We all did it. I know I did. I would take out the Nintendo cartridge blow on it and put it back in. After a few attempts success! I even had a system, I would start from one side of the cartridge and go all the way to the other end. If I recall, I would also go back across from the other side. Sometimes I would even try so hard I remember running out of breath. Almost all of us did it and all of us thought it did something. The reason was results. When you put it back in and saw the game that it worked, it was logical to think that your actions made a difference even if it is now reported the blowing did not help.
Do you remember the different screens you got when the game didn't work? There was the flashing grey screen that would turn on and off in roughly a second interval. When I got that one I felt the game was way off and needed a lot of work. Then sometimes there was the title screen that was all jumbled up. You could make-out the game through the mess but it wasn't ready to play. When I saw this screen I thought I was close, and one or two more attempts would do it. If I remember there was also the screen showing something but it flashed like the grey screen problem. And for all these we tried the same solution.
I also remember using Q-tips and rubbing alcohol to clean the game. I would rub it on both sides of the chip and then look a the Q-tip to see how dirty it was. And of course, the more dirt on it, the more I thought I helped to get the game to work. Then, of course, I would wait for the game to dry properly. I do not know if this helped and I might have done more long-term damage. But my games still worked years later.
Oh and I remember blowing in the console itself, if it worked for the game, why not the NES.
Tell me I am not the only one?
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