Buying Retro Games Online? Watch This First! (SCAM ALERT)

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the production of unlicensed video game cartridges. In the past, the counterfeit market primarily targeted rare or expensive games. However, due to reduced manufacturing costs and a rise in retro game prices, a new market of bootleg games has emerged.
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#Nintendo #NES #supermario #retrogaming #retrogames #famicom

[@itsgruz]

I played a bootleg version of 'Ocarina of Time' where the only instrument Link could play was a kazoo.

[@itsgruz]

Why play the real 'Zelda' when you can play 'Ganondwarf and the Magic Triangle' on a bootleg cartridge?

[@itsgruz]

I tried playing a bootleg version of 'Mario Kart 64' and all I got was a game called 'Gary's Kart 13,' where the characters were all clowns driving unicycles.

[@itsgruz]

I tried playing a bootleg version of 'Mega Man' and all I got was a game called 'Giga Guy,' where Mega Man just spends his time fixing broken appliances.

[@SECONDQUEST]

​@@f.k.b.16lmao you must have a strange view of the world if you think almost everything illegal is morally wrong. You should actually look up what is illegal.

[@gooigigooga2774]

​@@itsgruz ur fried

[@rhob2422]

Amazon is completely out of control and Bezos is a straight up Bond villain. However...Nintendo is being stubborn AF. They refuse to make their entire back catalogue accessible, they could embrace the culture and make millions if they chose to.

[@hectorg5809]

Besos hasn't run Amazon for like 2years now

[@rollinontheboard]

Why would they have a backlog? There's an incentive to get rid of all your unsold stock. If there is evidence that Nofrendo didn't do this I'd like to hear

[@blarghblargh]

​@@rollinontheboardnot back stock. Back catalog. As in producing new units of old titles they still have legal ownership of.

[@rollinontheboard]

@@blarghblargh ok i understand

[@XzyroKyxala]

About three years ago, my sister and I went to a used video game shop hoping to sell our old N64 games, we had a lot of them too. They took a while to look at all of them, longer than we thought, turns out they were making sure all them were legit. This was how I learned that bootleg copies of N64 games existed.

[@addtv-xv1is]

That's why people should just download the roms and play them on retropie. That way no one profits.

[@blarghblargh]

​​@@addtv-xv1isI have been doing emulation since the 90s. But actual carts and actual controllers and actual hardware or FPGA hardware remakes give me them nostalgic feels. But yeah. I don't feel like I'm contributing any money to the original devs by doing it. Might as well pirate, in my book. At least when they haven't actually licensed a modern reproduction. In which case I buy those. Way too few of em, way too limited reprints.

[@TheNewFlesh]

Anyone who wants the "real hardware" experience should probably invest in a flash cart at some point. Used game sales don't benefit the original developers anyhow, and you get the added bonuses like ROM hacks, easy save file backup, built-in gameshark codes, and sometimes even emulators for earlier systems.

[@karaokehammick5215]

That is what I did. I sold my entire collection and bought flash carts. I thought I would regret not having hundreds of physical cartridges anymore but I was wrong. I realized all I really cared about was playing these games on a CRT with original hardware and that is what you get with flash carts.

[@Z64sports]

The game itself is part of the experience imo

[@karaokehammick5215]

@@Z64sports It can be. It just depends on you. I thought it mattered it to me, until I found it didn't and there are just some expensive games you will never be able to afford that can be played on a flash cart instead.

[@vulcanitu2578]

@@Z64sports The console is way bigger part here tho

[@phattjohnson]

Because loading a bunch of ROM files via your PC or Laptop is TOTALLY the oldschool experience :P

[@SuperSpyMario]

Amazon is understandable to not buy from. But ebay, you still can request more info on the item. No penalty in that. If you see a seller that won't open the game cart or refuses to give more pictures of the items in any way, then you will know they are sketchy. This comes from a person who buys on ebay regularly for 15+ years now.

[@bencurtis8838]

Same here. If you know what you are doing you can get by on eBay and pretty much never have to worry about bootlegs. If they don’t show a picture of the cartridge open then it’s fake if they won’t me show when I ask them to open it. I’ve gotten fake games on eBay before but I’ve ordered thousands of games on there and 99% of the time i have gotten a real product by just doing research. And all the fakes I got were from me being stupid/greedy

[@Dimensionaut_]

i'm on ebay for 20 years now. even before myspace. wow

[@thebe_stone]

8:01 ah, my favorite game. the legend of zel

[@gamesthatiplay9083]

This has been an issue for 15 years. My local GameStop ended up getting used bootlegs mixed in with the real used games. At the time, they smelled like ink, didn't have have the seal of quality, they all seem to fit extremely tight, and when you put them in to play, some would have a rom credited before the title screen. Not just rare games, but common games that were still on store shelves at the time.

[@blarghblargh]

GameStop has always been the worst possible option

[@Tornado_Mang]

There was a flea market near me a few years ago that was trying to sell a copy of Panic Restaurant ($800+ game) at the time for over $700. They shrink wrapped (???) the cartridge and would not let anyone open the cart up to prove the authenticity because it would "not make it new anymore" or something similar. It was wild.

[@zachduperron8543]

Yeah it’s fake, if they don’t want you to look at it, it’s 100% a fake.

[@j_man-ob3yp]

"You're not getting a brand new copy of Super Mario 64 for 40 bucks." You're also not getting a copy of Super Smash Bros Melee for 80 dollars, which I did.

[@generfeld]

some of the early 3D games & N64, the frame rate is pretty bad. going back to goldeneye and Turok 2 and perfect dark, on original hardware, in 2023 is really sobering. Great games but the frame rate really makes or breaks the experience. however, games like Smash Bros and games with a high frame rate are still very fun

[@blarghblargh]

​@@generfeldpeople are in the midst of reverse engineering these games now, and people have a lot of time on their hands to go back and optimize games, in cases where there were gains to be had. In a few years, with a flash cart, you may see some of these games at high frame rates on real hardware. It's absolutely going to happen for Mario 64, as someone has already made amazing progress on it. I would be surprised if it doesn't eventually happen for most of the other popular games as well.

[@WantBadtime]

2:20 My real copy of SM64 has those exact trademarks and years that my dad gave me long ago. The copy I have is U.S. and it contains the newer 1998-2003 ESRB "Everyone" rating logo, so it is possible that Nintendo changed the copyright and manufacture dates for these releases so that it would correspond to the updated rating systems during its time. Also SM64 started development in 1995, so that may explain the reasoning for the 1995 manufacture date.

[@SUSthehedgehog]

I never thought about that 😀

[@TheKill3rShark1]

I got scared watching this and opened my sm64 copy lol

[@NekoHazrd]

Repros are not a bad thing given how absurd retro game prices have become nowadays. There's a difference between a repro and a bootleg though. Bootlegs are usually crappy rushed games or reskins of other games, put in a cartridge and thrown in the wild. Repros are usually exact copies of the game (ROMwise) with a donor cart and a brand new copy of the labels.

[@renereyes2648]

Exactly I really not as big on the collecting part I just wanto to play the games it's funny how he's calling this illegal but not flash carts where do you draw the line😂. I recently bought Castlevania legacy of Darkness and when I got it pretty sure it was a repro but I tested it and it works fine so I only paid like 30 bucks so I'm good with it people need to stop paying outrageous prices and not buy into the Wata scam for the market to correct itself

[@merluzacongelada5361]

Repros are fine when the seller admits he's selling a repro and doesn't try to charge you full price, just the cost of the materials and his work. But selling a repro trying to pass it as an original is a literal scam.

[@NekoHazrd]

@@merluzacongelada5361 Yeah. At that point the seller is just being a massive POS.

[@huldu]

Yeah as long they're saying they're repros it would be great. Beside the label the actual cartridge itself looks really nice and not some cheap 3d printed trash. They could have some off color to visually put it apart from a legit copy. It's just so shady to sell of the fake game as a legit one. If I were to do something like that where I live I'd be in prison after a week. Understandably people will buy these repros thinking they get the "real" deal but then again maybe some people just do not care. They just want to have a physical copy of the game on their shelf. Personally I am not a big fan of hoarding just for the sake of it and that's why I really like the mister.

[@Krushak8888]

The problem is what kind of donor cart? Its more viable to use a flash cart.

[@blueribbs6490]

i got a bootleg version of gunstar heroes for sega genesis, and it will randomly soft lock by not playing a cutscene after a boss, or warp me way ahead to a level i shouldn't be at yet! i wondered what was wrong and i did so much research but it was all clear when i looked at my cartridge art compared to the official cartridge art. the one on mine was all stretched out and weird!

[@kip258]

If it was recent, you can still refund it. Ebay has a money back guarantee if you don't get the product that the listing claims to be.

[@blueribbs6490]

@@kip258 oh nah this was like two years ago lol

[@thehunterator520]

I have a copy of Yoshi's story for n64 that has a 1995 copyright date on it, but it genuinely looks to be official based on how the cartridge definitely looks like it is old, all the fonts are exact to what official labels look like, and has a number imprinted on it. My copy of dk64 I can tell is a bootleg because of how the bullet points are all periods and also the font is different from the rest of my n64 games on where it says the region. Also my copy of Conker is real because it was from blockbuster and also has a 1995 copyright on it

[@NewportBox100s]

Buying bootlegs of expensive games like Clayfighter Sculptors Cut for 20 bucks is totally worth it.

[@blarghblargh]

Yeah totally. Buying it for full market price and never being told you're buying a bootleg is the thing that sucks.

[@andrewsveikauskas]

I think some of this is fear mongering. Some ebay sellers have photos of the PCB. I've ordered a handful of carts on ebay and all of them were authentic.

[@polycube868]

Same here, I've NEVER gotten a bootleg on eBay.

[@SmeddyTooBestChannel]

if we're gonna be bringing back bootleg video games into mainstream circulation we could at least get the fun ones where it has mario's head over whatever licensed cartoon game they could find 😔

[@thethrashyone]

FLEENSTONE?!

[@subway2227]

@@thethrashyone grand dad

[@genderedgirl]

@@thethrashyone GRAND DAD!

[@wiquid]

Anger Bird 4

[@skankcor3]

Dude, I love this video. It is so needed. My local mom and pop shop had no idea that this kind of stuff was going on, or more likely just pretended to in order to have some plausible deniability. The owner said he didn’t even have a gamebit to check cartridges. I stopped shopping there after that.

[@HunterPBrown]

I buy to play, not to resell later. It's gross how stupid expensive some carts have gotten, especially crappy games.

[@blarghblargh]

The gross part is you can't buy a new one if you want one. The companies just sit on the IP and do absolutely nothing with it. If we didn't have such stupid IP law, then people could make 100% flawless reproductions for rock bottom prices, and do it legally, thus garnering competition to drive quality up, and prices down. The companies that sit on them are earning $0 from the repro market, so it's kinda stupid for them to reserve that right. It's a law that serves gigantic mega-companies, who can afford to drip feed remakes every few years, and serves no one else.

[@Y0Y0Evan]

My mom fell for this scam once - it was Christmas 2019. Needless to say I was disappointed. I ended up buying a Japanese copy a few months later

[@gilfrancisjeno.panchoanime9675]

Where and What website did you buy it?

[@wieldylattice3015]

Copy of what?

[@phattjohnson]

You bought a new Japanese mom? Sounds like many a weeb's fantasy..

[@FrankFrankly711]

My buddy once bought Star Wars Pod Racer for N64, and it came with the "N64 expansion pak". It turned out to just be the Jumper Pak and the game wouldnt save at all. I opened the cartridge and inside was a Mario 64 chipset. 🤦‍♂

[@goonn337]

Dh

[@enigmaoftheechidna6279]

So legit companies, AND bootleggers exploit labor laws!?! Who'd have thought?

[@HeathenDance]

Lol, legit Governments like the USA are controlled by the Military Industry and Big Pharma, which, LITERALLY, need wars, internal conflicts, and diseases to keep profiting. In the US, every time a kid gets angry, he is immediately diagnosed with some "MENTAL ILLNESS" and starts taking pills for the rest of his life.

[@benjaminvlz]

There's a few other inconsistencies I noticed with the bootleg cartridge that I feel should be pointed out, so people can be aware of some additional things to look out for when buying N64 cartridges: 1. The Nintendo logo on the back of the cartridge is wrong. The circle around "Nintendo" is thinner. The registered trademark symbol ® is bigger. The the dot on the lowercase i is is oval-shaped, whereas the dot on the lowercase i on the real Nintendo logo is rectangular-shaped. The lowercase e is slightly different too. 2. The back label was placed on crooked and is the wrong shade of gray. By the way, the years of 1997 and 1995 do appear on official N64 cartridges. Every official N64 cartridge released after 1996 has the years of 1997 and 1995 on the back label. The only cartridges that don't have the years of 1997 and 1995 on the back label are the very first batch of cartridges released in 1996. Original copies of "Super Mario 64" from 1996 will have just that year on the back label, but a "Players Choice" copy will have 1997 and 1995 on the back label, since it was released later on in the N64's life, after the game had sold millions. So if you're looking to buy an N64 cartridge and it has the years of 1997 and 1995 on the back label, or you already own cartridges that have those years on the back label, don't be alarmed. It's normal for any cartridge produced after 1996. A good indicator that a cartridge is authentic is the number that's stamped into the back label, as gruz mentioned. Most of these Chinese bootleg cartridge manufacturers don't go through the trouble of stamping in the numbers on the labels. Though, a missing number on the back label doesn't automatically mean a cartridge is a bootleg. Sometimes, labels get damaged and people replace them with new ones, so if you spot a cartridge where something with the front or back label doesn't look right, it could be that the original label was damaged and was replaced, using a lower quality image/paper or an incorrect image that they found online. If you wanna be 100% sure that a copy of a game is authentic, your best bet is to take the cartridge apart and inspect the board. If you're at a yard sale/garage sale, retro game shop, flea market, swap meet, etc., you can do what gruz suggested and bring a gamebit screwdriver with you and hopefully, they'll let you open up the cartridge and inspect the board. If you know what an authentic N64 cartridge board looks like, you should have no problem spotting a bootleg. If you don't have a gamebit screwdriver, you can find a set of 3.5mm and 4.5mm screwdrivers on Amazon for dirt cheap. You'll need the 3.8mm screwdriver to unscrew the backs of N64 cartridges, but it's good to have the 4.5mm screwdriver as well if you want to open your N64 console to clean the inside, as the console itself uses bigger screws. Now if you're looking to buy a cartridge online, you obviously can't inspect the board, so buy at your own risk.

[@Batman89959]

After watching this Video I went and looked at all My N64 Cartridges and all the signs and thankfully all of Them are official and not Fake or Bootleg thanks for the extra info on the 1997 and 1995 that really helped.

[@Toast_94]

I knew something seemed up when I took a look through my cartridges and nearly all of them including a former rental copy (blockbuster sticker and all) had the 1997 and 1995 years save just one.

[@8bitsnivy983]

I don't mind if it's alot cheaper if it works perfectly without and bugs glitches or issues

[@jordanelliott9050]

Okay if you are educated in cartridge based games it’s almost impossible to get scammed on eBay, so no I don’t believe that eBay is worse than Amazon in regards to fakes. Amazon typically uses stock photos & eBay sellers usually take real photos or open them up for people to authenticate them.

[@sebastienlinck4908]

I got Clay Fighters Sculptor's Cut for 20 bucks when the original cost over 1,000 bucks. It works perfectly and the seller didn't pass it off as an original game cart which is all I care about. I want to collect original if possible but will buy reproductions or bootlegs if the price is insane

[@Nuculer9001]

Even the darkest of days is brightened by a new Gruz video. Thanks Gruz!

[@damienross9832]

I've got a feeling i got a bootleg copy of the gold cartridge of ocarina of time from cex as the gold cartridge is ment to have the chanting in the fire temple but the gold cartridge I got never had the chanting and had the updated version

[@rayganthetheremind1216]

7:58 We should publicly shame that store for trying to offer you a bootleg

[@Leon-Recoils19912]

I've been watching your channel since I was young, so glad to see your still uploading 💪💪 love your vids

[@CharemTheShadox]

Bootleg products can be a mixed bag. It generally doesn't end well when it comes to bootleg video games, but other product types can be another story. I willingly purchased a number of 'bootleg' Pokemon plushies off of eBay that cost about 20 USD each and were not trying to rip off existing official Pokemon plushies. They were just doing their own Pokemon plushies, and they were accurate to the Pokemon and had a good level of detail. Heck, they generally look better than official plushies of those same Pokemon. I'd still call these bootleg plushies, but they were very good plushies as well. (They also made a shiny Umbreon plushie, which I'm pretty sure is a Pokemon variation that doesn't officially exist in plushie form.)

[@stinky59]

i’ve seen those before! there’s a lot of really nice looking ones on ali express too. i thought about buying some but i was worried they wouldn’t look as good as the pictures on the listings. buying bootleg pokémon plush is totally justified tbh, the official ones are so expensive. even the little tiny ones can cost like $20, and why would you buy that when you could get a much bigger unofficial one of similar quality for the same price

[@CharemTheShadox]

@@stinky59 A good rule of thumb is to look up if the plushies are using official plushie photos. The good 'bootleg plushies' are just using their own actual photos, as their products are obviously-unique compared to existing official lines. But yeah, so long as you are looking at photos of a clearly non-official plushie, chances are good that it looks exactly like that when it arrives. And yeah! Unofficial creations rock, sometimes. The plushies I picked up are good in both size and detail, felt very reasonable for the price.

[@ObamaPhoneProMax5G]

The big reason for bootlegs getting a foothold in the first place is the collector market. Collectors drive the price of legit games up high enough that normal people who just want to play games and don’t know any better will see a game for a reasonable price and just buy it. You’ll notice the proliferation of these bootlegs really hit a fever pitch over the last couple years especially during the pandemic when people were stuck inside and feeling nostalgia. I’m personally not a collector but I love older games. What worked for me was getting an EverDrive for my N64 and I’d recommend everyone who isn’t a collector who just wants to play games to get one as well. The collector market has driven up the price of basically every game except sports games to absurdity. It’s simply more cost effective to get an EverDrive than trying to find legit copies of games or even bootlegs when they’re at minimum 20 bucks a piece. Sad.

[@DrNo64]

While I can see the merit in what you're saying, I don't believe collectors are the ones driving up game prices. I think some people are deliberately trying to make games seem like they're worth more so they can resell them

[@Tackitt]

It’s certainly both

[@danwaleby]

I'm part of the community that makes custom rom hacks of Super Mario World. A fellow hacker found cartridge copies of a bunch of the hacks from the main site we use! Someone straight up downloaded the highest rated ones and stuck them on carts! I didn't see any of my games but there was one cartridge called "Vanilla Level Design Contest 9" that I had a submission on.

[@mariokarthero1997]

To play devil's advocate, I feel the bootleg game cartridge situation may be a symptom of retro game collecrting in recent years. Casual collectors are likely going for more cheaper options, as retro games have spiked in price in recent years. Not many people are looking to pay an arm and a leg to get an N64 or GameCube game, especially of they don't know if they'll like it or not. There is the option of everdrives, emulation if they're feeling like sailing the seven seas or the myriad of re-releases, but those have their own problems: 1) Some people may be anti-piracy, which is fine in my opinion. 2) Some re-releases of games are either timed or in some cases, mid to low quality i.e. Super Mario 3D All-Stars and the GTA "Definitive" Edition. This in itself brings up the issue of game preservation, which is currently a joke unless you don't mind sailing the seas. That being said, I do agree that getting bootleg copies is bad for health and safety reasons, as well as the possibility of them being defective in their own ways. But I do feel that this wouldn't exist if the retro gaming scene wasn't an expensive hobby or companies gave more of a shit about video game preservation.

[@suroguner]

What makes 3d all stars low quality? Sm64 is the later rumble enabled version, sunshine now works with game cube controllers, and galaxy is just fine.

[@HeathenDance]

"Some people may be anti-piracy." Yeah, of course they are. Specially when it comes to music! LOL. Humans are such hipocrites.

[@mariokarthero1997]

@suroguner While it did eventually add changes to improve the overall experience, it was overall a pretty lazy collection. Serviceable, yes, but it could have been better.

[@suroguner]

@@mariokarthero1997 The games themselves though still work like they should unlike the games of the GTA trillogy collection.

[@supersmashbro596]

dont forget pokemon stadium with no transfer pak!

[@TrippSC2]

The "ethical issues" part is a massive stretch...

[@kiwikarp9509]

This is really good to know. I don't collect games, but there are some on the DS and 3DS that I want to own. It'll only be a matter of time before bootlegs swarm that market if they haven't already.

[@U9DATE]

@SUPER HACKER they definitely do not exist :) I repeat, they DO NOT exist. They just aren’t real

[@R3troZone]

Gonna be harder to check DS and 3DS games too because the cartridges aren't screwed together, they're glued and you have to almost break them to get them open.

[@blarghblargh]

Just bought 13 bootlegs. $14 each, shipped. Never plan to resell them, and have marked them. Glad such things exist. But yeah, I'd be pissed if I bought an "authentic" cart for full market price and got a bootleg, without it being disclosed clearly in the auction And yeah, I totally buy actual repros when the companies bother to get em licensed, and when they aren't out of stock. Its way more expensive, but its worth it for a premium CIB product.

[@BrainSlugs83]

The piracy doesn't bother me (because the copyright holders aren't selling the games new anymore), but what does bother me is the low quality, both internally and externally, like heck, that Zelda label is missing 40% of the letters!

[@Adventureland900]

Bad way to look at it. Piracy is illegal and when you buy the fake bootlegs someone is profiting off the games that weren't produced by them. It doesn't matter if the copyright holders aren't making the game still. Plus The game could end up on another system for another release or some kind of online service in the future where people who bought it fake might now not buy it which cost them money because they went ahead and bought it illegally.

[@BrainSlugs83]

@@Adventureland900 I disagree. Copyright was only ever intended to last 25 years anyway, and with software it should be 5 or 10 years. Our laws just haven't caught up (and went in the wrong direction, due to corporate lobbies). The intended purpose of copyright was to give the authors of a work an incentive to create more, an incentive in the form of a temporary monopoly to distribute their existing works, while they work on their next project or two. Many of the people that wrote these games aren't even alive anymore, and it's just mega corps profiting of their work (who are also the ones responsible for the absurd state of copyright we have now, as they have lobbied congress to extend copyright to 200 years after the creator's passing. What possible incentive could cause a person to create more after they have passed away? -- it's absurd and just profit hungry.) Copyright was always meant to be temporary, and as far as I'm concerned it has morally expired, and effectively expired (as they no longer are distributing their works anyway)

[@13lood13ath]

I don't mind reproduction carts as along as there is a clear indication that it's a repro/bootleg, especially with how expensive certain games are now. It becomes a scam once people make repros or bootlegs and try to sell it as an authentic original. Hence the reason many sellers take photos of the boards inside the carts.

[@IrisGalaxis]

Nice to see Gruz uploading! My first console was a bootleg NES clone, because the NES was never released in my region. It was called the "Ending Man Terminator". However, those bootlegs were different from these. Someone who knew atleast a bit about retro games could spot those fake systems and carts from a mile away and could never confuse them with real ones, and they served the purpose of bringing the joy of videogames to areas Nintendo wouldn't or couldn't. But to see the way these are marketed is very scummy, and I wouldn't want to buy any of those. With emulation and flash-cartridges today, I don't see a reason to buy a bootlegged physical copy of a game.

[@HeathenDance]

NES clones were actually more reliable and enduring than the original NES, because most NES clones were top loaders, like the Japanese Famicom.

[@IrisGalaxis]

@@HeathenDance Maybe some, but not the Terminator! It was nicknamed "Eater of adapters" because many of them made the block that plugs into the wall blow. My original one died a long time ago, but there's a lot of them still kicking. It did have some interesting features that the NES didn't though: headphone sockets on controllers, and antennae which let you connect it to the TV wirelessly (but that didn't work good at all).

[@HeathenDance]

@@IrisGalaxis LOL. The Terminator is unpredictable XD

[@andrewosborne7544]

I like buying the multi in one game carts, the nes one I have is my go to. Over 100 games I can play on real hardware.

[@mchenrynick]

This is the route I went with. Since so many single-game carts are bootlegs anyways, for what you will pay for 1-2 titles on Amazon, you can get a bunch on 1 cart.

[@nintendo-fan1534]

It's ridiculous that retro games that are probably like 5 bucks are getting bootlegged and charged more than the asking price, pretty soon in the future if this persists, Mario 64 will probably cost as much as a GameCube game. Which further proves my point that retro games do need to be perserved

[@senordd]

I find it funny that you’re showing clips of a bootleg Mario 64 while talking about the negative aspects of bootlegs. Original Mario 64 does not run in widescreen HD.

[@mattb6522]

Great video! More gamers and game collectors need to be aware of this persisting problem! This happened to me many years ago when I bought a preowned copy of Pokémon Emerald from a local game store. I was playing and after a little over a month, the game completely wiped my save (and wouldn't save even after starting a new game file). Upon further inspection, I found out it was a fake, but it was too little, too late as I couldn't return the game. I doubt many game stores would notice bootlegs amongst all the games they have, so it can be easy for bootleggers to get these fakes into circulation. As a consumer you have to be very careful. Online purchases can be difficult as you can't always tell if a copy is a fake from pictures provided of the product (never buy it if there are no pictures of the actual cartridge!) If it is a private seller or game store, it may be wise to ask to see the game before plunking down the cash. Do a quick search of what the actual cartridge _should_ look like to make sure it is an official copy of the game.

[@ramgladore]

I watched an episode of the Angry Videogame Nerd who reviewed the Aladdin deck enhancer which was known to actually destroy your NES systems and only worked on certain models.

[@ElectroBlastLuigi]

I know someone that got the mini NES from Amazon and that thing had hundreds of bootleg games. Even worse, it was shipped with the wrong HDMI cords that the actual mini NES would come with.

[@MaximusRacellius]

I'm all for the bootlegs. Retro prices are insane for plastic.

[@wieldylattice3015]

I appreciate the sentiment but I would prefer if it could be guaranteed that the bootlegs weren’t produced in a sweatshop Other than that you’ve got a point. More games in circulation is a good thing. It may harm the hardcore collector, but not the average gamer that simply wishes to experience the classics

[@MaximusRacellius]

@@wieldylattice3015 I understand but anything made in China is likely made in a sweatshop. So you need to revoke all free trade agreements and bring USA back to all manufacturing. Which would be short term pain but a restoration of the living standards for US citizens. While I respect your position there's quite more things you need to boycott than just game cartridges. Disney made a movie where people are living in camps. NIKE sweatshop shoes ETC.

[@LordIvul]

At this point: why not just buy Everdrive?

[@Ckoz2829]

@@LordIvul Or even just emulate it on your PC. You don’t have to buy anything. Maybe a controller.

[@MaximusRacellius]

@@Ckoz2829 I got an analogue Pocket. Quite possibly the best device I personally have ever bought

[@Teknikfrik]

I feel like these days every older gamer is pushed by youtubers / influencers to be a retro games collector. "Look at my game room with shelfs over shelfs of games!" This trend began as a neat hobby and nostalgia trip. Now its madness and heavy commercialised with prices no one can afford anymore. No wonder bootlegs are rising... its collect the all mentality. Just bought a n64 with a ed plus card to actually PLAY the games.

[@ravensmadhouse75]

Thanks for this. I'm no stranger to bootlegs. I had a physical 666 in 1 or something like that for a Famicom, while the label said "For the NES". Luckily someone sent an adapter to play it on my NES that bypassed the 10NES chip. All the games were in Japanese! I took the game and donated it to a recycling place in hopes that some of the components could end up in a newer legit cartridge.

[@BashoStrikes]

The least thing most people are worried about these days when it comes to retro is "illegal".

[@datravman]

i bought the multicarts from amazon. now i dont have to over spend on carts that aren't made anymore. its great.

[@d.a.1230]

Hi Gruz! Thank you for posting this video! I was considering buying some hard to find games on Amazon- but after watching your video- I am deciding not to and to go to honest gaming shops around my area. I also went to check some of my cartridges for my N64 and I do not see any bootleg copies but from now on- I will be keeping an eye out. Also- I thank you for the reference in your video on the tool you would use to check the games- I might be doing that in the near future and I think you're right- I think there are still a lot of genuine copies of games out there- you just have to know where to look. Thanks and God Bless!

[@bidoofenshmirtzevilinc.4369]

The one good thing about ebay is that there's usually pictures of the games you buy, so it's easier to tell if it's a fake or not. If it's anything from the NES to SNES era it's even easier. One of the best ways to tell if a game is legit is to find the indented production code on the back of the game. If that code isn't there on games up to the GBA, chances are it's a fake. That's why you always want to check the back of games that you're buying, though this is much worse with CIB or sealed games

[@GeorgeArthurJr]

Another way to tell is the price always being about the same and that they've sold a ton of them and have a ton in stock, on top of the descriptions always calling the game a "Game Card".

[@SECONDQUEST]

​@@GeorgeArthurJrThe easiest way is to buy from reputable companies.

[@thefool3424]

​@@SECONDQUEST What reputable companies?

[@ragnarrandom7367]

i bought a bunch of snes carts from dkoldies about a year or so ago. the pcb in a link to the past was actually super mario world.

[@SauloBenigno]

How do know that the Mario 64 in 5:53 time is a bootleg? The label is the same as yours (the original one)

[@seta-san2149]

I’d be okay with the Mario 64 bootleg if it has a compiler optimized rom

[@xProErax]

I bought Mario All-Stars + Mario world and pretty sure it could be a reproduction or even a bootleg. Even though I would like the authentic version I am glad I did buy it for cheap since I own all the other versions authentically but yeah definitely got to be aware of what's authentic and what's not

[@idogaming3532]

The game itself (the ROM file you'd get from ripping it) is a legit game made by Nintendo.

[@mixmastermacaroni]

I find it sad, Nintendo should just get back into reproducing old cartridges there is a demand and they could make so much. Square-enix is one of the few companies that sold older games on there sight for ps1 longer then needed. I think there should be in a collector's brand from original companies to combat knock offs if they want to protect there property then continue to support the older systems.

[@MacInTheBox]

Dunno if anyone else felt this way too but I really like your light-hearted fun vibe of your vids and this one felt a little darker. Hopefully back to the light in the next one :)

[@tyronejennings599]

I couldn't careless if the Amazon is producing counterfeit N64 it just means that I can get my N64 library back instead of paying hundreds of dollars on N64 original games.

[@OscarByrneYT]

Why didn't they just print out a picture of the original label, it would have been less effort and looked better

[@mathdantastav2496]

am I the only one that doesn't care? I'm never gonna open my cartidge, nor am I gonna notice that the lable is a bit off, I just want something that looks cool to put on my shelf, and that works when plugged into an n64. Also the bootlegs tend to come cheaper, and with no visual damage, many original cartidges comes with fucked up stickers, wich for me makes them 100% useless, since my goal is to have something that looks cool to put on my shelf. Also, normal everyday people don't do this cause normal everyday people are too busy pirating their old games on their PCs and phones, and not even bother with retro consoles.

[@polycube868]

I might open a cartridge to make sure it looks alright, but yeah I really don't care otherwise as long as it works.

[@thefool3424]

If we can't buy from online retailers, and we can't buy from physical stores because of how much they jack up the price, where are we supposed to buy from smart guy?

[@kumada84]

6:41 I love how they blurred the logos on the label... 🤣🤣 (and yes, it's like that in the actual Amazon listing)

[@thecreatorofcloudyandrosie]

I remember in 2019 when I bought a copy of Mario Party DS from Amazon until I noticed they sent me a counterfeit copy. Thankfully, I managed to find my old and lost Mario Party DS copy I got for Christmas in 2009 around the end of 2021 when it was lost in 2013.

[@Azteck9]

How well does the game play though? Does it have gameplay differences?

[@night-x6793]

Some reason China doesn't follow the same copyright laws like over countries do and why their government doesn't do anything about it is another mystery.

[@dsimpson530]

It's funny that Nintendo shuts down dolphin emulator on Xbox series and steam marketplaces along with rom sites. Yet they allow clear-cut piracy for retro cartridge games.

[@polycube868]

I don't think Nintendo can really stop them

[@tulip811]

Nah I bought pocky & rocky snes pal version for $15 from china and only the dialog is missing. I'm glad I'm able to play this underrated gem

[@polska905]

For someone that just wants to play the game, it does the job just fine...

[@SUSthehedgehog]

I remember last Christmas, we were opening up presents and my mom got me and my little brother fake Game Boys she unknowingly bought off Amazon for a low price. 😂 it was one of those 300 in 1 things, and it had some nes classics like mario and tmnt, but it was very low quality and all the console only included the JAPANESE versions of the games. I ended up showing this video to her to educate her further about the dangers of shopping for retro games online. Thx for making me AND my mom more aware of what is happening right now. Much love ❤

[@AzaiaMonota2]

Honestly as long as the full game is there and it fully works at a cheap price I really don't care if it's authentic or not

[@MrEightThreeOne]

The other issue that comes with bootlegs though is that their cheap quality often means they hardly last you long. I've heard stories of games crapping out after only a few sessions. The money you save ends up being a rather short sighted gain in the end.

[@TheViper4Life]

@@MrEightThreeOne Not to mention I've heard bootlegs have a lot of issues, such as not saving your game like it should, or it seems like it plays perfectly fine until you get like half way in and suddenly the game freezes at the same part and you can never get past that.

[@Adventureland900]

Of course you don't. Because you don't care that you are stealing.

[@Mahoromatic]

​@@Adventureland900 who gives a shit, these games are nearly 30 years old

[@AzaiaMonota2]

@@Adventureland900 If these companies want to put new copies of their games on store shelves I'll buy the legit copies but 99.99% of them are not going to do that and I'm not about to waste my time opening up 30+ year old game cartridges and looking at chip model numbers and making sure they are the correct shade of gray and have the correct little markings in all the right places and that the letter fonts are correct on some $40 game cartridge when either way none of the money is going to the official source anyways

[@fizzknight]

"You can clip your toe nails while playing your bootleg" litterally spit my coffee out in laughter...that sir deserves a sub : )

[@0liveRoudoudou]

What do I think? Well I think you should breathe and drink a glass of water my friend. I love listening to US people taking about what's legal and what's not, this always makes my day.

[@rustyshackleford5166]

Those bootleg toe nail clippers are what did it for me. No more sailing the 7 seas for me. Not that it mattered. If I buy an authentic used copy of Mario 64, none of the copyright holders get a dime. They already got their money. It's not like Nintendo is selling new ones. I guarantee if they were, it wouldnt be a reasonable price. Those clippers were so sinister tho...

[@TheViper4Life]

I bought an N64 a few months back, came with a couple controllers, all the hookups and 5 games. But that was supposed to be the start of the collecting, I also bought Ocarina of Time and Goldeneye off of eBay...but when I got them I immediately knew something wasn't right about them, that's when I learned of repro's...and my copies definitely were, luckily I was able to return them and made sure I bought proper used copies (they both look like they were in use for the last 20+ years). But the funny thing is, the page I got them from is shown in the video at 5:43...or at least the used the same stock image with a drop down menu to choose from. Just me being foolish and not paying close attention to what I was buying because the price was better than anywhere else.

[@Brownie39201]

Even Gamestop sells bootlegs since I remember back in 2020 that I got a copy of Digimon World Dawn for the DS and turns out it was a bootleg and for preference, the cart is severely damaged now (although it still runs?)

[@Alex-Defatte]

With the shift of physical copies of video games being phased out, this will happen more and more.

[@Hushpuppysox]

This was informative and made me aware of an issue that I otherwise would not have thought about.

[@lbdjthethird1240]

Yeah this is why I emulate. I used to have a massive video game collection going back to the 2600 but got so sick and tired of dealing with the bullshit that I sold it all off and got me a Raspberry Pi.

[@spiffdaddy]

so u bootleg it all free cool

[@lbdjthethird1240]

@@spiffdaddy Yeah, I do. What are you going to do about it.

[@YoJoLoCo]

0:11 GRA-... wheres grand dad?

[@GrimMetropolis]

That's a bold video title. Buy from ebay and other reselling sites. It lifts up the entire underground community. All you have to do is establish trust with the seller.

[@GamingDelight]

I never order retro games on Amazon unless they're officially licensed. eBay, however, has been very kind to me when it comes to retro games. I always make sure by the seller's feedback and the description. Disc-based games (non-Dreamcast) bought off eBay are usually legit, as you can tell one is a bootleg if it doesn't play on the console (unless the console is modded).

[@SECONDQUEST]

I never thought about the labor behind those bootlegs. Oof

[@AH-ef3rw]

Thank you for making this video!

[@EdgyMiku]

thanks for making this! i was recently looking at a n64 game i wanted but was kinda sus about it. now that i have this knowledge, i for sure know that its a bootleg lol

[@MissingProYT69]

Now I hope that Amazon, eBay and Etsy get sued by Nintendo and other companies.

[@JohnSmith-zw8vp]

1:28 -- Yes! The real one's label is printed neatly and crisply while the fake's label (especially the letters) is blurred. Plus the Nintendo logo on the back won't look quite right.

[@fabzter]

Great video Gruz!!

[@Darkblaze1111]

I actually don't mind bootleg older games the official games are either expensive as hell or impossible to find

[@CrowNoir629]

I have a bootleg copy of Ocarina of time. The cartridge has small red fire under the shield and the logo over it. I don’t wanna sell it because I think it’s rare as I can’t find it anymore. It’s the same game as the original version

[@nene71286]

Good to see you uploading Gruz. God bless.

[@reyesofficial.]

they are fake but the real ones are not there anymore on all stores anymore.why?

[@kuzadupa185]

They call them "reproductions". But its piracy. How is this allowed?

[@PhantomLuigi662]

I bought smash bros and south park for the n64 and I looked at the back of smash bros and the sticker had 3 misspelled words and the i in nintendo had a circle on the i instead of the normal square

[@cappantwan2978]

I can’t imagine that SM64 cart lasting very long with how bad the internals look

[@rmcoutinho]

So there's even a Bootleg version of KZbin out here

[@madcat789]

See, this is why I open my cartridges up at the shop. You just can't tell anymore.

[@Paxonex]

As a collector and retro gamer this was very helpful for things to watch out for for

[@danross1038]

I would sooner buy a bootleg than buy Super Mario Bros from Nintendo for the 7th time.

[@wimwiddershins]

I had a bootleg GBA cart that "only sorta" stored save games. The battery lasted about 3months before saves were lost.

[@JDGamez15]

Having a collection of several N64 games so far including my recently bought CIB copy of Diddy Kong Racing as I haven't played it before, all my N64 cartridges are authentic. One of the games I even bought on Amazon from a seller and so far so good with the game working as it should and the outside of the cartridge, everything lines up like a real cartridge. Usually when I buy N64 games I get them in the store.. however, that doesn't mean that the boards inside them are authentic as I haven't opened them up. I will update this comment after I check them as I do have the Gamebit screwdriver.