Topic: Dry Battery

I'm looking at buying a game but it has a dry battery.

I know the game will still work but what will it not let me do?

I'm also not able to change one as my eyesight won't allow me to, so is there anywhere that will and any idea of the cost?

Thanks

Hello there.
The consequences of a "dry battery" depend on what console the game is for, and, really, the specific game.
In simple and not-quite-perfect terms, batteries in game cartridges are used to supply power to a memory at all times in order to let that memory keep data even when the console is turned off or the cartridge is not inserted. So when the battery runs dry, you lose that "permanent" data.

However, what that permanent data even is depends on the game. In older consoles that usually meant save data, but in more "modern" games (e.g. the Pokémon games on GBA) there were multiple batteries, each supplying power to a different memory for different purposes.

For example, Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald had two batteries, one "internal battery" that was used to keep track of time even when the game was turned off (for the purposes of the Real Time Clock events in those games), and a save battery that was used for the memory that contained the save data. The internal memory had a much shorter lifespan than the save battery, hence after some years it would run dry and Real Time Clock events in those games would stop working. That's the reason behind the infamous "The internal battery has run dry, the game can be played." message. But since the save data was "fed" by the save battery and not the internal battery, saving would still work. However, eventually the save battery also runs dry and at that point the save data is lost.

Anyway, excuse the long explanation but I thought someone might be curious. In short, we need to know what the game in question is.

I don't really know where you could get the battery replaced or how much it would cost, unfortunately.

Thanks, was very informative.

It is for Ruby but I should actually go check my other Pokémon games now.

For Pokémon Ruby you definitely want to ask the seller if the battery that's dry is the internal battery (which is what prompts the "The internal battery has run dry, the game can be played." warning when you turn on the game), in which case you can play the game and save, and you can complete the game no problem. However you won't be able to do some optional side stuff that depends on the real time clock (grow berries, participate in the lottery, catch Regice, visit both versions of the Shoal Cave, etc.).

Replacing the internal battery shouldn't be very expensive anyway, it requires buying a new CR1616 battery, which costs very very little. I've never replaced it myself, but I've heard it's a pretty short and simple process, so you could try asking at some local electronics shop if they could do it for you.

Also, a small correction: the GBA Pokémon games didn't use a battery for the save data, rather it was kept in a flash memory on a small chip. It's a big difference technically, but the point is still the same, as the chip for that flash memory does eventually "die" anyway, because you can only write to a flash memory a limited number of times before it gets corrupted. This is actually still an issue nowadays, and it's the reason why you might sometimes see reminders to turn on 3DS/Switch games every now and then to prevent them from dying. I remember that some specific games, such as Fire Emblem Echoes Shadows of Valentia on 3DS, are particularly susceptible to that. There's an article about it on Time Extension if you're curious: https://www.timeextension.com/news/2025/06/physical-collector...