I need to see if my cool "new" nintendo NES system works before giving it as a present, how do I set it up?

Question

Im pretty sure I have all of the parts and adapters, its just a matter of setting it up. Thanks!

Answer 1

to hook it up, see picture in the link - http://i11.tinypic.com/2ymziav.jpg - sorry, i'm not a good artist

there are several things that might happen when you turn on the nes without a game in it. it might stay on (the red light means that power is going to the system) and you'll see a gray or a black screen. it might blink on (red light/ black or gray screen) and off, over and over again. there are no screens that appear when there are no games inside.

if a game doesn't load right away, the 72 pin connector MIGHT be shot, but clean the game first. do not blow into the game. this might seem to work, and might be tempting when you're frustrated, but there is moisture on your breath no matter how dry you think it is. it is natural. instead, take a q-tip and put it in rubbing alcohol. push the q-tip on the side of the inside of the rubbing alcohol bottle so that there isnt' too much liquid, and rub both sides of the chip at the bottom of a nintendo game. let dry.

if the nintendo still blinks with a game that is clean, you need a new 72 pin connector, an item that is readily available on sites like ebay - http://video-games.search.ebay.com/72-pin_Connectors_W0QQcatrefZC6QQfgtpZQQfposZ19115QQfromZR2QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQlopgZQQsacatZ41046QQsadisZ200QQsaprchiZQQsaprcloZQQsargnZQ2d1QQsaslcZ2QQsbrftogZ1QQsofocusZbs - and can usually be found for less than 8 bucks for both the item and the shipping. generally when you buy a pin connector, the seller will give instructions on how to install - it really isn't very hard at all

Answer 2

if it is the original 8bit NES system, it will have an AC adapter that will plug from the system into a power outlet. it also has a grey plastic box with a couple of cords and an extra coax port on it. you plug the smaller cord into the matching port in the NES, then the longer cord screws into the coax port in the back of your tv. if you have Cable tv running into your tv with a coax cable already, you will need to unscrew your cable tv, screw it into the free port on your little grey NES box, then screw the long coax cord from the box into the back of the tv. this connects both your cable channels and the NES to your tv at once. now you just need to turn on the tv and the system, and find the channel your NES is on. the NES has a switch on the back that reads "CH3" and "CH4", whichever one you have it switched to is what channel your game will be on.