Topic: I discovered pirated games in my collection

[ShadowRunner]

I usually buy my games at Ebay, on these auctions that offer game cartridge only. Recently I read something on a forum about someone who bought a pirated game on ebay. So I started looking at my games...and I already found one pirated game (confirmed by Nintendo) and 3 others I have good reasons to believe are not originals. This is really pissing me off. I though Nintendo was the most active in anti-piracy, but the guys who sold me theses games on ebay are powersellers with a long positive feedback.

If you bought games on ebay or any used games I suggest you take a look at the stickers and circuit boards. Nintendo have only a few games on photo but they show the difference between original and counterfeit games.  

http://ap.nintendo.com/tab_06.html

Some people may think I complain for nothing, since I paid less for my games and most of my games work fine. But I can tell you that one of the games I got worked fine for a while, until it started getting some serious problems, like freezing and sound and graphics glitches. But I think the problem is pretty bad and anybody could get one of theses games without knowing they are not buying an original. Thoses games are around and I think there's a lot of them.

[Bartman3010]

Thats why I still like my games in a box.

[Sir Pinch-a-Loaf]

I bought my first GBA game from a dealer on eBay a few weeks ago, and I've come to the conclusion that it's a counterfeit.  Someone in the Planet Trivia chat gave me some contact info for Nintendo's piracy units.  I sent them an e-mail, and will likely call them on Monday.  It's a damn shame that people are passing off their knock-off wares as legitimate products (at least my seller was).


As a word of advice, do not bid on anything from Blamofyouth, as it will be pirated.

[monk72]

I have just dealt with that ebay seller.
I have not gotten the game yet.  it was "brand new" in the deescription.
Do the pirated games play normally?  How do they copy and manufacture games?
And..what should I do about the seller "blamofyouth" if/when the item shows up and is pirated?

[KDR_11k]

monk: Sue for fraud.

[oohhboy]

I haven't looked inside a GB game until now. That was pretty interesting. The differences in the real and counterfiet ones are quite acute. All th counterfeit ones have a much lower workmanship and material quality which is expected. What I didn't know was that Some of the GBA games still have battery save. I had thought that they had all switched over to the flash version by now.

[ShadowRunner]

I could be wrong, but the way I understand it from ebay VERO (Verified Rights Owner Program) you can't join it if you don't own the rights. So what you have to do is complain to the owner rights (in this case Nintendo) and it's up to them to do something against the seller.

I did complain to Nintendo, it's very easy, just go on their website and email them. They asked me to send either the game or photos of the game and boards.

[Rion_Ukyo]

i am pretty shure i have a bootleg gba game, like i was at this computer show  i needed to buy a new cd burner and i saw this stall that was selling gba games no boxes jess the cartridges. and well i never buy games with out the box but i saw Lunar legend there15 dollors too and i have been looking for it forever and it was never in the game stores i even asked the guy at a game store if thay had it and he never even heard of it eh it was kinda weird, and after i bought it and got to the car i pulled out my gbasp poped out wario ware and then looked at the 2 cartridges and thay are not the same
on the lunar cartridge the Gameboy advance logo is noticeably differant than the real cartridges,

and on the back i could sware it says ninfendo instead of nintendo  and alsow it looks like is say Model No.AGB-00Z instead of 002 and there is no  PAT.PEND MADE IN JAPAN wich leads me to beleave this is not a real nintendo cartridge


even the little board inside looks a little differant and the cartridge fits a little more snugly than the other(real ones) well at least it plays fine i gess but after seeing this it makes me wanna find a real copy in a box  and never agian will i get one without a box

[TOY]

Monk72,

2 things you definitly want to do if it is fake. 1) leave the ahole negative feedback. 2) Contact EBAY and let them know what he is doing, they will boot him for sure.




TOY

[Uncle Rich AiAi]

Another thing.  If you got it from eBay and paid via PayPal, contract PayPal and they may give your money back.  I doubt it, but it's worth a try.

[DRJ]

If you buy on ebay you should pay with paypal and use a credit card. This way you can dispute the charges with your credit card company if the person is selling fraudulent items. Since they would be mailing the items to you it becomes mail fraud which is a federal offence. Definately leave negative feedback to warn other would be buyers. Report them to ebay, report them to Nintendo. I wouldnt even use the game since it might damage your GBA and for $10-$15 or whatever you paid its not worth the risk. Just send it to Nintendo so they can prosecute them.

I wouldnt buy any GBA games on ebay since pirating is big on the gameboy cartriges. I dont mind buying Gamecube games since the cant be copied as of yet, but I wouldnt buy any GBA games unless they were still sealed.  

[Dratatoo]

Yep, it seems that I got 2 pirated games at an ebay auction.

First, tactics ogre (after switching on my gba sp, the game greeted me with an mode 7 hacker intro)
Damn I searched long for this 'gem', but the only thing I got is a pirated copy. I mean I payed half the price without import costs but thats still to much for a cheap counterfeit. At least it worked without problem for 3 weeks (constant 'use'). But there are still these 'its only a fake' thoughts in the back of my head whenever I play the game.

2nd, Golden Sun US. It seemed to be a legit copy but the poor quality of the manual bothers me (and makes this game look like counterfeit). The quality of the paper and box is top notch but the pictures (manual) look like a black/white (2 color) scan (on high quality paper).

Both seelers were powersellers with a huge list of positive ratings.

[Artimus]

I received the exact same pirated copy of Doom as shown on the webpage. Got eBay to burn the buddy. And got to keep the game...hehe

[Syl]

strange.... some of the differences are very minor, (on the outside) and i wish they showed the back of these cartridges.

I actually like the counterfeit metroid fusion cartridge better, but im glad that every single GBA game I've bought has came in a box.  So i know its legit.

[CHEN]

The difference with original games and counterfeit ones is that the colour of the cartridge is slightly lighter (greener) or darker (blacker) and the plastic feels less refined than original ones. The sticker is, if you watch closely, 100% counterfeit, the pirates can't make the stickers as well as the publisher does. Also a lot of pirated games have a problem with saving. Some games can't save at all, or sometimes can and sometimes can't and will overwrite the excisting file as well which will be blanco. The quality over the years will decrease dramatically, the colours are bland and the sound isn't that good. So if you want to buy pirated games, there is a 80% chance of failures compared to the original. Hope I've taught you the difference between them and have scared you to not buy pirated games . I've bought it in the past, and it has dissapointed me almost every time.

Syl Aran, they can even copy the boxes of the games, but the colour is less bright and you can really see the difference between the original boxes, so don't be too hasty buying everything that comes with a box. If the quality of the box isn't alright, don't buy it.  

[Syl]

Well, ive bought every single GBA game at a store..

I only use Flea Markets and the like for old SNES games, which i really hope none of mine are counterfeit.. and the only used game ive bought for the Cube has been Burnout 2, and I also doubt thats counterfeit either.

[KDR_11k]

Hm, I've got a lot of used games for GB and SNES, but the only ones that died were Zelda: Links Awakening (displays no background) and Super Metroid (starts only half of the time, sometimes loses saves). The latter had these problems right from the start, the former died shortly after I played through it. I've got one of those X-in-1 things, though. Had no problem with it, but it can't save (and wouldn't start properly sometimes, problems decreased the newer the device it was used in, GB>GBC>GBASP).

That list might help me once I got any titles that are on it, as it stands my only GBA game is Wario Ware. Which surprisingly isn't listed there.

[Uncle Rich AiAi]

I have been looking for Puyo Pop on the GBA for ages.  I had it ordered from DVDBoxOffice, they do not have it in stock and it has been months, which leaves me with ebay as the last option.  I am worried about buying a counterfeit copy.

My question is, if I buy one that is listed in a box, am I guarantee it won't be a counterfeit copy?  Thanks.

[PIAC]

on the subject of puyo pop, in Neon Geneis, around the 20th episode when auska is all stupid and such, shes at the class rep's house (forget her name) and shes playing a 'Seca' or something like that, and they show a copy of Puyo Puyo

also in the End of Evangelion movie the intro credits show sega... which i thought was odd.. (guess they helped finance it)

[Uncle Rich AiAi]

Thanks.  That really answered my question!

[Sir Pinch-a-Loaf]

Aiai:

no, a box is no guarantee of a legit copy.  My pirated Gradius came in a box.  Boxes are easy to replicate (though the stock of the cardboard is different).

[monk72]

Stargazed67
blemofyouth
Ebay user ID's to avoid.  
These have been confirmed as selling pirated GBA games!
I am in the process of going after them.  This violates several laws, including mail fraud.