Zelda hates me

[Ultra_Kaiju | 11]

Went to play the original TLoZ last night on NES and got the flashing red light. Did every trick (we all know them),.. nothing got it working. Every other game worked fine and started right up. But Zelda was DOA. Even took it apart and checked to make sure nothing looked funny and everything was clean,.. it just wont work. So I head to ebay and buy another one. 

I have the worst luck with Zelda games. This is the second time recently I've bought the original. And I've bought A Link to the Past Twice,.. both times they turned out to be repros which is a bummer, I'd prefer the real SNES game. The first one stopped working within days, the second one is still working. 

Bought Ocarina of Time,... repro/fake. Bought it again and got the real one except when I took it apart the metal sleeve that goes around the PCB was covered in rust. I replaced it with the one from the fake and got it all cleaned up and it works fine, so got lucky there. 

Breath of the Wild, Twilight Princess, Wind Waker HD ,.. they all work fine, but I know they're 'real' they're on disk and I got them either new or from a reputable source. 

But the carts,.. they get me. it's always Zelda. Every other cart I've gotten has been real, all my Marios are real, (even have a 5 screw Super Mario Bros, not a big deal but it makes me happy.) 

But Zelda... .. starting to feel cursed. 

The thing is I have one of those 300 games in 1 NES carts, and it has Zelda, I could play that,.. .but it's not the same, it's not the authentic experience (and it really runs sort of weird, not like the real game.) 

I have the mini NES and could play it on that,.. but it's not the same, it's not the gold cart in a real NES. 

I even have emulation on my PC,.. but ... yeah. 

If it keeps happening I'll play them on the Switch I guess. I'll get the old school controllers to at least get 'some' of the original feel of playing them. .. .if Nintendo ever gets the Switch/SNES controller back in stock. ..they always have the 2 pack of NES/Switch controllers, I never see the SNES/Switch controller in stock on their site.  

So.... new gold cart should be here next week and I have to start over again. 

I keep starting Zelda and A Link to the Past over and over again because the carts break. When I finally finish them again I think it will feel like an actual achievement. ... maybe the curse will be lifted. 

 

Edited February 4, 2021 by Ultra_Kaiju

[Tabonga | 2,313]

Zelda Gilroy (from the tv show The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis).

Edited February 4, 2021 by Tabonga

[Webhead123 | 675]

Sucks, man. The Zelda titles are popular and demand higher prices, so I can understand why folks would fake/repro them...but the fact that you seem to wind up with so many has to be obnoxious.

For getting as close to the original experience as possible but without all the frustration, it might be worth picking up Everdrives to play them on. While it wouldn't be on the original cart(s), at least you would be able to play the original ROM and do it on original hardware. It's an incredibly convenient and reliable way to get an authentic-feeling experience.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

3 hours ago, Webhead123 said:

Sucks, man. The Zelda titles are popular and demand higher prices, so I can understand why folks would fake/repro them...but the fact that you seem to wind up with so many has to be obnoxious.

For getting as close to the original experience as possible but without all the frustration, it might be worth picking up Everdrives to play them on. While it wouldn't be on the original cart(s), at least you would be able to play the original ROM and do it on original hardware. It's an incredibly convenient and reliable way to get an authentic-feeling experience.

Ok, I'm curious about this, what range are you talking about for them "demanding higher prices?"  Last I checked with my local game store, the original Zelda games for NES, SNES, and N64 were in the $20-30 range, not nearly high enough for folks to dedicate a lot of time bothering to bootleg them.  They're also some of the highest produced, widely distributed and available games for their respective systems, so again, I'm left scratching my head at this.  Agreed on the Everdrive, though, for folks just wanting to play games and not necessarily collect.

OP, where are you located and where are you buying games that you're running into so many bootlegs of dirt common, relatively low priced (for popular titles) games?  Your experience, to me, seems to be the exception rather than the new rule.

[Ultra_Kaiju | 11]

Buying online. The nearest game store is a couple of towns over and with my kids and work schedule I really don't have time to be traveling around hunting for games. And most of the time buying games online works fine, out of a couple shoeboxes full of NES/SNES/SFamicom/N64 carts,... only the Zeldas are fakes. It's why I joke it's a Zelda curse. 

I mean I know to check the labels, check the screws are the right kind and silver instead of that weird brass/yellow color the fakes use, check the gloss/sheen on the label, check the print quality of the graphic, but that doesn't help when an auction uses a pic of a real game and sends you a fake. It's the Zelda curse, lol. And both times when I went to eBay to report a fake the seller and item had already been removed. I know I'm in trouble when I check purchases and see 'the item has been removed' and it hasn't even arrived yet, lol. 

 

you kind of gotta laugh,.. there never is a 'message' in messages either, and you can't contact the seller or do anything. The item is shipped, they're kicked off of eBay, and that's that. You just cross your fingers it'll show up. 

That happened with both the NES classic and SNES classic that I ordered. Both sellers were kicked off before they'd arrived,.. so I figured before they even got here they'd be fakes. But the auction pics were real and the prices were well over $100. for each. I think all the NES/SNES classic minis online now are fake, I wouldn't trust any auction or amazon listing at this point. 

 

here's the fake Link to the Past ones I got...

The one I wrote on the back is the one that stopped working after a couple days. The other one with the small PCB still seems to be working fine. 

Here's the Zelda that stopped working. It's authentic, it just stopped working. And the auction didn't really reveal the enormous crack running all through the back of the cart. That whole corner section is barely hanging on. So,.. glad to replace it anyway I guess. 

 

Pretty sure this one is fake too, though it works and I haven't taken it apart. The label and screws look wrong. 

 

this is why I joke it's a Zelda curse. Out of all my games the only ones I had a problem with or got fake copies of, are the Zelda games. Everything else works fine and is a 'real' Nintendo game. It's just a run of bad luck but it's funny that it keeps only happening with Zelda games. 

When I can I'll try to drive a couple towns over and look for a game store so I can shop in person and see the cart before I buy it. 

Edited February 4, 2021 by Ultra_Kaiju

[CMR | 517]

Your zelda cart may just have a bad trace in it that got worn through or something.  I had one like that.

[Link | 2,707]

I love you

[Ultra_Kaiju | 11]

Hahaha

[Webhead123 | 675]

20 hours ago, darkchylde28 said:

Ok, I'm curious about this, what range are you talking about for them "demanding higher prices?"  Last I checked with my local game store, the original Zelda games for NES, SNES, and N64 were in the $20-30 range, not nearly high enough for folks to dedicate a lot of time bothering to bootleg them.  They're also some of the highest produced, widely distributed and available games for their respective systems, so again, I'm left scratching my head at this.  Agreed on the Everdrive, though, for folks just wanting to play games and not necessarily collect.

To be fair, I've been out of the "collecting" loop for about 5 years now, so I'm probably carrying over assumptions from that previous era. The last I paid attention to it, it seemed like most of the major Zelda titles (like the original and LttP) were going for $40-$50 loose, although Pricecharting is telling me that that the average has fallen off a bit today (which is good). Even so, my experience has been that most games (particularly the popular ones) rarely go for those rates and most local shops/sellers (at least in my area, back when I frequented them) and eBay tend to go for a bit higher, which is one the reasons I stopped bothering.

[a_profile_name | 230]

On 2/5/2021 at 12:09 AM, Ultra_Kaiju said:

Pretty sure this one is fake too, though it works and I haven't taken it apart. The label and screws look wrong. 

 

Sorry man, but yes, it's completely fake. The dead give away is the color.

This comes from the same type of plastic they use for fake pokemon stadium 2, which is "glittery". The loz:mm plastic is gold, but doesn't have these glitters.

It does sound like a run of bad luck though... did you at least get your money back from all these fakes?

[Estil | 1,261]

3 hours ago, sg17 said:

Sorry man, but yes, it's completely fake. The dead give away is the color.

This comes from the same type of plastic they use for fake pokemon stadium 2, which is "glittery". The loz:mm plastic is gold, but doesn't have these glitters.

It does sound like a run of bad luck though... did you at least get your money back from all these fakes?

Sort of like how the first time I saw that infamous "Purple Ganon" in his lair I was like, wrong already, it's the 2nd quest lair but has the 1st quest ninth dungeon radar!!  Nice try

[Ultra_Kaiju | 11]

9 hours ago, sg17 said:

Sorry man, but yes, it's completely fake. The dead give away is the color.

This comes from the same type of plastic they use for fake pokemon stadium 2, which is "glittery". The loz:mm plastic is gold, but doesn't have these glitters.

It does sound like a run of bad luck though... did you at least get your money back from all these fakes?

Amazing that people will counterfeit just about everything. 

[avatar! | 1,804]

[a_profile_name | 230]

12 minutes ago, Ultra_Kaiju said:

Amazing that people will counterfeit just about everything. 

yeah lol

and at least for vdeogames people only loose money, in other places:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-face-mask-fake-turkey-medical-supply-shortage-covid-19-a9423426.html

[Ultra_Kaiju | 11]

That's pretty disgraceful. 

[Estil | 1,261]

6 hours ago, Ultra_Kaiju said:

Amazing that people will counterfeit just about everything. 

Yeah, why Zelda games of all things?  I mean Nintendo I thought made more than enough copies to go around.  I guess it's a good thing I got my cartridge games many years ago and when I got the custom battery clips put in them they sent pictures of the insides of each cartridge so I can be sure they were all the real deal.

[Ultra_Kaiju | 11]

got some new (old) Zeldas, cleaned and authentic, tested and working 

 

...I know I know,.. one of them is the red-headed step-child, but even red-headed step-children need love too. 

 

While I was shopping I picked up some other goodies....

The complete super famicom version of Mario AllStars I'm pretty happy and excited to have. Shindou Mario 64 I got for the collection though I'm sure I'll stick with the regular Mario64 that allows the backwards long jump. 

DooM64 I was looking forward to playing but after testing its' not working right. It's not detecting the memory pack in the controller (which works fine), but even worse is the display is almost pitch black even when maxed out at 100%,.. you really just can't see anything.

Wrote the seller and hopefully I can just replace it. 

Excited to get back to playing Zelda though. 

Edited February 9, 2021 by Ultra_Kaiju

[Tabonga | 2,313]

On 2/4/2021 at 8:44 PM, Link said:

I love you

 

[Estil | 1,261]

On 2/4/2021 at 9:44 PM, Link said:

I love you

 

[phart010 | 1,705]

Zelda doesn’t hate you. Link hates you.

And purple Ganon does too 

[Ultra_Kaiju | 11]

it's true. Like a throat-punch in the feels. 

...the Cuccos though,.. they have love.