Are You Sure If Every Single Video Game You Own Is Original

[tpugmire]

Aside from a few burned copies of CD-I games that I made myself, yeah, everything I own is legit. I’ve opened every cartridge that can be opened without damaging it to clean them all.

[turf]

Unless it’s s really good fake, I don’t have any fakes.
I say that, but I do have a Wily Wars. Since that wasn’t released here, I’m calling it a repro.

[drjohngalt]

I'm not positive all my carts are legit, but most of my games are commons and not worth somebody making repros.

I have spotted a few low-quality imitations with a quick visual inspection and have passed, but I might have a few knock-offs in the collection somewhere and don't know it.

If I'm making a high-dollar purchase I tend to ask to crack it open or gets pics of the board.

Handhelds are bit more tricky, but that's not my focus for collecting so don't tend to spend much money on them. I remember a few years ago we had some imitation pokemon games going around.

[oldgamerz]

This next post ties to one of the reasons why I created this thread

Bootlegs as far as I heard have been around since at least the early 1990's and maybe sooner. that is why I heard Nintendo made their

"official seal of quality" on all Nintendo licensed cartridges in the United States. starting with the Nintendo Entertainment System. and ending when the came out GameCube, I think. Also far the circuit board is concerned, people say something about the Black battery goop. On the insides of NES or SNES? I can't remember correctly.  that it is a common fake cartridge, But that may or may not be the case.

I believe sometimes shops might only replace the battery. But I never heard of anyone ever doing that.

But like some already said on here a lot of bootlegs. Have a vary close resemblance. To the real thing. Including games with a missing or distorted Nintendo Official Seal Of Quality. Found on some Nintendo cartridge games.
And sometimes the chips are even identical to the real thing. Meaning, you may need to do extensive research on every cartridge you own, (it can be a lot of work to do that even with the internet) and sometimes only an expert sometimes can tell you if the inside of the cartridge is fake or not.

Also CD/DVD/Bluray fakes I think, have a paper sticker label covering the whole disc itself so if you have a bootleg disc game it may have a paper label on it. If it is a fake.


I have a copy of Legend Of Zelda for the NES and the game still saves, but I never opened it up so I don't know if that is a fake or not because the cartridge outside is shiny golden and the label is badly torn

[Cartagia]

Bootleg isn't really the right word for the games that necessitate the Nintendo Seal of Approval.  They were simply unlicensed.  They were very often made by the OEM company, and are not copies of any other existing game.  A bootleg is generally a copy of a licensed game.  The seal is literally just a label.  There are tons of bootleg games that say they have the "Seal of Approval", because they are copy of games that do have the seal.

[oldgamerz]

Bootleg isn't really the right word for the games that necessitate the Nintendo Seal of Approval.  They were simply unlicensed.  They were very often made by the OEM company, and are not copies of any other existing game.  A bootleg is generally a copy of a licensed game.  The seal is literally just a label.  There are tons of bootleg games that say they have the "Seal of Approval", because they are copy of games that do have the seal.

all true. but I have seen fakes too being sold as the real things that don't have the seal at all, or have a fake distorted seal. This GameBoy Advance game I saw once before comes into my mind. Sometimes bootlegs can copy the seal like you just said.

bottom line is even if it's looks like a real copy with the correct seal, it still could be a fake!

but it's worth noting the seal of quality because according to my own research. some fake cartridge games don't have the seal and are still being passed off as the original

looking up the correct cartridge computer chips for every single game we pick up is still hit and miss, internet does tell lies sometimes. after all even the chip can be identical to the real thing. I don't matter to me as long as the game works, I don't think checking every single game is worth the effort. in my opinion

I seen bootleg Super Nintendo cartridges with no real screws in them on the internet too so

[sworddude]

Bootleg isn't really the right word for the games that necessitate the Nintendo Seal of Approval.  They were simply unlicensed.  They were very often made by the OEM company, and are not copies of any other existing game.  A bootleg is generally a copy of a licensed game.  The seal is literally just a label.  There are tons of bootleg games that say they have the "Seal of Approval", because they are copy of games that do have the seal.

all true. but I have seen fakes too being sold as the real things that don't have the seal at all, or have a fake distorted seal. This GameBoy Advance game I saw once before comes into my mind. Sometimes bootlegs can copy the seal like you just said.

bottom line is even if it's looks like a real copy with the correct seal, it still could be a fake!

but it's worth noting the seal of quality because according to my own research. some fake cartridge games don't have the seal and are still being passed off as the original

looking up the correct cartridge computer chips for every single game we pick up is still hit and miss, internet does tell lies sometimes. after all even the chip can be identical to the real thing. I don't matter to me as long as the game works, I don't think checking every single game is worth the effort. in my opinion

I seen bootleg Super Nintendo cartridges with no real screws in them on the internet too so

bootlegs are from them olden days and are always poor quality

anyone in this hobby could spot those instantly at least i hope so 

bootlegs never copy the real thing to fool anybody

very good reproductions are the exception. but those are modern and only a slight issue for cart only for cib it is even more rare and even than they fail with the box and especially the manual

also your talking about the picture missing stuff or it being distorted.It's kinda useless to discuss such details since every bootleg is different not to mention that good repro's should be identical so those tips are not of any issue for the better repro's out there.

The best pokemon repro carts that I have seen could fool people from a distance on pictures. but when holding them they where missing the correct gloss and most importantly the number imprinting on the lable. usually it is even more easy to spot kinda hard to fool anyone at least people who collected for a decent time i'd say.

[pzeke]

So far, everything I own is legit. I’ve contemplated getting some repros, specifically for unreleased games, like Undercover Cops for example, but I never get around to getting any.