After mentioning I'd had a clear out in the attic and found my old NES to the barlady at my local, she said she would love to play mario again, so did I.
So last Monday I brought it down to the pub, set it up, switched it on, no light on.....but in the end remembered you had to play around with the plug in order to get it working, messed around a bit and had it working, wrapped tape around the wire so it wouldn't move, then spent the night playing Super Mario Bros 3, ABSOMOTIVELY BEEEEEEEWILIANT.
I suggest other of you do the same, dig out your old antique consoles and play for nostalgia's sake. I even played some Goldeneye and have the n64 set up permanently now. The NES is still in the pub
