Help determining whether my game is fake

[VincentX]

Hello everyone; I'm hoping I can get some help regarding a possible fake SNES game:
I bought a copy of Tetris Attack yesterday; booted up immediately just fine but after I tried accessing the tutorial I got an error message that said "copying games is illegal" and info for Nintendo. I reset and it was still there; so I shut off the system and then turned it back on and the game worked fine for the ten minutes that I played.

I checked the cartridge and it does say "Made in Mexico" on the label but everything else looks normal.
Unfortunately I don't have a digital camera so I can't take a picture of it...though I could try using the DSi camera if a picture is needed.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Hello everyone; I'm hoping I can get some help regarding a possible fake SNES game:
I bought a copy of Tetris Attack yesterday; booted up immediately just fine but after I tried accessing the tutorial I got an error message that said "copying games is illegal" and info for Nintendo. I reset and it was still there; so I shut off the system and then turned it back on and the game worked fine for the ten minutes that I played.

I checked the cartridge and it does say "Made in Mexico" on the label but everything else looks normal.
Unfortunately I don't have a digital camera so I can't take a picture of it...though I could try using the DSi camera if a picture is needed.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

What do the screws on the cartridge look like?

If they're philips or flat head screws then it's most likely a bootleg, but if the screws are the standard Nintendo gamebit security screws then it's most likely a real cart.

Also try scrubbing the cart's contacts with a few Q-Tips and 70% By Volume Rubbing Alcohol to ensure that the message is not just an error caused by any possible dirt that has built up on the cart's contacts.

EDIT!: I've taken the liberty to move this topic to the Tech Help forum, but have left a shadow topic in the Nintendo forum so you can get more exposure on this topic. Hopefully you can get some more help when it's in this section!

[VincentX]

The screws are the normal ones (compared it with three other games) and there was some dirt on the contacts.

Thank you very much!

[jfe2]

That's a really weird message that popped up! I've never heard of that before.

Does the SNES have some sort of anti-piracy tool in it that I didn't know about?

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

That's a really weird message that popped up! I've never heard of that before.

Does the SNES have some sort of anti-piracy tool in it that I didn't know about?

Later SNES games have quite a few tricks up their sleeves when it comes to making bootlegs unplayable.

[HellHammer]

I don't think it's fake. I've got a copy of Tet Attack in the box that also says 'made in Mexico'.

I once had this same issue with a copy of Donkey Kong Country 3. It ended up being a problem with the internal battery being loose/dead. It would occasionally allow me to play, or play up to a certain point, and then sometimes not at all before showing the illegal copy screen.

Once I changed the battery and made sure it didn't wiggle around, I never had another problem.

[dedalusdedalus]

"Hecho in Mexico?"

Be careful. That might be a magical realism cartridge you have there.

End obscure webcomic reference.

[Hobie-wan]

Later carts from the end of the SNES lifespan were made in Mexico. I myself have Mexican Contra III and Super Turrican 2 carts.

A good way to check if your Nintendo carts are legit is to look for a 2 digit code stamped into a label. GB games it will be on the title label obviously, but for other systems the stamp will be on the label on the back if it has one.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Later carts from the end of the SNES lifespan were made in Mexico. I myself have Mexican Contra III and Super Turrican 2 carts.

A good way to check if your Nintendo carts are legit is to look for a 2 digit code stamped into a label. GB games it will be on the title label obviously, but for other systems the stamp will be on the label on the back if it has one.

Yeah, the Majesco reprints from around the era of the SNES Model 2 and well into the N64 era were all made in Mexico instead of in Japan or the US like the earlier Nintendo made carts.

[MrPopo]

That's a really weird message that popped up! I've never heard of that before.

Does the SNES have some sort of anti-piracy tool in it that I didn't know about?

Later SNES games have quite a few tricks up their sleeves when it comes to making bootlegs unplayable.

I think Earthbound's method of copy protection was the best. Get to the final boss, then game locks up and erases your saves.