How to identify your game's version + How to identify fake GBA carts

2012-08-03 11:06:00 am

Fucking Weeaboo

Generally UKV is a European stamp for games in the UK. The last three letters really don't matter, what matters is the main 4 (in your case, BR5P), which are indeed the correct 4 for Cybeast Gregar.

tsutomu

2012-08-05 09:29:53 am

Where can I find a legit copy of leafgreen?

yggdrizzle

Edit history:

yggdrizzle: 2012-08-12 03:38:44 pm

2012-08-12 03:38:19 pm

re: leafgreen or buying any other gba pokemon game

Do not buy from any eBay seller that does not offer returns. All Amazon sellers -have- to take returns within their set period. If you accidently buy a bootleg, ask for a return; if declined, open a eBay claim or an Amazon A-to-Z claim.

eBay: Find a picture of a legit cart and find something identical. Do not buy from non-US sellers. Do not buy from any seller who has a history of selling many of these carts in a short time (click "See other items", and then "completed listings"; if they relist with a quantity, it might show how many they've sold on the item page as well). Do not buy from any seller with negative feedback for similar items.

Amazon: Sellers who describe their cartridge as not fake/legitimate might know what they're talking about. Most sellers will respond to questions--ask for a description or pictures.

bangerra

2012-08-12 04:03:56 pm

When I bought FireRed from eBay this guy had "amateuristic" pictures of the cart and box, looking like the legit game. When I received it however it was a completely different box/game:

Complete with shitty printed box and 6 page booklet!
After the sale this guy completely disappeared from eBay.

Conclusion: Never buy pokemon games from eBay!

Sir VG

2012-08-12 06:07:39 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

You certainly can buy them from eBay, you just need to be smart about it. Buying a copy from somebody who's only been on a short while, has a low eBay score, or is from China (the worst offender of bootleg games) is not a good place to buy Pokemon (or most other) games.

Xcell

2013-04-30 05:10:08 am

Quote:

"So how is one to identify a fake without tearing open every cart to tell? There's actually one fairly easy way to do so. You do need some good light to do this though. If you hold the cart as if you're reading the label, then tilt the bottom up, you can see the connection part of the cart itself. If you look above the connection pins and try to look under the plastic, you should see white lettering that looks like a white Nintendo in there. The save types pictures are good examples, but I'll post another picture below of a close up.

While the design varies a little bit, it will always exist in some shape or form on real carts. Fake carts will NEVER have them."

Ive got a bootleg Final Fantasy 6 game and it has those information on it. So the only way to know whether it is a bootleg or not is to open the GBA game

Sir VG

2013-04-30 05:39:06 am

Fucking Weeaboo

Pictures, please. If you can open up the cart, that would be great. However, I don't believe that you actually have a fake cart w/ the NINTENDO text on it. I've NEVER seen a fake cart with that on there, and most of the time I don't even need to go that far to find out it's a fake.

xcell

2013-04-30 08:50:40 am

[url][URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/515/dsc0383jw.jpg/]

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Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/url]

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I know how you can spot a fake GBA cartridge without opening it up. If you look at back of the cartridge youll see the Nintendo logo written in a diffrent Font style. It looks abit like an Arial thin font style. Same goes with the nintendo logo above the pins

Sir VG

Edit history:

Sir VG: 2013-04-30 11:57:24 am

2013-04-30 11:42:58 am

Fucking Weeaboo

That's a damn impressive fake. And I thought I got the best one in that Contra cart.

I notice something around the main chip (on the left). I'm wondering if the cartridge actually was genuine at one point, but the person did something at one point to that chip to add their own stuff. There's an unusual amount of mess around there. The other possibility is that the chip makers got smart and started stamping in there in an attempt to fool people. The Nintendo text is there, but it looks a bit on the thin side. But given that if people are gonna look for it, they're just gonna notice it's there and then move on.

Either way, thanks for the picture. It adds some valuable information and I hope I can use it to find new ways to identify fake GBA carts, since they continue to be the most copied cart type I've ever seen.

Edit: I noticed something with your cart that made me dig out a bunch of my various European carts. There is one more identifying feature I see on the front cover that identifies it as fake w/o opening it up. Look at the red Nintendo logo on the front. All GBA carts say LICENSED BY in small text right above the logo. Yours doesn't. Now it may be that it's the case that FF6A is one that doesn't (judging by a bunch of pictures of the cart I've found on Google), but I have a feeling that's not the case. I scrounged through a pile of carts I have around, both European and not, and they all have that.

I'm gonna bring it up with some of my friends at a video game documentation forum, since a lot of them are from overseas. Maybe I'm right about it missing it and maybe I'm not. But still, if the fakers are getting better, then I need to find new ways to tell. You shouldn't have to open up every fake cart to tell its such...

That's a damn impressive fake. And I thought I got the best one in that Contra cart.

I notice something around the main chip (on the left). I'm wondering if the cartridge actually was genuine at one point, but the person did something at one point to that chip to add their own stuff. There's an unusual amount of mess around there. The other possibility is that the chip makers got smart and started stamping in there in an attempt to fool people. The Nintendo text is there, but it looks a bit on the thin side. But given that if people are gonna look for it, they're just gonna notice it's there and then move on.

Either way, thanks for the picture. It adds some valuable information and I hope I can use it to find new ways to identify fake GBA carts, since they continue to be the most copied cart type I've ever seen.

Edit: I noticed something with your cart that made me dig out a bunch of my various European carts. There is one more identifying feature I see on the front cover that identifies it as fake w/o opening it up. Look at the red Nintendo logo on the front. All GBA carts say LICENSED BY in small text right above the logo. Yours doesn't. Now it may be that it's the case that FF6A is one that doesn't (judging by a bunch of pictures of the cart I've found on Google), but I have a feeling that's not the case. I scrounged through a pile of carts I have around, both European and not, and they all have that.

I'm gonna bring it up with some of my friends at a video game documentation forum, since a lot of them are from overseas. Maybe I'm right about it missing it and maybe I'm not. But still, if the fakers are getting better, then I need to find new ways to tell. You shouldn't have to open up every fake cart to tell its such...

yggdrizzle

2013-04-30 01:42:43 pm

Quote from Sir VG:

Edit: I noticed something with your cart that made me dig out a bunch of my various European carts. There is one more identifying feature I see on the front cover that identifies it as fake w/o opening it up. Look at the red Nintendo logo on the front. All GBA carts say LICENSED BY in small text right above the logo. Yours doesn't. Now it may be that it's the case that FF6A is one that doesn't (judging by a bunch of pictures of the cart I've found on Google), but I have a feeling that's not the case. I scrounged through a pile of carts I have around, both European and not, and they all have that.

This is the offical PAL cart, which is basically identical to the one pictured above. No reason they can't simply scan the original and use that. http://pics.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1198685380-00.jpg

None of the US FF carts have that text. I only own a few US games, but none of them have it either.

A better check would be to look for the two-digit stamp (sometimes there's multiple stamps), though I'm not certain if PAL GBA carts use that. I have a few PAL GB carts, and they do, so I'll assume they have it.

Also, the font of "Nintendo" on that board is not the same as US/J carts, and I'd imagine PAL uses the same font. I also don't know if the holes on the pins are normal, but I'll guess they're not.

[quote="Sir VG"]Edit: I noticed something with your cart that made me dig out a bunch of my various European carts. There is one more identifying feature I see on the front cover that identifies it as fake w/o opening it up. Look at the red Nintendo logo on the front. All GBA carts say LICENSED BY in small text right above the logo. Yours doesn't. Now it may be that it's the case that FF6A is one that doesn't (judging by a bunch of pictures of the cart I've found on Google), but I have a feeling that's not the case. I scrounged through a pile of carts I have around, both European and not, and they all have that.[/quote]

This is the offical PAL cart, which is basically identical to the one pictured above. No reason they can't simply scan the original and use that. http://pics.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1198685380-00.jpg

None of the US FF carts have that text. I only own a few US games, but none of them have it either.

A better check would be to look for the two-digit stamp (sometimes there's multiple stamps), though I'm not certain if PAL GBA carts use that. I have a few PAL GB carts, and they do, so I'll assume they have it.

Also, the font of "Nintendo" on that board is not the same as US/J carts, and I'd imagine PAL uses the same font.  I also don't know if the holes on the pins are normal, but I'll guess they're not.

Sir VG

2013-04-30 02:23:26 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

The imprints appear on all carts, but I've noticed on more roughly used (but genuine) games they may be hard to see.

Thanks for the pic of the actual cart. While I've seen fake carts use scans of the original cart, often they're cheap looking, which is usually a giveaway. The one above looks pretty good. A faker that actually made an effort to make it look genuine? Good work.

xcell

2013-05-02 07:51:42 am

Quote:

This is the offical PAL cart, which is basically identical to the one pictured above. No reason they can't simply scan the original and use that. http://pics.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1198685380-00.jpg

The pictures that i uploaded are mine. I photograped it on the same day when Sir VG asked me to post one. I dont know who uploaded it on Moby games but im guessing he/she took it from this forum. Or its just an coincidence that the pics look the same???

I think someone peeled of of an authentic label and pasted it on the fake cartridge?

Sir VG

2013-05-02 10:27:44 am

Fucking Weeaboo

Well, I at least have an explanation as to why "Licensed by" is missing. Since Nintendo was involved in publishing FF6A (in the US and Europe), it doesn't need that Licensed by label on there. Only 3rd party stuff needs it. Well, that explains that to me anyways. Didn't know Nintendo published it. (Nintendo also published the other FF Advanced games, including Dawn of Souls (Worldwide) and Tactics (In the US and Australia).

CaptainCrunch

2013-06-24 06:28:18 pm

I bought a firered cart at a garage sale, checked for white print, found it, but it also has a battery installed.

Sir VG

2013-06-24 07:55:17 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

Quote from CaptainCrunch:

I bought a firered cart at a garage sale, checked for white print, found it, but it also has a battery installed.

It's a Pokemon game, so it SHOULD have a battery installed. It uses them in the 2nd and 3rd generations for the Real Time Clock (4th and 5th gen pull times from the DS's internal clock and thus don't need one. 1st gen didn't have the feature).

bangerra

2013-06-25 03:58:50 am

Quote from CaptainCrunch:

I bought a firered cart at a garage sale, checked for white print, found it, but it also has a battery installed.

Yes, what Sir VG said. You will still be able to play perfectly fine when the battery is dead though, the savefile is stored in the flash memory so it won't be erased by a dead battery (fake gba pokemon carts do erase the savefile).
The things that won't work anymore are berries and timed events like contests and daily give-aways.

yggdrizzle

2013-06-30 12:07:42 am

Quote from xcell:

Quote:

This is the offical PAL cart, which is basically identical to the one pictured above. No reason they can't simply scan the original and use that. http://pics.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1198685380-00.jpg

The pictures that i uploaded are mine. I photograped it on the same day when Sir VG asked me to post one. I dont know who uploaded it on Moby games but im guessing he/she took it from this forum. Or its just an coincidence that the pics look the same???

I think someone peeled of of an authentic label and pasted it on the fake cartridge?

Those two pictures are not the same.

It would make zero sense for someone to peel a label off. It's printed. I'm still curious if this cart has the punched code on the label. Other than that, the texture of the cart and/or the label might be different as well.

Also a note about the batteries: 2nd gen uses it for saves and the clock, so most of them are long since dead. 3rd only uses it for the clock, and just like normal GBA games saves to flash.

[quote="xcell"][quote]This is the offical PAL cart, which is basically identical to the one pictured above. No reason they can't simply scan the original and use that. http://pics.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1198685380-00.jpg[/quote]

The pictures that i uploaded are mine. I photograped it on the same day when Sir VG asked me to post one. I dont know who uploaded it on Moby games but im guessing he/she took it from this forum. Or its just an coincidence that the pics look the same???

I think someone peeled of of an authentic label and pasted it on the fake cartridge?[/quote]

Those two pictures are not the same.

It would make zero sense for someone to peel a label off. It's printed. I'm still curious if this cart has the punched code on the label. Other than that, the texture of the cart and/or the label might be different as well.

Also a note about the batteries: 2nd gen uses it for saves and the clock, so most of them are long since dead. 3rd only uses it for the clock, and just like normal GBA games saves to flash.

manyakpo

2013-08-07 09:35:00 am

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Need some help here, by imprint Sir VG do you mean that number on the corner of the label? (in this case 920214)
Or you are talking about those numbers that are kind of carved (probably not the right term) on the label, and can't be seen on this case.

Sir VG

2013-08-08 12:15:19 am

Fucking Weeaboo

The imprint I'm referring to is on the back label for Super Famicom carts, with 2 numbers and sometimes a letter. But just because you can't see it doesn't necessarily mean it's a fake. They do often get worn, especially on older stuff.

manyakpo

2013-08-08 07:22:10 am

Quote from Sir VG:

The imprint I'm referring to is on the back label for Super Famicom carts, with 2 numbers and sometimes a letter. But just because you can't see it doesn't necessarily mean it's a fake. They do often get worn, especially on older stuff.

I think those numbers can barely be seen on the top right corner, but the quality of the picture is not the best, so im not sure. Thanks for the answer, now I know what I have to look for. Wink

iDuL

2013-11-24 11:54:04 pm

I have a picture of a fake Final Fantasy Advance my ex-foster brother bought from a flea market.

Post pic?

ianjvanderlinden89

2014-01-07 02:27:52 pm

Thank you so much for posting this information, I am actually going back to playing GBA titles on my sweet backlit SP. I recently got a copy of Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, and a copy of Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland. Both worked, but after reading this I looked at the inside piece of the cart and there is no white writing above the chip saying anything, so they're obviously bootleg. Also, my Amazing Mirror has 3 versions of Kirby on the label itself, which are not supposed to be there. The label number is also off, it's agb-am9e-usa, which is wrong. Now, I know they're bootleg and now what to look for if I want the correct version of Amazing. Nightmare, however, is a little trickier. On every one I've seen, the Nintendo red label is in the right upper corner of the label. I thought that was a dead giveaway that it was bootleg, but I have yet to find a copy that looks different. Same label numbers and everything, agb-a7ke-usa. I know mine is bootleg, but I have no idea as to what I should be looking for in regard to finding a legit copy. So pissed, lol. Please let me know if any of you guys have info in regard to Nightmare.

Thank you so much for posting this information, I am actually going back to playing GBA titles on my sweet backlit SP.  I recently got a copy of Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, and a copy of Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland.  Both worked, but after reading this I looked at the inside piece of the cart and there is no white writing above the chip saying anything, so they're obviously bootleg.  Also, my Amazing Mirror has 3 versions of Kirby on the label itself, which are not supposed to be there.  The label number is also off, it's agb-am9e-usa, which is wrong.  Now, I know they're bootleg and now what to look for if I want the correct version of Amazing.  Nightmare, however, is a little trickier.  On every one I've seen, the Nintendo red label is in the right upper corner of the label.  I thought that was a dead giveaway that it was bootleg, but I have yet to find a copy that looks different.  Same label numbers and everything, agb-a7ke-usa.  I know mine is bootleg, but I have no idea as to what I should be looking for in regard to finding a legit copy.  So pissed, lol.  Please let me know if any of you guys have info in regard to Nightmare.

Countneko

2014-05-23 09:35:34 am

Yeah, these days fakes are getting really good at imitating the real thing.

Things I check for are price and seller history and scrutinize the hell out of any images they have. Sometimes even legit sellers can sell off a bootleg they don't even realize they have. I've even heard of them turning up in Gamestop.

When I bought my copy of Emerald I must have double checked the image of the cart multiple times with several sources to make sure it was legit. They even know to print the Nintendo logo on the motherboard now, though it'll often look slightly different.

ccgcollector

2014-06-24 11:54:19 am

Hello! I am seeking information on possibly the rarest gameboy color game ever made. Gameboy Pokemon Green, limited edition. I was in Japan for the release this is real. Someone on here incorrectly labeled the green version as a bootleg. The limited edition came with a limited edition black box. The cartridge is green and the artwork has slight differences. I'm hoping to find more information on this. This is not bootleg. This is 100% a real licensed Nintendo product. I know of 3 that exist, one of them still factory sealed. I have asked hundreds of collectors with no success. I would have added pictures but, this forum is ridiculous to post on. This forum will not let me scroll down in my posts....

jetfirexx

2014-06-25 11:07:52 am

Gotta go fast!

Quote from ccgcollector:

Hello! I am seeking information on possibly the rarest gameboy color game ever made. Gameboy Pokemon Green, limited edition. I was in Japan for the release this is real. Someone on here incorrectly labeled the green version as a bootleg. The limited edition came with a limited edition black box. The cartridge is green and the artwork has slight differences. I'm hoping to find more information on this. This is not bootleg. This is 100% a real licensed Nintendo product. I know of 3 that exist, one of them still factory sealed. I have asked hundreds of collectors with no success. I would have added pictures but, this forum is ridiculous to post on. This forum will not let me scroll down in my posts....

To add an image, you click the image button bellow the text box 7th from the left.
As for this release, it is not something that I have ever heard of but all of the GB Pokemon Green Carts were grey with the sticker as far as I knew. If you could post a picture with the serial number shown that would be helpful for finding other copies if they exist anywhere

[quote="ccgcollector"]Hello! I am seeking information on possibly the rarest gameboy color game ever made. Gameboy Pokemon Green, limited edition. I was in Japan for the release this is real. Someone on here incorrectly labeled the green version as a bootleg. The limited edition came with a limited edition black box. The cartridge is green and the artwork has slight differences. I'm hoping to find more information on this. This is not bootleg. This is 100% a real licensed Nintendo product. I know of 3 that exist, one of them still factory sealed. I have asked hundreds of collectors with no success. I would have added pictures but, this forum is ridiculous to post on. This forum will not let me scroll down in my posts....[/quote]

To add an image, you click the image button bellow the text box 7th from the left. 
As for this release, it is not something that I have ever heard of but all of the GB Pokemon Green Carts were grey with the sticker as far as I knew. If you could post a picture with the serial number shown that would be helpful for finding other copies if they exist anywhere