Topic: I need Nintendo 64 Help!

Hello Nintendo Fans out there,

I am new to this "Nintendolife" and I have a situation with my Nintendo 64 and I am desperately looking for help. I have just bought a brand new, fresh out of the box, Nintendo 64. I bring it home, and open the box eagerly and plug everything in correctly to my Toshiba REGZNA LCD t.v. but there is no picture or sound. I selected "Video Input" and nothing is happening. I have no idea what else I need to, is there a plug/cord I need to buy for the N64 to be compatible with my t.v. or what ? I know this isn't the place to be asking for tech support or whatever but I need help!
Thank you

Well I can tell you the problem. You are connecting it to an LCD tv. Any system before the Wii is best played on a good old fashion CRT TV.

Try manually tuning a TV channel with your N64 turned on. This is what I had to do to connect my Sega Multi-Mega to my 40" LED

Is the cartridge dirty? Get a Q-tip slightly damp with 71-91% alcohol to clean it.

@Tasuki Is it absolutely necessary, buying or whatever, getting an older t.v.? I mean, isn't there like a way to get an adapter or something, to connect my N64 to my LCD t.v.?

@8BitSamurai Is that even safe? Cleaning the inside of the cartilage with a Q-tip that's damped with alcohol? I mean, no way the N64 is dirty, it's totally brand new.

@Ootfan98 After connecting the N64 to the back of my t.v., I have changed the output to AV/Component and still, no picture or sound.
I have seen like, tutorials on different ways to connect the N64 to a LCD t.v. or some kind of Plasma and they all seem so simple. I've even seen a method of connecting, by inserting the Video and Audio components to the a VCR or DVD player. But still, no dice for me.

put the catridge on the slot and hit it down(it works for me...)

and N64 looks horrible on new non-CRT TVs...

@DRYOU123: It's not necessary but as @GuSilverFlame pointed out N64 games look horrible on non CRT TVs, Besides CRT TVs are dirt cheap now a days you can easily pick up a good size one at a garage sale or a thrift store for twenty dollars or less. Do yourself that and you will appreciate the look of your N64 games alot more. I have a 48 LCD for my Wii U, PS4 and Xbox 360 but for all my retro systems I have a CRT TV.

I was thinking about buying an HDMI converter to composite @Tasuki . Hooking up the Video and Audio components to the end of the converter, and hook up my HDMI cord to the other end of the converter. And then connect the other end of the HDMI cord to my t.v. I have seen like, You Tube videos, recommending the "HDMI Converter" for the Nintendo 64. But I am not sure, I don't want to buy anything yet, unless I have a for sure solution to my dilemma. I know I could get a CRT t.v. at a nearby Thrift Store but, it's just kinda of a hassle.

The quality of putting it on the HD T.V is horable. I even hooked up my old playstation 2 to my T.V and even my Xbox, both of them you could barly see what was happening and it made me sick to play it.

Basically your only option is to get a older T.V。

Trust me on this it wouldn't be a hassle. Older consoles were never meant to be played on HD TVs which is why you get the problems you get, poor picture quality, lag etc. Yeah there are some half donkey solutions like cables and converters but they wont be as good as a CRT which in fact would ruin your gaming experience. I did hook up my older systems to my HD TV so I can tell you first hand it's not worth it. I was a much happier gamer playing those systems on the TVs they were meant to be played on.

_{I wonder where @Waveboy is this stuff is right up his alley}

The console won't be dirty, but it's very common for games to be dirty when you buy them. And yes, it is 100% safe to use a Q-tip to clean it, damp with 71-91% isopropyl. I have cleaned pretty much every cartridge game I own at one point or another with it, I've cleaned systems with it, controllers, all successfully.

Also, when I do play my N64, I use regular composite cables on an HDTV, and I have zero problems at all. Unless you're a purist, I really don't think it's worth going through all the trouble to go out and get a heavy and cumbersome CRT TV, HDTV's will be sufficient for pretty much all old systems for the average joe (That is, of course, provided you have the appropriate port, which you do).

I like how Nintendo 64 game look in HDTV. In my opinion, that very nice, and the colors are vivid.

By the way, I had the same problem, I just plugged with another cable onto my TV. It's strange but my HDTV "accepts" older consoles only with SCART cable, with RGB not.

@DRYOU123 Wow a brand new Nintendo 64, nice!

I'm an N64 fanatic and I know quite a lot about TVs so I'm in my element with this problem!

First of all, what connection are you using? Here in the UK where I am, the N64 comes with an RF lead and switcher, but in America and I think the rest of Europe the standard lead is a composite cable (like you get with the Gamecube and Wii).

Even though you have no picture or sound, can you see any difference to the TV screen when you switch the N64 on, like a little flicker? If when you turn it on you are just seeing a black screen, but there is definitely something happening when you turn it on, then it could just mean the cartridge has some dust or dirt on the contacts like 8BitSamurai said.

Let us know if you've got anywhere since your last post but don't worry if you haven't, I only joined Nintendo Life a few months ago but I've found that there are lots of very nice people here so you can rely on us to get you sorted!

I have had no problem with most of my retro consoles connected to my LED. I only have an Issue with my N64, if I am using composite (game cube) lead. If I use the standard RF cable (standard in UK), picture is ok for me. Only Issue is I had to Tune a TV channel in Anologue Mode to get a Picture

@Ootfan98 Yeah whenever you connect equipment to the ariel socket it has to be tuned in so there was nothing wrong there.

Like Tasuki and Waveboy have said, a tube TV is a must for retro games to look their best! In fact for ANY Standard Definition signal (not just games consoles) tube TVs are best. Long live CRT!