I purchased this Nintendo 64 System from UNIVERSE OnLine back in the beginning of November as a Christmas gift for my sister. This was the sellers description:
FREE GAME INCLUDED *** ORIGINAL SYSTEM just plug and play *** LIGHT DETAILS OR COSMETIC WEAR ON CONSOLES DUE AGE *** WILL SHIP 1 FREE RANDOM GAME AND CONTROLLER ** BUY WITH CONFIDENCE 100% guaranteed and MBG 30 days Money Back Guarantee and very fast Customer Service. PLEASE NO PO BOX ** THANKS
I bought it for $55.33 at amazon's rating of Very Good, and it seemed like a great deal; console, controller, all wires, and a free game. However, there were many major flaws once it arrived at my house.
First of all, upon opening the box, before I even plugged anything in, there was a big problem: Everything was extremely filthy. The controller was the worst, caked in filth and what looked like food particles that had been there for years, the crevices packed with brown and black gunk. The free game looked like it had corrosion damage, like it got wet and was used while wet. The wires were kind of grimy, not cleaned at all, and finally the console was fairly dirty, better than the controller, but still gross and unacceptable. It took me nearly 2 hours with many sheets of paper towels and lots of rubbing alcohol to get everything acceptably clean, but the controller still has brown and yellow stains on parts of it.
After the cleaning, I thought that would be the last of the problems, but oh was I wrong. I plugged everything in and inserted the Super Mario 64 cartridge (an Item i bought from a different seller on amazon to which I had no issues with). I turned it on and nothing showed up on my screen. The red light on the front of the console lit up, so I knew it wasn't a power issue, I troubleshooted my TV and tried every fix I could think of to make it work, but still nothing.
This is where there was another error, if not flat out lie, with the sellers description: the console did not come as just plug and play, there was an extreme flaw that caused the system to not function, and without the experience, tools, or knowledge of wiring and soldering of electrical wires, the console would have had to have been returned.
This is what was wrong: The component cable (The wire that has the red, white, and yellow connectors for audio and video) was completely nonfunctional.
After trying everything to get the system working, my dad and I decided to take it to the garage to test all of the wires and connections for faults. My dad has been working with electronics and making his own custom cables for over 45 years, so he has the resources to work on wiring and electronics at home. we cleaned all of the connections with contact cleaner, plugged everything in again, and discovered that there was a clear right channel audio signal (red connector), a noisy and abnormal video signal (yellow connector), and no signal at all from the Left audio channel (white connector). We then opened up the portion of the wire where it plugs into the console and were greeted with an absolute mess. It appears that at some point in the wire's lifetime, someone tried to do something with the wiring of the cable, but ended up ruining the cable, short circuiting basically every wire. If you look at the first 2 pictures I included (or the two pictures of the exposed wires without any blue if they get reordered upon uploading), you can see how badly it was wired. So my dad and I unsoldered everything and re-soldered it, clearing up the video signal, but the left channel audio signal was still not working. We cut off the left channel connector and tested the resistance of the wire (testing to see if we were getting any signal through the wire), which came up with nothing. We cut the wire at what looked like a damaging bend in the wire, but still nothing. It turned out that the fault in the wire was right at the connection that we had just fixed, so we had to unsolder both audio wires, ditch those, and use a spare, COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WIRE for the audio channels that my dad had. If you look at the 3rd and 4th pictures I attached (or the pictures with the nicer wiring with the blue cables) you can see that the audio cables are completely different cables. The final 2 pictures are of the finished wire and it plugged into the console. This fix took the rest of the day and it was definitely not something that I wanted to do at all.
If someone who did not have the ability or tools to do this fix had this problem, they would have had to buy a whole new wire, or return the console if they didn't know what was wrong.
In the end we got everything working good, so that is why I give it at most 2 stars, but due to the filth of everything, and the fact that we had to completely rebuild the component wire for it to even work, I cannot give it any higher.
This review is not criticizing the Nintendo 64 system, it is a great console that my sister and I both grew up on and love, I am criticizing the seller, UNIVERSE OnLine, for selling a nonfunctional, filthy item that was in no way acceptable to sell and for misleading me into thinking that the console was clean and working, which it clearly was not.
I know this is a long winded review, but I felt that it was important to let you people know what kind of a product I received and to warn you about this seller and their products.
This product is available as Renewed.
Nintendo 64 System - Video Game Console (Renewed)
$178.99
(873)
Works and looks like new and backed by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee
(873)
Works and looks like new and backed by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee
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From the manufacturer
The controller was shaped like an M, employing a joystick in the center. Popular Electronics called its shape evocative of some alien space ship. While nothing that the three handles could be confusing, the separate grips allow different hand positions for various game types.
Nintendo 64 System - Video Game Console
The Nintendo 64 was one of the first gaming consoles to have four controller ports.The most graphically demanding Nintendo 64 games that arrived on larger 32 or 64 MB cartridges are the most advanced and detailed of the 32-bit/64-bit generation. In order to maximize use of the Nintendo 64 hardware developers had to create their own custom microcode. Nintendo 64 games running on custom microcode benefited from much higher polygon counts in tandem with more advanced lighting, animation, physics and AI routines than its 32-bit competition.
About the product
The Nintendo 64's central processing unit (CPU) is the NEC VR4300. Popular Electronics said it had power similar to the Pentium processors found in desktop computers. Except for its narrower 32-bit system bus, the VR4300 retained the computational abilities of the more powerful 64-bit MIPS R4300i, though software rarely took advantage of 64-bit data precision operations.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2018
FREE GAME INCLUDED *** ORIGINAL SYSTEM just plug and play *** LIGHT DETAILS OR COSMETIC WEAR ON CONSOLES DUE AGE *** WILL SHIP 1 FREE RANDOM GAME AND CONTROLLER ** BUY WITH CONFIDENCE 100% guaranteed and MBG 30 days Money Back Guarantee and very fast Customer Service. PLEASE NO PO BOX ** THANKS
I bought it for $55.33 at amazon's rating of Very Good, and it seemed like a great deal; console, controller, all wires, and a free game. However, there were many major flaws once it arrived at my house.
First of all, upon opening the box, before I even plugged anything in, there was a big problem: Everything was extremely filthy. The controller was the worst, caked in filth and what looked like food particles that had been there for years, the crevices packed with brown and black gunk. The free game looked like it had corrosion damage, like it got wet and was used while wet. The wires were kind of grimy, not cleaned at all, and finally the console was fairly dirty, better than the controller, but still gross and unacceptable. It took me nearly 2 hours with many sheets of paper towels and lots of rubbing alcohol to get everything acceptably clean, but the controller still has brown and yellow stains on parts of it.
After the cleaning, I thought that would be the last of the problems, but oh was I wrong. I plugged everything in and inserted the Super Mario 64 cartridge (an Item i bought from a different seller on amazon to which I had no issues with). I turned it on and nothing showed up on my screen. The red light on the front of the console lit up, so I knew it wasn't a power issue, I troubleshooted my TV and tried every fix I could think of to make it work, but still nothing.
This is where there was another error, if not flat out lie, with the sellers description: the console did not come as just plug and play, there was an extreme flaw that caused the system to not function, and without the experience, tools, or knowledge of wiring and soldering of electrical wires, the console would have had to have been returned.
This is what was wrong: The component cable (The wire that has the red, white, and yellow connectors for audio and video) was completely nonfunctional.
After trying everything to get the system working, my dad and I decided to take it to the garage to test all of the wires and connections for faults. My dad has been working with electronics and making his own custom cables for over 45 years, so he has the resources to work on wiring and electronics at home. we cleaned all of the connections with contact cleaner, plugged everything in again, and discovered that there was a clear right channel audio signal (red connector), a noisy and abnormal video signal (yellow connector), and no signal at all from the Left audio channel (white connector). We then opened up the portion of the wire where it plugs into the console and were greeted with an absolute mess. It appears that at some point in the wire's lifetime, someone tried to do something with the wiring of the cable, but ended up ruining the cable, short circuiting basically every wire. If you look at the first 2 pictures I included (or the two pictures of the exposed wires without any blue if they get reordered upon uploading), you can see how badly it was wired. So my dad and I unsoldered everything and re-soldered it, clearing up the video signal, but the left channel audio signal was still not working. We cut off the left channel connector and tested the resistance of the wire (testing to see if we were getting any signal through the wire), which came up with nothing. We cut the wire at what looked like a damaging bend in the wire, but still nothing. It turned out that the fault in the wire was right at the connection that we had just fixed, so we had to unsolder both audio wires, ditch those, and use a spare, COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WIRE for the audio channels that my dad had. If you look at the 3rd and 4th pictures I attached (or the pictures with the nicer wiring with the blue cables) you can see that the audio cables are completely different cables. The final 2 pictures are of the finished wire and it plugged into the console. This fix took the rest of the day and it was definitely not something that I wanted to do at all.
If someone who did not have the ability or tools to do this fix had this problem, they would have had to buy a whole new wire, or return the console if they didn't know what was wrong.
In the end we got everything working good, so that is why I give it at most 2 stars, but due to the filth of everything, and the fact that we had to completely rebuild the component wire for it to even work, I cannot give it any higher.
This review is not criticizing the Nintendo 64 system, it is a great console that my sister and I both grew up on and love, I am criticizing the seller, UNIVERSE OnLine, for selling a nonfunctional, filthy item that was in no way acceptable to sell and for misleading me into thinking that the console was clean and working, which it clearly was not.
I know this is a long winded review, but I felt that it was important to let you people know what kind of a product I received and to warn you about this seller and their products.
Verified Purchase
Seller UNIVERSE OnLine Delivered a Filthy, Faulty Product
By Kevin Strawn on November 26, 2018
I purchased this Nintendo 64 System from UNIVERSE OnLine back in the beginning of November as a Christmas gift for my sister. This was the sellers description:By Kevin Strawn on November 26, 2018
FREE GAME INCLUDED *** ORIGINAL SYSTEM just plug and play *** LIGHT DETAILS OR COSMETIC WEAR ON CONSOLES DUE AGE *** WILL SHIP 1 FREE RANDOM GAME AND CONTROLLER ** BUY WITH CONFIDENCE 100% guaranteed and MBG 30 days Money Back Guarantee and very fast Customer Service. PLEASE NO PO BOX ** THANKS
I bought it for $55.33 at amazon's rating of Very Good, and it seemed like a great deal; console, controller, all wires, and a free game. However, there were many major flaws once it arrived at my house.
First of all, upon opening the box, before I even plugged anything in, there was a big problem: Everything was extremely filthy. The controller was the worst, caked in filth and what looked like food particles that had been there for years, the crevices packed with brown and black gunk. The free game looked like it had corrosion damage, like it got wet and was used while wet. The wires were kind of grimy, not cleaned at all, and finally the console was fairly dirty, better than the controller, but still gross and unacceptable. It took me nearly 2 hours with many sheets of paper towels and lots of rubbing alcohol to get everything acceptably clean, but the controller still has brown and yellow stains on parts of it.
After the cleaning, I thought that would be the last of the problems, but oh was I wrong. I plugged everything in and inserted the Super Mario 64 cartridge (an Item i bought from a different seller on amazon to which I had no issues with). I turned it on and nothing showed up on my screen. The red light on the front of the console lit up, so I knew it wasn't a power issue, I troubleshooted my TV and tried every fix I could think of to make it work, but still nothing.
This is where there was another error, if not flat out lie, with the sellers description: the console did not come as just plug and play, there was an extreme flaw that caused the system to not function, and without the experience, tools, or knowledge of wiring and soldering of electrical wires, the console would have had to have been returned.
This is what was wrong: The component cable (The wire that has the red, white, and yellow connectors for audio and video) was completely nonfunctional.
After trying everything to get the system working, my dad and I decided to take it to the garage to test all of the wires and connections for faults. My dad has been working with electronics and making his own custom cables for over 45 years, so he has the resources to work on wiring and electronics at home. we cleaned all of the connections with contact cleaner, plugged everything in again, and discovered that there was a clear right channel audio signal (red connector), a noisy and abnormal video signal (yellow connector), and no signal at all from the Left audio channel (white connector). We then opened up the portion of the wire where it plugs into the console and were greeted with an absolute mess. It appears that at some point in the wire's lifetime, someone tried to do something with the wiring of the cable, but ended up ruining the cable, short circuiting basically every wire. If you look at the first 2 pictures I included (or the two pictures of the exposed wires without any blue if they get reordered upon uploading), you can see how badly it was wired. So my dad and I unsoldered everything and re-soldered it, clearing up the video signal, but the left channel audio signal was still not working. We cut off the left channel connector and tested the resistance of the wire (testing to see if we were getting any signal through the wire), which came up with nothing. We cut the wire at what looked like a damaging bend in the wire, but still nothing. It turned out that the fault in the wire was right at the connection that we had just fixed, so we had to unsolder both audio wires, ditch those, and use a spare, COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WIRE for the audio channels that my dad had. If you look at the 3rd and 4th pictures I attached (or the pictures with the nicer wiring with the blue cables) you can see that the audio cables are completely different cables. The final 2 pictures are of the finished wire and it plugged into the console. This fix took the rest of the day and it was definitely not something that I wanted to do at all.
If someone who did not have the ability or tools to do this fix had this problem, they would have had to buy a whole new wire, or return the console if they didn't know what was wrong.
In the end we got everything working good, so that is why I give it at most 2 stars, but due to the filth of everything, and the fact that we had to completely rebuild the component wire for it to even work, I cannot give it any higher.
This review is not criticizing the Nintendo 64 system, it is a great console that my sister and I both grew up on and love, I am criticizing the seller, UNIVERSE OnLine, for selling a nonfunctional, filthy item that was in no way acceptable to sell and for misleading me into thinking that the console was clean and working, which it clearly was not.
I know this is a long winded review, but I felt that it was important to let you people know what kind of a product I received and to warn you about this seller and their products.
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2018
Verified Purchase
Great, helpful seller!
By Adam S on March 27, 2018
Not a big gamer, but I wanted to have Mario Kart handy at the house and tried the Wii version, but just didn’t enjoy it. Decided to go back to N64 and shopped around for the best options. Reached out to this seller with the starter pack and Eric put together an entire package with everything I was looking for at a comparable price to getting it all separately from various sellers. He even included modern connections to be played on a newer TV. It delivered quickly and was easy to set up. I played a few rounds last night with a friend and was very pleased with having the original game back. The picture is a bit pixelated, but that’s to be expected with an older game not meant to be played on a large HD screen, and was still totally worth it! I definitely recommend the seller as well as taking it back a couple decades for the nostalgia!
By Adam S on March 27, 2018
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2018
Verified Purchase
Great gaming console
By Diva Superstar on April 6, 2018
Im glad I bought this to add to my gaming collection. I first I was really worried about making this purchase but I made sure I bought it from a really good seller who said that he professionally cleans and tests the consoles. I wish they made these consoles again but that would never happen. In my package I got two brand new controllers but remember they are not official Nintendo controllers but circa brand, but they work really well and feel really brand new. The cords are great condition and the console is so clean and dust free and almost look like new. I have another nN64 but I wanted another one two have handy and the original controllers that work like a dream and all my video game cartridges. Again I am happy about purchase and excited to play my games and the ones I just purchased. So please get yourself this console and take your time shopping for a good and ask plenty of questions so you don't get ripped off or disappointed. Even if you pay extra it is worth it.
By Diva Superstar on April 6, 2018
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2019
Verified Purchase
Top reviews from other countries
Mr Wadsley
A fantastic Nintendo 64 system in great condition too highly recommended
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2021Verified Purchase
A fantastic Nintendo 64 system in great condition too highly recommended
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2021
This Nintendo 64 arrived in great condition and I’m very pleased with my purchase it has a few marks on the console here and there but its a 24 year old system and for the age its done very well it arrived with all the necessary leads and cables for it to be connected to most modern TVs the cables and leads are more or less brand new they don’t feel old or damaged in anyway at all they all work perfectly the the system works without fault first time every time and is absolutely spot on the biggest worry for me was what condition will the controller arrive in as i know from advice given to me that the joystick in the centre of the 64 controller can become very loose over time and lose all of its spring function but this one feels really good and again for the age it feels almost brand new this controller is in very very good condition for a 24 year old product it arrived with one game as stated in the details from the seller and the game works perfectly well and is quite a good game for free the game cartridge slot is still functioning very well and is clean and tidy all round for a 24 year Nintendo 64 its in very good condition it works perfectly and I’m very very pleased with my purchase I’ve been getting really into the retro gaming seen during these very boring lockdown days and boy I’m definitely feeling the fun and nostalgia these Nintendo 64 systems aren’t always that easy to find nowadays let alone in good work condition so this one is a little gem and i love it for my retro collection i highly highly recommend this system and seller it was dispatch in good time and delivered in very protective packaging so it arrived safe and sound too
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2021
Images in this review
Amazon Customer
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 22, 2018Verified Purchase
Alice Jones
Perfect console, very happy!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 30, 2019Verified Purchase
Amazon Customer
Classic fun!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 18, 2020Verified Purchase
Mike
Very happy customer
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 6, 2020Verified Purchase
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