Master List of Carts with Save Batteries -- Looking for Help to Complete It

(Note: this project involves multiple systems, so I'll be cross-posting a short blurb on each of the relevant system boards pointing them this way if they'd like to contribute. Hopefully that doesn't ruffle any feathers.)

Part of my business is restoring old game carts. It’s not the biggest or most lucrative part by far, but it’s the part I enjoy most – I love taking a stack of vintage games and slowly working my way through them until they’re all clean and working perfectly.

As part of that process, I replace a lot of dead save batteries, and here’s where I’ve run into a small but annoying problem. With a few exceptions, the information currently available on carts containing save batteries is incomplete at best; even when a full list exists for a given system of every cart that contains one (like with the NES), there’s precious little information to be found on the model of battery contained in each cart. Granted, for the most part battery sizes are fairly uniform (console carts usually contain CR2032s, handheld carts CR1616s) but there are some exceptions, and I hate running into exceptions when I’m just trying to get a job done.

With your help I’d like to put together a definitive cartridge battery list, one that contains 1) the title of every cartridge game that contains a save battery, 2) the console or handheld for which each was produced, and 3) the size of the battery soldered to the circuit board.

Feel free to include any additional peculiarities you’d like to see added to the notes column (like an unusual placement on the circuit board, for example, or a coin cell holder used instead of attached leads). And if you’re reporting info on a cart that was released outside of North America, please include the region info as well. I’m mainly interested in putting together a complete list for NA carts, but there’s no reason why everyone can’t get in on the action – I’ll list region info in the notes column for now, but if enough information on non-NA carts gets submitted I’ll add a separate column for region info.

*Post Continued Below*

To kick things off, I’ve recorded information on every cart in my personal collection, most of the carts my customers have sent me to be restored, and most of the carts I’ve had come through my store’s inventory, plus I’ve cobbled together data that a handful of others have posted online from their own collections. It’s a start, but so far only 28.23% of the carts currently on the list have had their info verified.

Please only submit information you and/or your friends can confirm – no “I think,” or “I believe,” or “probably,” or “maybe,” just report on what you can verify with your own eyes. And you only need to be as sure as you actually are. If you open up a cart and see a battery, but you aren’t confident as to what model battery it is, then just report that you saw one but couldn’t identify which (if you can, snap a picture and share it in case someone else can identify it that way).

If you notice a game on the list with an incorrect title, or see a title listed that you can verify does not contain a battery and should be removed, or have a cart containing a save battery that isn’t on the list, then please by all means share that info as well. Correcting inaccuracies is just as important as filling in the blanks.

Below you’ll find a link to a spreadsheet on Google Docs that I’ll be updating as info comes in and time allows (I’m shooting for at least once per week). It’s set to view only to prevent vandalism, but it will remain publicly viewable in perpetuity.

I can’t finish this thing on my own, so as far as I’m concerned it belongs to all of you as much as it does me. If you’d like a copy of the spreadsheet file, just contact me via PM with your email address and I’ll send you the most recent version.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13iFsww1dOHT_a4MSuuXdx8TyLLPHxbt6uuwFGLJrFE0/edit?pref=2&pli=1#gid=176889828

Since I assume you already have a complete list of the games for the NES with battery saves, I'd say nearly all that I've replaced (a few dozen) are CR2032s mounted in same place.

bruplex posted...

Since I assume you already have a complete list of the games for the NES with battery saves, I'd say nearly all that I've replaced (a few dozen) are CR2032s mounted in same place.

Yeah, CR2032s with attached leads are the norm. If you can remember the names of any of the carts you worked on, I'll add that info to the list.

C64Gamer posted...

If you notice a game on the list with an incorrect title,

Dragon Warrior III on SNES should be Dragon Quest III on SFAM. It was never released outside Japan AFAIK.
Sorry but that'll be my only contribution I'm afraid. I only opened my carts a couple times and never changed a game battery. Good luck with your project though.

retroid34 posted...

Dragon Warrior III on SNES should be Dragon Quest III on SFAM. It was never released outside Japan AFAIK.
Sorry but that'll be my only contribution I'm afraid. I only opened my carts a couple times and never changed a game battery. Good luck with your project though.

Fixed -- thank you. I'm grateful for any help anyone is willing to give, no matter how small.

You should submit a battery faq for gameboy, seeing as that's almost complete.

It would include - the table, intro about batteries, what happens when they fail and their purpose. Also a photographic tutorial in changing one.

Also how did you put together this list? how do you know you got them all?

What about putting in non-volatile ram chips in place of the chips in those carts for all the games with dying batteries? Wouldn't that be a better (and more stable) long term solution...

_0blivion_ posted...

You should submit a battery faq for gameboy, seeing as that's almost complete.

It would include - the table, intro about batteries, what happens when they fail and their purpose. Also a photographic tutorial in changing one.

Also how did you put together this list? how do you know you got them all?

I don't know that I got them all, actually -- if anyone finds some titles that are missing from the list, I'm all ears. I pulled the titles from several different sources, then collated and double checked as much as I could with the resources currently available.

If an FAQ comes out of any of this, it'll be a long way down the line. I've got a business to run, a toddler to raise, a wife and two teenagers I like to spend time with every now and then, and some chronic health problems to boot. My waking hours are booked for the foreseeable future.

Master Higgins posted...

What about putting in non-volatile ram chips in place of the chips in those carts for all the games with dying batteries? Wouldn't that be a better (and more stable) long term solution...

Yes, it would be a longer term solution, and I've heard of a few people doing precisely that, although I don't know offhand how successful any of them were.

I love old games and I know my way around a soldering iron, but replacing chips is a bit beyond my technical expertise.