I have a few games that are a little hard to get started, and I have a rental that just stopped working (still have it, is due back by Friday).

Can you clean the little metal prongs with a Q-tip and alcohol? Or is it best not to try to mess with it?

Yup, you can do that. I would recommend you use alcohol that is as close to 100% as possible, 97, 98%, that way if some happens to get inside, there is no chance it will cause problems. Qtips work, but sometimes, they can leave small fibers in the contacts, so I like to use an old T Shirt or that type of fabric to clean them.

Yup, you can do that. I would recommend you use alcohol that is as close to 100% as possible, 97, 98%, that way if some happens to get inside, there is no chance it will cause problems. Qtips work, but sometimes, they can leave small fibers in the contacts, so I like to use an old T Shirt or that type of fabric to clean them.

ALcohol or a pencil eraser if you can get it in there.

Buy a 3.8 mm security screw bit (look on eBay if nothing else) and then use an eraser. That works best on NES, SNES, and N64 cartridges.

Go buy Metal/Silver cleaning polish. It works wonders.

I used rubbing alcohol and a q-tip to clean the metal prongs, took off quite a bit of dirt. But it still doesn't work.

How can an N64 game break? This is a rental and was working fine, then suddenly it just stopped working. I think my 2 year old blew on it (he saw me doing it on another game), but I think that would kill the game completely.

Any other ideas on how to get the game working? I'm still trying to figure out what to tell the rental store. It is an old, obviously used many times, game.

Go buy Metal/Silver cleaning polish. It works wonders.

Seriously it works. And Yes Games can just break. Its possible. Its a microchip in side. And they can get cracked or just be fride.