Keeping the Genesis powered for too long.

[TheEdge]

I have recently become a Ms. Pac-Man addict and I'm afraid I may be keeping my Genesis on for too long. How long is too long to play a Genesis? I'm a little concerned seeing that this piece of hardware is 20 years old.

Thanks for the info in advance. :cool:

[stalepie]

I wouldn't leave it on for more than 3 or 4 hours if you can help it. But who knows. Is this a model 1 you're talking about? Those are probably sturdier than the later models.

[TmEE]

my MD2 has been constantly on for a week and nothing happened....

[TheEdge]

I got the model 1. Lets hope the elderly console will survive my Pac Fever. :)

[genesisguy]

I wonder. We used to keep our gensisisis on over night sometimes. In a recent post I asked about will there come a time when none of these will work and the response was basically there's people out there who can fix them.

[ReyVGM]

I believe those old cart systems can hold on for a long time of heavy session playing.

[Devil N]

The fact that there are no moving parts in these machines and that the processors don't even need a heatsink to remain cool, makes them very robust. The biggest risk of long term usage is a fuse or a capacitor blowing, but that happens mostly due to wear and tear rather than having it powered on for too long.

[Flygon]

You could probably have it running for several months in a cool room if you ask me. I've noticed game consoles are really good at staying on for long periods. =P

I've had a Gamecube on for a whole week without issues, so a cartridge based system should last at least 10 times as long I guess.

[17daysolderthannes]

With the exception of the XBOX 360 (and maybe PS3), just about any console can be left on indefinitely without problems. Look at all those store displays that stay on 24/7. The only difference is that it IS bad to leave CD systems running as the moving parts can heat up and wear out faster, so should be turned off or at least allowed to idle after a couple hours of play. Cartridge systems, on the other hand, hardly produce any heat (32X being the exception, that does get quite warm) and should be fine as long as something like a power surge doesn't happen.

[mick_aka]

I left my MD1/MCD1/32X combo on accidentally for an entire weekend once, the MCD constantly checking for a disc, none of the components suffered any ill effects but there as visible heat distortion around the power bricks!

[Zebbe]

My neighbour didn't know how to use the save feature of Super Mario World back then, so he left his Sneeze on for two weeks :D.

[TmEE]

That was almost the case with me and my DC when I got it.... I knew you could dave, but having no VMU made it impossible so the unit ran for around a week unplugged

[Mr Smith]

Just out of curiosity, how long are you playing Ms. Pac-Man for?

[17daysolderthannes]

if you're playing Ms. Pac Man that much, you should get the TV plug n play. Arcade joystick FTW. Its really better than you would expect from a budget all-in-one plug n play. I don't know how you would play it for hours though, I'm good for about 15 minutes and then I'm done for a month.

[A Black Falcon]

With most cart-based systems I have absolutely no issues with leaving the systems on for days, but with the Genesis it has frozen a few times, after being left on overnight or longer... with my SNES, TG16, NES, etc. I've left them on for days to a week or more (for the SNES) before with no problem, usually... well, the NES has frozen a few times, but usually not. Similar to the Genesis, I guess... that's also usually okay. It just has had a problem a few times.

I wouldn't do it without a point -- that is, I leave it on to try to finish a game which I have no alternative but to leave the system on -- but it is a nice option to have, for sure. I can't do it with systems with fans or CD drives, though... too noisy, and too much of a wear on the system to make it worth it. But cart systems... yeah, sure. It won't hurt them, the worst that could happen is a freeze. :)

[Baloo]

The fact that there are no moving parts in these machines and that the processors don't even need a heatsink to remain cool, makes them very robust. The biggest risk of long term usage is a fuse or a capacitor blowing, but that happens mostly due to wear and tear rather than having it powered on for too long.

This right here. Unless your Genesis has a Sega-CD attached and you're leaving that on, then there's really no reason to worry about leaving it on. Never ever leave CD-based consoles on for long periods of time. You'll end up overheating the system and the drive.

Unless of course you're worried about your electricity bill going up a little bit.

[kool kitty89]

This right here. Unless your Genesis has a Sega-CD attached and you're leaving that on, then there's really no reason to worry about leaving it on. Never ever leave CD-based consoles on for long periods of time. You'll end up overheating the system and the drive.

Unless of course you're worried about your electricity bill going up a little bit.

If you really wanted to, you could just remove the disc and leave the console on without worrying about wearing the drive. This obviously won't work for the CD model 2, but most other systems, it should work with. As long as the drive stops when you open the lid (on flip tops) it should be fin this way. (I think this inludes the CDX)
Or similarly eject the disc from a tray loader. (though I think the CD model 1 ejects with the reset button, so that wouldn't work)

[squall280]

I am going to throw this out there just for you. If anything(ANYTHING) happen to your system for playing ms. pac-man for hours on end contact me and i'll send you a system. you pay shipping of course.

[TmEE]

With most cart-based systems I have absolutely no issues with leaving the systems on for days, but with the Genesis it has frozen a few times, after being left on overnight or longer... with my SNES, TG16, NES, etc. I've left them on for days to a week or more (for the SNES) before with no problem, usually... well, the NES has frozen a few times, but usually not. Similar to the Genesis, I guess... that's also usually okay. It just has had a problem a few times.

I wouldn't do it without a point -- that is, I leave it on to try to finish a game which I have no alternative but to leave the system on -- but it is a nice option to have, for sure. I can't do it with systems with fans or CD drives, though... too noisy, and too much of a wear on the system to make it worth it. But cart systems... yeah, sure. It won't hurt them, the worst that could happen is a freeze. :)

The freezing issue is more related to cartslot than anything else... I have tweaked the cartslots of my MDs and the 32X a bit... you can have a 32X in the MD, then cart in the 32X, then hold the whole setup in air by holding from the cart, and even shake it, and nothing happens :)

[A Black Falcon]

I've left my SNES on for as long as two weeks with no crash. :)

... The system's power plug is touchy, and if you bump the cartridges it may reset, but as long as you don't touch the system, it's solid.

With the NES (2), I sometimes leave it on overnight, but some of those times it's frozen in the morning. I haven't tried to leave the Genesis on long-term recently, but as I said I know that's happened with it too.


The freezing issue is more related to cartslot than anything else... I have tweaked the cartslots of my MDs and the 32X a bit... you can have a 32X in the MD, then cart in the 32X, then hold the whole setup in air by holding from the cart, and even shake it, and nothing happens

That's impressive though, what do you mean by tweaking it? Making it so the carts fit tighter or something? Whatever the system, usually when you bump a cartridge there's usually a good chance of a reset or something... not always of course, but sometimes.

[KnightWarrior]

I left on my Genesis 2 on by Mistake for a day..as well my Model 1 SMS, Still plays