Post subject: Games that can be bricked by glitching?
Joined: 8/7/2011
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The recent Harmony of Dissonance submission warns against using a particular glitch on real hardware because it can brick the system if it triggers the wrong memory address and activates a demo version flag. Got me wondering if there's any other game cartridges that can be bricked purely with internal glitches. I figure it would have to be some game that actually has save data or specialized hardware on cartridge that can be damaged through some software issue (while I know NISA has screwed up badly enough that at least one of their translations had a bug that can damage the console, this is about bricking games, not the system).
Lobsterzelda
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Supposedly, doing the castle crush glitch in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest (for the SNES) can sometimes cause people's cartridges to become unusable. However, it's possible that this is just a rumor, so further testing would have to be done to confirm that this could actually happen. For example: Link to video
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Do these really count when the solution is as simple as removing the battery (or at some point the battery dies and you can play the game, albeit with the cart unable to hold a save).
Joined: 8/7/2011
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Non-battery memory was in use by at least GBA. It seems "brick" is now used to include something that is recoverable with external resources but presently useless, at least in current usage.
Mitjitsu
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deuxhero wrote:
Non-battery memory was in use by at least GBA. It seems "brick" is now used to include something that is recoverable with external resources but presently useless, at least in current usage.
It's a case be case basis. Games like Ruby/Sapphire, Metroid Fusion and HoD use an internal battery as shown here
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Pokemon isn't a battery save: The battery is only for the internal clock in RSE. It's perfectly possible (indeed, now common after nearly two decades) for cartridges to have a dead internal battery (and thus stuck clock) but still save fine. FRLG has no battery at all. Here's a page with internal pics of the cartridges. https://chieftain20.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/complete-guide-to-authentic-gba-pokemon-games/ From what a quick search digs up, the same type did indeed vary rather extensively for GBA.
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I think Tompa once mentioned a bug to me that bricks a Zelda game (SNES or GBC?). It involves getting more hearts than possible and the savegame selection screen crashes because of it.
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As it happens, Larry Bundy Jr just released a Fact Hunt video about this: Link to video The five games mentioned: * Anthem (PS4) (corrupts hard disk data, requires rebooting the console into Safe Mode to fix) * Age of Empires: The Age of Kings (NDS) (cartridge can be bricked by entering a name shorter than four characters) * Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (PC) (deletes the wrong folder on uninstall) * Mighty No. 9 (Wii U) (not actually a brick, just a hardlock) * Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES) (already mentioned above, requires battery removal or save deletion to fix) It looks like #2 is closest to what OP is looking for.
Patashu
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We have a new candidate: Illusion of Gaia after doing a heavy memory corruption glitch creates a save file that crashes the main menu on sight. http://tasvideos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=500225#500225
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