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GBA carts and piracy
lowlylowlycook
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, in one of the RPG recommendation threads someone mentioned Golden Sun for the GBA and that prompted me looking into buying it.
Seems it's out of print so new prices on Ebay or Amazon are high. Most of the used carts are cart only, so I'm wondering if these are likely to be counterfeit. Are Amazon resellers as bad as Ebayer's in this regard?
Also are there some go-to places for older games that I should be checking out?
Seems it's out of print so new prices on Ebay or Amazon are high. Most of the used carts are cart only, so I'm wondering if these are likely to be counterfeit. Are Amazon resellers as bad as Ebayer's in this regard?
Also are there some go-to places for older games that I should be checking out?
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
lowlylowlycook on
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Try finding a used game shop in your area. They might have a little higher price tag, but at least you can see what you're buying before you buy it.
I'm mostly interested in whether pirates have taken over other stores or just Ebay.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Ebay is bad, but you'll do okay if you know what to look for.
Other stores, it depends. I've seen plenty of Brick and Morter gamestops with bootlegs stocked in the Used section.
not because Gamestop is bad, or because people like to trade in bootlegs for monies.
The problem is that a lot of innocent people "got great deals on ebay" for some games, and then when they either finished the game or had enough of the bootleg dropping their save files, they resold the bootlegs at the nearest gamestop. Gamestop employees would probably generally have no idea if the things were bootlegs, or even if they did, probably wouldn't bother checking.
That said, most US shops are fairly clean, and I'd say most GBA games stocked are OK. But it's still recommended to check it out and make sure it's not one of the bad apples that wound up there... always check..
Dunno about amazon. I assume it has similar issues as places like gamestop.
Just watch out for "cart-only" deals, stock photos, and try to ask the seller for either better photos to reveal the authenticating marks or ask them about it or something.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
Granted, I worked at a gamestop once in a moon, and our manager was aware of the few bootlegs we had, but as long as they work it "didn't matter". The coasts are alot more likely to see these things though.
Anyways, if you do find it used, tap the plastic and check the color. If something seems different, it probably is.
Final Fantasy XI -> Carbuncle - Samash
If you check the circuit board above the pins it should have the Nintendo logo and extra info.
Check the location and feedback. (For location, you're just looking for a real location, that's not in Asia.)
Check the seller's other items. If it looks like he's repeatedly selling Mario/Pokemon/Disney games for below fair market value, stay away. If it just looks like a kid selling his old videogames, you're fine.
Check the picture. There's not too much you can do with this on eBay, but check for anything obvious. I keep a GBA cart near my computer for exactly this reason.
When you get the item, check the back and circuit board for the standard features.
Goozex is also a good choice. Anything you get from there is almost certainly genuine.
Most bootlegs are made in places where English isn't a common language. They are also made as quickly and as shoddy as possible while still being mostly playable or they can show up DOA or have save files that will corrupt. You get what you pay for.
I appreciate the link btw, I will go through and check my stuff to make sure they are legit.
Makes it harder for Nintendo to come after them for trademark infringement
That's what I figured, but I'd always thought that if you were selling software bootlegs it really wouldn't matter if you spelled Nintendo right or not.
there's value in having it as close to the real thing as possible. If there ia large selection of bootlegs, folks are going to generally gravitate to the cheapest one and/or the most authetic seeming one.
I'm pretty sure he means that the legal liability for using Nintendo vs. Nintondo is small compared to flat out pirating the cart outright.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
What are the odds of a GBA game being bootleg when the seller offers a game with no box but has the cart and the manual?
Not very high. Bootlegging carts is big, but I've never seen a bootlegged manual or box before. Someone can correct me though, if there's a will, I am sure someone found a way.
Final Fantasy XI -> Carbuncle - Samash
From what I've read bootleg boxes and manual are rare but hilarious.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Yeah, the quality of bootleg carts tends to break down a bit faster. Other than that you have the same experience, as it has the same exact code inside.
Still, not something we knowingly want to support, but shit slips through the cracks. I have about 2 out of the 15 or so carts I have. Only knowingly bought one like that.
edit: Beat by Ziggy. So that's why the save goes bad so fast, it's the battery eh?
Final Fantasy XI -> Carbuncle - Samash
Yeah I was helping out trading standards for my council by opening up two GBA carts one legit one bootleg and the bootleg used a really cheap battery literally glued onto the board. Looked like a hand done effort in comparison.
The funny thing is that it is way easier to find legit used b/w Gameboy, Gameboy color games than non-bootleg GBA games. Except for the 100 in one game cartridges I can't remember any original GB b/w bootlegs. Why is that?
A kid selling GBA games isn't a save bet. Often sellers don't even know that they bought bootlegs - In realized it when I tried to return the game I purchased over ebay. (the guy I purchased from had a pretty normal selling/buying history and was pretty clueless)
The best thing to look for is the contacts at the bottom of the cartridge + the logo, if you are buying used cards. Most crappy bootlegs also don't cut the contact off after a few mm - the contacts go much further inside.
The only positive surprise I had when searching for used GBA games was when I found Tactics Orge for EUR 10 in very good condition + original box (US) + included advertisements + booklet. I couldn't believe my eyes. I assume that the kid who sold this didn't speak/understand English. The save on the card loaded the game at a place just past the opening chapter (maybe the person not liking SRPGs might also be a valid reason).
My roommate got a new shrinkwrapped copy of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance for GBA that was a bootleg. He didn't really notice until he went to look something up in the manual. It was just a few pages of screenshots from the PC game with short sentences next to them. Then he took a closer look at the box, which mangled the English language beyond belief.
I've picked up a pirated DS game on eBay before, too. I bought a complete copy that I paid retail price for right after the game came out. The case was what tipped me off, because the cart arrived loose in the case. The print quality on the manual and case wrap was a little fuzzy if you looked closely, but otherwise everything was kosher. The only difference on the cart itself seems to be the lack of inked stamp below the Nintendo logo and NTR code. Otherwise the white stamp on the circuits, the code on the label on the front, the other info on the back, everything matches with legit games.
This is a reasonable suggestion
But only if you don't know anything about trademark law whatsoever.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Most of these bootlegs come from china and southeast asia. They show little care about trademark infringement and copyright infringement. NINTONDO is likely just a misspelling since it isn't their native language.
That being said, I would never buy a DS or GBA game on eBay because they're so fucking easy to pirate in the first place.
Edit: And this makes me realize that I'll likely never buy a GBA game again unless it's new directly from Amazon themselves.
Unless I somehow convince myself to step into a Gamestop, where I can actually inspect the cartridge.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
Nice way to make assumptions about what I intended with my post 8-)
Ah, one of the few joys of UK gaming. EBay is pretty much 100% safe as all pirate games use US box art. If the auction has a photo and you can see a PEGI rather than an ESRB rating on the box then you're good to go.
And taking into account that I was told on this thread that auctions with manuals were not likely to be fake, and the guy is from a real location in the US, I bought it.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&Item=260305947160
Here's the auction if anyone wants to see it.
Should be good, and if it's a pirated cart you could probably get your money back.
These are fairly rare occurances compared to the basic "cart-only" bootleg though.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
No idea, but I've read plenty of stories of bootlegged manuals.
Maybe there is some sort of competition between bootleggers to offer more shit for the same bootleg price. I would secondarily guess that some bootleggers feel like they're more likely to sell, or get a higher price, if they can offer a cheaply-made manual with the bootlegged game. It's not like it costs much to throw together a shitty manual in 5 minutes and then start photocopying.
Some of the more sophosticated bootlegs are simply more sophisticated because it costs nothing to make them more accurate to the original. Early bootlegs had totally the wrong cartridge plastic color. "Fixing" the color is a simple matter for these bootleggers, so why not do so if it's more likely to get you a sale, even if marginally?
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
My parents bought a bunch of bootleg dvds last time they were in Indonesia. There's a season 1 set of Grey's Anatomy that has episodes from season 1 and 2 in random order. Aren't there at least a dozen programs that can rip, shrink and copy dvds with one touch of the button? I don't see this as a problem of time, effort or money.
Maybe they just downloaded the episodes and burned them to DVD instead of copying the retail version. Do they have the normal extras?