Also why won't Nintendo just start manufacturing some of these again? Clearly there is still a lot of demand for their older products .__. Just throwing my 2 cents..
+Sackboy's Channel I'm not too excited about the idea because they might be reluctant on making the multiplayer support compatible with the systems. I wouldn't mind such a thing though..
I don't think pokemon understand what their audience wants or what a large portion of their audience is. They prefer to try to cater to the new generation, they make all the new games extreme easy by doing this but I don't think that many kids these days play pokemon, at least not in the way that they used to, 10/15 years ago. They would rather play stuff like fortnite and I think pokemon are completely missing out on a large portion of their audience that are the original players, I think pokemon go showed good evidence of that
Or people who know you can tell in one second or view if one is fake. The most important and easiest way to tell is to look at the back of the cart. Reproductions and/or bootlegs have so many pins on the back so you can tell right away..
I know I’m a bit late, but I’m not surprised it was given dislikes, seeing as she doesn’t go through all of the biggest signs, like the microchip. Instead, she claims that the back looks OK. It doesn’t. That’s misleading.
Thank you. For a few years I wondered why I couldn't migrate my Pokémon and this is why. The sticker on mine isn't reflective. It plays the game fine but pal park deletes all the data because it's fake
Thank you for this video I’ve purchased cartridge from a seller here in Italy and I took close inspection not in person and it seemed legit and the sticker is metallic and has a imprinted number and the Nintendo logo I clear and readable Thank you so much
Wrong the Pokémon ruby she said was real is a fake the says it all the real seal would say official Nintendo seal but it says Nintendo seal of quality same with the Pokémon emerald
What if the cartridge has everything that seems "legit" except that the Nintendo logo isn't in the bottom left hand corner? In fact, it's no where on the cartridge, but everything else seems to be real.
fakes are sometimes hard to spot yeasturday i saw all the gba titles under glass which at first they looked legit. but when the guy got them out i could tell they were fake. the lables had a holographic quality but the corners wern't cut right and the holo didnt look right but kinda flat. also the rom chip inside were too big. so the guy didnt know they were fake though. i told him these weren't real there boot legs. some fakes are good but some are really bad like i have a fake emerald that a grey cart with the box art as a label lol
One thing to note: A legit copy of FireRed or LeafGreen will not have a battery. All of the Gen 3 games use flash memory to save, which does not require a battery. Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald have batteries which run the real-time clock for all the time-based events in the game. FR and LG have no such events, and thus no need for a battery.
Yep, that’s authentic. If it has factory numbers and has all other factors of an authentic, then it probably is. If you’re still sceptical, if you have a gen 4 game in which you have seen all the Pokemon, and a ds lite/ds, you can put your gen 4 game in the ds slot and emerald in the gba slot. Then start up your gen 4 game and it should say: _Migrate from Emerald_ .All authentic copies have a indent in the middle of the cartridge front, just below the Pokemon Logo.
Zane Swartz Send me photos of the cart and the game when you play it. If it's indeed fake and the seller stated it was legit, you can complain/message the seller to get a refund if it was from eBay or something.
If the model number is something like AGB-AXVP-EUR it should have a "CE", but if the model number is something like AGB-BPGE-USA, then it should have an "E". Basically, USA and AUS use 'E' and the UK uses 'CE'.
Great video, really helpful! But i was wondering something. How did you get these authentic games? I can't really find them anywhere. After buying a fake game on Amazon (from a %95 positive feedback seller) i despair of finding a legit one.
Ask the seller for several HD photos of their product from different angles (front, back and circuit board at the very least). No co-operation or slow replies= don't buy.
I REALLY wish I would have seen your video before I made my Leafgreen/Emerald purchase in August. I just never even considered that there would be counterfeits at the time. Now, five months later, the Ebay seller I bought them from is probably long gone now and I'm stuck with them. Oh well, I guess. I'm on Ebay again and I feel MUCH better looking for legit Leafgreen/Emerald games this time around. So thank you for uploading this. :)
This was an informative video until 10:39. those copies are real. all of them. I have these with their original boxes. Australian / New Zealand copies of pokemon games have the nintendo badge as a circle on the left side of the cart, and these look just like mine.
Yeah, I have had Emerald and FireRed for years now. Got Emerald from a friend, FireRed from EBay when I was like 11. The fire red I only recently figured out that it's fake, since it was always crashing on me or freezing. Gotta find a new one now
Thank you so much for pointing these out. I was getting really desperate about completing my collection, as I'm short LeafGreen and Ruby, and almost ended up with fakes just to settle. If they can't migrate, I'm not interested in them regardless. I never noticed the imprints or anything on them.
Thank you very much for posting this! I checked all of my Pokemon GBA games while watching this video and they are all LEGIT! Your video really helped me figure out the difference between real and fake ones! Thank you very much!
really good video, and its nice that we can actually see the sticker clearly unlike some videos where you cant see the imprint or the bottom of the PCB
Another thing I would add about buying online is that if it says genuine, but they're selling more than one copy of the game in the details, it's almost certain they're selling fakes. Also you can usually tell by the language used in the description/details if it's fake or not.
For anyone trying to buy a copy of any Pokemon game on GBA, if the seller has a picture of the back, look to the left of it for four squares on that side. Fake copies never have that, and it's a good way to spot a legit copy if the seller doesn't have the means to open the cartridge.
I have to say this video saved me, I spent a week analyzing this and ended up buying a Sapphire copy online, it was used but after testing it in every way possible I can confirm I got my hands on a real copy. Thank you.
I basically explained everything in the second paragraph of the description, but if you're too lazy to read it, I'll explain in brief: Playing a fake game will decrease gameplay enjoyment. You are unable to migrate Pokemon, the time feature may not work, discolouration is possible and it is EXTREMELY easy to lose your save file. Ask me for more information if I missed anything! :D
That last bit was something I struggled with a lot. I had Emerald, then lost it, so I got a new one, and it was so sensitive; it would freeze and all my data would be corrupted that it just wasn't worth playing very much. I got one of the 5 packs and it seems to work quite well?
Thanks. This video helped me. I was able to find an authentic copy today. Many years ago I originally let someone borrow my leaf green version of Pokemon and never got it back. I have been searchin high and low for an authentic copy and finally found an authentic copy but of fire red in a video game store used.
Girl. THANK YOU, you really helped me. I played for more than 140 hours my "Fire Red" trying to send my pokemons to my copy of Soul Silver, after looking of how in the internet and not being able to transfer my pokemons I was getting crazy. But I saw your video, my game is a pirate game i got on eBay, and I just waste my time because I cannot transfer my pokemons. Thanks to you I know I won't be able, thanks to you now I see the problem. Thank you Girl
Lilchupz Yes it actually is a fake. They have gotten better with faking the labels... The font on the circuit board is wrong. The word "Nintendo", should never be preceded with an "I", nor is it ever circled on genuine games. I would open the game and look at the circuit board. Just FYI. See this: www.pokedit.com/ABG-E01-41+floods+eBay,+it's+a+trap_7347.html
Lilchupz Also, when you were holding the "legit" Leaf Green up next to Emerald, it was visible that the Leaf Green is shorter than the standard cart. Also, the embossed numbers and letters should be in the top right as opposed to the Leaf Green cart where its all the way in the bottom right, right on top of where the Nintendo Seal is.
G Dub actually the North american copies leaf green and fire red games had a different set of words. ruby, sapphire and emerald all had the other set, but LG and FR had this set. exactly how it's shown in her video. there is a circled I followed by a circled "nintendo" proceeded with AGB-E02-30 I have both copes and my brother has a copy of leaf green and all 3 games have the same wording. we bought them from walmart on launch day.
Only thing with Emerald is that the polygon shaped holofoil design seems to fade over time if your cartridge wasn't as well protected. Mine is barely there anymore despite the label being shiny, but it's definitely an original cart.
Thanks a lot for the video! I'm from Sweden, so i went on the swedish version of ebay (tradera.com, which is a daughter-company of ebay), and searched for "Pokémon games". Was able to report 2 seperate ads, which were obviously fake. First a black cartridge with a Pokémon Emerald sticker that just looked plastic, and as you described it, ugly, with an unclear Nintendo-logo and stuff. and second, a guy claiming he was selling the Pokémon Diamond Version for the Game Boy Color.....which we all know isn't even an official release by Nintendo and VERY fake.
Just noticed the colors of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald also match the names of the 3 original Generation 1 games Red, Blue, and Green. Green of course was not released outside of Japan.
As of the past few days, I've fallen down this rabbit hole of fake Pokemon games that I didn't even know existed. I've bought 7 or 8 of these fakes games from fake gen 1 games like Red to fake gen 4 games like Heartgold. I just didn't know...
hello, thanks for the video, I just bought 5 pokemon games that similar that you show on the video, its so stupid that I didnt search it first to how can check if is fake or not, but now I know, thanks.
I got burned on a emerald copy a long time ago. About halfway through it corrupted ;(. At least I have original sapphire. There seems to be a difference in weight and overall robustness of the cartridges as well. Thanks for the video , will keep this info in mind.
8:00 you can't migrate from emerald/sapphire/ruby to Pearl/Diamond/Platinum if there is no save files, there has to be a save file at least in order to get the option "Migrate"
The E logo and the CE mean the games are re-release games. If they have neither of them on it, it means they were the 1st edition games to be released.
I was one of the victims who bought a fake Pokemon game (being specific Pokemon Fire Red), it was a grey cartridge, but back when I was a little boy, I really did not know about it, since I've been living with both legit and pirate or even fake games. I wish I saw this video yeeeears ago, but you know, it was even before I knew about TH-cam. xD At least you described it really well though, going into the details. :)
Hey there! Thanks for viewing, and I saw the photo, but it's still hard to tell, since it's quite blurry. If the game is yours, try putting it into a DS with a Pokemon D/P/Pt game and see if you can migrate. :D
Just to note to any other viewers as of today, a lot of online sellers (not all) will state reproduction. Which is their way of getting out of having to give your money back when you find it to be fake. Also note that it is still illegal for them to sale reproduction copies. But Nintendo does not go after them do to the time it would take. Websites like EBAY only take action when it is reported.
I bought a copy of LeafGreen yesterday at Gamestop, and now I gotta take it back. Everything looks legit, except the sticker isn't holographic. I really wish I had looked into what to look for before buying it, never bought a GBA pokemon game before
I got 2 fake copies (Emerald and Fire Red), but the stickers were different, they were shiny in both cases, what I mean by shiny is that they had this... simple "metallic" effect on the sticker. (looked like the legit Emerald, just without the glittering effect) Also you should mention something important, the fake carts are really flexible. If put your fingers inside of the circuitry contact and pull a bit to the outside from both sides the cartridge will bend a bit.
I own a very well made fake. It has a holographic label and you cannot see the battery like with most fakes. It however is slightly off colored and faded, has no factory imprint, the font on the back is wrong and when loaded up displays 'the game can be played'
ugh, thanks for making this video. Just found out the emerald I got was fake and I'm so depressed. I was unsure before since although I was suspicious the game played perfectly, but after seeing this video I'm 100% sure. These people selling fakes should seriously get reported and fined.
repro Ruby/sapphire/emerald have a big problem with internal clock because those have no batteries... so repro games will send you a note to delete save file itself for few hours later.
FireRed and LeafGreen shouldn't even have batteries, because those don't use clocks and the chip that stores the saves doesn't require power to keep the save.
Thanks for the video! I had all of the pokemon games from my childhood and lost all of them on a trip. It sucks so much that I'm going to have to buy all of them again. I had yellow, blue, gold, ruby, and heart gold all lost T_T
There's something else that's odd about gameplay. Usually when you are playing a Gen 4 game and you have the National Dex, you should be able to encounter certain Pokémon when a Gen 3 game is in the GBA Slot. It didn't work for me tho. I tried getting a Sandslash on Route 228 with Pokémon LeafGreen in the GBA Slot. It didn't work, at all. I searched for almost 2 hours! My pack of 5 Gen 3 games were fake
I'm worried that a few games I found on Etsy are fake, everything looks right except for the rating sticker and the Nintendo logo. I can't tell whether there's a factory imprint.
I have a legit emerald copy that would be pretty hard to sell because it's sticker is gone and the cart is dinged up, so there's no factory imprint or label.
I remember owning a fake copy of Pokemon Emerald when I was a kid. The moment I would beat the champion and the credits finished rolling, I got the message "The saved file has been erased due to corruption or damage" The same thing would happen if I tried trading with Pokemon Colosseum! Boy am I glad my brother convinced me to let him sell it; because afterward; my mom would buy me a legit copy from Best Buy.
I think I have a legit leaf green, I haven't played it yet because I just bought it now and it looks brand new and everything is right about my copy but the only thing I'm worried about is the embossed letters on the front right of it, I actually have the number 11 on it. Can I have someone's opinion on this?
I'm having trouble migrating pokémon here... My Emerald has a metallic sticker and it loads and plays perfectly on my DS Lite every time. I have the national pokédex and access to PalPark in Platinum and everything is fine and dandy. Got lots of pokémon on my Emerald cartridge without mail or HM moves, yet the "Migrate to Emerald" option just doesn't show up no matter what I try.. Could my Emerald be a fake!? The only thing I can think of that could be wrong is that my Emerald is from USA and my Platinum is European, but I've heard that that shouldn't be a problem...? EDIT: Both games are in English by the way... Any help would be appreciated 'cause this issue has me scratching my head all day.
Do you mean on the circuit board? I believe as long as the cartridge circuit board has "Nintendo" in either logo form or in the Correct font and that there's a year shown, it should be legit. It's most likely different models. Just remember that FR/LG differ from R/S/E.
some fake games are very convincing. I've seen one that looked almost exactly the same. i noticed it was fake when I found no factory imprint. I'd say that the factory imprint is the no.1 thing to look for on all gameboy games (GB, GBC and GBA)
Same goes for Takara Tomy/Pokemon centre Plushies and figurines. People sell rip-offs for cheap and the real companies don't make profit, so they end up having to bump up the prices!
My friend sold me a GBA + pokemon games. I played the fake Ruby, and I thought it was just a save problem, but the save data kept corrupting. Once i opened up the cart, it was clearly fake. No RTC module, soldered on battery, etc. The outside looks exactly like the one in the video of the fake
the corrupted file is the games way to handle the corrupted save however doesnt mean its fake it can also indicate the carts exposure to ESD or water damage.. or the game being erased via hardware programming
I purchased a copy of all three third gen games. They all appear to be fake but Im not sure. All of them have the correct holographic or reflective stickers that the originals have. None of them have the factory engravement. They all have a code or number that starts with an a. The only visible signs are the E for the ESRB is small, and the nintendo logo dosent really fit the circle for it. Upon starting the games, all three state "The previous save file will be loaded, The game can be played" Then a file with no progress named test is all you can play. Are these fake?
First off just want to say, thanks for the Video it really helped me. You seemed to put a lot of time and effort into it. So yesterday day I just received my Package which contains all the Pokemon GBA games, Fire Red, Leaf Green, Ruby, Saphire and Emerald, for a ridiculous price. £25. I was skeptical at first, but I thought "Meh, why not, may as well buy it." I just checked over each game and used your video as a guide, and all of them seems legit! Though I can't be sure, some of them are different to the legit ones you showed in the video. I'll go through it now. -All of the 5 games have a pretty much the exact same nice smooth, shiny sticker on them as the real ones you showed in the video. None look fake in the slightest. -All seem to have exactly the same shell nice looking shell as the ones you showed in the video, none of them are a darker or lighter shade of what you showed, they all seem really legit. -All have the exact same, nice, legit looking E symbol on them, though all of them a bit skinnier them the E's you had on your games, but it isn't slanted or squished together or anything. -All have the exact same, real looking font, nothing suspicious. -All seem to have Made in Japan on the back. -All have non of the batteries showing. -On the inside, all seem to have the correct font, though I can't see the font or what it actually says properly. -But none of them actually have the factory imprint on the front. Everything else seems fine though. Also, none have CE on it, but that's because they're all made in USA. (I assume) Would you mind assisting me here? Would appreciate it. I could provide you with pictures if needed. ^^ Thanks for taking your time to read this. :)
Oh also, -None have the Migrate from option, but maybe that's because they're all a brand new fresh game? And none them have any error messages or anything suspicious about the save game being deleted. Though when I played Ruby, it crashed about 5 or so mins into the game, maybe that was just bad luck though as I didn't have any problems after giving it a blow and rebooting it. Oh also, I thought as well provide you with a picture of it, since the seller I bought it off has a picture of them anyway. imgur.com/5yKcpAA It's not very clear, but I hope you can tell from it. Thanks for reading again.
ViperScyther Yes, those are fakes unfortunately. The carts are becoming more like the "real deals". I suggest you buying them separately in the future. Thanks for the watching, and thanks for the considerate message! :D
I got a Pokemon Leaf Green Eur version. Shiny/Metalic looking with the factory imprint of 07A on it and when i use my xploder sp cheat cartridge system for (e.g rare candy, masterball encounter any pkm codes) ETC they and even the mastercode dosent work. But yet my xploder accepts cheats for ruby/sapphire. Was wandering if you know why my cheat codes for LG arnt working?
alot of ebay sellers also put the legit cartridge for the stock pic but send you fakes.. so if there's more then one for sale or have been sold by that seller dont trust it. dont get ripped off. Awesome Video ☺
Thanks for making this video to help people distinguish between the real and the fakes. Also, a thank you to PurpleParadox for their purchase. Similarly to John Lancaster, I would just like to clarify, not all asian are scammers. As you can probably tell by my name, I'm also asian but I sell legit games on ebay. I hate being scammed, so I don't like to scam others. When I first started, I was scammed myself. Bought 5 gba games for $45 from a seller in QLD. I ended up selling those game back out on ebay, but in the title I specifically said "Not Authentic". You can check out my feedback on ebay for proof. Back to my main point, love how you're helping people out, but please don't simply categorize it to 'asian sellers'
I bought Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald from eBay and I was a little disappointed that after watching three different videos, that I was able to determine they were indeed fake. They looked genuine and they play perfectly, but the one telltale sign that they are indeed fake is that I went to Pokemon Diamond and checked to see if I could migrate it to Diamond but it didn't show up (probably since I didn't even make it to Jubilife City yet, but who knows?)
RavenTheGoddess im not sure about this, but to migrate, you first need access to some sort of park that is only available after you beat the champion. im not sure though because its been a while since i played pokemon
Thank you so much! What about first and second versions? Does this apply the same thing? Yea...I just want to play first and second generation beings back nostalgia.
Also why won't Nintendo just start manufacturing some of these again? Clearly there is still a lot of demand for their older products .__. Just throwing my 2 cents..
+Sackboy's Channel I'm not too excited about the idea because they might be reluctant on making the multiplayer support compatible with the systems. I wouldn't mind such a thing though..
@dongledoes i mean there is omega ruby and something sapphire that is in retail, and much more such as x y, sun moon
I don't think pokemon understand what their audience wants or what a large portion of their audience is. They prefer to try to cater to the new generation, they make all the new games extreme easy by doing this but I don't think that many kids these days play pokemon, at least not in the way that they used to, 10/15 years ago. They would rather play stuff like fortnite and I think pokemon are completely missing out on a large portion of their audience that are the original players, I think pokemon go showed good evidence of that
what's annoying is the dirty scammers making money out of this.EVIL
Lol I bet the 83 dislikes are from the losers that are trying to sell these things.
Or people who know you can tell in one second or view if one is fake. The most important and easiest way to tell is to look at the back of the cart. Reproductions and/or bootlegs have so many pins on the back so you can tell right away..
Also, if the game says that the file can be saved it is a sign of a flat battery
Please disregard that part of the video thank you
I know I’m a bit late, but I’m not surprised it was given dislikes, seeing as she doesn’t go through all of the biggest signs, like the microchip. Instead, she claims that the back looks OK. It doesn’t. That’s misleading.
Yeah probably
8:04 CONTINUE
PLAYER MY ASS
Your voice is super soothing
It really is.
True.
Danny Lewis it really is
Its a lot better than most youtubers!
Checking the ESRB "E" seems to be the fastest way to spot a bootleg.
You should work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Albert J. Nguyễn fbi lol
Something a little more subtle is recommended
Check her pfp she too cute for that
@@Solexcalibur Simp
Unintentional ASMR, if you ask me 😌
its in my playlist
lol agree!
Thank you. For a few years I wondered why I couldn't migrate my Pokémon and this is why. The sticker on mine isn't reflective. It plays the game fine but pal park deletes all the data because it's fake
C'mon now this is my CHILDHOOD RIGHT HERE. I would be able to know a fake cartridge just from a GLANCE!
Thank you for this video I’ve purchased cartridge from a seller here in Italy and I took close inspection not in person and it seemed legit and the sticker is metallic and has a imprinted number and the Nintendo logo I clear and readable
Thank you so much
This girl knows her shit.
She's got it memorized.
ahhhh i think you saw my pic??? lol
Wrong the Pokémon ruby she said was real is a fake the says it all the real seal would say official Nintendo seal but it says Nintendo seal of quality same with the Pokémon emerald
What if the cartridge has everything that seems "legit" except that the Nintendo logo isn't in the bottom left hand corner? In fact, it's no where on the cartridge, but everything else seems to be real.
Thank You, this video really helped. My Pokemon emerald game said the save file erased due to corruption and now I know why. Thank you.
fakes are sometimes hard to spot yeasturday i saw all the gba titles under glass which at first they looked legit. but when the guy got them out i could tell they were fake. the lables had a holographic quality but the corners wern't cut right and the holo didnt look right but kinda flat. also the rom chip inside were too big. so the guy didnt know they were fake though. i told him these weren't real there boot legs. some fakes are good but some are really bad like i have a fake emerald that a grey cart with the box art as a label lol
Hi Davidevgen
Graced247
sup! :P
+davidevgen where did you get them?
WolfStar 63
yard sales for nothing once i told them they were fake game
davidevgen lol, its that mario kart ds guy!
One thing to note: A legit copy of FireRed or LeafGreen will not have a battery. All of the Gen 3 games use flash memory to save, which does not require a battery. Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald have batteries which run the real-time clock for all the time-based events in the game. FR and LG have no such events, and thus no need for a battery.
Because Pokemon and Australian, you earned a sub! :D
how do you not have 100k subs or more?
this channel is awesome! :D
Thank you so much! There have been so many times I've considered purchasing a Pokémon GBA videogame, but have been put off by all the fakes out there.
2019 anyone?
What if the factory imprinted numbers are 11 & E3 for Emerald, would that be an authentic copy?
Yep, that’s authentic. If it has factory numbers and has all other factors of an authentic, then it probably is. If you’re still sceptical, if you have a gen 4 game in which you have seen all the Pokemon, and a ds lite/ds, you can put your gen 4 game in the ds slot and emerald in the gba slot. Then start up your gen 4 game and it should say: _Migrate from Emerald_ .All authentic copies have a indent in the middle of the cartridge front, just below the Pokemon Logo.
My Sapphire is fake :(. It was bought online and they said it was real.
Zane Swartz Send me photos of the cart and the game when you play it. If it's indeed fake and the seller stated it was legit, you can complain/message the seller to get a refund if it was from eBay or something.
If the model number is something like AGB-AXVP-EUR it should have a "CE", but if the model number is something like AGB-BPGE-USA, then it should have an "E".
Basically, USA and AUS use 'E' and the UK uses 'CE'.
Great video, really helpful! But i was wondering something. How did you get these authentic games? I can't really find them anywhere. After buying a fake game on Amazon (from a %95 positive feedback seller) i despair of finding a legit one.
Ask the seller for several HD photos of their product from different angles (front, back and circuit board at the very least). No co-operation or slow replies= don't buy.
Ebay. Never buy from a chinese seller and never buy if there is a stock photo or if the seller is a "company".
Check your neighborhood for indie video game stores that sell older games. I bought sapphire from a store like this
@@Lilchupz Sometimes on The Fake it will Say Nontendo instead of Nintendo I have never had A Fake Game Yet as far as I know
I REALLY wish I would have seen your video before I made my Leafgreen/Emerald purchase in August. I just never even considered that there would be counterfeits at the time. Now, five months later, the Ebay seller I bought them from is probably long gone now and I'm stuck with them. Oh well, I guess. I'm on Ebay again and I feel MUCH better looking for legit Leafgreen/Emerald games this time around. So thank you for uploading this. :)
This was an informative video until 10:39. those copies are real. all of them. I have these with their original boxes. Australian / New Zealand copies of pokemon games have the nintendo badge as a circle on the left side of the cart, and these look just like mine.
I have those as well, the pokemon in there can migrate to my heartgold version fine.
Did you post this on april fools 4 years ago? Because they are obvious fakes
Or you sell them or something
Those are the European versions, right?
NOPE THEY ARE NOT REAL, they are missing the ESRB logo and reproduction carts are cheap af
Yeah, I have had Emerald and FireRed for years now. Got Emerald from a friend, FireRed from EBay when I was like 11. The fire red I only recently figured out that it's fake, since it was always crashing on me or freezing. Gotta find a new one now
I liked the 8:04 "MY ASS" save
Lol
HAHAHAHAH
Thank you so much for pointing these out. I was getting really desperate about completing my collection, as I'm short LeafGreen and Ruby, and almost ended up with fakes just to settle. If they can't migrate, I'm not interested in them regardless. I never noticed the imprints or anything on them.
I done goofed I wish I found this video first
Dan Majid wait where did you get the Pokemon Game also which version did you get?
Solito Bandito I bought it from eBay and it was Pokémon ruby and sapphire
Yeah I just bought 5 that looked real but they were fakes luckily I cancelled the order fast enough
Thank you very much for posting this! I checked all of my Pokemon GBA games while watching this video and they are all LEGIT! Your video really helped me figure out the difference between real and fake ones! Thank you very much!
This was very helpfull thx.
liked and Subed!
Any recomandation for a Pokémon game on GBA SP?
Awesome~
I personally love Emerald and Fire Red. :)
+Lilchupz I like leaf green and ruby
hey Pokemon leaf green doesn't have a battery
Pokemon Yellow, Pokemon Crystal, Pokemon Firered, Pokemon Emerald.
really good video, and its nice that we can actually see the sticker clearly unlike some videos where you cant see the imprint or the bottom of the PCB
Thank you I am buying the 5 pokemon games I will check them when they arrive :) I hope they're not fakes!
Yup, I bought the 5 for $20. They didn't say they were authentic. Well, I definitely bought fakes... :(
Ebay?
Yes.
WillZ for how much
Another thing I would add about buying online is that if it says genuine, but they're selling more than one copy of the game in the details, it's almost certain they're selling fakes. Also you can usually tell by the language used in the description/details if it's fake or not.
player name: my ass XD hahaha I lol'd. thank you for the vid, I was a victim just today of a fake FireRed. it looked very legit :(
Same here. Got fakes for frlg. Stop playing all together.
I can transfer from fire red, but not emerald.
But my cousin says it's real it just won't let me migrate pokemon.
Caine Spradley it’s fake then
Very nice of you showing the ebay links and all. Quite sad the huge amount of fake games over there.
2020 anyone?
For anyone trying to buy a copy of any Pokemon game on GBA, if the seller has a picture of the back, look to the left of it for four squares on that side. Fake copies never have that, and it's a good way to spot a legit copy if the seller doesn't have the means to open the cartridge.
Thanks for the helpful tips! ^-^
I have to say this video saved me, I spent a week analyzing this and ended up buying a Sapphire copy online, it was used but after testing it in every way possible I can confirm I got my hands on a real copy. Thank you.
I basically explained everything in the second paragraph of the description, but if you're too lazy to read it, I'll explain in brief:
Playing a fake game will decrease gameplay enjoyment. You are unable to migrate Pokemon, the time feature may not work, discolouration is possible and it is EXTREMELY easy to lose your save file.
Ask me for more information if I missed anything! :D
That last bit was something I struggled with a lot. I had Emerald, then lost it, so I got a new one, and it was so sensitive; it would freeze and all my data would be corrupted that it just wasn't worth playing very much. I got one of the 5 packs and it seems to work quite well?
Thanks. This video helped me. I was able to find an authentic copy today. Many years ago I originally let someone borrow my leaf green version of Pokemon and never got it back. I have been searchin high and low for an authentic copy and finally found an authentic copy but of fire red in a video game store used.
keeps calling the fakes ugly,but to be honest the legit ones don't look all that pretty either
when ever she says the fakes are ugly, the counterfeiters are crying...
Daniel Tipton well when she says that it means that the game is full of LIES
Girl. THANK YOU, you really helped me.
I played for more than 140 hours my "Fire Red" trying to send my pokemons to my copy of Soul Silver, after looking of how in the internet and not being able to transfer my pokemons I was getting crazy. But I saw your video, my game is a pirate game i got on eBay, and I just waste my time because I cannot transfer my pokemons. Thanks to you I know I won't be able, thanks to you now I see the problem. Thank you Girl
That first "legit" leafgreen is fake
No it's not LOL. >__>
Lilchupz Yes it actually is a fake. They have gotten better with faking the labels... The font on the circuit board is wrong. The word "Nintendo", should never be preceded with an "I", nor is it ever circled on genuine games. I would open the game and look at the circuit board. Just FYI. See this: www.pokedit.com/ABG-E01-41+floods+eBay,+it's+a+trap_7347.html
Lilchupz Also, when you were holding the "legit" Leaf Green up next to Emerald, it was visible that the Leaf Green is shorter than the standard cart. Also, the embossed numbers and letters should be in the top right as opposed to the Leaf Green cart where its all the way in the bottom right, right on top of where the Nintendo Seal is.
G Dub actually the North american copies leaf green and fire red games had a different set of words. ruby, sapphire and emerald all had the other set, but LG and FR had this set. exactly how it's shown in her video. there is a circled I followed by a circled "nintendo" proceeded with AGB-E02-30 I have both copes and my brother has a copy of leaf green and all 3 games have the same wording. we bought them from walmart on launch day.
Lilchupz where do you get the legit version of LeafGreen?please answer back!
Only thing with Emerald is that the polygon shaped holofoil design seems to fade over time if your cartridge wasn't as well protected. Mine is barely there anymore despite the label being shiny, but it's definitely an original cart.
I never knew people sold bootlegs of the game..then again I have all my games that were store bought over the years. Interesting video~ Thanks.
Thanks a lot for the video! I'm from Sweden, so i went on the swedish version of ebay (tradera.com, which is a daughter-company of ebay), and searched for "Pokémon games". Was able to report 2 seperate ads, which were obviously fake. First a black cartridge with a Pokémon Emerald sticker that just looked plastic, and as you described it, ugly, with an unclear Nintendo-logo and stuff. and second, a guy claiming he was selling the Pokémon Diamond Version for the Game Boy Color.....which we all know isn't even an official release by Nintendo and VERY fake.
Just noticed the colors of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald also match the names of the 3 original Generation 1 games Red, Blue, and Green. Green of course was not released outside of Japan.
As of the past few days, I've fallen down this rabbit hole of fake Pokemon games that I didn't even know existed. I've bought 7 or 8 of these fakes games from fake gen 1 games like Red to fake gen 4 games like Heartgold. I just didn't know...
Oh man, this makes so much more sense. I had a knock off of Leafgreen, according to this, and it always deleted my save file.
hello, thanks for the video, I just bought 5 pokemon games that similar that you show on the video, its so stupid that I didnt search it first to how can check if is fake or not, but now I know, thanks.
I got burned on a emerald copy a long time ago. About halfway through it corrupted ;(. At least I have original sapphire. There seems to be a difference in weight and overall robustness of the cartridges as well. Thanks for the video , will keep this info in mind.
8:00 you can't migrate from emerald/sapphire/ruby to Pearl/Diamond/Platinum if there is no save files, there has to be a save file at least in order to get the option "Migrate"
The E logo and the CE mean the games are re-release games.
If they have neither of them on it, it means they were the 1st edition games to be released.
I was one of the victims who bought a fake Pokemon game (being specific Pokemon Fire Red), it was a grey cartridge, but back when I was a little boy, I really did not know about it, since I've been living with both legit and pirate or even fake games. I wish I saw this video yeeeears ago, but you know, it was even before I knew about TH-cam. xD
At least you described it really well though, going into the details. :)
that corrupt message is also what happens when batteries run out. So all u need to do is replace or resolder the battery
Hey there! Thanks for viewing, and I saw the photo, but it's still hard to tell, since it's quite blurry. If the game is yours, try putting it into a DS with a Pokemon D/P/Pt game and see if you can migrate. :D
Just to note to any other viewers as of today, a lot of online sellers (not all) will state reproduction. Which is their way of getting out of having to give your money back when you find it to be fake. Also note that it is still illegal for them to sale reproduction copies. But Nintendo does not go after them do to the time it would take. Websites like EBAY only take action when it is reported.
I'm now feeling stupid since I bought a "Real" Pokémon Sapphire. It took me months to notice. The game is too dark of a blue, unreadable Nintendo Seal of approval and a fake nintendo logo. It doesn't say ©Nintendo.
I bought a copy of LeafGreen yesterday at Gamestop, and now I gotta take it back. Everything looks legit, except the sticker isn't holographic. I really wish I had looked into what to look for before buying it, never bought a GBA pokemon game before
What brand/model of camera did you use to film this? Thanks for the great info by the way ;)
I got 2 fake copies (Emerald and Fire Red), but the stickers were different, they were shiny in both cases, what I mean by shiny is that they had this... simple "metallic" effect on the sticker. (looked like the legit Emerald, just without the glittering effect)
Also you should mention something important, the fake carts are really flexible. If put your fingers inside of the circuitry contact and pull a bit to the outside from both sides the cartridge will bend a bit.
I own a very well made fake. It has a holographic label and you cannot see the battery like with most fakes. It however is slightly off colored and faded, has no factory imprint, the font on the back is wrong and when loaded up displays 'the game can be played'
ugh, thanks for making this video. Just found out the emerald I got was fake and I'm so depressed. I was unsure before since although I was suspicious the game played perfectly, but after seeing this video I'm 100% sure. These people selling fakes should seriously get reported and fined.
repro Ruby/sapphire/emerald have a big problem with internal clock because those have no batteries... so repro games will send you a note to delete save file itself for few hours later.
FireRed and LeafGreen shouldn't even have batteries, because those don't use clocks and the chip that stores the saves doesn't require power to keep the save.
Thanks for the video! I had all of the pokemon games from my childhood and lost all of them on a trip. It sucks so much that I'm going to have to buy all of them again. I had yellow, blue, gold, ruby, and heart gold all lost T_T
Super Informative Video. Really Helpful! I think i might have already bought fakes unknowingly. :/ Gotta wait till they arrive to find out.
There's something else that's odd about gameplay. Usually when you are playing a Gen 4 game and you have the National Dex, you should be able to encounter certain Pokémon when a Gen 3 game is in the GBA Slot. It didn't work for me tho. I tried getting a Sandslash on Route 228 with Pokémon LeafGreen in the GBA Slot. It didn't work, at all. I searched for almost 2 hours! My pack of 5 Gen 3 games were fake
I'm worried that a few games I found on Etsy are fake, everything looks right except for the rating sticker and the Nintendo logo. I can't tell whether there's a factory imprint.
I have a legit emerald copy that would be pretty hard to sell because it's sticker is gone and the cart is dinged up, so there's no factory imprint or label.
I would not recommend using eBay if your not good at spotting fakes.
I remember owning a fake copy of Pokemon Emerald when I was a kid. The moment I would beat the champion and the credits finished rolling, I got the message "The saved file has been erased due to corruption or damage" The same thing would happen if I tried trading with Pokemon Colosseum! Boy am I glad my brother convinced me to let him sell it; because afterward; my mom would buy me a legit copy from Best Buy.
Another way to check is if the region coding is 'AUS' they rarely make fake Australian region carts.
I think I have a legit leaf green, I haven't played it yet because I just bought it now and it looks brand new and everything is right about my copy but the only thing I'm worried about is the embossed letters on the front right of it, I actually have the number 11 on it. Can I have someone's opinion on this?
Its most likely not a fake
I got my Pokémon sapphire from bestbuy when it came out and it doesn’t have factory imprints on the sticker...
does it save? 🤔
I'm having trouble migrating pokémon here... My Emerald has a metallic sticker and it loads and plays perfectly on my DS Lite every time. I have the national pokédex and access to PalPark in Platinum and everything is fine and dandy. Got lots of pokémon on my Emerald cartridge without mail or HM moves, yet the "Migrate to Emerald" option just doesn't show up no matter what I try.. Could my Emerald be a fake!? The only thing I can think of that could be wrong is that my Emerald is from USA and my Platinum is European, but I've heard that that shouldn't be a problem...?
EDIT: Both games are in English by the way... Any help would be appreciated 'cause this issue has me scratching my head all day.
Do you mean on the circuit board? I believe as long as the cartridge circuit board has "Nintendo" in either logo form or in the Correct font and that there's a year shown, it should be legit. It's most likely different models.
Just remember that FR/LG differ from R/S/E.
some fake games are very convincing. I've seen one that looked almost exactly the same. i noticed it was fake when I found no factory imprint. I'd say that the factory imprint is the no.1 thing to look for on all gameboy games (GB, GBC and GBA)
Usually the most obvious thing to look for is the 'E' in the esrb rating and the little red nintendo next to it.
Same goes for Takara Tomy/Pokemon centre Plushies and figurines. People sell rip-offs for cheap and the real companies don't make profit, so they end up having to bump up the prices!
My friend sold me a GBA + pokemon games. I played the fake Ruby, and I thought it was just a save problem, but the save data kept corrupting. Once i opened up the cart, it was clearly fake. No RTC module, soldered on battery, etc. The outside looks exactly like the one in the video of the fake
the corrupted file is the games way to handle the corrupted save however doesnt mean its fake it can also indicate the carts exposure to ESD or water damage.. or the game being erased via hardware programming
Thank you so much, I’ve been trying to get emerald but I don’t know about fakes so this really helped
The fastest way to tell if its a fake is if there are dots on the back instead of a square
i purchased pokemon sapphire a couple years ago, it had the correct cover art, but the battery was visible, and it turned out to be fake
I purchased a copy of all three third gen games. They all appear to be fake but Im not sure. All of them have the correct holographic or reflective stickers that the originals have. None of them have the factory engravement. They all have a code or number that starts with an a. The only visible signs are the E for the ESRB is small, and the nintendo logo dosent really fit the circle for it. Upon starting the games, all three state "The previous save file will be loaded, The game can be played" Then a file with no progress named test is all you can play. Are these fake?
Yeah they're fake sorry bud
thanks
Me to only the pokemon ruby is real the sapphire and emerald is fake.
First off just want to say, thanks for the Video it really helped me. You seemed to put a lot of time and effort into it.
So yesterday day I just received my Package which contains all the Pokemon GBA games, Fire Red, Leaf Green, Ruby, Saphire and Emerald, for a ridiculous price. £25. I was skeptical at first, but I thought "Meh, why not, may as well buy it." I just checked over each game and used your video as a guide, and all of them seems legit! Though I can't be sure, some of them are different to the legit ones you showed in the video. I'll go through it now.
-All of the 5 games have a pretty much the exact same nice smooth, shiny sticker on them as the real ones you showed in the video. None look fake in the slightest.
-All seem to have exactly the same shell nice looking shell as the ones you showed in the video, none of them are a darker or lighter shade of what you showed, they all seem really legit.
-All have the exact same, nice, legit looking E symbol on them, though all of them a bit skinnier them the E's you had on your games, but it isn't slanted or squished together or anything.
-All have the exact same, real looking font, nothing suspicious.
-All seem to have Made in Japan on the back.
-All have non of the batteries showing.
-On the inside, all seem to have the correct font, though I can't see the font or what it actually says properly.
-But none of them actually have the factory imprint on the front. Everything else seems fine though. Also, none have CE on it, but that's because they're all made in USA. (I assume)
Would you mind assisting me here? Would appreciate it. I could provide you with pictures if needed. ^^
Thanks for taking your time to read this. :)
Oh also,
-None have the Migrate from option, but maybe that's because they're all a brand new fresh game?
And none them have any error messages or anything suspicious about the save game being deleted.
Though when I played Ruby, it crashed about 5 or so mins into the game, maybe that was just bad luck though as I didn't have any problems after giving it a blow and rebooting it.
Oh also, I thought as well provide you with a picture of it, since the seller I bought it off has a picture of them anyway.
imgur.com/5yKcpAA
It's not very clear, but I hope you can tell from it.
Thanks for reading again.
ViperScyther Nvm, I just found out they're all fake, sadly. Will be getting a refund, so it's no big deal. :)
ViperScyther Yes, those are fakes unfortunately. The carts are becoming more like the "real deals". I suggest you buying them separately in the future.
Thanks for the watching, and thanks for the considerate message! :D
I did buy a stickerless FireRed, but it's legit, I could tell that by your vid. Thanks :)
I got a Pokemon Leaf Green Eur version. Shiny/Metalic looking with the factory imprint of 07A on it and when i use my xploder sp cheat cartridge system for (e.g rare candy, masterball encounter any pkm codes) ETC they and even the mastercode dosent work. But yet my xploder accepts cheats for ruby/sapphire. Was wandering if you know why my cheat codes for LG arnt working?
alot of ebay sellers also put the legit cartridge for the stock pic but send you fakes.. so if there's more then one for sale or have been sold by that seller dont trust it. dont get ripped off. Awesome Video ☺
Thanks for making this video to help people distinguish between the real and the fakes.
Also, a thank you to PurpleParadox for their purchase.
Similarly to John Lancaster, I would just like to clarify, not all asian are scammers.
As you can probably tell by my name, I'm also asian but I sell legit games on ebay.
I hate being scammed, so I don't like to scam others.
When I first started, I was scammed myself. Bought 5 gba games for $45 from a seller in QLD.
I ended up selling those game back out on ebay, but in the title I specifically said "Not Authentic".
You can check out my feedback on ebay for proof.
Back to my main point, love how you're helping people out, but please don't simply categorize it to 'asian sellers'
I can't tell if my fire red is fake. The factory numbers on the sticker aren't there while everything else seems to be in tact
I bought Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald from eBay and I was a little disappointed that after watching three different videos, that I was able to determine they were indeed fake. They looked genuine and they play perfectly, but the one telltale sign that they are indeed fake is that I went to Pokemon Diamond and checked to see if I could migrate it to Diamond but it didn't show up (probably since I didn't even make it to Jubilife City yet, but who knows?)
RavenTheGoddess im not sure about this, but to migrate, you first need access to some sort of park that is only available after you beat the champion. im not sure though because its been a while since i played pokemon
That's great to hear! Have fun playing with them! :D
Are the factory imprints always the same for each game version(and country)? or does it change in every cartridge?
usually on the back on the top left corner there should be 4 gold rectangles on the circuit board.
I don't have an old model DS, but I'm definitely bringing my game boy when buying pokémon games.
Thank you so much! What about first and second versions? Does this apply the same thing? Yea...I just want to play first and second generation beings back nostalgia.