How to spot repros?

[Note]

Yeah, I've gotta agree with the others that mentioned to get the correct screwdriver to open up carts. Think this is a necessity if you're going to be purchasing older games and really the only way to know for sure.

I haven't had any issues with buying counterfeit carts online, but I did have one seller who claimed they tested their game, which was Gauntlet IV for the Genesis. When I received it though, it didn't work.

Turned out it was one of those Tengen carts with a bad PCB. Luckily, Ziggy was able to fix it for me and swap it out with a new PCB, and the game's now working again. Think I'll stay away from Genesis Tengen carts though.

[marurun]

Honestly, you’ll have to start opening up carts to replace batteries at some point. Otherwise you can kiss the ability to save goodbye.

[Ziggy]

+1 for opening it up.

Carts are pretty robust, so don't worry about messing something up. They're not fragile. If you want to take caution, then just don't do it after you dragged your feet across the carpet because electronics don't like static discharge. But seriously, taking a peek inside, you're running nearly 0 risk of damaging something. Even if you just dragged your feet across the carpet.

Also, opening up carts is the best way to clean the edge connector.

Post a pic of the PCB online and people can easily determine if it's authentic or a reproduction. But there's plenty of sites that document PCBs so you could always check your for yourself.

For example...

NES/FC: https://nescartdb.com/search

SNES/SFC: https://snescentral.com/gameindex.php


PS - Noticed this was in the TR forum, so I moved it to General Gaming.

[Reprise]

Yeah, definitely just open it up. The tools are cheap and easy to buy. I always open them up if in doubt or it's an expensive cart.

[Raging Justice]

Reading this topic reminded me that I have opened up SNES games before. It's pretty simple and that's coming from someone who doesn't like taking anything I have apart.

I have never opened up any of my GBA cartridges though. I kind of don't want to take them out of the cardboard boxes again given that I have some pricey titles (including Ninja Cop) and prefer not handling those delicate boxes more than necessary. I'm so paranoid I keep them all in box protectors. I did check other things when I first acquired them though, like the Nintendo imprint (or whatever you call it) that you can see when you look into the cartridge, did picture comparisons with other copies online, etc, etc. and I bought most of them from pretty reputable sellers, most of whom were collectors themselves. I don't want to take any of these out of their boxes ever again given how overpriced older games are getting



I just play roms on a modded New Nintendo 3ds XL via injection or emulators. The accuracy is fantastic

Yeah, cartridges are not delicate flowers. Think about what they go through on the regular and still survive.

Hence why I've never been a fan of optical media. It's one of the things I like about the Switch. i never have to worry about a cartridge coming in the mail, but I have received games for other consoles where the disc was loose and scratched when I opened the case. This happened once with a pricey game and it still pisses me off to this day

[Anapan]

I was really impressed at how impervious Blu-rays are to scratching. My godfather was the one who told me about it because he went to a BestBuy looking to upgrade his entertainment center, and when talking about the Blu-Rays the salesman offered to open up a Blu-ray disc and let him try to scratch it with his keys. That sold him on them. I have since bought obscure movies from lesser known Blu-ray producers that are just as scratchable as 90's CDs, but the mainstream big budget discs are coated in an impressively hard plastic.

[Reprise]

I have never opened up any of my GBA cartridges though. I kind of don't want to take them out of the cardboard boxes again given that I have some pricey titles (including Ninja Cop) and prefer not handling those delicate boxes more than necessary

Here's a tip. I can't remember if it works with Gameboy games, but try either a bread knife or a very thin ruler. Just slide it in through the gap in the flap, gently lift upwards and it should come up no problem without causing any damage or creasing. It tends to work with N64 and SNES games anyways.

I was really impressed at how impervious Blu-rays are to scratching.

Yeah, they're really well protected from scratching. Blu-rays have a very thin plastic layer between the playing side and the data layer. Blue-ray has a short wavelength compared to DVD and so because the layer of plastic is so thin, the disc is hard-coated to resist all scratches that you would expect from typical handling. If you come across a scratched blu-ray when buying a game or film, you should probably reject it, as it's probably irreparable, unlike CDs and DVDs that can be cleaned and resurfaced.

[Note]

That's a nice stash of GBA games, RJ! Just curious, where did you pick up the box protectors from? I need to do the same for my GBA games.

Unfortunately, when I was younger, I didn't take care of my boxes as well and my Golden Sun box got kinda crushed. I'd like to pick one up in better shape.

[Raging Justice]

That's a nice stash of GBA games, RJ! Just curious, where did you pick up the box protectors from? I need to do the same for my GBA games.

Unfortunately, when I was younger, I didn't take care of my boxes as well and my Golden Sun box got kinda crushed. I'd like to pick one up in better shape.

I probably got them from here:

https://retroprotection.com/

That's where I usually get my box protectors from and I can vouch for their quality. Plus, whoever runs the place is nice and sometimes will refund you when the shipping costs less than what you paid for it. He seems to be a collector as well and the pictures on the site are sometimes pictures of his own games that he puts in the same box protectors that he sells.

There are some other places you can get box protectors from, but I've been pretty happy with the products I have gotten from there.

[BoneSnapDeez]

GBA carts have a single tri-wing screw that comes off easily with the appropriate screwdriver. Screwdrivers of the appropriate size can be found labeled as "Game Boy Advance screwdriver" on places like Amazon, etc. Highly recommended!

I open everything I can.