Here in Japan many used game stores will have a picture of the internals of a valuable game next to it too show it is authentic. I wonder if that will become common elsewhere.
The label art on the FFIV:A cart appears to be the box art for the game (at least in NA/EU). I think all regions, including japan, went with the plain white background on the label art.
Yeah, would've been cooler if the real labels used that box art. I wonder if the cartridge label designer came from Sega from the Master System cart designs! lol
Also notice on the fake Minish Cap label there is no drop shadow on the logo. This makes reading the text "The Legend of" very hard to read even with magnification. Also the text "Game Boy Advance" molded into the plastic just above the label is often a bit off... Skinny letters and an asymetric "O" is often the case. Black blobs on the board are basically ALWAYS fake unless it one of the very few Nintendo carts with them - if you're getting one of those you'll already know I'm sure. One last note, I have seen fakes with "Nintendo" spelled correctly. That is never a sure thing unless it's wrong. just my 2 cents
Since this video, I've actually come across a different Minish Cap fake that has a completely different looking label. Even fakes aren't consistent! lol That is correct, in most cases black blobs mean it's a fake. I don't know what all of the exceptions are with the retro games, but I know one for sure is Star Fox. I had two copies of Star Fox, one had black blobs and one didn't. Both were real. The Star Fox ones were more of a square shape than a circle. Thanks for the additional comparison info for the labels and shell. Any info that can get out there to help prevent someone from purchasing a counterfeit when they want the real thing is great!
Man, some resale shops put price labels in places that makes me believe they're trying to destroy resale value once it leaves their store. Nobody is that oblivious, you don't put a price label in the OG sticker of a game cart.
Yeah, my go-to retro shop is good, though. Another place I've had issues with is Best Buy. I ordered some amiibo for store pickup and they put huge red stickers directly on the box. If I didn't intend on opening the box to use the amiibo, that would've ruined the "new" value.
I think the fake ones use something called SRAM in them which requires constantly electrical supply for them to save ganes.... While real ones use FRAM in them.... I have purchased 4 dozens of bootleg carts and I'm replacing battery in each of them so that I can save games as I play along.
Here in Japan many used game stores will have a picture of the internals of a valuable game next to it too show it is authentic. I wonder if that will become common elsewhere.
That would be awesome if it were standard everywhere!
I believe the “Nintendo” is intentionally misspelled so that from looking underneath it looks correct without opening it
What? That makes no sense. If it's misspelled then it doesn't look correct.
The label art on the FFIV:A cart appears to be the box art for the game (at least in NA/EU). I think all regions, including japan, went with the plain white background on the label art.
Yeah, would've been cooler if the real labels used that box art. I wonder if the cartridge label designer came from Sega from the Master System cart designs! lol
Also notice on the fake Minish Cap label there is no drop shadow on the logo. This makes reading the text "The Legend of" very hard to read even with magnification. Also the text "Game Boy Advance" molded into the plastic just above the label is often a bit off... Skinny letters and an asymetric "O" is often the case. Black blobs on the board are basically ALWAYS fake unless it one of the very few Nintendo carts with them - if you're getting one of those you'll already know I'm sure.
One last note, I have seen fakes with "Nintendo" spelled correctly. That is never a sure thing unless it's wrong.
just my 2 cents
Since this video, I've actually come across a different Minish Cap fake that has a completely different looking label. Even fakes aren't consistent! lol
That is correct, in most cases black blobs mean it's a fake. I don't know what all of the exceptions are with the retro games, but I know one for sure is Star Fox. I had two copies of Star Fox, one had black blobs and one didn't. Both were real. The Star Fox ones were more of a square shape than a circle.
Thanks for the additional comparison info for the labels and shell. Any info that can get out there to help prevent someone from purchasing a counterfeit when they want the real thing is great!
Man, some resale shops put price labels in places that makes me believe they're trying to destroy resale value once it leaves their store. Nobody is that oblivious, you don't put a price label in the OG sticker of a game cart.
Yeah, my go-to retro shop is good, though. Another place I've had issues with is Best Buy. I ordered some amiibo for store pickup and they put huge red stickers directly on the box. If I didn't intend on opening the box to use the amiibo, that would've ruined the "new" value.
On that Popeye game, That’s the first time I have seen the 4 rectangles in a horizontal orientation rather than the typical vertical orientation. 🧐
Yeah, that one is weird. Usually they're all in the exact same spot from what I've seen, too.
Great video. Very informative
Thanks, glad it was helpful for you!
I'm reporting every fake GBA/DS cart on eBay I can find. Whole shops exist on the sole purpose of selling cheap counterfeits.
I think the fake ones use something called SRAM in them which requires constantly electrical supply for them to save ganes....
While real ones use FRAM in them....
I have purchased 4 dozens of bootleg carts and I'm replacing battery in each of them so that I can save games as I play along.
Oh sorry!
You've said the same already 😅
Fake ds games are everywhere too. I bought a mario and luigi partners in time from the online walmart and it was fake I think.
Sorry to hear you think it's fake. I'm working on acquiring some fake DS games to go over those.