u/Ok-Mongoose-4428

I will service about 8-10 Nintendo 64s for minor issues like cleaning and installing region free slots.

My understanding is that thermal pads do not simply dry out like thermal paste, and that one need only worry about replacing them if there is a clear issue like they are damaged, or the console is overheating.

But in case one of these do need new pads, any advice? I see Etsy and eBay sellers advertising replacement sets. My hunch is these sellers just have blank sheets and cut out replacements.

However, my understanding is I need 1mm thickness. It may be simpler to just purchase some full sheets from Amazon, and line up the originals to the sheet, and cut with an X-acto knife.

Does anyone have a brand to recommend?

Here is a list of what (to my knowledge) was the Nintendo 64 Western "Dream Team".

Is it just me, or when the members are alphabetized, it starts out with some of Nintendo 64's most notable Western Publishers/Developers? But then when the list hits Sierra On-Line (I am a fan, by the way), well, I will just write "err, no thank you".

Granted, Time Warner was bought up by Willams-Midway, giving us many great Rush games.

The list:

Acclaim, Angel Studios, DMA Design, Midway/Williams, Silicon, Graphics, Inc, Paradigm Simulation, Rareware, Sierra On-Line, Software Creations, Spectrum HoloByte, Ocean Software, Time Warner Interactive, Mindscape, Epilogue

My friend around 25 years ago removed his n64's cartridge slot to for region free access, but with that, operated the console without a dust cover.

The console sat in storage in well maintained conditions for around 20years. It wasn't dusty or anything, looked near mint.

Thanks to easy to buy replacement doors/screws and readily available third party region free slots, we went to restore the door, and the screw mount cracked.

I first thought the screws that came with the new slot were bad, tried an OEM screw on the other mount... cracked.

Who know, but just a warning that leaving the mounta unfilled all of these years brittled the plastic.

The good news is that an assembled console seems to hold the slot in place perfectly

To my knowledge, AES was only officially released in USA and Japan. (Feel free to correct me if wrong, and, I'm sure graymarket importing and modding for 50hz/PAL/SECAM was commonplace)

Anyway, Mortal Kombat being the alternative to Street Fighter 2 seems to be only zeitgeist in North America and parts of Europe. For many parts of the world, the alternative was SNK.

Interesting, but unfortunately for SNK, AES was not widely sold in most of those markets.

So the question is, without Mortal Kombat, would AES have sold better in the USA?

How much did Mortal Kombat popularize the fighting game genre? Could SF2 paired with FF have accomplished similar? How much of MK fandom was only from school kids talking about how cool it is that Subzero can rip Johnny Cage's head off (in other words, they likely would not have been able to get an AES anyway).

Or another way to word the question: Without MK, would SNK have filled the marketshare void in North America? And would such have promoted AES sales?

Edit: Wow. This OP is being big time misinterpreted. The question is not "Did Mortal Kombat cause AES's downfall in the USA?"

For better context, I lived Hong Kong thirty years ago - and did not even know of the popularity of MK before moving to USA. Yes, I know the console was expensive, etc. I am wondering if without MK, would that have been a wide open marketshare for SNK (not necessarily AES, but maybe could have helped AES) or did MK actually help in the USA to expand popularity of fighting games

Circa 1995 press releases on Nintendo's American 'Dreamteam' seemingly always list Sierra On-line. The only confirmed title I saw was Red Baron, with the title possibly boosting Nintendo's conceived modem gaming network.

Was Dynamix interested in Project Reality? I know Nintendo recruited Dallas based Paradigm for Pilotwings 64, so my hunch would be the platform appealed to Dynamix as they worked so much on simulations - but it seems all articles go "Nintendo wants sierra for online play" angle