Gaming Identifying Fake GBA games- A Useful FAQ

[indask8]

Fake pokemon games only have 64kb sram, real ones have 128KB flash, only 64kb are necessary, but I think the original games uses the extra 64kb as a backup.
This is why fake games constantly says "the save file is corrupted" upon launch, because the game can't read those extra 64kb of save data...

 

[Fishaman P]

Here's my short guide on how to spot fakes in under a second:

If you look at the cart contacts, do you see "Nintendo" printed there?
If not, FAKE!
If yes, REAL!

As far as I'm aware, no bootleg cart in existence replicates the "Nintendo" on the PCB.

 

[loco365]

Here's my short guide on how to spot fakes in under a second:

If you look at the cart contacts, do you see "Nintendo" printed there?
If not, FAKE!
If yes, REAL!

As far as I'm aware, no bootleg cart in existence replicates the "Nintendo" on the PCB.

That would/could be the case for GBA games, but what about other systems like NES or NDS?

 

[qlum]

Here's my short guide on how to spot fakes in under a second:

If you look at the cart contacts, do you see "Nintendo" printed there?
If not, FAKE!
If yes, REAL!

As far as I'm aware, no bootleg cart in existence replicates the "Nintendo" on the PCB.

problem is you usually want to know if its a bootleg before buying and that is not something that is easy to see before buying thats why finding it out from the picture on the cover is often the only way to know before buying

 

[pyromaniac123]

Here's my short guide on how to spot fakes in under a second:

If you look at the cart contacts, do you see "Nintendo" printed there?
If not, FAKE!
If yes, REAL!

As far as I'm aware, no bootleg cart in existence replicates the "Nintendo" on the PCB.

I've seen a fake emerald with nintendo on the contacts.

 

[indask8]

I've seen a fake emerald with nintendo on the contacts.

I've seen one too, chinese fakers are starting to catch up they don't want those "how to spot fake" guides to ruin their business.

BTW it's not a 1:1 reproduction of what nintendo writes (not same size/font), so you can still tell them apart.

 

[loco365]

I've seen a fake emerald with nintendo on the contacts.

I've seen one too, chinese fakers are starting to catch up they don't want those "how to spot fake" guides to ruin their business.

BTW it's not a 1:1 reproduction of what nintendo writes (not same size/font), so you can still tell them apart.

That's probably to avoid lawsuits, although lawsuits on bootleggers never seems to happen in China afaik.

 

[KazoWAR]

I recently bought 5 Pokemon GBA games off ebay, and after carefully looking at the pictures I manage to get all 5 real games. Here is some of the stuff what I used to decided to not get a game or not.

1. The stickers are reflective. If you see a game with out a reflective sticker then it is fake.

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Fake

Real

2. Fire Red and Leaf Green do not have batteries. if you see a FR/LG image with a yellow ringed battery then it is fake.

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Fake

Real

3. Emerald has a light blue ringed battery and Ruby and Sapphire has red ringed battery, if you see any of them with a yellow ringed battery then they might be fake, replacement battery could be yellow ringed.
4. There is a metallic square top left and mid right on the PCB, if you can see them then it a good chance it is real.

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[loco365]

I recently bought 5 Pokemon GBA games off ebay, and after carefully looking at the pictures I manage to get all 5 real games. Here is some of the stuff what I used to decided to not get a game or not.

1. The stickers are reflective. If you see a game with out a reflective sticker then it is fake.

Spoiler

Fake

Real

2. Fire Red and Leaf Green do not have batteries. if you see a FR/LG image with a yellow ringed battery then it is fake.

Spoiler

Fake

Real

3. Emerald has a light blue ringed battery and Ruby and Sapphire has red ringed battery, if you see any of them with a yellow ringed battery then they might be fake, replacement battery could be yellow ringed.
4. There is a metallic square top left and mid right on the PCB, if you can see them then it a good chance it is real.

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I added this info to the first post and credited you.

 

[The Catboy]

I found a few pokemon covers of fake games

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[titleokemon Perla]

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[titleokemon Darkcry]

Spoiler: Group of fake games

Thought these would be interesting

I personally suggest people don't buy video games off ebay.
I once bought a PS2 game off ebay. It seemed legit, even had the plastic around it and everything. Sadly when I opened it up, the game was just a burned Sony DVD. I have no idea if it was even the game I bought since my PS2 wasn't modded (still isn't either) so I couldn't test it. Still, the seller claimed to ship from the USA, but my package ended up coming from China. So yeah, I suggest when buying games from ebay, to just be careful.

 

[Foxi4]

All those fake cartridges with a "PCB with a covered chip" soldered to the PCB of the cartridge always make me think "damn, you could convert that into a flashcart - all the solderpoints are right in the open!". I'll look through my collection, I think I have 2 fakes altogether - Sonic Advance 2 with a dead battery that's been revived via - get this, hotwiring the original battery to a duracell AA battery - works like a charm, and Sonic Pinball Party. I'll post the pics when I can. The Sonic Advance 2 one is different than the ones presented so-far - the FLASH chip is soldered directly onto the cartridge rather than on a separate PCB. The Sonic Pinball Party one was never opened, so it's a 50/50 chance. I also have some GBC and GB bootlegs if you're interested in those.

 

[loco365]

All those fake cartridges with a "PCB with a covered chip" soldered to the PCB of the cartridge always make me think "damn, you could convert that into a flashcart - all the solderpoints are right in the open!". I'll look through my collection, I think I have 2 fakes altogether - Sonic Advance 2 with a dead battery that's been revived via - get this, hotwiring the original battery to a duracell AA battery - works like a charm, and Sonic Pinball Party. I'll post the pics when I can. The Sonic Advance 2 one is different than the ones presented so-far - the FLASH chip is soldered directly onto the cartridge rather than on a separate PCB. The Sonic Pinball Party one was never opened, so it's a 50/50 chance. I also have some GBC and GB bootlegs if you're interested in those.

I'm really interested in the GB and GBC bootlegs. I'm also trying to get my hands on some, as well as a proper screwdriver to open them.

 

[Foxi4]

I'm really interested in the GB and GBC bootlegs. I'm also trying to get my hands on some, as well as a proper screwdriver to open them.

The one I have come in three varieties - a tri-wing screw case, a standard cross screw case and a glued case that has to be cracked to open. I'll send you the photos as soon as I'm back in Poland. One you'll particularily like - it's a homebrew game called Sonic Adventure 8, it's a Gameboy game, in a blue Pokemon-Pinball-like case with vibration built-in. Neat stuff for a bootleg.

 

[pyromaniac123]

I remember buying a fake harry potter philosopher's stone gbc in hong kong. Fun game but lost it years ago.

 

[loco365]

I'm really interested in the GB and GBC bootlegs. I'm also trying to get my hands on some, as well as a proper screwdriver to open them.

The one I have come in three varieties - a tri-wing screw case, a standard cross screw case and a glued case that has to be cracked to open. I'll send you the photos as soon as I'm back in Poland. One you'll particularily like - it's a homebrew game called Sonic Adventure 8, it's a Gameboy game, in a blue Pokemon-Pinball-like case with vibration built-in. Neat stuff for a bootleg.

Bootleg fancy mode? Ooh.

 

[Todderbert]

Donkey Kong Country:

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[Foxi4]

I just remembered that I was supposed to post a few funny fakes in this thread, just for the heck of it. Let's start with Metal Gear: Ghost Babel for the GBC:

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They did not try hard with this one - the case is made of cheap plastic and the colours on the label are all washed-out. The paper is all wrong too, but if that was not a dead give-away, the case actually says GAME rather than Nintendo (r) GAMEBOY at the top... the back featured a cross-screw which I removed to power up the dead battery. The funniest part of this one is that it... could be a functioning Gameboy flashcart. Have a look at the PCB - it's universal, with a separate "Game PCB" soldered right onto it. Swap that with a FLASH chip and you're in for a treat! Hillarious!

Now, from a different "barrel", Sonic Advance 2 for the GBA:

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Typical issues you'd expect from a pirate cart, really - nothing spectacular... except for the markings on the back, clearly made with a waterproof marker, likely for the manufacturing staff to know which pre-made case they're supposed to stuff this bad boy in.

And finally, my prized posession... that I currently cannot find, thus I will supply you with a stock photo... Sonic Adventure 8. Yes, you read it right - Foxi's way ahead of the times with his Sonic games.

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My cartridge happens to be light-blue, but it in any case, it can be seen that the mold used was in fact "borrowed" from Pokemon Pinball. Mind you, this game is not a typical bootleg - it's a pirate original, meaning that someone coded it from the ground up. The rumble feature *actually works*, believe it or not - it's not there for kicks. Quite impressive for a cheap pirate game. The funny thing about this bootleg is that from what I heard, *no GameBoy emulator is capable of launching the ROM without crashing*, likely due to the additional hardware on the cartridge or due to being a bad dump. Fortunately for you guys who want to try it out, Sonic Adventure 7 and Sonic 3D Blast 5 are practically the same game with only minor changes, and those load just fine on emulators, so go ahead and try them out!

I also happen to have Sonic R for GameBoy, which turned out to be Sonic 6, a ROM hack of Speedy Gonzales:

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The sticker on the cartridge was *literally* just the boxart of Sonic R, minus the SEGA logo. No side bars, no markings, no text other than the Sonic R logo:

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If not for the fact that the cartridge (made of suprisingly good plastic, albeit yellow... ) didn't spell out that it's a Gameboy game (in crooked italics, mind you) and you weren't familiar with the cartridge size, you'd probably never guess. Shame that I cannot find it, as I have yet to see this particular fake case online... Perhaps my cart is unique?

Unfortunately, I misplaced the two latter cartridges, so I cannot provide you with my own photos. I also apologize for the quality of these photos - I used the laptop's webcam on its most sensitive setting (which forced me to make low-res photos) and these are the effects. Maybe I'll grab a camera once I find the rest of my collection and snap a few photos then. In any case, I hope you all enjoyed!

 

[superspudz2000]

ha, lol at "Nintondo"

but im glad they did the pokemon homebrew hacks so at least theres a way to play them.

 

[Strife89]

Welp, turns out my copy of Final Fantasy VI Advance is fake. Thanks for the post; very enlightening.

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{/SPOILER]

 

[loco365]

Welp, turns out my copy of Final Fantasy VI Advance is fake. Thanks for the post; very enlightening.

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Holy hell that is rusted beyond belief. I'll add all these images to the wiki. Thanks for all the images! I'll also have to get the images of Quartz and Naranja.

By the way, I need to confirm this, but when playing Naranja, does the game crash when you face Gary for the first time in the new Pallet Town after getting off the Zeppelin? Mine seems to do that once I send out Pikachu.