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I THINK I BOUGHT 2 COUNTERFIET FINAL FANTASY GBA GAMES ON EBAY.
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ShortStar
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CloseSo I won 2 cheap Final Fantasy GBA games on eBay (FF5 and FF6). Then after I won I noticed the seller's profile is in Singapore. Yet in the item description it said he was from the Philippines and misspelled as Filipines. That was the first red flag.
The second red flag was the fact that I didn't win either game. I was part of the 2nd chance program where if the winner doesn't pay, the runner up gets a chance to buy it. That's ok, but both 2nd chance offers came 1 minute after the item expired. The items expired 2 hours apart from one another. Makes me think the seller was just counterfietting copies.
The seller hasn't given me feedback yet on either item.
Now I got the items 2 weeks later. Both items have unassembled boxes along with cardboard inserts and they stink of fresh ink. It looks very professional still.
The instruction booklets are both 6 pages and that seems a little light for Final Fantasy games. The first 2 pages are BIG BOLD WARNINGS about BATTERY LEAKAGE and SIEZURES and INJURY. huh? I've seen warnings like that before, but not big glaring. The instruction booklet pages seem to be the cheapest I've ever seen for a game.
Putting in both games, they feel unusually snug. The cartridges are a slightly different color than a real cartridge and when I look at the chip, there's a slot just big enough to slip a screwdriver in and pry it open. The real cartridges don't have that.
Then when I fire up the games, there are big glaring warnings of: HEALTH AND SAFETY. It makes me feel like the games are going to explode.
As for the games themselves, they feel legit. The FF6 plays, saves and loads. FF5 plays, but doesn't save or load. It says the file is corrupt.
It is interesting to say the least and not the first time this has happened to me. Years ago when the GBA was fresh, I bought a game on Amazon that fit tight in the GBA and ended up to be a ROM complete with a hacked by so and so screen.
The second red flag was the fact that I didn't win either game. I was part of the 2nd chance program where if the winner doesn't pay, the runner up gets a chance to buy it. That's ok, but both 2nd chance offers came 1 minute after the item expired. The items expired 2 hours apart from one another. Makes me think the seller was just counterfietting copies.
The seller hasn't given me feedback yet on either item.
Now I got the items 2 weeks later. Both items have unassembled boxes along with cardboard inserts and they stink of fresh ink. It looks very professional still.
The instruction booklets are both 6 pages and that seems a little light for Final Fantasy games. The first 2 pages are BIG BOLD WARNINGS about BATTERY LEAKAGE and SIEZURES and INJURY. huh? I've seen warnings like that before, but not big glaring. The instruction booklet pages seem to be the cheapest I've ever seen for a game.
Putting in both games, they feel unusually snug. The cartridges are a slightly different color than a real cartridge and when I look at the chip, there's a slot just big enough to slip a screwdriver in and pry it open. The real cartridges don't have that.
Then when I fire up the games, there are big glaring warnings of: HEALTH AND SAFETY. It makes me feel like the games are going to explode.
As for the games themselves, they feel legit. The FF6 plays, saves and loads. FF5 plays, but doesn't save or load. It says the file is corrupt.
It is interesting to say the least and not the first time this has happened to me. Years ago when the GBA was fresh, I bought a game on Amazon that fit tight in the GBA and ended up to be a ROM complete with a hacked by so and so screen.
Space_Monkey
366
That happened to me one time. I bought a GBA game in a gamestop and it turned out to be a rom hack or w/e.
author=Space_Monkey
That happened to me one time. I bought a GBA game in a gamestop and it turned out to be a rom hack or w/e.
Wow, pretty sure they can get sued for that.
Anyway that sucks, Shortstar. I would be super pissed.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
This happened to me on Ebay when I bought Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. There was no box or manual, but I could tell it was fake because A) The sticker on the cartridge was a cropped version of the logo from the game box, not the logo that's supposed to be on the cartridge B) said logo was discolored, and C) every time I turned off the game, it deleted my saved games.
I returned it a few days later and bought the game from a different seller on Ebay, only to get another counterfeit copy of the game. This time the guy didn't even bother to put a sticker on the cart, and the cartridge *seemed* to run fine but made a rattling noise that sounded very worrisome. I returned that one too, and the bastard even made me pay for the shipping.
Sick of Ebay, I bought a copy of the game from a seller on Amazon instead, only to get another counterfeit copy of the game. This one had a different wrong logo on the sticker, but still wrong - it was the right image, but horizontally stretched by like 150%, and with the Nintendo logo and ESRB rating missing. But this time at least the cartridge worked fine. So, uh, I just kept it that time. I was still kind of worried it would break eventually, but was sick of the endless hassle by that point.
I returned it a few days later and bought the game from a different seller on Ebay, only to get another counterfeit copy of the game. This time the guy didn't even bother to put a sticker on the cart, and the cartridge *seemed* to run fine but made a rattling noise that sounded very worrisome. I returned that one too, and the bastard even made me pay for the shipping.
Sick of Ebay, I bought a copy of the game from a seller on Amazon instead, only to get another counterfeit copy of the game. This one had a different wrong logo on the sticker, but still wrong - it was the right image, but horizontally stretched by like 150%, and with the Nintendo logo and ESRB rating missing. But this time at least the cartridge worked fine. So, uh, I just kept it that time. I was still kind of worried it would break eventually, but was sick of the endless hassle by that point.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
author=ShortStar
The instruction booklets are both 6 pages and that seems a little light for Final Fantasy games. The first 2 pages are BIG BOLD WARNINGS about BATTERY LEAKAGE and SIEZURES and INJURY. huh? I've seen warnings like that before, but not big glaring. The instruction booklet pages seem to be the cheapest I've ever seen for a game.
Then when I fire up the games, there are big glaring warnings of: HEALTH AND SAFETY. It makes me feel like the games are going to explode.
Honestly this is par for the course for games on Nintendo systems, they all have this bullshit. It's a policy for all games on every Nintendo system since the virtual boy. Nintendo seems extremely concerned that people might accidentally enjoy some of the games they own, and they feel responsible for making sure you are too scared to play them.
When I get home I'll check the manuals for my copies of these games, if you want. I'm pretty sure they are longer than 6 pages, but I can't say for sure from memory.
When I lived in Asia, all games were pirated. There were a couple of stores in Riyadh that selled "arijnals", but no one I knew ever went for them as their prices were insane compared to the alternatives.
The one time I opted for a legit cartridge was Pokemon Gold because I didn't really grasp dialogue such as "PIDGIN TACKLE STU!" found in the counterfeit version.
(I didn't know much about piracy's effect on industry back then (primary school kid so wouldn't care anyhow) so don't judge me!)
The one time I opted for a legit cartridge was Pokemon Gold because I didn't really grasp dialogue such as "PIDGIN TACKLE STU!" found in the counterfeit version.
(I didn't know much about piracy's effect on industry back then (primary school kid so wouldn't care anyhow) so don't judge me!)
Zephyr
1241
I once managed to get Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow of a site. I was searching around a lot and managed to get one for a reasonable price. But when I get the game later, the box was not assembled and it had images on the backside with Gamespot's 'G' in the corners. Also, yeah the manual was 6 or so pages long as well.
The cartridge seem to work normally. That was until I had "saved" and reloaded the game and noticed that saving did nothing. Managed to buy the real deal from a friend later on. I think I gave the crappy one to him for the lolz.
The cartridge seem to work normally. That was until I had "saved" and reloaded the game and noticed that saving did nothing. Managed to buy the real deal from a friend later on. I think I gave the crappy one to him for the lolz.
author=Pokemaniac
Yeah, fake games aren't rare on Ebay at all. My brother got a fake fucking DS.
That sucks. What level of fakery? Like, the kind that plays those retarded LCD games you could find in cereal boxes?
WolfCoder
3554
author=ShortStar
...Then when I fire up the games, there are big glaring warnings of: HEALTH AND SAFETY. It makes me feel like the games are going to explode...
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to prevent ExDeath from destroying the four crystals of natural elements. If you or any of your I.M. force are caught or killed, we will deny any involvement. This cartridge will self destruct in five seconds, good luck.
I only recently realized that on the back of my Pokemon SoulSilver case, the words "Not for Resale" appear where the barcode should be.
Hmm...
Hmm...
Pokemaniac
3559
author=HexatonaWell, it can run games, but the backlight is really yellow, the power lights are really strange, the skin is pretty bad, the stylus feels really weird against the touchsreen and doesn't fit in the side properly, and the buttons don't press down properly. It's not unusable, but it wasn't like it was cheaper than the other ones on offer. ;(author=PokemaniacThat sucks. What level of fakery? Like, the kind that plays those retarded LCD games you could find in cereal boxes?
Yeah, fake games aren't rare on Ebay at all. My brother got a fake fucking DS.
author=Pokemaniacauthor=HexatonaWell, it can run games, but the backlight is really yellow, the power lights are really strange, the skin is pretty bad, the stylus feels really weird against the touchsreen and doesn't fit in the side properly, and the buttons don't press down properly. It's not unusable, but it wasn't like it was cheaper than the other ones on offer. ;(author=PokemaniacThat sucks. What level of fakery? Like, the kind that plays those retarded LCD games you could find in cereal boxes?
Yeah, fake games aren't rare on Ebay at all. My brother got a fake fucking DS.
Man, that is suuuper shitty.
I totally forgot I posted this. Another forum had me take some pics and taking the pics I found more clearly that they are counterfiet. The biggest thing was both games didn't have a Nintendo logo or seal of approval on the games.
And yes after looking for health and safety, every game has it, but real games have health & safety in a different booklet, nor do they have glaring warnings when you first start the game.
According to some other forums, battery leakage is a serious problem with the fakes.
As for the seller, I baited them into giving me my feedback, then threw them under the bus for my own feedback. I opened 2 cases with eBay, but haven't heard anything from them.
And yes after looking for health and safety, every game has it, but real games have health & safety in a different booklet, nor do they have glaring warnings when you first start the game.
According to some other forums, battery leakage is a serious problem with the fakes.
As for the seller, I baited them into giving me my feedback, then threw them under the bus for my own feedback. I opened 2 cases with eBay, but haven't heard anything from them.
Alrubedo
0
Damn. That sucks the big one mate. I order most of my games from Amazon (eh, to hell with the prices.) and I rarely found myself checking manuals or anything but since you brought this to light, I think I will now...
Usually, since I have such a huge backlog of games, if I buy something cheap at EB I throw it into my shelf and forget it until I need it.
Once, though, I bought something there, and my subconscious must have noticed something off because I was mostly just paying attention to the cashier guy, since we were having a lively conversation during the transaction.
On a whim, when I got home, I opened the case and discovered the DS game in question wasn't actually in the case. Thankfully, I checked it not only that day, but very shortly after coming home. I immediately drove back there, and thankfully the dude was still around.
I think that particular guy just got a double "I screwed up day" that day, because as I was entering I think he was being casually admonished for something by a more senior staff member, and then when I brought this up to them the senior guy was like "Really, man?"
I didn't really blame him, I could see how it happened. I probably would have been shit outta luck if he wasn't still there though, how do you prove you didn't receive your game? Just made me be a bit more weary of not checking my purchases.
======
Once, I purchased Baten Kaitos at a pawn shop, and got Baten Kaitos 2 as a mistake. I didn't completely mind, since I got the more expensive version, but I was a bit disappointed because the manuals and cover were wrong. Eventually I found a high res pic of the cover I can now print off some time, but damned if I'll ever find a scan or PDF of the Baten Kaitos: Origins Manual...
Once, though, I bought something there, and my subconscious must have noticed something off because I was mostly just paying attention to the cashier guy, since we were having a lively conversation during the transaction.
On a whim, when I got home, I opened the case and discovered the DS game in question wasn't actually in the case. Thankfully, I checked it not only that day, but very shortly after coming home. I immediately drove back there, and thankfully the dude was still around.
I think that particular guy just got a double "I screwed up day" that day, because as I was entering I think he was being casually admonished for something by a more senior staff member, and then when I brought this up to them the senior guy was like "Really, man?"
I didn't really blame him, I could see how it happened. I probably would have been shit outta luck if he wasn't still there though, how do you prove you didn't receive your game? Just made me be a bit more weary of not checking my purchases.
======
Once, I purchased Baten Kaitos at a pawn shop, and got Baten Kaitos 2 as a mistake. I didn't completely mind, since I got the more expensive version, but I was a bit disappointed because the manuals and cover were wrong. Eventually I found a high res pic of the cover I can now print off some time, but damned if I'll ever find a scan or PDF of the Baten Kaitos: Origins Manual...
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