Fake Gameboy Games at EB Games

THANKS TO ARIELCHAN OVER AT GIRL GAMERS FOR POSTING ABOUT THIS!

Posted by Arielchan on Girl Gamers.

At the EB where I work, we keep getting FAKE GAMEBOY GAMES. They're pretty well-made, and they run, but there are subtle differences that mean we can't accept them/give credit for them because then if we resell we're supporting piracy. :( Most people don't realize they have a fake, because people buy the fakes overseas or from eBay, then resell them later to stores that don't pay attention to cartridge quality. Those stores sell them to you, and you're none the wiser until you try to trade it in.

So, ways to tell if your GBA game is fake.

1. The back should have Nintendo inscribed on it. The fakes don't. One we found says Nintondo, the other says NLntendo.

2. Under the rating on the front it should say "content rated by ESRB" if the "content rated by" part is fuzzy, it was printed on a bad printer and is prolly fake.

3. The bit above the label that says Gameboy Advance is etched oddly, in a way that is not identical to real games.

4. Sometimes, the game will be an odd color- too dark grey, for instance- or will not fit in the system as smoothly.

Normally, I have no issue with piracy, but here it hurts you guys because GameStop and EB cannot accept trade-ins of fake games, and therefore won't give you store credit for it. Apparently there are bootleg DS games circulating too now, but I haven't seen one of those yet.