May 2nd, 2012 
Kamran Draeger
Pokémon fans around the world were devastated to find out that all of their Gameboy cartridges would soon be wiped clean of their save games, but discoveries have shown that it’s not too late.
The original fear of losing your data came from the way files are saved on various Gameboy cartridges. Inside every game there is a small battery that kept them powered at all times, as this was the easiest way to store files when the GB, GBC and GBA were released (if you have the Pokémon Crystal or other transparent titles, you can see the flat disc-like battery). What is commonly known is that these batteries last for about 15 years and seeing that Pokémon was launched in North America in September 1998, fans believed the clock was ticking.
A new by Nintendo handyman Adr990 however shows that there is a simple way to replace cartridge batteries without losing your saves. Adr himself claims its so easy that he’s “actually surprised no one tried this before”.
“As a game cart with a dead battery still does save your game as long as it is in your console playing, it means that the SRAM is powered. The SRAM keeps your data, and has to be powered all the time to keep the data,” the youtuber explains. “So, as the console powers the SRAM, you can just get the battery, and replace it while it’s on! Just make sure the battery is in there securely before you power off the console. Then take the game out for a few seconds, and plug it back in the console.”
Depending on what battery you use, the replacement should hold for up to another 10-20 years. Adr recommends a 2032 4v Coin Cell Battery.
Seeing how many cartridge based titles have batteries for storing user data, gamers everywhere should be sure to maintain their collections. Especially when thinking of a series like Pokémon, it can’t go unsaid that even in our current generation communities across the globe continue to treasure these old school classics.
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15 years? Hahaha
When Gold came out i had 10 years old, and i had all pokemon’s and was all the time playing with friends. So it’s no surprise that with a save with 999 hours that battery only got 4/5 years of life xD
just download roms and save them on save states that easy.
Well that’s pretty shady mate. Also, nothing beats holding my old Gameboy and hearing that Nintendo ‘ding’ as I load up a game.
this is kind of old news. But, it’s good to let gamers know that this is something they can fix. I posted a tutorial on this a while back myself.
it’s not just GB games that you have to worry about. it’s all your old school carts with internal memory.
I think this is a little bit late, My Red and Blue batteries expired years ago.
Also, how would you go about disassembling a cartridge while it is inside the gameboy?
disassemble it before it goes in and be careful sliding it into the gb