Monster Rancher can give you hundreds of hours of game play, but you've got to remember to take care of your hardware!

Save your game frequently, before battles and combining are useful places to save. Make sure you are using Sony brand memory cards, or the V-Mem.(If you have an older unit with the port in the back.) Always turn the machine on, then insert your card, play and save, remove the card before turning the machine off. There's a power surge when the machine is turned on or off, and it will eventually fry the memory in your card, corrupting the data and making it unusable. Sony warns about this on the back of the blister card that memory cards are sold on, but few people heed the warning. It can be very frustrating to be decades into this game and then have your saves lost!

There have been several models of PSX sold over the years, some tend to overheat more than others. It's a good idea to give the machine and yourself a break every few hours. Never pause the game for more than a few minutes. (I've seen people put games on pause, turn the tv off and expect to return to a paused game a few days later. They're more likely to return to dead PSX.)

Don't touch or try to clean the laser eye inside the machine. Always keep the lid closed when your system is not in use, I also have a dust cover I place over it. Cleaning can cloud the lens on the eye, and any touching may throw it out of alignment.

The system can also be knocked out of alignment by being dropped or punched. Please don't hit your PSX.

Be careful in handling your CDs. If they get scratched they may not work. Always keep them in a clean case, and never touch the bottom. It's a good idea to get in the habit of holding them by gripping the outer edge lightly along with the edge of the center hole. If your CDs become dirty, there are cleaning kits you can purchase to clean them. (Make sure the kit says it's safe for PSX discs, some CD kits contain solvents that will destroy the special black plastic PSX CDs are made of.)Blow any dust off before using a cleaner. If you do develop scratches, do not attempt to fix them unless they affect how the game plays. Some scratches can never be repaired; if the gouge is deep enough, it can remove data from the aluminum disc sandwiched inside and nothing can replace that aluminum. There is a device you can buy at software stores to grind out minor scratches. The result won't be pretty, but works most of the time. It costs about $29.99. Some used game/music stores will also re-surface CDs for $3-$5 per disc. (Some give discounts on volume.) The professional re-surfacing is great, your discs look like new. The only downside to re-surfacing is that it does wear down the disc, so it cannot be done repeatedly. Prevention of scratches is really the best overall advice.

Use Sony brand or Sony licensed (with the sony logo on the package) controllers. Third party items, manufactured without Sony's approval may not meet the exact engineering specs of the system. It's fairly common to see PSX systems with the controller ports burnt out because of bad third party controllers. It's not worth losing your system to save 5 bucks on a controller.

Make sure your system is plugged into a surge supressor. Seemingly minor power fluctuations can be fatal to your system.

If you take the time to take care of your hardware you'll enjoy a long life of carefree gaming!