How to tell the difference between real and fake GBC games?

[FlameTakuya]

Hi, I was at my local trade-in store and saw a couple of Japanese and English Pokemon GBC games for sale, but I was hesitant to buy them because I couldn't tell if they were fake or not. (Previous bad experiences... ugh)

Is there anything I can identify a fake with?

The only two ways i know are the "MADE IN JAPAN Pat Pend" text on the back of the cart and the six edged weird screw thing on the back of the cart both mean that the game is probably real.

Also, A sticker pasted over the aforementioned screw thing probably means that it is a fake. (Also, other things like blurry labels, etc)

Are there any other ways? Also, what about cart colors?

Any ideas? Thanks!

EDIT: found this website, seems like a good guide too. https://8bc.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=19736

 

[Ultralex]

On some Fake games you'll see the word "GAME" instead of "Gameboy".
The color of Pokemon games depends on the version.Blue is Blue and so on.

 

[FlameTakuya]

ohhh yeah that one i saw on a pokemon yellow. it's fake huh.... i see. thanks.

if only gbc games was as easy as gba, where all you had to do was look on the inside of the contacts part and if you saw a NINTENDO Â 2006 or whatever you knew it was real....

 

[Jamstruth]

If its a fake cart it tends to be really obvious. Some will say "Only for Game Boy Colour" but appear to be designed in a way that will fit an original GB (notch in top right corner.) The build quality will be universally terrible and generally feel cheap.

 

[FlameTakuya]

hmm i don't know... honestly i have a few real and fake carts with me and if i didn't know about all the wordings etc i'd say they were the same

also didn't have my gbc with me so i couldn't test them. They were at a pretty great price too... but i have a feeling all of them are fake. :/

 

[Ace Overclocked]

the fake cards use only part of the cartridge so if you feel the top part is empty then it's fake

 

[FlameTakuya]

i see. i don't have a tool to open them up though..... *might* attempt the melting pen barrel trick but maybe later. hmmm

 

[jalaneme]

the fake cards use only part of the cartridge so if you feel the top part is empty then it's fake

i agree, i have a fake gameboy cart and it's very light compare to my other gameboy games.

 

[Jamstruth]

the fake cards use only part of the cartridge so if you feel the top part is empty then it's fake

Actually some are heavier. Especially if they feature a battery save feature. They used cheaper batteries.

If you actually bought some post some pics and we'll be able to see. I doubt all of them are fake. Fake carts tend to be really weird games rather than actual retail software.

 

[Blaze163]

I've seen a few fakes in my time. Best way to tell with any variation of Gameboy game, everything from original through to Advance titles, is as follows:

- Check the build quality. Most fakes use cheaper plastics, they have a rough texture when you run your finger across the top compared to the smoothness of official ones. It's even visibly different on REALLY cheap ones.

- Check for a patent mark. More often than not fakes won't have one. As I understand it, using a fake patent mark is another seperate charge if you get caught so most don't bother to minimize potential damage.

- Check the spelling of the word Nintendo on the back. A lot of fakes have dodgy spelling, presumably for the same reasons as above. I swear to God I used to have a fake GBA game (Tactics Ogre) that spelled it with 3 L's. I'm deadly serious. It said Nlintondlol on the back. It was funny as fuck. Still worked though. Six quid off eBay so I didn't care.

- If it's boxed, the box is always a dead giveaway. It's nearly always made of shiny plastic (it looks laminated), the image quality is poor, and it'll look nothing like the official version. Don't let any jackass tell you it's imported, nowhere in the known world has boxes that bad.

 

[Nimbus]

I had a fake Zelda:LADX cart once, got it long ago.
-Felt lightweight,
-Cheaply held together,
-The label on the front was close, but colors were completely wrong
-Wasn't the proper color (Cart itself was white, brilliant powder-snow white)
-Bastardized translation for some reason
-Lacked the nintendo markings on the back

Biggest givaway was that it didn't hold a save. I had it until about a week ago.

I had my brother take it out to the Gun range recently and blast a decent sized hole through it with his Mosin Negant (That's how you pronounce it, right.), or at least that was the general plan. What actually happened was that it exploded as soon as the bullet hit it, literally in a blast of plastic, pcb, and other materials. Cool to watch, didn't get any footage though. I was kinda disapointed, as I might have turned it into a bizzare and twisted keychain. No matter though.


Now sometimes cartridges that are real have some odd and/or spotty traits. For example my Pokemon Sapphire (I wuved Generation III so muchers), and Pokemon Ruby carts are real. The labels on the front are in great shape, showing little to no damage. On my Emerald Cart however, also Real, the entire label seems to be fading and getting badly scratched up, you cant even see the logo on it anymore, the cart also feels a bit flimsey (Turns out whatever or whoever was manufacturing it didn't twist the screw in all the way) but it's 100% genuine like the others.


Most often you'll find that fake cartriges are a dead givaway, as not much effort goes into making them look nice.

 

[Masked Ranger]

I found my "Nintondo" cartridge.

 

[Deleted-236924]

Now sometimes cartridges that are real have some odd and/or spotty traits. For example my Pokemon Sapphire (I wuved Generation III so muchers), and Pokemon Ruby carts are real. The labels on the front are in great shape, showing little to no damage. On my Emerald Cart however, also Real, the entire label seems to be fading and getting badly scratched up, you cant even see the logo on it anymore, the cart also feels a bit flimsey (Turns out whatever or whoever was manufacturing it didn't twist the screw in all the way) but it's 100% genuine like the others.

My FireRed cart has some kind of air bubbles inside of the game's label.
They're pretty annoying, considering it ruins the label of a perfectly legit cart.

 

[FlameTakuya]

went and checked all 3 of the games back at the shop.

pokemon gold japanese was different cart color and slightly blurry label = fake.

pokemon gold english, yellow cart. wrong cart color = fake

pokemon yellow = everything alright = real = the cheapest


so i got the original pokemon yellow for about a dollar. works fully too. i hope it can save...



also, i noticed, one other way to identify a real cart is that somewhere around the vicinity of the bottom right-ish side of the label, a number will be embossed on the label. that almost always means it's real. (checked all the carts that i own and indeed all the real ones have a number embossed, while all the fake ones didn't)

apparently this applies for games from original GB to GBA games. might be useful to note, will save time too.

useless fact if said game doesn't have a label though. lol

 

[gokujr1000]

Good to see it worked out for ya and it got you a Pokemon Yellow Copy. I wish I never gave mine away when I was younger I feel so stupid for that.

It's just not the same playing a Rom Compared to owning the real deal that's for sure.

 

[Deleted-236924]

went and checked all 3 of the games back at the shop.

pokemon gold japanese was different cart color and slightly blurry label = fake.

pokemon gold english, yellow cart. wrong cart color = fake

pokemon yellow = everything alright = real = the cheapest


so i got the original pokemon yellow for about a dollar. works fully too. i hope it can save...



also, i noticed, one other way to identify a real cart is that somewhere around the vicinity of the bottom right-ish side of the label, a number will be embossed on the label. that almost always means it's real. (checked all the carts that i own and indeed all the real ones have a number embossed, while all the fake ones didn't)

apparently this applies for games from original GB to GBA games. might be useful to note, will save time too.

Indeed it does.

If the label has two imprinted character, it means it's v1.0
If it has three characters, the last character determines the version number.

If it's A, it's v1.1
If it's B, it's v1.2
etc.

 

[Xarsah16]

Good to see it worked out for ya and it got you a Pokemon Yellow Copy. I wish I never gave mine away when I was younger I feel so stupid for that.

It's just not the same playing a Rom Compared to owning the real deal that's for sure.

Actually, unless you're playing on a GBASP (or older gameboy with a wormlight/some kind of lighting accessory) it's actually better to emulate, but only if you own any kind of DS in my opinion (for this particular game.) I find that my eyes, as a 20 year old, are not as great as they were 13 years ago playing the Pokemon games on my Gameboy Color and Advance. While it may be nostalgic to be using the old system and the old game cartridge, sometimes it's just not playable because it's so hard to see the screen with all the light reflecting off the screen, or no light at all, especially if you're moving from place to place. (i.e. home, to a store, to work) I still have all of my old collection of GBA and before games, and to be honest, they just haven't been touched in years. The other advantage to owning a flash cart and a DS is that you don't have to worry about losing games. All of them are contained in one cartridge, vs having a million floating around. I used to take a case full of DS games wherever I went, losing games (though I'd try so hard not to) and now, I just need the one in my DSi slot. Plus, the sav files can obviously be moved or copied from the microSD card to the computer. (Or computer to card, your pick.)

The only reason why I would think anyone would still want to revert to the old cartridges and systems (besides nostalgia) would be game link cable usage with multiple systems. There is no way to trade pokemon from 1 ds to another in the Generation 3 and before games.