You ever notice how most if not all licensed NES games have a very small portion of the contact that extends farther to the bottom edge of the PCB than the rest of the contact-proper like this?
http://satoshimatrix.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/nes-snrom-0...

Are these vital for a game to boot/be playable?


Reason for asking:

I'm trying to figure out why this good condition NES game I have "Spelunker" is booting to a black or grey screen on 3 different NES systems I own and after cleaning the cart with: staedtler eraser, qtips+91%alcohol, and finally mild use of magic eraser on the cart edge. 

The only thing I notice is the contacts have those little extensions, but most are worn down almost completely or were just nubs to begin with. No signs of burnage, other than that, I suspect it's just a dead ROM :/ 

Those tiny lines do nothing, they are just there to help with fabrication. You can see other traces go off the end of the top of the board too. Where the NES connector makes contact should be obvious where the wear lines end.

Okay, I assumed that to be the case, but wasn't too sure. Thanks bunnyboy. Case closed.