Why Super Nintendos Lose Their Color

http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/189

Saw this on the digg. Had to post.

That white plastic thing where the LED is on european Mega Drives also become yellow after a while (yep, the one you hate, Joe Redifer). I think I will just replace mine with another one when it's too ugly. Or paint it blue.

I've actually used white vinegar to clean up my SNES, and it looks close to new. To be honest, I think the whole discoloration argument is HIGHLY exaggerated.

I'm looking at selling mine, and it was always kept in a rather dark room, so it looks brand new.

My SNES had yellowing on the bottom, but not the top. A friend of mine gave me his SNES, which was yellowed on the top, but not the bottom. So I put his top on my SNES and now I have a perfect SNES which is better than other SNES's. I also have an all-yellow SNES that I can sell on eBay for a hefty profit.

Mine's not so bad, actually, and I can't understand why. I've owned it since launch day!

Perhaps you are doing something wrong?

Or it could be because I'M BATMAN and thusly all my high-tech equipment that isn't my car doesn't get a lot of direct sunlight. You know, being in the batcave and all.

Maybe that was my mistake. What does Batman need with a Super Nintendo?

But it's not light that is the direct cause, it's oxygen. You could leave a Super Nintendo outside in the sun on the moon for many decades and it will still look like new.

...right. Batman knew that. :p

Maybe I just got a better mixture of the plastic chemicals he mentioned. I mean, my SNES is hardly spotless, but it's a lot greyer than most of them I see.

Is there not a fairly similar problem with the white Sega Saturns? Quite a few of them seem to be a little bit yellow if not completely...

Yellowed US SNES' look like smokers' teeth. Urgh.

My SNES and Dreamcast are creamy white thank you very much :)

How odd. I've never had any discoloration trouble on any of my electronics...NES, SNES, Dreamcast, old Macs, old Peecees...

*shrug* Search me. I don't think the discoloration would even bother me if it were to happen, though. As long as my consoles still play games, I'm happy.

Hmm that would explain why my NES looks like shit. I just thought the kid before me kept it next to a window or something like that.

my SNES has this.. AND it's cracking where the two halves come together.. it's litterally brittle.. every time i pick it up, something rattles inside of it.. everytime i open it up and get rid of the lose piece, a new piece comes back..