The repros/bootlegs problem

[Gloves | 11,779]

6 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

More power to you if you've done this, actually I have to (sealed Creatom, plus I've opened and played dozens of non-sealed but new old stock games here purchased straight from the store [games weren't generally sealed in Asia]). What I used to do was then play the games on the several hour train / bus ride back home, on my Game Boy Color. 

I'm guilty of buying Minish Cap on release day, tearing the box apart and chucking it into the woods, then playing the game while I walked the rest of the way home. 

[fcgamer | 4,723]

7 minutes ago, Gloves said:

I'm guilty of buying Minish Cap on release day, tearing the box apart and chucking it into the woods, then playing the game while I walked the rest of the way home. 

I threw away a few boxes in my day too, from back in the day or even a few years later when trying to straighten up our limited gaming area; however, what you did was contemporary it seems. That's different from cracking open an authentic Red in 2023, which is silly, even to a guy like me who likes Wata as much as I like ass zits.

[MegaMan52 | 2,445]

I buy bootlegs because some of them are cool while others are just plain weird. I've gotten some bootlegs in the past, AFTER buying the real thing, knowing they are bootlegs.

Bootleg

Official release

Haven't been fooled. Look how cheap looking the bootleg is, and how the art on the label is zoomed in/cutoff. Oh and look at the top of the bootleg cartridge; it says "GAME". Also note that the bootleg has the "Official Game Boy Game Pak" symbol on it. I still knew it was a bootleg. Bought the bootleg after buying the official release.

I remember seeing a GBA DKC2 repro/bootleg on eBay a decade or so ago with a blue label. Didn't buy it. It was the only one with a blue label on eBay at the time, so I knew it couldn't have been a real one. Still could've bought it anyway, but didn't and just got the official release instead.

One of the repros I bought was Resident Evil 2 on GBA. I knew before I bought it that it was a repro, not just because it doesn't have the Nintendo Seal of Approval but also because the GBA version was canceled (like the GBC version of the first Resident Evil). I bought it anyway because the prototype is obviously hard to come by.

Still, I look closely before buying games. If it's a released game and looks basically identical to an official copy on the outside, I may ask sellers to open the cartridges before buying. Some sellers already open cartridges and provide pictures without being asked.

Edited August 26, 2023 by MegaMan52

[fcgamer | 4,723]

Fun fact: some Famicom Gradius bootlegs have Konami's name embossed on the back, yet their name isn't even on official copies.

[Tanooki | 4,934]

I've bought the occasional vintage game, usually PC though, just to rip the shrink off and use it.  One is a game that EPIC just won't pop up on the old game (GoG) type sites, but sequels (Epic Pinball) they will.  I found a sealed up copy of Silverball 2! Plus and ripped the wrap off, popped in my usb floppy drive and installed the game as I used to enjoy it decades ago, still holds up, still fun in dos box.  Done this with some game boy stuff too, I have no shame, but they weren't over OG retail either to be fair because I'm not insane.

I am a former collector, not a collector by proxy because I keep like what I will enjoy to still use or grew up with that didn't age into a badly unpolished turd with time.  So for me, when I see Gun Nac for $10 in a 1:1 external NES cart, or $500 in the clown circus on ebay -- fuck yeah I'll pay $10 to get the same look, feel and play of that original game I once had.  I did it with Aero Fighters too, it had a crap cart shell, so I gently removed the sticker and used a clearance sports title to get it looking right because $1000 vs $10 is a no brainer.   Can not possibly care less if that triggers someone, because I don't, and I don't support the current system as it sits.

 

To me the title of the thread for me mentally has an alternative wording:  'The repros/bootleg solution.'

 

Mind you I have no issue dunking on a bootleg vintage or not if I end up with a real copy of a game, just did too, Ike Ike Nekketsu Hockey for Famicom which came in the mail 2 days ago.

@MegaMan52 Don't blame you one bit there with RE2 on GBA, if I were more a fan I'd do it.  I've been strongly considering the dual set of carts, though primary the first, of PC DOOM and DOOM 2.  IN recent years the GBA games got hacked hardcore restoring lost/changed bits of content and restoring that M rating too and it's an impressive hack/restoration but I never seem to come across it even on ali.

Edited August 25, 2023 by Tanooki

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,013]

5 hours ago, Tanooki said:

So for me, when I see Gun Nac for $10 in a 1:1 external NES cart, or $500 in the clown circus on ebay -- fuck yeah I'll pay $10 to get the same look, feel and play of that original game I once had

Honest question: why haven't you? They're dirt cheap on Alibaba. I would encourage you to do so bc if I was a betting man (I am), I'd wager you get an empty sense of why tf do I have this gob of garbage when I could just have it on a multicart or literally any other more economical way of experiencing an expensive game other than a 1:1 reproduction. I would also wager that even a bright yellow, see through cartridge with a goofy hand drawn label would give you more satisfaction than a tried-hard-and-failed 1:1 reproduction.

Edited August 26, 2023 by RegularGuyGamer

[Kguillemette | 1,544]

I don't have a very good eye for fakes, so if it isn't super obvious one way or the other I can't tell. All of the handful of carts I own right now were found locally. In that sense, as @T-Pac said, I will only buy from reputable sellers or or items with natural wear and tear.

[Armageddon Potato | 124]

It's very hard to get a fake passed someone with experience. The craziest thing I've ever seen was at a convention there was a fake Hagane box where the only clue was the UPC. The box was a washed Scooby-Doo box and was painstakingly reprinted onto it. The owner had no idea he had been had(assuming he didn't make it, but that seemed unlikely.)

[fcgamer | 4,723]

1 hour ago, Armageddon Potato said:

It's very hard to get a fake passed someone with experience. The craziest thing I've ever seen was at a convention there was a fake Hagane box where the only clue was the UPC. The box was a washed Scooby-Doo box and was painstakingly reprinted onto it. The owner had no idea he had been had(assuming he didn't make it, but that seemed unlikely.)

Agreed, if you you've handled as many fakes as I have, it becomes really easy.

[Tanooki | 4,934]

On 8/25/2023 at 10:20 PM, RegularGuyGamer said:

Honest question: why haven't you? They're dirt cheap on Alibaba. I would encourage you to do so bc if I was a betting man (I am), I'd wager you get an empty sense of why tf do I have this gob of garbage when I could just have it on a multicart or literally any other more economical way of experiencing an expensive game other than a 1:1 reproduction. I would also wager that even a bright yellow, see through cartridge with a goofy hand drawn label would give you more satisfaction than a tried-hard-and-failed 1:1 reproduction.

As far as Gun Nac goes, lazy, have the Japanese version on a multicart, that new (2023) 253 in 1 that does multiple game saves on RPGs etc.  Next time I get something from there I probably will add it to the order.

Aerofighters I did do that last year, cost me $10 +2 for a clearance sports title to transfer a 1:1 label to, and it's on my shelf.

There's your honest answer since you honestly asked, went both directions with it so far. I'd have left AF alone but the shell was brittle, off color, was light like a few pieces of paper, and just sucked.

[VmprHntrD | 1]

Eh they're a fun alternative, I'm not against them, more for than against.  I don't mind how good they've become, and I'm kind of pleased they have gone that far because the quality would have gone up as well so they'd last from a durability perspective.  I'm used to old famiclone, gameboy copy and other carts from the 80s and 90s and they still hold up.  I would never trust a bootleg made in the last decade before this as the quality bottomed out.  I guess I'm more old school, my time was the roms, release, hacks era of the later 90s.

[T-Pac | 7,548]

On 8/18/2023 at 6:52 AM, Ankos said:

Fun fact: a long time ago PCE clones used their own cartridge format instead of of Hu cards for that exact reason. I don't those are fooling anyone though

Wait - this actually looks way cooler than a legit PC Engine haha.

What language is this advertisement using?

[T-Pac]

[Link | 2,712]

2 minutes ago, T-Pac said:

What language is this advertisement using?

Czech

[Gloves | 11,779]

4 minutes ago, T-Pac said:

What language is this advertisement using?

The address is in Prague, looks to be Czech.

[Link | 2,712]

Just now, Gloves said:

The address is in Prague, looks to be Czech.

jinx, owe me a beer

[Gloves | 11,779]

3 minutes ago, Link said:

jinx, owe me a beer

Damn it!

[Ankos | 441]

9 minutes ago, T-Pac said:

Wait - this actually looks way cooler than a legit PC Engine haha.

What language is this advertisement using?

[T-Pac]

Super Engines were sold in Czechia but were manufactured by Taiwanese company Songtly (who also made the cartridge format). There was a listing on Xianyu for one with 11 of the carts but it sold out fast for a few hundred bucks. They're pretty hard to find, but I really want to hunt one down one day. There's some other PCE clones that also use this cartridge format