What's the longest lived backup battery you've ever had?

[SignOfZeta]

The battery in my Neo Geo memory card still works.

I've owned it since 1995 when a friend of mine gave it to me. It was new from a shipping box of the things that I'm pretty sure were years old even then.

Conservatively this thing is 23 years old, presumably rated for 5-7 years. I've probably fed 60 batteries to my Saturns in that time.

Can anyone beat that?

[esteban]

Nothing.

[TheClash603]

Do battery backups in NES games count?  As far as I know, all of my games from the 1980s which had batteries are still holding saves.

Sega must've been doing something wrong.  My Saturn and DC VMU feel like they needed monthly batteries.

[ToyMachine78]

My original Zelda cart battery is still going. I've had the thing since January 88. Pretty impressive!

[NecroPhile]

The oldest are my Tennokoe Bank hueys.  I got 'em 10 or 15 years ago when they were already at least a decade old.

[Gredler]

Do battery backups in NES games count?  As far as I know, all of my games from the 1980s which had batteries are still holding saves.

Sega must've been doing something wrong.  My Saturn and DC VMU feel like they needed monthly batteries.

I was going to post the same thing. I pop a new battery whenever I start a new Saturn game to make sure I dont lose a save.

[LostFlunky]

Do battery backups in NES games count?  As far as I know, all of my games from the 1980s which had batteries are still holding saves.

Sega must've been doing something wrong.  My Saturn and DC VMU feel like they needed monthly batteries.

I was going to post the same thing. I pop a new battery whenever I start a new Saturn game to make sure I dont lose a save.

I don't even bother with Saturn saves anymore... I would be putting batteries in that thing like quarters to a slot machine..

[Gypsy]

Do battery backups in NES games count?  As far as I know, all of my games from the 1980s which had batteries are still holding saves.

Sega must've been doing something wrong.  My Saturn and DC VMU feel like they needed monthly batteries.

The Saturn definitely requires a lot of replacements, but not nearly as bad as those damn VMUs.

[bob]

My original Zelda cart battery is still going. I've had the thing since January 88. Pretty impressive!

same here

[gheebee]

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins still had all the saves on it when my brother gave me his copy a little while back, he probably got it not too long after it was released too. Watch all the saves be gone the next time I play it since I posted this...

[Gentlegamer]

My Zelda II cart still has my completed save game from 1989.

[ClodBusted]

I don't really know which of my games held the longest, but I know that my F-Zero cartridge can't hold a save for more than a week ever since I got it at SNES launch time in Europe.  Fine with me, there's nothing to unlock anyway and this means I've got the opportunity getting best time records everytime I fire up the game. I compare this cart to an incontinent old man. Or rather Alzheimer's disease.

Pokémon Gold held its save for about 15 years before finally losing it. Ah well, there went my dozen of level 100 Pokémon, all trained, no rarecandies.

[SignOfZeta]

Do battery backups in NES games count?  As far as I know, all of my games from the 1980s which had batteries are still holding saves.

Sega must've been doing something wrong.  My Saturn and DC VMU feel like they needed monthly batteries.

The Saturn definitely requires a lot of replacements, but not nearly as bad as those damn VMUs.

Well, you don't actually need batteries in a VMU to save. You only need it for autonomous VMU functionality. The storage itself is flash.

But I see your point and I agree. Saturn batteries last like a year or two if you buy good ones. If you buy a brand free 100 pack of CR2032s for $2 don't expect Energizer lifespan.

[Gypsy]

Do battery backups in NES games count?  As far as I know, all of my games from the 1980s which had batteries are still holding saves.

Sega must've been doing something wrong.  My Saturn and DC VMU feel like they needed monthly batteries.

The Saturn definitely requires a lot of replacements, but not nearly as bad as those damn VMUs.

Well, you don't actually need batteries in a VMU to save. You only need it for autonomous VMU functionality. The storage itself is flash.

But I see your point and I agree. Saturn batteries last like a year or two if you buy good ones. If you buy a brand free 100 pack of CR2032s for $2 don't expect Energizer lifespan.

Right, you only need it for things you don't actually use. I only know about the battery life because of I want to say something with Sonic Adventure but it has been many years so I'm not 100% sure. I do remember they die super fast though.

I'm about 1 year into my current Saturn battery. Definitely worth buying a good one to have to dick with it less.

[SignOfZeta]

The oldest are my Tennokoe Bank hueys.  I got 'em 10 or 15 years ago when they were already at least a decade old.

Ah, yes. That's a good one. I have one as well and it was still a working a year or two ago when I used it last, and it may be older than my Neo Geo memory card.

[LostFlunky]

Anyone have a Dreamcast with a working original battery?  I have three (2 were bought new) and all three are dead.

[SignOfZeta]

Mine is years dead. I don't really use it for anything though so I just set the time.

[xcrement5x]

My DC clock battery is dead as well but I keep meaning to just open it up and replace it with a supercap. 

Personally owned though, the save battery for my original SegaCD lasted well into about 2010 until I got it back from being someplace else for awhile and the battery had finally gone out.  Thankfully most stuff there was just backed up on the RAM cart.  Oh, and I also agree on making sure you use a good 2032 in your Saturn, it'll last much much longer than a knockoff.

[esteban]

The oldest are my Tennokoe Bank hueys.  I got 'em 10 or 15 years ago when they were already at least a decade old.

Ah, yes. That's a good one. I have one as well and it was still a working a year or two ago when I used it last, and it may be older than my Neo Geo memory card.

I just used mine (Tennokoe Bank) last week, so, damn, I guess that counts.

I think most of my NES games still work (I haven't tested them all in the last year, though...only a few).

I know that my SNES/SFC and Gameboy crap has been very mixed (a lot of dead batteries)....

...of course, I always wondered if it was due to the fact that I bought a lot of used games that might have been stored under horrible conditions.

You see, games that I purchased new have held up well.

I was curious if anyone had figured out the "math" behind the energy drain on a battery in a cart and, guess what?

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/193374-battery-life-of-old-game-cartridges/

I have no idea if this is reliable info, but I found it incredible that a battery could, theoretically, have a lifespan of 70 years.

Corrosion and other physical failures could occur, I reckon, even if the storage conditions are appropriate.

Still... 70 years for an NES cart?

Damn.

[TheClash603]

My non-scientific research is I have seen some dead Gameboy batteries and have not seen dead NES batteries.

Based on this, the 70 year Atari Age myth is NOT busted.

[in99flames]

My original Zelda that I got in 1986 ish still has its original and is STILL working.  My Neo Geo memory cards are also working.

[BigusSchmuck]

Here I thought people were talking about battery backups as in UPSes lol. I still have a functioning F-Zero battery back when I purchased it on launch day.

[wildfruit]

I've got some game boy games that still hold a save. Had most since early 90s.

[ClodBusted]

Now that I think about it, it's no wonder that Pokemon Gold lost it's save. The battery also powered a real time clock built into the cartridge.

[seieienbu]

I think Dragon Warrior is the oldest game I have that still saves?  My Zelda 1 copy stopped being able to save at some point.

I've been told that if you don't leave VMUs in the controllers when the DC isn't on the batteries last longer.

[johnnykonami]

I just hooked up my Saturn after a long time to play the Policenauts translation, and all the saves on my action replay cart were still there.  My friend also just gave me some of his old GB games - one of which was Link's Awakening (gray cart) that had saves still from when he was a kid.  My newer Link's Awakening I've had since the 90's (black cart) had my save still, and my friend had a Final Fantasy Legend that we just checked and still had his childhood save.  Most GB carts seem to do pretty well.  The onboard Saturn memory was wiped though, and my TurboDuo as well.