Can't Stop Buying Repros

[starwindamada]

I know they're fake but I don't care. I'm not paying hundreds of dollars for a 30-year-old game cartridge. I'm not buying to build a collection that may be worth money someday, I'm buying to play. You can't buy carts of these games anymore so no one is being hurt by it. I'll pay someone money for an unauthorized copy of copyrighted work because it's obsolete. Twenty bucks a pop where I get them from (not ebay but I'm not saying where). I can get four games for the price of a brand new modern game today. For just a little more money I can get a repro box. My shelf looks like it came straight out of the 90s with all the repros of Genesis, SNES and N64 games, plus a few GBA titles.

Maybe in 30 years I can buy a repro Blu-ray of Indiana Jones & the Great Circle.

[bikingjahuty]

Honest question, but have you ever heard of Flash Carts and ODEs?


If all you car about is playing the game on authentic hardware, there definitely the most economic and practical solution. Instead of just one game or maybe a few if it's a multicart, you can have an entire console's library + demos, + hacks + fan games + more or less everything on one cartridge. Nearly every retro console you can think of has either a flash cart or ODE made for it which will allow you to do this. Sure, most are fairly expensive out the door, but you can buy most of them for the same price was 5 or 6 repros. Just a suggestion if you're not into the collecting aspect of the hobby.


If flash carts had been available back when I started collecting in 2008 I may have never got into the hobby personally. Like you, I was just wanting to play the games I grew up with and maybe a few that flew under my radar back in the day. One thing led to another and before I knew it I was stricken with the collecting bug, and it consumed a large portion of my time, money, and life for the next decade. I didn't start to wind down my collectorism until around 2017 or so. By then, flash carts had come a long way, and compared to now that still seemed like the dark ages a bit when it came to what modern flash carts can do and what systems they can work on.

[axiomenterance]

If I can ask then what is the point of even being on a site like this which the sole purpose is to catalogue legitimate games which in turn is to make sure the user knows their worth of their collection?

[dhaabi]

If I can ask then what is the point of even being on a site like this which the sole purpose is to catalogue legitimate games which in turn is to make sure the user knows their worth of their collection?

Who said that's the purpose of this site? There are also sorts of reasons people create accounts here and all sorts of ways they decide to catalog their information. At the same time, there are far more things the database tracks besides "legitimate" games.

[bikingjahuty]

If I can ask then what is the point of even being on a site like this which the sole purpose is to catalogue legitimate games which in turn is to make sure the user knows their worth of their collection?

Who said that's the purpose of this site? There are also sorts of reasons people create accounts here and all sorts of ways they decide to catalog their information. At the same time, there are far more things the database tracks besides "legitimate" games.

This.


I barely consider myself a collector anymore. I'm just here for the community and the 52-games challenge mostly lol.

[scoobypercent]

I think repros are pretty great if you just want to play the game without the high cost. Video games are meant to be enjoyed however it is that you enjoy them. They're also handy for games that didn't come out in certain regions e.g came out in the US but not the UK. I collect legit games myself, but have no problems with picking up the odd repro here and there.

[marvelvscapcom2]

If you're dealing with heavy hitters sure. Earthbound and the such. The appeal is lost on me because I play games in the under 60 dollars realm. And most repros are 15 to 20. So i'll pay an extra 10 to get the real deal every single time.  The games I desire to play usually arent even faked because they are already affordable.


My big gripe with fake rom collectors is id say for every honest person like you their are 2 trying to sell repro carts as real or mess with the market in some facet. Or downplay and insult physical collectors as being stupid. I cant count how many times ive seen "why tf would you spend 100 for that game? Dude just get a repro or emulate it for free" maybe because I like the damn game the way I like it lol.


It's like fake pokemon cards. The chase is part of the thrill.  I can print a charizard on my printer. It wont be the same. I know i'll probably never own a CIB Link to the past mint condition because boxed super nintendo games are 150+.   But say I do some day? Its gonna give me more satisfaction than the 15 dollar repro box I got off etsy.  Thats just how I view it.


But to some. The game is the game. And the rest is just a waste of money. And I respect and even understand that view
 Different strokes for different folks

[sworddude]

If I can ask then what is the point of even being on a site like this which the sole purpose is to catalogue legitimate games which in turn is to make sure the user knows their worth of their collection?

Who said that's the purpose of this site? There are also sorts of reasons people create accounts here and all sorts of ways they decide to catalog their information. At the same time, there are far more things the database tracks besides "legitimate" games.

repro's not catalogued though. just homebrews. Seems really pointless to catalogue repro's, maybe some of the rare decent quality stuff like from timewalk. Seems kinda pointless to do if you'd ask me however.

But to some. The game is the game. And the rest is just a waste of money. And I respect and even understand that view
 Different strokes for different folks

To me a repro is an actual waste of money, wasted plastic/cardboard what's the point. Just emulate or get an everdrive for the og experience

[dhaabi]

If I can ask then what is the point of even being on a site like this which the sole purpose is to catalogue legitimate games which in turn is to make sure the user knows their worth of their collection?

Who said that's the purpose of this site? There are also sorts of reasons people create accounts here and all sorts of ways they decide to catalog their information. At the same time, there are far more things the database tracks besides "legitimate" games.

repro's not catalogued though. just homebrews. Seems really pointless to catalogue repro's, maybe some of the rare decent quality stuff like from timewalk. Seems kinda pointless to do if you'd ask me however.

Reproduction items have long been permitted to add to the site. For example, Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park (bootleg) both exist. More often than not, database entries marked as Homebrew should actually be marked as Unofficial Release. The style guide provides this breakdown to follow:

Homebrew
The only items that should get this option are homebrew products that were not sold in the retail space.

What is not a homebrew
- fan translations
- hacks of existing games

Unofficial Release
Items that fit into this option:
- any bootleg
- any unlicensed game released for a console that was sold at retail
- any unlicensed hardware or accessory for a console
- any hacks or fan translations

Homebrew vs Unofficial Release
A homebrew that is released commercially for a console is considered to be an aftermarket or unofficial release in terms of the database. For a physical item, which is tracked in a physical game category, the context is for the item itself, not the data content.
Example: Pier Solar and the Great Architects (the game data) is a homebrew, but the products that contain the data is an Unofficial Release.

[marvelvscapcom2]

If I can ask then what is the point of even being on a site like this which the sole purpose is to catalogue legitimate games which in turn is to make sure the user knows their worth of their collection?

Who said that's the purpose of this site? There are also sorts of reasons people create accounts here and all sorts of ways they decide to catalog their information. At the same time, there are far more things the database tracks besides "legitimate" games.

repro's not catalogued though. just homebrews. Seems really pointless to catalogue repro's, maybe some of the rare decent quality stuff like from timewalk. Seems kinda pointless to do if you'd ask me however.

But to some. The game is the game. And the rest is just a waste of money. And I respect and even understand that view
 Different strokes for different folks

To me a repro is an actual waste of money, wasted plastic/cardboard what's the point. Just emulate or get an everdrive for the og experience

I agree.  The same such as the pokemon card example. I guess I was trying to play devils advocate to those who for some reason desire physical media but still use pirated roms and emulation for a cheaper price.  I'd just emulate pokemon emerald back in the day instead of getting the fake cart. But to each their own.


I will add. I have only owned 2 fakes. Both against my will.  A batman and robin for snes.  It was sold as real and I took a shot. I got full refund.  The game crashed and wouldnt work no matter what I did. Almost bricked my snes.   Then I had a fake copy of pokemon red. A bad fake at that.  It would often scramble sprites and drop saves.  So I can attest that repros have QC problems real games simply often avoid.  I wish their was a repro vectrex lol.

[sworddude]

If I can ask then what is the point of even being on a site like this which the sole purpose is to catalogue legitimate games which in turn is to make sure the user knows their worth of their collection?

Who said that's the purpose of this site? There are also sorts of reasons people create accounts here and all sorts of ways they decide to catalog their information. At the same time, there are far more things the database tracks besides "legitimate" games.

repro's not catalogued though. just homebrews. Seems really pointless to catalogue repro's, maybe some of the rare decent quality stuff like from timewalk. Seems kinda pointless to do if you'd ask me however.

Reproduction items have long been permitted to add to the site. For example, Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park (bootleg) both exist. More often than not, database entries marked as Homebrew should actually be marked as Unofficial Release. The style guide provides this breakdown to follow:

Homebrew
The only items that should get this option are homebrew products that were not sold in the retail space.

What is not a homebrew
- fan translations
- hacks of existing games

Unofficial Release
Items that fit into this option:
- any bootleg
- any unlicensed game released for a console that was sold at retail
- any unlicensed hardware or accessory for a console
- any hacks or fan translations

Homebrew vs Unofficial Release
A homebrew that is released commercially for a console is considered to be an aftermarket or unofficial release in terms of the database. For a physical item, which is tracked in a physical game category, the context is for the item itself, not the data content.
Example: Pier Solar and the Great Architects (the game data) is a homebrew, but the products that contain the data is an Unofficial Release.

what bootlegs we talking though? oldschool ones from back in the day I could somewhat see the appeal of that. or can even modern era etsy ones be catalogued?

If the latter is the case you could have 10+ different versions of the same retro game with a slightly different crappy version of a repro. haven't seen allot of people do that as of yet fortunately. but it seems really pointless if all of them can be catalogued. waste of space, would make the site crappy filled with actual garbage.

[dhaabi]

If I can ask then what is the point of even being on a site like this which the sole purpose is to catalogue legitimate games which in turn is to make sure the user knows their worth of their collection?

Who said that's the purpose of this site? There are also sorts of reasons people create accounts here and all sorts of ways they decide to catalog their information. At the same time, there are far more things the database tracks besides "legitimate" games.

repro's not catalogued though. just homebrews. Seems really pointless to catalogue repro's, maybe some of the rare decent quality stuff like from timewalk. Seems kinda pointless to do if you'd ask me however.

Reproduction items have long been permitted to add to the site. For example, Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park (bootleg) both exist. More often than not, database entries marked as Homebrew should actually be marked as Unofficial Release. The style guide provides this breakdown to follow:

what bootlegs we talking though? oldschool ones from back in the day I could somewhat see the appeal of that. or can even modern era etsy ones be catalogued?

If the latter is the case you could have 10+ different versions of the same retro game with a slightly different crappy version of a repro. haven't seen allot of people do that as of yet fortunately. but it seems really pointless if all of them can be catalogued. waste of space, would make the site crappy filled with actual garbage.

They're all valid items to add to the database. However, this isn't to imply that there should be some mass effort to curate them. Just like with a lot of other items the database tracks, they should only be submitted if someone's actually wanting to add them in some capacity to their account.

[sworddude]

If I can ask then what is the point of even being on a site like this which the sole purpose is to catalogue legitimate games which in turn is to make sure the user knows their worth of their collection?

Who said that's the purpose of this site? There are also sorts of reasons people create accounts here and all sorts of ways they decide to catalog their information. At the same time, there are far more things the database tracks besides "legitimate" games.

repro's not catalogued though. just homebrews. Seems really pointless to catalogue repro's, maybe some of the rare decent quality stuff like from timewalk. Seems kinda pointless to do if you'd ask me however.

Reproduction items have long been permitted to add to the site. For example, Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park (bootleg) both exist. More often than not, database entries marked as Homebrew should actually be marked as Unofficial Release. The style guide provides this breakdown to follow:

what bootlegs we talking though? oldschool ones from back in the day I could somewhat see the appeal of that. or can even modern era etsy ones be catalogued?

If the latter is the case you could have 10+ different versions of the same retro game with a slightly different crappy version of a repro. haven't seen allot of people do that as of yet fortunately. but it seems really pointless if all of them can be catalogued. waste of space, would make the site crappy filled with actual garbage.

They're all valid items to add to the database. However, this isn't to imply that there should be some mass effort to curate them. Just like with a lot of other items the database tracks, they should only be submitted if someone's actually wanting to add them in some capacity to their account.

This seems ridiculously bad to allow all repro's to be listed. imagine every popular super nintendo game having 10+ different repro's listed. all which look almost identical but just slightly uglier than the og. or those disc based repro's

There should be some limits to what kinda repro's are allowed. imagine if someone gets crazy enough to list these kinda repro's and updates if new ones will come. will kill the database in terms of trash.

imo only homebrews, some updated/upgraded versions of the og, oldschool bootlegs and or very high quality versions like from say timewalk that have a rep are allowed.  anything beyond that are just killing the purpose of this site. No collector should want to list these.