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It was the February vacation, around 1:00 PM, and I was just messing around on the Internet. My memory doesn't work too well, but I'm pretty sure that I was on the NES Smackdown. All of a sudden my mom yelled to me, "Brian, turn around!"
I spun the swivel chair 180 degrees and looked out a window. There, walking up to my front door, was a UPS man carrying a large box about the size of a 20 inch TV. I ran to the front door as he set the package down. When he had left, I opened the door and brought the box inside.
I already knew what it was, but I couldn't wait to open it. I tore open the package and was greeted with a tangle of wires. I pulled on them, which brought five controllers into view. Below the wires were two score games and an NES system.
I held everything. It was in great cosmetic condition. I held it up to the light. Most games looked squeaky clean. Excitedly, I ran down to my basement, propped the system up on a shelf and plugged in the controllers.
After fiddling around with controls on the TV for awhile, I was able get a picture. I was greeted with Super Mario Bros.' title screen. Eagerly, I sat down to play.
Everything worked fine. For now.
After playing all the SMB I could stand for one day, I put Excitebike in my NES. And that's when the problems started. At first, the screen just stayed white. I jiggled the cart around. I saw a flashing screen, and when the screen appeared, I could see words. I'm making progress, I thought. But in reality, I wasn't.
I couldn't get Excitebike to work, which was, to me, a major drag. I went online and found out that my problems were due to, as I'm sure you know, dirty games and a dirty system.
The next morning, I decided to see which games worked and which games didn't. About a dozen of the forty games worked.
At that moment I decided that I was not going to be stupid. My NES was going to go unplayed until I got a cleaning kit.
It was a long two weeks before I got the cleaning kit. When I did, I immediately cleaned all my games. There was only one problem. I couldn't reach it back far enough to clean the system.
My dad's handiwork soon changed that. After he "modified" the cleaning clip, I was able to reach the system. I cleaned it probably a good five times.
I then looked down upon my game collection. Each one of them seemed to beg "play me first!" In the end, I decided that Mega Man II would be slid into the NES as a test of the cleaning.
Performing the action we all know so well, I ran Mega Man II down along the black piece of plastic, waiting until it was firmly locked against the connector. I then pushed the black plastic down. With my heart full of hope but my mind expecting the worst, I pushed power. I was greeted by a steadfast red light.
Not wasting a second, I turned on the TV. I heard the tinny little title tune of Mega Man II, and, once the TV started up, the Mega Man II title screen. I let out a yell of jubilation. My NES worked.
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