> I only ever ran into the reliability issues on NES and N64, but they were annoying > when they happened. Also on-cart backup batteries are a PITA.
I hear you. Add the SNES and Mega Drive/Genesis to that list as well. Not just dirty carts and loose contacts on the console, but and in the case of the Mega Drive, failing/faulty ROM chips which require a resistor soldered to ground to get them running again (it seems that anything from 330 through 1000 ohms is fine, although testing known good games it should be around 820-1000, see here).