Had their service for about 4 months 4 years ago or so. They did have good communication and I’m glad to hear they did right by you. They are how I first played Midnight Resistance for the Sega Genesis, which was awesome. I enjoyed them, also not knowing what I was going to get, was like sending yourself a Christmas present every month. So fun. Enjoy the actual Mario 3 sir.
@@johnhancockretro Hey John Hancock, I'm a recent subscriber. Please do a let's play of mass effect 2 with Metal Jesus rocks. I kind of wanted to know about the entire franchise but if Jesus wants to only play mass effect 2 for now, then I'm fine by that.
I miss the old days of thrifting/hunting for video games before it became a thing and retro gaming wasn’t as popular. Stopped doing it over a decade ago.
@@baconstrips6260 one can hope. I remember one time when I skipped on a copy of MUSHA - it was $40. I told myself I'd get it next time. Then the price hike started, not two weeks later. It didn't sink in for me yet, but next time I went to that store, MUSHA was long gone.
I remember years ago someone reviewed this product and I remember thinking they’d never survive. They ship out really awful games or super cheap games, and it’s not worth the money. I’m shocked you’d ever spend real money on a service like this they do not deserve anyones money period.
I had a buddy who got a service like this and back in like 2016 it was cool, but they seemed to have run out of good stuff after about a year and it was trash, I don't remember if it was this one or another one.
I had this service for ab a year a few years back, while I did get some pretty good games I remember being disappointed in the last couple boxes I got so I cancelled.
@@terminalpower. I just cancelled this service. They pretty much give you $1-$15 games that are not in demand. What made me upset is they ignore your suggestion list even if they're cheap games. They will send you cheap foreign titles as filler as well. You will find yourself stuck with games. These services are really for casuals and they probably knew it was a repro, because they would have filter out the real expensive games. Also, there is no guarantee of CIB and it depends on what system. If you select GBA, you won't get CIB. There are sellers on ebay that you can buy blind boxes of games.
Well, you just sold me off of even considering to use their service. Just with the quick flash, I could immediately tell what the problem was. If they can't do that basic a quality check, that just brings back memories of that old Gamestop story of someone paying full price for a Chrono Trigger bootleg.
I saw another video sometime ago of a guy complaining his Mario Kart DS game was fake from these loot boxes, so it's an absolute lack of due diligence from this company. But some bootlegs are shooting up in price, I've been offered £350 for my bootleg Neo Geo copy of Neo Turf Masters.
I work for a mall management company and I've been dealing with a lot of gaming stores selling fake game as "genuine", I alway report them to my operations / leasing managers but nothing ever seems to get done about it. it's a shame shops are doing this to unsuspecting people who don't know how to spot fakes.
When you took the game out of the box I knew it immediately before you said anything. Yeah, if you run a business selling games, you have to make sure the games you take in are genuine. If someone doesn't know they have a fake when they come to trade it in, that is unfortunate for them that you have to turn that game away, but those are the brakes. (Some KNOW they have a fake too, of course.) If you ask a vendor if you can open a game and they won't let you- say thank you and move on. Have your proper tools with you, Pink Gorilla (and others) sell specialaized screwdriver a kits.
That's very unfortunate, John. I had an experience where I inadvertently bought a bootleg Metroid Zero Mission from Ebay. At first glance it looked legit but when I started comparing the label to other pictures online it became clear it was fake. Just to take the extra step I opened the cart and the components were those of a bootleg as well. You can never be too careful these days. 🤷♂️
I purposely bought a rep of TMNT Radical Rescue. Just so I could have all three Gameboy games physically. No issues with it. I'm ok with reps as long as I know that's what I'm buying.
While looking through my Genesis games, I discovered that my copy of Golden Axe has really questionable label print quality. Looks slightly blurry. I bought the game probably 10 years ago, but I'm suspecting that it could be a fake and I had no idea all those years until i really looked closely at it this week. I don't have a problem with repros, but I do have a huge problem with people selling fakes as if they are real. I have ordered reproduction carts before, but I stick a "reproduction" sticker on them so that I can tell the difference.
I’ve bought fake GBA Pokémon games by accident. I’d had them for a few years before seeing a video about how to spot fakes on GBA, and sure enough they were. I only checked because I remembered thinking the shells looked a little off color. They were probably too good of a deal, but not outlandishly so ($100 for 3 games around 2016) and it’s really hard to tell sometimes and makes me distrust anything I see in the wild that looks too good to be true.
I agree wholeheartedly. However if someone's spending their money on what they believe is an authentic product and your company isn't providing that one way or the other, then you've failed and must make it right. I believe this was likely an honest mistake. I've been a collector and GBA and DS games have some great fakes. Some not so. Either way, the staff should be trained appropriately and should have sufficient time to check accordingly.
I got duped with a brand new sealed super princess peach for the ds. It even had a Nintendo seal on the wrapper lining. Somebody messaged me whenever I tried to sell it on ebay. Glad Somebody caught that before it sold.
I have not gotten a 'normal fake' before from a subscription box before. However, when I was subscribed to VGM Video Games Monthly I had received at two different times games with the wrong cart casing and game inside. One was the cart for Raid on Bungeling Bay for the Famicom, which turned out to be Valis the Fantasm Soldier. And before that I got Street Fighter 2 on Genesis which was inside Sonic 2. I don't know if they are fakes but they did have different games inside. Nice video John!
I ordered Ninja Five-O from GameStop and they sent me a fake. I called them and they said that they are going to check the inventory of all their other stores and try to find me a new copy and I never heard from them again. now that game was worth a lot more than it did when I got it that day LOL
I was following a TH-camr who is building a n64 collection for a contest and you follow him in different events/shows where they sell and trade, and the other day he got a few n64 games all in clear plastic at very low prices. (big titles like mario golf) In the video he was happy that he made a good deal. In reality he was buying repo carts without knowing it. I was surprised to see in the video all the sellers with repo carts, they are everywhere. I also got a few at the beginning of my collecting without knowing. That is why I stopped buying / collecting carts. It too difficult to know. Even Best Buy online have them now in the marketplace.
I once got a fake Actraiser on Ebay. As soon as I saw it I was suspicious because it didn't weigh much and it looked brand new. It's on the redesigned snes cart and Actraiser was never released on the redesigned snes cart. I opened it up and it was a flash board. There was nothing about it being a repro on the auction. The guy had tons of positive feedback from people who were satisfied with their games having no idea they had purchased a fake. I messaged the seller and he gave me a refund. I'm sure when you're making a ton of money selling fakes as legit you can afford to give the few who recognize fakes their money back.
Thats fair though, you should be entitled to a replacement. Honestly, I dont care for repros unless they are defective. But i probably also would be pissed if it came to me thru a subscription service.
I got a reproduction paper Mario for n64 but didn’t know until it stopped saving. I ended up replacing it with a cheap copy that had a jacked up label. Bought a new label that’s looks pretty close. This whole experience is why I open all my purchases now. I do have some repros it I ordered them on purpose.
It's bad for the customer, bad for the company, bad for the hobby, people just gotta do the work and verify the things they sell are authentic. By not doing that, they're hurting everyone, including themselves in the long run.
I see alot of fakes games being sold these days, most commonly online but there's been an uptick in sellers (particularly Pokemon games) buying a ton of reproduction cartridges and passing them off for real. They'll often pretend not to know the difference. At least in this instance you were able to get it replaced!
Even though it's common and based on a movie, that Transformers game is actually a little hidden gem. There's a sea of Transformers games on the handheld, but it's a good one. I looked at Pricecharting just to get a rough idea of the value of the subscription service and if SMB3 hadn't been fake, you would have saved $10 compared to buying them separately, not to mention shipping. It's a cool little service and I hope it was an honest mistake that they'll learn from, as opposed to deliberate ignorance and ill-intent. Curious to see their response if there is one.
Thanks John for insightful video, I really don't like fakes and I think they're a problem but as long as some places that have them and sell them are upfront about it I didn't have a problem but I wouldn't buy them. Love your videos keep it up!
This isn’t a good thing. Game stores shouldn’t be knowingly contributing to the number of fakes in the market. Just because they tell you it’s a repro, doesn’t mean the next person who sells it locally says the same thing. It wouldn’t be a problem if they sold ROM hacks and homebrews, or even bootleg multi-carts (the games you can’t get anywhere else), but if my local store started selling repros, I’d never go there again.
Thats a bummer man. It also sucks for the business, All it takes is one employee to cause a lot of damage to your business like this. Getting that mistake blasted on youtube is rough.
I was sold a fake Snes game once by accident. The vendor was embarrassed, and was quick to reimburse me the money spent lol. I felt bad for the guy because I have known him for 19+ years. Never once has he been dishonest. A mistake is a mistake, and I did not get mad about it.
i think i might have picked up a repro cart of ghostbusters for the genesis.it was complete & in very good condition at a more than reasonable price.the description didn't say anything about it being a repro or original. now i need to look into it
Because I do not know anything about the industry, are fake games illegal to sell? I am guessing so under the piracy act, but not too sure. I suppose the other issues are the game may not work properly, or be incomplete, or even have a different game to the label. Maybe answered my own question there. Thanks John for the heads up, though.
Sadly more and more people don’t even care cause they say it doesn’t hurt anyone when in reality it hurts a lot of people. Sadly , I have seen other gamers on retro game treasure reporting fake games. Thankfully it hasn’t happened to me but it makes me skeptical and the stores I buy from have been really good at catching fake games before selling and if they get those games they don’t even give them back since they are illegal they are not responsible. It’s just the world we live in where people think and even broadcast fake retro games on Roms and report it like they are playing the real deal
I haven't personally but there was an issue at CEX in the UK a few years ago where they were printing off fake covers and selling loose games as complete. I found a few on their shelves at the time, this was unaccetable because it was the store doing it. I have seen the odd fake cart in there too but I put that down to the fact they are staffed by zero hours minimum wage 16 year olds as opposed to being malicious like their forging to overcharge their customers which is just theft in my book.
Hi. Thanks for this review. Just wondering what is your feeling about repros of Japanese games translated into English ( Sailor Moon Another Story for Snes/SFamicom or Mother on GBA) ? Would you have been as upset if they included a "translation" repro?
I've not gotten any issues with RGT, but I did get ripped by Gamestop, where I got a FFVI Advance where the quick save file doesn't work (any time you quicksave, it loads up corrupted and unloadable, even if you load it immediately.
It is sad. Not angry for you. But, this is a loot box subscription problem. I have one for small board games and it is $20. And I have had some down times and for a whole year it succeeded as a whole. But this is a mail subscription thing. They need to profit too.
Damn that sucks John. Hopefully they can send you the legit copy of SMB3 on the GBA. I was duped for buying a fake TCM on the 2600, it ended up being a Hozer Repro, same with a couple of other 2600 games. This happened back in 2010.
Hi do you remember me? You bought games from me at my home and couple flea marts. Just wanted to let you know that my partner pasted away so getting out of videos. And parts. This is. Barb see you around
Honestly I can't blame them back when I had my game boy advance when the console was still new just buying a few games off eBay I got a bunch of what was clearly fakes Even more than the DS the game boy advance was pirated up the wazoo
Counterfeit games?! That’s a huge black eye on the service. 👎🏻 As a guy who has been collecting GameBoy Advance games for 20 years, I’ll say that prices have been going very high. So if you see a game cart price that seems too good to be true…it is. If you cannot clearly see all the details in the photos, run away. Bottom line, if you want legit GBA games, be prepared to pay more than you want to for the authentic ones. The market is now flooded with Chinese knockoffs…sadly.
I did probably 5-6 months of their subscription. Wasn't really that impressed. I got some Spanish games that can play on English and I asked them not to do that and they sent me another... so I canceled
Keeping an open mind. This could be accidental or due to lack of knowledge or bad training. Buuuut, If this is/was intentional that turns an issue into a huge problem. If you can, give us an update. Im curious to how the company reacts and handles it.
Hi John, I quit collecting for the GBA in 2014 because even then the market was flooded with fakes, more than any other console or handheld. I think the way forward here is for these loot box companies to offer repros on the selection list and let people select them if they're not bothered.
There are a couple videos with this service that have found a fake game, but the others knew what the original looked like. I am not sure if everyone knows they are out there.
I bought a Nintendo 64 re-pro game on purpose to curb the horrible price of that used cart, I wasn’t comfortable with how they went the extra mile to make it look real though I’d prefer a big red label (warning repro)
Have I gotten a Nintondo before? Oh yes, I have certainly gotten a Nintondo. I don't remember which one the first was, but the second was Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. That kind of stung a little. If you're a Game Boy Advance owner, you quickly learn the signs of a fakey fake cartridge, because there are tons out there and you certainly don't want to get fooled more than twice. Fakes have never been an issue with the PSP, though! That UMD format is so esoteric and closed-source nobody's ever made a counterfeit. Nobody wants to USE the discs anymore either, but hey, those discs you're not using are at least consistently legit!
A very large local flea market has a big video game booth. The seller has clearly fakes Pokemon DS Games priced at over eBay price for the real ones. it is surprising how soooo many people don't just look up stuff online anymore.
I remember getting fake GBA carts from Ebay back in the day on accident (specifically Shining Soul and Fire Emblem). However, I've bought a few intentionally in the last few years. Some GBA multicarts and english patched GBA games. However, I would not be happy about getting one that is sold as "real".
Ah yes the fakes. A classic trap. I think every GBA (or other cartridge) collector could smack him/herself in the face for buying at least once a fony. Once I got home from a shopping session from a retro game shop I found out a company named Nontendo also got the right to made Mario Kart Super Circuit 😁. Money not well spend.
Yeah I got a fake once (I think it was ebay) Professor Layton on the DS was sold everywhere in the U.K. So I got it on ebay, the game wouldn't save that's I kinda have knew it was fake. Shame! A good game though.
Ive been subscribing for 1 year now, and i have NEVER got more then 10 dollars worth of crap games each month. I emailed them and quit and they were very polite, but the service is a complete scam and its all garbage.
I have 2 repro cartridges, Biometal for SNES, and I did not know it was a repro until it arrived and was WAY too light to be legit, so I opened it and knew it was repro, and the sticker is way too shiny to be legit, and then I purposely ordered a repro of Conkers Bad Fur Day cuz it was half the cost of a legit copy, and I wrote repro all over it so if someone else ever needs to sell my collection, there's no doubt it's fake
Heck no! You gotta be kidding me lmao no way! That’s why I never ever used those services screw them. Half of the games they gave you was not worth 25$ and on top of that they give you a fake gba game.
I have a lot of Original Games but also i have a lot of repros. Paper Mario or Resident Evil 2 for the N64 also a lot GBA Games like all Final Fantasy oh Zelda. I will Never Sold this Games but these Games are realy expensive in germany. I know this Games are repros but i am happy about it.
I sadly purchased some fake GBA games in the past. There's a few signs to look out for but some are hard to determine unless you open it and see the board.
Fake GBAs usually don't feel right . The plastic isn't the right material and feels chintzy . I've gotten several fakes from 3rd part sellers on Amazon . You're kind of at their mercy on there having to buy sight unseen . After I get a refund on them from the seller I put them in a frame to hang on the wall , my own little game room wall of shame . Might as well make something productive out of them right ?
I was looking for my Super Mario 3 cart and realized it’s still in my GB advance Sp. still have the box for it and I found my Metal Slug Advance with the box. Awesome stuff. Whatever.
I bought a Gameboy Pokemon games from a bin store recently and i checked the online pricing and it said it was around $100, so I'm like cool I'll resell it, then got to thinking well it might not be legit, so i took it apart to check it and sure as hell was a fake game
Was very disappointed to see one of my local favorites digital press selling repro games. The games are marked repro but still not too excited to see it. It was a repro saturn game made to look like a complete game. These should not be spread around the retro gaming market.
Reproduction copies aren't a problem is you buy them knowing they are reproduction. 90% off for Sega CD games to I can play them on the Sega CD isn't so bad. Now it is a problem when somebody either tries to pass them off as real or sell repros that are still on sale by the developer. If the developer/publisher still sells it, then it is piracy. Looking back over the last decade at some of the lower prices for GBA games I've bought, yup, they were Chinese bootleg. I prefer high quality reproductions over bootlegs but that doesn't change the fact that they never mentioned it was that.
These surprise box companies for games, movies etc. are no good for anyone but themselves. They should not be supported. You are going to get stuff you can get worth like $10 for $25/month. I could see trying a surprise food box subscription, like from a different country.
![Are Retro Game Subscription Boxes WORTH IT? [Retro Game Treasure Unboxing] | Nintendrew](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lfIoqNipiOY/mqdefault.jpg)
![ลองสุ่มไอโฟน 990 โกงมั้ย? [ โกงมั้ยครับ ep.101 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bfsWe0j492k/mqdefault.jpg)
Update: After contacting them with the issue, Retro Game Treasure is sending me a replacement. Problem solved.
Had their service for about 4 months 4 years ago or so. They did have good communication and I’m glad to hear they did right by you. They are how I first played Midnight Resistance for the Sega Genesis, which was awesome. I enjoyed them, also not knowing what I was going to get, was like sending yourself a Christmas present every month. So fun. Enjoy the actual Mario 3 sir.
Did you get a response after the video, or did you post the video without contacting them?
@@atman2 I contacted them after this video.
all fake products need too be illegal forever
@@johnhancockretro Hey John Hancock, I'm a recent subscriber. Please do a let's play of mass effect 2 with Metal Jesus rocks. I kind of wanted to know about the entire franchise but if Jesus wants to only play mass effect 2 for now, then I'm fine by that.
I miss the old days of thrifting/hunting for video games before it became a thing and retro gaming wasn’t as popular. Stopped doing it over a decade ago.
@@baconstrips6260 one can hope. I remember one time when I skipped on a copy of MUSHA - it was $40. I told myself I'd get it next time. Then the price hike started, not two weeks later. It didn't sink in for me yet, but next time I went to that store, MUSHA was long gone.
@@baconstrips6260 lol quite the trend - going on 15 years or so
@@LorenHelgeson Was this like 20 years ago? MUSHA has been over $40, even loose, for a long time.
I remember years ago someone reviewed this product and I remember thinking they’d never survive. They ship out really awful games or super cheap games, and it’s not worth the money. I’m shocked you’d ever spend real money on a service like this they do not deserve anyones money period.
I had a buddy who got a service like this and back in like 2016 it was cool, but they seemed to have run out of good stuff after about a year and it was trash, I don't remember if it was this one or another one.
I had this service for ab a year a few years back, while I did get some pretty good games I remember being disappointed in the last couple boxes I got so I cancelled.
I grab Fanatical's mystery Steam keys on a regular basis. Sometimes it's about seeing what you get, not just going for the amazing games.
@@terminalpower. I just cancelled this service. They pretty much give you $1-$15 games that are not in demand. What made me upset is they ignore your suggestion list even if they're cheap games. They will send you cheap foreign titles as filler as well. You will find yourself stuck with games. These services are really for casuals and they probably knew it was a repro, because they would have filter out the real expensive games. Also, there is no guarantee of CIB and it depends on what system. If you select GBA, you won't get CIB. There are sellers on ebay that you can buy blind boxes of games.
I was thinking the same. The only thing in this package that could have been a good retro item was a fake.
Well, you just sold me off of even considering to use their service. Just with the quick flash, I could immediately tell what the problem was. If they can't do that basic a quality check, that just brings back memories of that old Gamestop story of someone paying full price for a Chrono Trigger bootleg.
I saw another video sometime ago of a guy complaining his Mario Kart DS game was fake from these loot boxes, so it's an absolute lack of due diligence from this company.
But some bootlegs are shooting up in price, I've been offered £350 for my bootleg Neo Geo copy of Neo Turf Masters.
'ello, Larry!
I work for a mall management company and I've been dealing with a lot of gaming stores selling fake game as "genuine", I alway report them to my operations / leasing managers but nothing ever seems to get done about it. it's a shame shops are doing this to unsuspecting people who don't know how to spot fakes.
From the thumbnail I assume a repro is gonna pop.
Great video John. That's sad they put in a repro. Let us know what you find out from them. Thanks for the video.
A repro is a BIG NO. As a seller you have to do your homework regarding fake games.
When you took the game out of the box I knew it immediately before you said anything. Yeah, if you run a business selling games, you have to make sure the games you take in are genuine. If someone doesn't know they have a fake when they come to trade it in, that is unfortunate for them that you have to turn that game away, but those are the brakes. (Some KNOW they have a fake too, of course.)
If you ask a vendor if you can open a game and they won't let you- say thank you and move on. Have your proper tools with you, Pink Gorilla (and others) sell specialaized screwdriver a kits.
Yeah, Pink Gorilla is the gold standard in my mind.
John I dig your Evercade hat!
That's very unfortunate, John. I had an experience where I inadvertently bought a bootleg Metroid Zero Mission from Ebay. At first glance it looked legit but when I started comparing the label to other pictures online it became clear it was fake. Just to take the extra step I opened the cart and the components were those of a bootleg as well. You can never be too careful these days. 🤷♂️
I think we purchased the same cart. Game worked but beyond that it was useless.
I purposely bought a rep of TMNT Radical Rescue. Just so I could have all three Gameboy games physically. No issues with it. I'm ok with reps as long as I know that's what I'm buying.
While looking through my Genesis games, I discovered that my copy of Golden Axe has really questionable label print quality. Looks slightly blurry. I bought the game probably 10 years ago, but I'm suspecting that it could be a fake and I had no idea all those years until i really looked closely at it this week. I don't have a problem with repros, but I do have a huge problem with people selling fakes as if they are real. I have ordered reproduction carts before, but I stick a "reproduction" sticker on them so that I can tell the difference.
$40 for Mass Effect 2, loose copies of Pure + Transformers Autobots and even a legit copy of SMB Advance 4 is a sham.
I’ve bought fake GBA Pokémon games by accident. I’d had them for a few years before seeing a video about how to spot fakes on GBA, and sure enough they were. I only checked because I remembered thinking the shells looked a little off color. They were probably too good of a deal, but not outlandishly so ($100 for 3 games around 2016) and it’s really hard to tell sometimes and makes me distrust anything I see in the wild that looks too good to be true.
When it comes to Nintendo handhelds, honestly... it's really hard to vet every single one. I don't think it's on purpose.
They should offer full refund then if things like this happen.
@@truelovewontwait I imagine they will.
I agree wholeheartedly. However if someone's spending their money on what they believe is an authentic product and your company isn't providing that one way or the other, then you've failed and must make it right. I believe this was likely an honest mistake. I've been a collector and GBA and DS games have some great fakes. Some not so. Either way, the staff should be trained appropriately and should have sufficient time to check accordingly.
Good video. Important to call this out.
I got duped with a brand new sealed super princess peach for the ds. It even had a Nintendo seal on the wrapper lining. Somebody messaged me whenever I tried to sell it on ebay. Glad Somebody caught that before it sold.
I have not gotten a 'normal fake' before from a subscription box before. However, when I was subscribed to VGM Video Games Monthly I had received at two different times games with the wrong cart casing and game inside. One was the cart for Raid on Bungeling Bay for the Famicom, which turned out to be Valis the Fantasm Soldier. And before that I got Street Fighter 2 on Genesis which was inside Sonic 2. I don't know if they are fakes but they did have different games inside. Nice video John!
Thanks for the video, John. Maybe a video on how to spot a fake could be in your future. ;) Awesome stuff, as usual.
I ordered Ninja Five-O from GameStop and they sent me a fake. I called them and they said that they are going to check the inventory of all their other stores and try to find me a new copy and I never heard from them again. now that game was worth a lot more than it did when I got it that day LOL
I was following a TH-camr who is building a n64 collection for a contest and you follow him in different events/shows where they sell and trade, and the other day he got a few n64 games all in clear plastic at very low prices. (big titles like mario golf) In the video he was happy that he made a good deal. In reality he was buying repo carts without knowing it. I was surprised to see in the video all the sellers with repo carts, they are everywhere. I also got a few at the beginning of my collecting without knowing. That is why I stopped buying / collecting carts. It too difficult to know. Even Best Buy online have them now in the marketplace.
I once got a fake Actraiser on Ebay. As soon as I saw it I was suspicious because it didn't weigh much and it looked brand new. It's on the redesigned snes cart and Actraiser was never released on the redesigned snes cart. I opened it up and it was a flash board. There was nothing about it being a repro on the auction. The guy had tons of positive feedback from people who were satisfied with their games having no idea they had purchased a fake. I messaged the seller and he gave me a refund. I'm sure when you're making a ton of money selling fakes as legit you can afford to give the few who recognize fakes their money back.
Thats fair though, you should be entitled to a replacement. Honestly, I dont care for repros unless they are defective. But i probably also would be pissed if it came to me thru a subscription service.
I got a reproduction paper Mario for n64 but didn’t know until it stopped saving. I ended up replacing it with a cheap copy that had a jacked up label. Bought a new label that’s looks pretty close. This whole experience is why I open all my purchases now. I do have some repros it I ordered them on purpose.
It's bad for the customer, bad for the company, bad for the hobby, people just gotta do the work and verify the things they sell are authentic. By not doing that, they're hurting everyone, including themselves in the long run.
I see alot of fakes games being sold these days, most commonly online but there's been an uptick in sellers (particularly Pokemon games) buying a ton of reproduction cartridges and passing them off for real. They'll often pretend not to know the difference. At least in this instance you were able to get it replaced!
Even though it's common and based on a movie, that Transformers game is actually a little hidden gem. There's a sea of Transformers games on the handheld, but it's a good one. I looked at Pricecharting just to get a rough idea of the value of the subscription service and if SMB3 hadn't been fake, you would have saved $10 compared to buying them separately, not to mention shipping. It's a cool little service and I hope it was an honest mistake that they'll learn from, as opposed to deliberate ignorance and ill-intent. Curious to see their response if there is one.
That thumbnail looks like John went to put on a pair of pants and somebody already pooped in them...
Thanks John for insightful video, I really don't like fakes and I think they're a problem but as long as some places that have them and sell them are upfront about it I didn't have a problem but I wouldn't buy them. Love your videos keep it up!
Do you ever get mistaken for Rick Steiner?
Sounds like Retro Game Treasure is on its way to going out of business if this is the standard and not a one off mistake.
There's a game store by my house that sells repros but they atleast tell you that they are, I've gotten a few pkmn rom hacks there.
This isn’t a good thing. Game stores shouldn’t be knowingly contributing to the number of fakes in the market. Just because they tell you it’s a repro, doesn’t mean the next person who sells it locally says the same thing. It wouldn’t be a problem if they sold ROM hacks and homebrews, or even bootleg multi-carts (the games you can’t get anywhere else), but if my local store started selling repros, I’d never go there again.
What blind box service would you recommend as the best?
None, they are all shit! Its just an easy way for companys to get rid of the garbage nobody wants to buy
All depends on what you want.
You'd think they'd send The Immortal John Hancock amazing stuff every month. It just makes sense.
Thats a bummer man. It also sucks for the business, All it takes is one employee to cause a lot of damage to your business like this. Getting that mistake blasted on youtube is rough.
I was sold a fake Snes game once by accident. The vendor was embarrassed, and was quick to reimburse me the money spent lol. I felt bad for the guy because I have known him for 19+ years. Never once has he been dishonest. A mistake is a mistake, and I did not get mad about it.
i think i might have picked up a repro cart of ghostbusters for the genesis.it was complete & in very good condition at a more than reasonable price.the description didn't say anything about it being a repro or original. now i need to look into it
I appreciate the heads up on the rise of fake games being sold. I catch myself being way too naive when it comes to retro game shopping.
Like your Evercade hat!
Thank you!
Wait so that Panzer Dragoon saga I got in my box last month isn't real??
That would be a hell of a get if so lol
Because I do not know anything about the industry, are fake games illegal to sell? I am guessing so under the piracy act, but not too sure. I suppose the other issues are the game may not work properly, or be incomplete, or even have a different game to the label. Maybe answered my own question there. Thanks John for the heads up, though.
This happened a couple times to me with Pokemon Platinum and Pokemon Sapphire. Luckily, I bought them on ebay so I got my money back
Sadly more and more people don’t even care cause they say it doesn’t hurt anyone when in reality it hurts a lot of people. Sadly , I have seen other gamers on retro game treasure reporting fake games. Thankfully it hasn’t happened to me but it makes me skeptical and the stores I buy from have been really good at catching fake games before selling and if they get those games they don’t even give them back since they are illegal they are not responsible. It’s just the world we live in where people think and even broadcast fake retro games on Roms and report it like they are playing the real deal
I've got fakes out of game stores more than once years ago before I knew they were a thing.
I haven't personally but there was an issue at CEX in the UK a few years ago where they were printing off fake covers and selling loose games as complete. I found a few on their shelves at the time, this was unaccetable because it was the store doing it. I have seen the odd fake cart in there too but I put that down to the fact they are staffed by zero hours minimum wage 16 year olds as opposed to being malicious like their forging to overcharge their customers which is just theft in my book.
Good video! Man, that stinks! I know a lot of repro's are being sold now, on Facebook and other places! I have not so far gotten any fakes yet!
Hi. Thanks for this review. Just wondering what is your feeling about repros of Japanese games translated into English ( Sailor Moon Another Story for Snes/SFamicom or Mother on GBA) ? Would you have been as upset if they included a "translation" repro?
Those are fine and in a different category for me.
I've not gotten any issues with RGT, but I did get ripped by Gamestop, where I got a FFVI Advance where the quick save file doesn't work (any time you quicksave, it loads up corrupted and unloadable, even if you load it immediately.
It is sad. Not angry for you. But, this is a loot box subscription problem. I have one for small board games and it is $20. And I have had some down times and for a whole year it succeeded as a whole.
But this is a mail subscription thing. They need to profit too.
Damn that sucks John. Hopefully they can send you the legit copy of SMB3 on the GBA. I was duped for buying a fake TCM on the 2600, it ended up being a Hozer Repro, same with a couple of other 2600 games. This happened back in 2010.
Another problem I can see is that 3 out of 4 of the games aren't technically retro games. The DS game, maybe but the PS3 and 360 games definitley not
It did’nt happen to me.It’s becoming a bigger problem then I thought.Thanks for the warning.
Hi do you remember me? You bought games from me at my home and couple flea marts. Just wanted to let you know that my partner pasted away so getting out of videos. And parts. This is. Barb see you around
I can only imagine how many fake games I have in my collection. Although most were purchased before the boom.
Honestly I can't blame them back when I had my game boy advance when the console was still new just buying a few games off eBay I got a bunch of what was clearly fakes
Even more than the DS the game boy advance was pirated up the wazoo
Counterfeit games?! That’s a huge black eye on the service. 👎🏻
As a guy who has been collecting GameBoy Advance games for 20 years, I’ll say that prices have been going very high. So if you see a game cart price that seems too good to be true…it is. If you cannot clearly see all the details in the photos, run away. Bottom line, if you want legit GBA games, be prepared to pay more than you want to for the authentic ones. The market is now flooded with Chinese knockoffs…sadly.
I did probably 5-6 months of their subscription. Wasn't really that impressed. I got some Spanish games that can play on English and I asked them not to do that and they sent me another... so I canceled
my first year was awesome and fun to get every month.. then it started going down hill so I ended it
Keeping an open mind. This could be accidental or due to lack of knowledge or bad training. Buuuut, If this is/was intentional that turns an issue into a huge problem. If you can, give us an update. Im curious to how the company reacts and handles it.
Hi John, I quit collecting for the GBA in 2014 because even then the market was flooded with fakes, more than any other console or handheld. I think the way forward here is for these loot box companies to offer repros on the selection list and let people select them if they're not bothered.
There are a couple videos with this service that have found a fake game, but the others knew what the original looked like. I am not sure if everyone knows they are out there.
I bought a Nintendo 64 re-pro game on purpose to curb the horrible price of that used cart, I wasn’t comfortable with how they went the extra mile to make it look real though I’d prefer a big red label (warning repro)
I had a problem with Retro Game Treasure when they sent me broken and cracked game cases. Not acceptable
Tks for ur msg i though i was alone ❤❤
Have I gotten a Nintondo before? Oh yes, I have certainly gotten a Nintondo. I don't remember which one the first was, but the second was Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. That kind of stung a little. If you're a Game Boy Advance owner, you quickly learn the signs of a fakey fake cartridge, because there are tons out there and you certainly don't want to get fooled more than twice.
Fakes have never been an issue with the PSP, though! That UMD format is so esoteric and closed-source nobody's ever made a counterfeit. Nobody wants to USE the discs anymore either, but hey, those discs you're not using are at least consistently legit!
A very large local flea market has a big video game booth. The seller has clearly fakes Pokemon DS Games priced at over eBay price for the real ones. it is surprising how soooo many people don't just look up stuff online anymore.
I bought a castlevania bloodlines a few years back and when it came in the mail it was glaringly fake.
Has this happened often to you where they gave you fakes? If so just cancel your subscription. Before doing contact them to resolve the issue.
Never happened before, cancelled service anyways.
@@johnhancockretro ok cool that you cancelled the service.
I remember getting fake GBA carts from Ebay back in the day on accident (specifically Shining Soul and Fire Emblem). However, I've bought a few intentionally in the last few years. Some GBA multicarts and english patched GBA games. However, I would not be happy about getting one that is sold as "real".
Bottom line is it's pirated software. They should be VERY concerned about that.
Ooof. I wanted to sign up for this service but ignoring the fake, seeing the two loose games is a big turn off alone.
Ah yes the fakes. A classic trap. I think every GBA (or other cartridge) collector could smack him/herself in the face for buying at least once a fony. Once I got home from a shopping session from a retro game shop I found out a company named Nontendo also got the right to made Mario Kart Super Circuit 😁. Money not well spend.
Yeah I got a fake once (I think it was ebay) Professor Layton on the DS was sold everywhere in the U.K. So I got it on ebay, the game wouldn't save that's I kinda have knew it was fake. Shame! A good game though.
Plenty of stores near me sell fakes at retail and just hope you don't know then they get soo mad when you mention it
Hopefully this will get their attention as fake games can't slip through the cracks.
So what game is it?? If u go to play it... or just nothing comes up???
It only worked after several attempts.
@@johnhancockretro those scumbags
Ive been subscribing for 1 year now, and i have NEVER got more then 10 dollars worth of crap games each month. I emailed them and quit and they were very polite, but the service is a complete scam and its all garbage.
I have 2 repro cartridges, Biometal for SNES, and I did not know it was a repro until it arrived and was WAY too light to be legit, so I opened it and knew it was repro, and the sticker is way too shiny to be legit, and then I purposely ordered a repro of Conkers Bad Fur Day cuz it was half the cost of a legit copy, and I wrote repro all over it so if someone else ever needs to sell my collection, there's no doubt it's fake
I guess mistakes happen in all businesses but well spotted there !
Heck no! You gotta be kidding me lmao no way! That’s why I never ever used those services screw them. Half of the games they gave you was not worth 25$ and on top of that they give you a fake gba game.
The only time I ever bought a fake game I was looking for it. I have to try to buy fake games. 🙄
I have a lot of Original Games but also i have a lot of repros. Paper Mario or Resident Evil 2 for the N64 also a lot GBA Games like all Final Fantasy oh Zelda.
I will Never Sold this Games but these Games are realy expensive in germany. I know this Games are repros but i am happy about it.
I sadly purchased some fake GBA games in the past. There's a few signs to look out for but some are hard to determine unless you open it and see the board.
Fake GBAs usually don't feel right . The plastic isn't the right material and feels chintzy . I've gotten several fakes from 3rd part sellers on Amazon . You're kind of at their mercy on there having to buy sight unseen . After I get a refund on them from the seller I put them in a frame to hang on the wall , my own little game room wall of shame . Might as well make something productive out of them right ?
I got a fake cart one time and i emailed them and they sent a replacement game the next month
I was looking for my Super Mario 3 cart and realized it’s still in my GB advance Sp. still have the box for it and I found my Metal Slug Advance with the box. Awesome stuff. Whatever.
I don't mind fake because it is better than digital download.
I bought a Gameboy Pokemon games from a bin store recently and i checked the online pricing and it said it was around $100, so I'm like cool I'll resell it, then got to thinking well it might not be legit, so i took it apart to check it and sure as hell was a fake game
Was very disappointed to see one of my local favorites digital press selling repro games. The games are marked repro but still not too excited to see it. It was a repro saturn game made to look like a complete game. These should not be spread around the retro gaming market.
Likely not done on purpose. Did you contact customer service? Cheers!
The number of contemporary fakes kind of killed GBA for me, even in the high street, most used games were not real.
Stinks people are making new ones
I don’t like blind gift boxes ever
Reproduction copies aren't a problem is you buy them knowing they are reproduction. 90% off for Sega CD games to I can play them on the Sega CD isn't so bad.
Now it is a problem when somebody either tries to pass them off as real or sell repros that are still on sale by the developer. If the developer/publisher still sells it, then it is piracy. Looking back over the last decade at some of the lower prices for GBA games I've bought, yup, they were Chinese bootleg. I prefer high quality reproductions over bootlegs but that doesn't change the fact that they never mentioned it was that.
just another reason why I never did a subscription with any of those services SMH
Wow sending fakes. Got em. At least they fixed the problem.
I’m way too picky to buy things that come random
These surprise box companies for games, movies etc. are no good for anyone but themselves. They should not be supported. You are going to get stuff you can get worth like $10 for $25/month. I could see trying a surprise food box subscription, like from a different country.
I would of liked for this to be a blind reveal video to see your reaction in the moment but I guess you're not doing these blind anymore...
Fake games are everywhere these days - The fake ds carts are the ones to watch out for as you can't just open them up!