Hardware Can a GBA game burn?

[oldwii]

I've recently sold the gba game pokemon saphire edition.The customer who bought the game claims that the game isn't playable. He says the circuit board looks BURNED. I've never had a problem playing this game and I've used it in a SP, Gameboy Advanced and in a Nintendo DS. What should I do about that? Is that even realistic?

Thanks for all the answers,
oldwii

 

[BeniBel]

If it isn't a reproduction this sounds very unlikely. Only way a game could burn I can think of, is using it in a broken device. My Retron 5 was faulty and fried my tv.

So most likely he's trying to scam you.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Never heard stories about that, but I heard stories about snes carts burning

 

[zxr750j]

It might be a leaking battery

 

[enarky]

Never heard stories about that, but I heard stories about snes carts burning

Shitty flash carts can burn, too...

 

[Localhorst86]

Never heard stories about that, but I heard stories about snes carts burning

But why didn't you link to a story about snes carts burning? All the article says is that capcom put a fire hazard warning on their game.

No SNES or game actually caught on fire, it sounds to me to be more of a disclaimer so no one can sue them if their SNES catches on fire - after all, it's a very old console and can therefore have aging components.

 

[oldwii]

https://ibb.co/jfMrJfT

He sent me this picture. It is apparently my game. What do you think? Maybe he wants to send me a fake game instead of my original game. I'm not sure. I haven't tested it right before sending it to him but I've never had problems with it.I didn't lend this game to anyone. Apparently it's not the battery nor his device.

 

[Koldur]

Can't see the picture. Though, even without that, sounds like he is scamming you.

 

[oldwii]

https://ibb.co/jrM3tLp

 

[duwen]

Yeah, sounds super sus.
I've never heard of a GBA game 'burning' through normal use.

If I had to guess, I'd say that the buyer had a fire damaged copy of the game and has swapped the board with your good copy.

 

[raging_chaos]

A PCB wouldn't burn out without also taking the cartridge port with it and completely showing failure burns on the board, that's assuming we are talking about an electrical problem. If it's melted plastic that's even more suspect, especially considering an OG GameBoy w/ Tetris can survive being bombed and charred. A leaking battery or capacitor would easily show corrosion or residue build up.

For all anyone knows they could have botched an attempted battery replacement while also melting the case while soldering. If you tested the game before shipping that's even less of a reason to refund. If you sold this through ebay they will eventually end up siding with the buyer, for that reason its a good idea to state in bold sold as is. To prevent someone from swapping boards it's also a good idea to use a marker that is only visible with under a black light to tag a board with something you can identify.

The picture is way too low res to be able to determine what's going on. Try getting the guy to take better pictures of all sides of the board with a camera that isn't a toaster smeared in Vaseline.

 

[LostRabbit]

they could have botched an attempted battery replacement while also melting the case while soldering

thats actually the first thing that came to my mind when reading. i remember replacing many batteries back then.

anyway, its suspicious. you should definitely get him to send better pictures.

 

[ghjfdtg]

Not gonna lie, i can't really see in that picture what's wrong. But anyway, a GBA doesn't even deliver the current needed for anything to start burning. The fuse will blow before anything can happen.

 

[SilverDen]

I agree, this looks like someone trying to replace a battery, not taking the PCB out of the case and now trying to claim whatever it is they want to claim from you. I have hundreds of hours of playtime on hundreds of different cartridges, I have never seen anything burn by itself before.

 

[oldwii]

He claims that he doesn't have a better camera. I'm not sure what to do about it.

 

[tech3475]

I think that might be normal, I just looked around and found this:

https://chieftain20.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/complete-guide-to-authentic-gba-pokemon-games/

In addition, here's my copy of Fire Red:

 

[TopKekMaster]

This definitely sounds like a scam mate.
I'd say just don't do anything about it if you already got the money, and you know for sure the game worked before.

 

[oldwii]

I gave in. I haven't tried out the game just before sending it to him but I will definitetly keep an eye on it and try it out myself.

 

[duwen]

It's also pretty suspect that he crops out the screw in that photo... it may indicate if it's been opened.
Pretty sure his camera is fine - his ability to take a picture is questionable though... the background is nicely in focus, but the object is way too close to be in focus. If he took the image at a hi-res at a reasonable distance away there'd be enough information in the image to see what he's talking about (and also show any potential tampering).

 

[tech3475]

Question, did you wipe the save before sending it? If the save is missing then that could indicate a board swap or repair attempt.

Again that ‘damage’ looks like it’s a normal part of the cartridge.