Is this an old or a new bootleg?

[Axido]

My fellow tempers,

I just came across a very amusing offer over on ebay:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/13501375517...VRdgf3JTeu&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

The description states "--- Very very rare --- You can't find anything about it on the Internet".

Now, I guess we all know it's just a bootleg copy of Super Mario Advance 2, maybe bundled with or injected into an emulator. To my knowledge this is actually a rarity, just not in the sense the seller suggests, but as a relic of early 2000's bootleg culture (whatever that is). Since I have never seen a GBA game bootleg CD for PC usage like that I wanted to ask if any of you guys know something about it. Back in the day my parents took me to a giant market at the German-Polish border. There they definitely sold bootleg games (for example copies of "Pokémon Diamond" for GBC, way before the DS game of the same name came out). However, I never saw anyone there sell CD games with a single ROM on it.

So, what do you guys think? Could this be a CD that was sold to some unsuspecting gamer over 20 years ago or could it be that the seller himself made it just to mess with wannabe-collectors?

And furthermore, if it turned out to be an old bootleg, would you personally assign it any historical value?

 

[Ryab]

Best I can say is the renders on the back appear to be from Mario Party 4 and Mario Tennis I believe?

 

[Ryccardo]

However, I never saw anyone there sell CD games with a single ROM on it.

Since over 10 years have passed, I can say I did that in elementary school, with of course VBA + all Pokemon games including "Diamond" being the biggest hit - of course, at that time, 1 PC per decently off family was just becoming the standard and ADSL still a luxury often paid by the minute

No boxes or """professional""" labels though, just .txt instructions

Is that really a CD-ROM (industrially made)? The artwork continuing across the middle makes it certainly not a sticker...

So, what do you guys think? Could this be a CD that was sold to some unsuspecting gamer over 20 years ago or could it be that the seller himself made it just to mess with wannabe-collectors?

Both are plausible - I've seen more than one PS2 on ebay that "reads any disc" (code word for chipped) in a convenient bundle with "2 JOESTICKS" and "2 games of your choice" including "super mario bross collection", and in the early 2000s you could buy (black market) on most every Italian beach not only clothing and sunglasses but also CDs
In fact, when it comes to Game Boy Whatever cards, it's more true now than ever for both of these options to be likely...

 

[SylverReZ]

Definitely a bootleg. Looks like those misc-in-1 compilations filled with fanmade games and ROMs.

 

[Axido]

Thanks for the answers, y'all.

I got a small update to share. Just for the heck of it I decided to report the item. I couldn't care less about Nintendo as the copyright holder, but I'd like to at least try to protect some unsuspecting ebayers that could get scammed by this. The answer I got was as follows:

"Thank you again for reporting the offer(s)..

Steps taken:
We have examined your report and have determined that the offer does not violate our principles. This decision was made by a member of our customer service team."

Is anyone surprised?

 

[SylverReZ]

Thanks for the answers, y'all.

I got a small update to share. Just for the heck of it I decided to report the item. I couldn't care less about Nintendo as the copyright holder, but I'd like to at least try to protect some unsuspecting ebayers that could get scammed by this. The answer I got was as follows:

"Thank you again for reporting the offer(s)..

Steps taken:
We have examined your report and have determined that the offer does not violate our principles. This decision was made by a member of our customer service team."

Is anyone surprised?

Sometimes that does happen. If you report it again, then it should get removed.

 

[Ryccardo]

I decided to report the item

Ebay follows their own "VERO" standards, which like the DMCA requires the complainer to be, or be affiliated with, the """victim"""

(Like the DMCA it's also very abused, but differently from it the seller can't just reply "I confirm this is bullshit, please immediately restore my content as required by law", for one because it's not a law )

Is anyone surprised?

The victim (different from above - I now mean the future buyer) can report the unfit product after he gets it, with the final result being:

Buyer:

• Hopefully learnt the lesson
• All of his money back
• May or may not be allowed to not return the product, if he was forced to return it, that would be paid by the seller
• Only really wasted some time

Ebay:

• Got rich off commission on sold product (wouldn't have happened if it didn't sell in the first place)
• Got filthy rich off penalty charged to seller (wouldn't have happened if it didn't sell in the first place)

Conclusion: shareholders and capitalism win