So, I recently bought a game off eBay. No biggie. Do it every once in a while. Never had a problem. Never got ripped off. Until now.
Thought I'd buy myself a copy of Phantom Hourglass. Item description said it was brand new.
As soon as I opened the envelope, it looked suspicious . Yup, a counterfeit.
Now before you go, "Never trust eBay, herp derp", eBay is safe if you're careful. Bought games off eBay many many times and until now have never bought a pirated copy. But there's a first for everything...
Update: The seller is going to give me a full refund and have a stern talk with who provided him the game. I just have to return the item. Also added a couple more pics.
I'm not actually mad that I got a fake item. It's kinda amusing actually. Slightly annoyed (have to go to the post office and all to ship it back), but amused. As long as I get my money back, I'm good.
I did happen upon a listing a couple years back that was hilarious. Someone was selling "Pokemon OceanBlue" and there were over 30 bids for the item. I lol'd.
Anyway, I took pics and uploaded them to Imageshack. Here are the links to the images for your enjoyment.
I don't have a pic for it, but the plastic the game came in was cheap. It didn't have the Y-fold seal that games should have.
Don't know what a Y-fold seal is? http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/5928/img1469j.jpg (My sealed copy of Trauma Center)
On to the main event.....
http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/1497/img1452ko.jpg
Hmmm. Looks normal enough in the pic, but close up the print quality is quite poor. It just looks off.
http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/8633/img1453jv.jpg
Right here, I know for sure it's fake. Look what's missing: the Nintendo Wi-Fi booklet that comes with every Wi-Fi enabled DS game and the Club Nintendo registration code. On top of that, look at the ink smudges on the left side of the manual. Not to mention that everything's kinda crooked.
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/561/img1455jl.jpg
Wow! That's some perfect alignment right there!
If you look at most "How to spot fake DS game" guides, they'll tell you that the manuals are often a few pages, usually just a Gamespot or IGN review, but there was some actual effort put into this one.
http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/3879/img1457s.jpg
At least who ever made this fake tried. It's got the correct serial number according to Pocket Heaven's database, but the art is wrong. Again notice the poor print quality. The Nintendo Seal in particular is pretty bad.
Actual cart: http://www.covergalaxy.com/forum/nintendo-ds/12959-legend-zelda-phantom-hourglass-ntsc-u-cart.html
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/5110/img1462dz.jpg
Most fakes would not have any number below the "Pat. Pend", but this one does. At least they're trying. If you look closely at the circuit board righyt above the connectors, it says Nintendo in white, but it's done very poorly compared to the real thing (see DoS below). Only very early DS games had that like Kirby Canvas Curse and Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow (both came out in 05). Nintendo gave each game a unique code instead of printing "Nintendo" on the circuit board to combat piracy. No game made before the year of 07 will have Nintendo printed on the circuit board.
Danw of Sorrow (only games made in 05 (maybe 06) have Nintendo printed on the circuit board): http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/364/img1472bh.jpg
Hotel Dusk (released the same year as Phantom Hourglass): http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/1852/img1473sx.jpg
Let's take a closer look at the case shall we?
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/7842/img1454h.jpg
Doesn't look like any DS case I've seen. It strangely looks fairly similar to the DS cases for Japanese games. Why would a US region game use a case similar to the Japanese cases? It's still a poor imitation of the actual Japanese DS case.
Again, whoever made actually put in some effort. Almost all guides would tell you that the counterfeit cases would not have the Nintendo DS printed on the inside, but this one does.
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/2281/img1460ny.jpg
For reference, the real case (from Castlevania Portrait of Ruin) is on the left, the fake on the right.
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/2371/img1458p.jpg
Another comparison pic: real case on top, fake on bottom (notice how it's darker)
How 'bout a close look at that box art?
http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/8735/img1463u.jpg
I guess they ran out of ink.
http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/9873/img1465wz.jpg
It's like they used a printer from the 90's
http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/6757/img1464d.jpg
Notice the bits of white around the red labels.
For reference here's a high quality scan of the real thing (click on the pic to see it full size)
http://www.covergalaxy.com/forum/nintendo-ds/8521-legend-zelda-phantom-hourglass-ntsc-u-cover.html
Let's see how it plays...
http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/4170/img1466ef.jpg
Looks normal enough. Nothing bizarre happened when it started up.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/5701/img1467oa.jpg
Oh, what's this? A save file? Last time I checked, "new" games don't come with save files.
I didn't play any of the game. The DS Lite I borrowed has a non-functioning top screen.
A couple of additional notes. The actual cart when you hold it in your hand just feels off compared to actual carts. It feels unusually cheap and light.
There was also the faint smell of ink. Real games don't have that.
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