Thirty years of dust, smoke, and old finger oils build a film the console can't read through. A proper contact cleaning fixes the huge majority of these.
Your save file disappears every time you power off
The CR2032-style battery soldered inside RPGs, sports games, and adventure titles lasts around 15–20 years. Most of them are long dead. A fresh battery brings saves back — and it can be done without losing your existing file in many cases.
There's a price sticker, rental label, or gummy residue on the shell
Old adhesive hardens and yellows, and pulling it dry takes the artwork with it. Slow, low-heat removal with the right solvents lifts the sticker and leaves the original label alone.
The console powers on but the picture or sound is wrong
Aging capacitors, a dirty cartridge slot, worn A/V jacks, or a failing power supply are the usual suspects. Console repair covers diagnosing and fixing those.
Systems we work on
Cartridge-based systems and the consoles that play them. If your system isn't on the list, ask anyway — odds are good.
- NES & Famicom
- Super Nintendo
- Nintendo 64 & GameCube
- Game Boy, Color & Advance
- Sega Genesis, Master System & Dreamcast
- Atari 2600 / 7800
- PlayStation 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5
- Xbox, Xbox 360, One & Series X|S
- Nintendo Wii, Switch & DS
- Steam Deck
- Neo Geo & other oddballs
Cartridge and disc consoles alike — including HDMI port replacement on PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Series X|S. Disc resurfacing itself isn't offered.
An old gamer, still at it
I grew up with these games — the cardboard boxes, the rental stickers, the long Saturday afternoons trying to get a cart to boot. Restoring them is mostly an excuse to keep spending time with them. I share what I find on YouTube: teardowns, cleanups, and plenty of stories from the era.
You'll also catch me at conventions and swap meets around Ohio, where I'll test your carts on the spot for free.
Mail it in from anywhere in the country
You don't have to live down the road. Buy your shipping labels and send your hardware in right away. You pay for both shipping trips separately from repairs and get a repair quote after inspection. Print both labels, put the first on your box, and tuck the second inside, unused. When your games are ready, that same label takes them home with tracking.
Paying for both trips up front means nothing sits on a shelf waiting for a second payment, and you always know exactly how your collection is getting back to you.
Guides for collectors
Work out what's wrong before you pack anything up.
Pokémon Save Battery Replacement
Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal and Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald — why the saves die and what a swap involves.
Cartridge Battery Database
Searchable list of NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy, GBA, Genesis and 32X carts — which have a cell, which don't, and what it does.
Why Your Cartridge Won't Boot
Black screens, flashing title screens, and the dirty contacts behind nearly all of it.