# Weird old Game Boy from Singapore



## Leach (Dec 18, 2015)

Guys, please help me solve the mystery of this old Game Boy.

Some back story (read first):

I bought the thing for 10 Euros. It looks brand new, the unit anyway, but doesn't play any games. I tried a few cartridges that work on my other Game Boy, cleaned the pins, cleaned the cartridge slot, but still nothing. When I switch it on, the Nintendo logo drops down and the chime plays but then the screen goes blank! After a couple of tries I noticed how, when it goes blank, the green hue of the LCD slightly changes to a lighter tone. It's almost unnoticeable but looks as though the screen is turning off. The light indicator still works but the buttons do nothing and the game is obviously not running as there is no sound.

Then, of course, I decided to take the thing apart and wow, it looks very different from a regular Game Boy. My first thought was that maybe it was a clone of some sort but the housing and the box look very legit. The parts inside the unit however, look... shoddy. When I took it apart, the cables connecting the speaker to the circuit board came off, so I had to resolder them (probably just as bad as they were in the first place). Anyway, I couldn't see anything wrong with the unit, and by see I literally mean that I did nothing more than take a very good look at the insides.

The box says "FOR SALE AND USE IN SINGAPORE ONLY" but as far as I know the original Game Boy was not region locked. So I doubt that's the problem.

Got any ideas what the issue might be or why the console looks so different inside? Were Nintendo just like "whatever" and decided to give permission to some factory in Singapore to build the units? I don't know how important the Singaporean video game market was for Nintendo.

Check it out:


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## Muffins (Dec 18, 2015)

It's a ripoff, made in China to look like a Game Boy, but obviously is rather not.


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## Leach (Dec 18, 2015)

Muffins said:


> It's a ripoff, made in China to look like a Game Boy, but obviously is rather not.


Are you sure about this? Please, once you click the thumbnail, click on the picture again to view it in its full resolution (I cannot upload it as an attachment, due to its size). Take a good look at the box. It looks very legitimate. The manual, although cheap-looking, is in perfect English as well. I've seen a lot of Chinese rip off consoles and if that's one of them... then damn! I bought the thing from a very old video game shop. The owner pulled this big box full of random old crap from the back of the store. I didn't find anything counterfeit inside and the store really is legit.


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## FAST6191 (Dec 18, 2015)

It was not region locked but import/export laws surrounding Singapore and similar states, especially when it came to electronics and games, was odd in the 80's/90's. More for China but look up iQue if you want something that people have actually written about.

The dodgy board could be many things. I see it is connected to the speakers so most likely, assuming it is not an outright clone, someone tried to do one of the audio amp projects and possibly stuffed it up. http://www.herbertweixelbaum.com/comparison.htm has some more on some things here.

Anyway I do not know enough about the different hardware revisions, licensed versions*, and clone boards/ghost shift boards for the GB to say much here. I might have contemplated if it was a GBP stuffed into a GB shell but it does not look like that either. Date codes, if there are some there, would appear to be all over the place (99 in places, 89 and 92 in others so possibly salvaged components).

*various companies have been known to send fairly new or even radically new revisions to countries they are trying to break into the market of.

Thanks for the pictures and read though.


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## Muffins (Dec 18, 2015)

I'm absolutely, positively sure.

It's a Chinese ripoff, made to fool the eye but of very poor quality.


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## Leach (Dec 18, 2015)

FAST6191 said:


> It was not region locked but import/export laws surrounding Singapore and similar states, especially when it came to electronics and games, was odd in the 80's/90's. More for China but look up iQue if you want something that people have actually written about.
> 
> The dodgy board could be many things. I see it is connected to the speakers so most likely, assuming it is not an outright clone, someone tried to do one of the audio amp projects and possibly stuffed it up. http://www.herbertweixelbaum.com/comparison.htm has some more on some things here.
> 
> ...



Hey, thanks a lot for the info! I can't be completely sure, but I'm fairly certain that it had never been opened up to that point. The cables connecting the speaker to the board came off when I oppened so I had to resolder them but that's pretty much it. It really is in pristine condition. In fact, I have never seen an original Game Boy in such a good shape (the pictures don't do it any justice). Furthermore, the screws had that "factory tightness" to them. Oh, perhaps this is where I should mention that the screws were regular Phillips screws. I don't know, I can't be sure if it was used for mods... it just looked not to have been tempered with, just a bit crappy from the factory. The guy from the store said he purchased it around 1991 - 1992 and was never able to sell or try it. I don't know if that's the case.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



Muffins said:


> I'm absolutely, positively sure.
> 
> It's a Chinese ripoff, made to fool the eye but of very poor quality.



You are ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY sure? Wow, how so? 
And very poor quality? I don't think so. I've seen enough ripoff consoles and this ain't one. Besides, look at the box. What poor Chinese dudes from the 80s would go the extra miles to craft this box with all the copyright information and stuff? Furthermore, how did they get their hands on a PERFECT mold of the Game Boy body? Let's not forget that everything is in perfect English and obviously professionally translated.


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## Muffins (Dec 18, 2015)

Quite simply because *Nintendo doesn't hand-solder their products.*

And no, it's a simple matter to get ahold of a Game Boy mold. Ripoff products in China and the surrounding regions are commonplace.


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## Leach (Dec 18, 2015)

Muffins said:


> Quite simply because *Nintendo doesn't hand-solder their products.*
> 
> And no, it's a simple matter to get ahold of a Game Boy mold. Ripoff products in China and the surrounding regions are commonplace.


I'm still not convinced those points are hand-soldered. Could be just shoddy machine work. Anyway, the packaging is still too legit. In fact I compared it to a box a friend of mine owns and they are completely identical, apart from the "SINGAPORE ONLY" sign on mine. The print is top quality, the cardboard is the same and there's all the copyright blurbs all over the thing (including the owner's manual, which also features a freaking guarantee card on the last page). Also, I just noticed this:


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## Muffins (Dec 18, 2015)

No, that crap is hand soldered- NO WAY in hell it's machine made. The font and spacing on the box is wrong.

Look, I know this might be hard for you to understand, but *you bought a fake. *

Deal with it.

I'm not wasting any more time on you.


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## Leach (Dec 18, 2015)

Dude, its 2015 and I have a working old Game Boy that I never use anyway. I'm much more interested in the story behind this than how to fix it (if possible at all). I got nothing to deal with, lol. I don't care if I bought a fake, though I seriously doubt it, for 10 euros. I'm not going to use it anyway  And chill, I don't give a damn about your time and how you intend to use it.


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## Drud1995 (Dec 19, 2015)

It still is quite a curiosity. I'm wondering if it would actually do something if you reflowed the solder on the various contacts. Some of the connections on the ripoff probably have broken connections or cold solder joints, so reflowing could quite possibly get you a working gameboy out of this if you are interested in trying. Also try testing the capacitors with a multimeter to make sure they are ok. Good luck!


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## Karuta (Dec 19, 2015)

The horrible grammar and spelling and really strange wording on the box would make me think it's fake.


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## TeamScriptKiddies (Dec 19, 2015)

The jumper wires are a dead giveaway that this is a clone.  Nintendo wouldn't release something like that to the consumer market. I could see them doing that with an early prototype, but what's with the box? It looks like its for the consumer market NOT an internal prototype.

It looks like a really well done clone, honestly, like someone else already suggested, try reflowing the jumper connections and test the thing out with a multimeter, you might be able to get it running again. It'd make a neat item to add to your collection 



Leach said:


> Guys, please help me solve the mystery of this old Game Boy.
> 
> Some back story (read first):
> 
> ...


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## Leach (Dec 19, 2015)

Karuta said:


> The horrible grammar and spelling and really strange wording on the box would make me think it's fake.



Here's a high quality scan of the box: http://postimg.org/image/flvgfpvah/full/
Now here's a scan of the back of the same box from France: http://img.gamefaqs.net/box/6/6/4/307664_back.jpg
Here's another one from the USA: http://www.retroprotection.com/images/Game Boy Console Box Pink 004.jpg
And another one from who knows where: http://www.gamesstationretro.com/images/GB SMALL 1 3.jpg

There are som variations from region to region - in the location of text, text itself, blurbs, games on the back of the box, screenshots on its sides.

They are the same, obviously, made with attention to detail. Notice how the games on the back vary due to the year/region of release. Look at my scan. Look at the quality of the print. The seals of quality (which are btw golden but it's hard to see from the scan), look at all the copyright blurbs. And now look at the games themselves. Donkey Kong Land is the most recent of them (1995), which means the unit was manufactured that year or the years after. Now consider this, and that's just a theory, but what if Nintendo launched the original GB in Singapore some years later than in Japan and the West? This could also explain the cheap but completely legit looking manual (scans tomorrow). Maybe they were unsure about the risky move, decided to cut corners, go for the cheap print. This could also potentially explain the different motherboard, although they must have surely had stockpiles of the original parts back in 1995. But what if Nintendo authorized some Singaporean company to build the GB internally for cheap? Of course, if Nintendo provided them with original molds for the body, then why is the copyright info on the back of the console missing? It is part of the mold.

Anyway, it could also be a fake Game Boy in an original box, or possibly a counterfeit box of very high quality. But let’s be real here, it’s made of the same cardboard like all other boxes of the same type that you’ll see on the Internet. The same cardboard that falls apart the same way over time. Furthermore, when you are creating a counterfeit product, you are trying to fool people that can be fooled more easily. You don’t go the extra miles to recreate all the copyright blurbs and add a goddamn guarantee card at the end of the owner’s manual that you also made for your 1:1 ripoff, trying to fool parents into buying it for their kids for Christmas.


TeamScriptKiddies said:


> The jumper wires are a dead giveaway that this is a clone.  Nintendo wouldn't release something like that to the consumer market. I could see them doing that with an early prototype, but what's with the box? It looks like its for the consumer market NOT an internal prototype.
> 
> It looks like a really well done clone, honestly, like someone else already suggested, try reflowing the jumper connections and test the thing out with a multimeter, you might be able to get it running again. It'd make a neat item to add to your collection



Yup, and the box and manual are most definitely not fake. Take a look at a couple pages of the manual: http://postimg.org/image/rcuh0ubhh/full/ (will be scanning some on request, this are just pictures but still). The booklet is in traditional Chinese and perfect English back to back. Notice the warranty card. It could be a clone in a real package, but I bought it from a legit video game store, along with other games and a pristine GB Micro. They were all sitting in a box in the back of a store. This GB, says the owner, must have been there for around 20 years. Yup, reflowing might be a good idea. 

Edit: Google the barcode - https://www.google.com/search?q=tra...ceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8#q=045496710033


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## Karuta (Dec 19, 2015)

If anything is fake it's the box. Did you not read the blurb at all? Looks like Google Translate...








"ioy stick" lol

compare it with this

http://www.retroprotection.com/images/Game Boy Console Box Pink 004.jpg

you can see numerous errors.

No spacing after commas, 

"controls-cross" as opposed to "controls - cross" on original box


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## TeamScriptKiddies (Dec 19, 2015)

I still think its a clone, although the pcb itself was definitely manufactured properly in a plant somewhere NOT hand soldered, which is common with clones from that region. But the random jumper wires and hand soldering used for the other stuff is NOT something that Nintendo would've released to the masses as its too flimsy and likely to break with normal use, which would earn Nintendo a very bad rep. Evidently the cloners went the extra mile with a lot of it, although the box itself very well could be from an original gameboy and at one point or another that clone ended up in that box, which might explain the incredible accuracy of the box itself....


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## Karuta (Dec 19, 2015)

TeamScriptKiddies said:


> I still think its a clone, although the pcb itself was definitely manufactured properly in a plant somewhere NOT hand soldered, which is common with clones from that region. But the random jumper wires and hand soldering used for the other stuff is NOT something that Nintendo would've released to the masses as its too flimsy and likely to break with normal use, which would earn Nintendo a very bad rep. Evidently the cloners went the extra mile with a lot of it, although the box itself very well could be from an original gameboy and at one point or another that clone ended up in that box, which might explain the incredible accuracy of the box itself....



Box is definitely not from an original, see my above post.


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## bowser (Dec 19, 2015)

If there are no Nintendo logos on the boards, then it's definitely fake. Blue one has it, white one doesn't seem to.


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## Muffins (Dec 19, 2015)

Karuta said:


> Box is definitely not from an original, see my above post.



Not to mention the story about purchasing it in "1991-1992", as was claimed, would mean the Topic Creator's friend would have had to have been a time traveler...

HMMMMMM....


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## RodrigoDavy (Dec 19, 2015)

One third option, it might be a product not officially produced but licensed by Nintendo.

For example, Gradiente had a license to produce Atari consoles here in Brazil in the 80s. Later they stopped producing Atari consoles and went on to produce famiclones.

Fun fact, Gradiente later got a deal in 1993 to produce official Nintendo products here, they produced from the original NES until the Gamecube, also including portables. Second fun fact, The factory Gradiente used to make those was considered the only Nintendo factory outside Japan at the time.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



Muffins said:


> Not to mention the story about purchasing it in "1991-1992", as was claimed, would mean the Topic Creator's friend would have had to have been a time traveler...


Could also be a honest mistake... Don't tell me you never got a year wrong once in your life


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## Muffins (Dec 19, 2015)

> "Don't tell me you never got a year wrong once in your life"



Not on something that important. If I'm trying to convince people that this is real, I'd make sure I had my ducks in a row Plus, it's in addition to the box being the wrong region (it's a copy of the box used rather specifically for the US re-release of the standard GB model, the one without Tetris). That in addition to all the spelling and spacing problems.


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## Leach (Dec 19, 2015)

Karuta said:


> If anything is fake it's the box. Did you not read the blurb at all? Looks like Google Translate...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yup, that's a good point, though Nintendo has done far worse:





And, furthermore, look at how the "j" on the box you referenced looks just like an elongated "i". Could be a mix-up on the supposed Singaporean side, could just be fake.



Muffins said:


> Not to mention the story about purchasing it in "1991-1992", as was claimed, would mean the Topic Creator's friend would have had to have been a time traveler...
> 
> HMMMMMM....



As I said, the _guy who sold me the GB_ said it was purchased in 1991-1992. It was in an old box that he kept in the back of the store and got it out when I asked for N64 games. He said he couldn't recall ever trying it out. My theory is that it actually was manufactured in 1995 or later. Given how the guy couldn't even remeber ever turning it on, I would not be surprised if he was some years off of the year he imported it. The box says 1993, although, as already mentioned, Donkey Kong Land was from 1995. _My friend's box, _the one I compared it to, says 1990. Anyway, I thought you were not going to waste anymore time on me.


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## Muffins (Dec 19, 2015)

I was responding to Davy, who I respect and admire. HE is worth making a post for.


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## Leach (Dec 19, 2015)

RodrigoDavy said:


> One third option, it might be a product not officially produced but licensed by Nintendo.
> 
> For example, Gradiente had a license to produce Atari consoles here in Brazil in the 80s. Later they stopped producing Atari consoles and went on to produce famiclones.
> 
> Fun fact, Gradiente later got a deal in 1993 to produce official Nintendo products here, they produced from the original NES until the Gamecube, also including portables. Second fun fact, The factory Gradiente used to make those was considered the only Nintendo factory outside Japan at the time.



Man, that's what I've been saying the whole time! Thanks for the interesting info! I just had a little conversation with one of the mods at the Nintendo tech support forums. He said that "taking a look at your post, it's hard for me to determine whether or not it's a licensed product". I did not expect much but at least he told me that they'd be "happy to look into it for you" and that I should email some people.


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## Karuta (Dec 19, 2015)

Leach said:


> Yup, that's a good point, though Nintendo has done far worse:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Meant to actualy reference this image - http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/hardware/U-037/bb/U-037-H-00010-A.jpg
it's the tetris bundle but the blurb is the same. I'm actually convinced that other image is a fake too, lol. Notice the "hundreds on images" instead of "hundreds of" on it.


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## Muffins (Dec 19, 2015)

I don't think anything outside of Gunpei himself returning from the grave can get Leach to admit he bought a fake, Karuta.


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## Leach (Dec 19, 2015)

Muffins said:


> I was responding to Davy, who I respect and admire. HE is worth making a post for.


Still, you got your facts mixed up and wasted your time replying in my thread.



Karuta said:


> Meant to actualy reference this image - http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/hardware/U-037/bb/U-037-H-00010-A.jpg
> it's the tetris bundle but the blurb is the same. I'm actually convinced that other image is a fake too, lol. Notice the "hundreds on images" instead of "hundreds of" on it.


Lol, you are _convinced _the other one is fake as well?! Look at the other pics I posted of the same box from different regions. Search around and you will see many other "fakes", including one "totaly fake" of the same design but in yellow and green


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## Muffins (Dec 19, 2015)

> "Still, you got your facts mixed up "



Where the FUCK did you pull THAT shit from? Now you're just lying through your teeth.


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## Leach (Dec 19, 2015)

Muffins said:


> Where the FUCK did you pull THAT shit from? Now you're just lying through your teeth.



Looooooooooool  



Leach said:


> *The guy from the store said he purchased it around 1991 - 1992* and was never able to sell or try it. I don't know if that's the case.





Muffins said:


> Not to mention the story about purchasing it in "1991-1992", as was claimed, would mean the *Topic Creator's friend would have had to have been a time traveler*...


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## Muffins (Dec 19, 2015)

Yeah, your lying friend is a time traveler.

Nobody got their "facts" mixed up.


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## Karuta (Dec 19, 2015)

Leach said:


> Still, you got your facts mixed up and wasted your time replying in my thread.
> 
> 
> Lol, you are _convinced _the other one is fake as well?! Look at the other pics I posted of the same box from different regions. Search around and you will see many other "fakes", including one "totaly fake" of the same design but in yellow and green


Yes, there are lots of fake Gameboys going around.

It's as simple as this - Do you really think Nintendo would license a product that's box has clear and obvious grammar and spelling errors? Even if they did, why would they retype the blurb just for the Singaporean release, instead of just using the one they had and slapping the "Singapore Only" logo on it? 

The Samus thing was a single error of production on a single figure. The grammar on the boxart won't change, they are printed in mass...


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## Leach (Dec 19, 2015)

Muffins said:


> Yeah, dumbass, your lying friend is a time traveler.
> 
> Nobody got their "facts" mixed up, so fuck off.



Duuuuuuude, you cannot be _that_ stupid, I know you're just playing!  You cannot possibly be that retarded not to be able to tell that the guy from the store and the friend with the boxed GB are two different people.

My friend's got a Game Boy with a similar box, _as I already said_, featuring the same basic design with a few variations in text and blurbs. That's the box I had the chance to compare it to. The guy from the store on the other hand, who I'd like to emphasize for your retarded convenience is _*not my friend*_, said, _as I already stated more than once,_ "Don't know, I bought this 1991-1992. Never sold it, don't remember testing it".

Now I won't  be the one wasting my time with your confused retarded ass


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## Muffins (Dec 19, 2015)

Karuta said:


> Yes, there are lots of fake Gameboys going around.
> 
> It's as simple as this - Do you really think Nintendo would license a product that's box has clear and obvious grammar and spelling errors? Even if they did, why would they retype the blurb just for the Singaporean release, instead of just using the one they had and slapping the "Singapore Only" logo on it?
> 
> The Samus thing was a single error of production on a single figure. The grammar on the boxart won't change, they are printed in mass...



Nicely stated.


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## Leach (Dec 19, 2015)

Karuta said:


> Yes, there are lots of fake Gameboys going around.
> 
> It's as simple as this - Do you really think Nintendo would license a product that's box has clear and obvious grammar and spelling errors? Even if they did, why would they retype the blurb just for the Singaporean release, instead of just using the one they had and slapping the "Singapore Only" logo on it?
> 
> The Samus thing was a single error of production on a single figure. The grammar on the boxart won't change, they are printed in mass...



There are a lot of game boxes by major companies with typos on them. Now, I know that's not typical for Nintendo, not gonna argue about that, but also consider the possibility RodrigoDavy described on the previous page. Anyway, might as well be fake, as I already said numerous times, just seems too legit (_in my eyes_). I have owned a couple of Nintendo clones and none of them resembled the original in such ways.


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## Karuta (Dec 19, 2015)

Leach said:


> There are a lot of game boxes by major companies with typos on them. Now, I know that's not typical for Nintendo, not gonna argue about that, but also consider the possibility RodrigoDavy described on the previous page. Anyway, might as well be fake, as I already said numerous times, just seems too legit (_in my eyes_). I have owned a couple of Nintendo clones and none of them resembled the original in such ways.


It's not the fact that there's a typo on the box that makes it look fake, but the fact that there's a typo on this box and not on others, and some boxes have different typos. What reason does Nintendo have to retype the blurb of basically the same box art?


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## Leach (Dec 19, 2015)

Karuta said:


> It's not the fact that there's a typo on the box that makes it look fake, but the fact that there's a typo on this box and not on others, and some boxes have different typos. What reason does Nintendo have to retype the blurb of basically the same box art?


Аlso consider the possibility RodrigoDavy described on the previous page. Might have been that Nintendo didn't print the boxes, just provided a Singaporean company with the means to do it. Could be a mistake on their part. Anyway, we should probably wait for Nintendo's answer. It might well be the best clone of a console I've ever seen.


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## Karuta (Dec 19, 2015)

Leach said:


> Аlso consider the possibility RodrigoDavy described on the previous page. Might have been that Nintendo didn't print the boxes, just provided a Singaporean company with the means to do it. Could be a mistake on their part.


Surely Nintendo would send them all the branding information though, right? Why would the Singaporean manufacturers have anything to do with design of the box? All it takes is printing out the image on cardboard, after all.


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## Muffins (Dec 19, 2015)

*sigh*


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## Leach (Dec 19, 2015)

Karuta said:


> Surely Nintendo would send them all the branding information though, right? Why would the Singaporean manufacturers have anything to do with design of the box? All it takes is printing out the image on cardboard, after all.


"Branding information". As I already said, take a look at the "j" and "i" on various boxes. It's the same thing, just elongated. Look for other variations of the box on Google. The Singaporean manufacturer (supposed Singaporean manufacturer) could have easily mixed up the two. But really, "coulda, shoulda", no point in speculating any further. Hopefully Nintendo will respond in a couple of days. Even if it turns out to be fake, heck it's still an interesting find


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## Karuta (Dec 19, 2015)

Leach said:


> "Branding information". As I already said, take a look at the "j" and "i" on various boxes. It's the same thing, just elongated. Look for other variations of the box on Google. The Singaporean manufacturer (supposed Singaporean manufacturer) could have easily mixed up the two. But really, "coulda, shoulda", no point in speculating any further. Hopefully Nintendo will respond in a couple of days. Even if it turns out to be fake, heck it's still an interesting find


Mixing up the "i and j" still implies that the blurb was edited, which again, there would be no reason for if the box was legitimate.


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## Leach (Dec 19, 2015)

Karuta said:


> Mixing up the "i and j" still implies that the blurb was edited, which again, there would be no reason for if the box was legitimate.


If they were only sent the plain text, then it would have been easy to mix them up. I have no idea how something like this might have worked out 20 years ago and what the supposed SG manufacturer might received from Nintendo, in the form of guidelines or something else, in order to make it. That's it. As I said, could be fake. I'll wait for Nintendo's response and update you.


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## Karuta (Dec 19, 2015)

Leach said:


> If they were only sent the plain text, then it would have been easy to mix them up. I have no idea how something like this might have worked out 20 years ago and what the supposed SG manufacturer might received from Nintendo, in the form of guidelines or something else, in order to make it. That's it. As I said, could be fake. I'll wait for Nintendo's response and update you.


Nintendo would have just put the "Singapore only" logo on the existing boxart and sent them an image. There would be no reason to send them just text. Where would they get the images to use on the box? Also, they would have been a manufacturing company, not a graphic design company. Why get them to work on your box art when you already pay people to do that for you?


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## RodrigoDavy (Dec 19, 2015)

I say the box information isn't a very reliable source of information, unless the OP bought the box unopened.
It might just as well be that someone switched the boxes, or someone bought the box from ebay. Discussing minor typos seems rather pointless to me.

The PCB itself is the most reliable source of information, I think it might in fact be a just a well made clone but since hardware revisions is something really complex and the fact that in the early 90s it was more common to produce regional revisions instead of international I am not choosing sides here.


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## Karuta (Dec 19, 2015)

RodrigoDavy said:


> I say the box information isn't a very reliable source of information, unless the OP bought the box unopened.
> It might just as well be that someone switched the boxes, or someone bought the box from ebay. Discussing minor typos seems rather pointless to me.



I made no claims about the actual console. I was only discussing whether or not the box was legitimate.


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## RodrigoDavy (Dec 19, 2015)

Karuta said:


> I made no claims about the actual console. I was only discussing whether or not the box was legitimate.


Oh, my bad then. Sorry!


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## pwsincd (Dec 19, 2015)

what language do people from singapore speak predominantly ?

seems strange its for singapore only yet in english.


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## Karuta (Dec 19, 2015)

pwsincd said:


> what language do people from singapore speak predominantly ?
> 
> seems strange its for singapore only yet in english.


English, predominantly. Lots of languages are spoken among smaller communities but the vast majority of people can understand English, so it would be the best option to go with.


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## Leach (Dec 19, 2015)

RodrigoDavy said:


> I say the box information isn't a very reliable source of information, unless the OP bought the box unopened.
> It might just as well be that someone switched the boxes, or someone bought the box from ebay. Discussing minor typos seems rather pointless to me.
> 
> The PCB itself is the most reliable source of information, I think it might in fact be a just a well made clone but since hardware revisions is something really complex and the fact that in the early 90s it was more common to produce regional revisions instead of international I am not choosing sides here.


You are right, we got off track. But... but... the barcode! Google it, it's legit, why would they use a legit barcode, blah, blah, blah  I should instead take a closer look at the PCB for any possible clues.



pwsincd said:


> what language do people from singapore speak predominantly ?
> 
> seems strange its for singapore only yet in english.



Mandarin, Malay, Tamil and English. Furthermore, the manual is in English and Chinese back to back (every page). I already posted pictures.


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## Karuta (Dec 19, 2015)

Leach said:


> You are right, we got off track. But... but... the barcode! Google it, it's legit, why would they use a legit barcode, blah, blah, blah  .



You can find legit barcodes easily. It just makes the product look more legitimate. Pretty self explanatory really.


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## Leach (Dec 19, 2015)

Karuta said:


> You can find legit barcodes easily. It just makes the product look more legitimate. Pretty self explanatory really.


Yeah, man, I get it that they could get their hands on EVERY LITTLE DETAIL and copy it. That's not what counterfeiters do, that's not their goal, and no counterfeit product that I have ever seen has been made with so much attention to every possible copyright blurb on the box, on the unit itself (though to a lesser degree) and in the manual, which is chock-full of GAME BOY™s and GAME PAK™s... anyway, I really won't be discussing the packaging anymore. It's pointless for the time being.


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## Saiyan Lusitano (Dec 19, 2015)

Leach said:


> Yup, that's a good point, though Nintendo has done far worse:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Technically speaking yes, Nintendo, but it was one of the Chinese workers who had to put the toy together so he/she didn't notice the mistake and in the end this was worth $1000+ on eBay. Doubt it'd go for that much nowadays. As for the Game Boy it's established that it is fake but the OP is more interested if there's any backstory.


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## The Real Jdbye (Dec 19, 2015)

Leach said:


> Yeah, man, I get it that they could get their hands on EVERY LITTLE DETAIL and copy it. That's not what counterfeiters do, that's not their goal, and no counterfeit product that I have ever seen has been made with so much attention to every possible copyright blurb on the box, on the unit itself (though to a lesser degree) and in the manual, which is chock-full of GAME BOY™s and GAME PAK™s... anyway, I really won't be discussing the packaging anymore. It's pointless for the time being.


Some chinese clones are 100% indistinguishable from the original. Most won't put in the time and money needed for that but there are some who actually do care about the quality of their counterfeits.
But in this case it isn't even a perfect clone, certain things about the guts just look unprofessional and not like something Nintendo or any other big manufacturer would do. On the surface it looks legit but the PCB is missing the Nintendo branding and the hot glue and hand soldered bits don't make it seem legitimate.
Did almost exact 1:1 clones like this even exist though? If they did, then surely there would be information about it somewhere on the internet.

@Leach It would be interesting if you could get this console to work. Maybe the contacts just need to be cleaned.


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## Leach (Dec 22, 2015)

"Thanks for writing. I apologize for the delay in our reply.

I can certainly appreciate your search for answers regarding this Game Boy that you purchased in Singapore. Unfortunately, we do not have any information to share on the matter, nor can we assist you with confirming the legitimacy of this console. I understand that you were hoping for a different answer, and for that I apologize.

You may be able to gain further information about the situation from Nintendo's distribution partner in Singapore, Maxsoft. I've provided contact information for Maxsoft below:

MAXSOFT PTE LTD       
190 Middle Road           
#17-01 Fortune Centre 
Singapore 188979         
TEL: +65-6338-8745
FAX: +65-6338-0553
ONLINE:http://www.maxsoftonline.com

Thank you again for contacting us, and I hope that you're ultimately able to find the answers you seek.

Sincerely,

Nintendo of America Inc.
Shane Schaefer"


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## TotalInsanity4 (Dec 22, 2015)

I can't see the picture because I'm at school, but are we sure it's not an iQue brand? Or is it an OG GameBoy that actually is a Chinese knockoff? (iQue didn't start producing until the GameBoy advance, I believe)


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