What kind of games are you aftering?

benleslie5

I'm specifically after Apollo Justice and Last Window (the sequel to Hotel Dusk).

Many thanks!

If anyone else knows of any other sites, please add them.

Lately I've become more interested in importing games, specifically DS games.

What I want to know are websites where I can purchase legit UK versions of DS games who ship internationally besides Amazon UK.

Some of the games I want are no longer in stock on Amazon and and many third-party sellers don't ship outside the UK.

Wow, how long did it take you to type that? But seriously thanks. Good info.

LJChronx

It didn't take that long actually. I just copy and pasted the links to the pictures. I was going to insert the links into the sentences, but GS kept giving me errors thus why it looks kinda cluttered.

Anyway, you're welcome. A lot of the "How to spot fakes" guides out there are kinda outdated as I pointed out in the my first post. These pirates are getting smart with putting the serial number and all on the cart.

The scariest part? The seller was from America and not China, Hong Kong, or other Asian countries known for producing fakes.

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.

[QUOTE="wis3boi"]

[QUOTE="UniverseIX"]

forest fires are necessary in stable ecological environments and are good for the soil among other things.

UniverseIX

except when 1000s of homes are wiped off the earth

Those people would still have lost things that can't be replaced like family photos and heirlooms. One man in Bastrop talked about how he lost all of his dad's WWII medals. You can't replace those.

I don't know about you, but losing my entire game collection I've worked to build over the past ten years would be the breaking point for me. Some games I own have tripled in value. I can't afford to replace those. Not to mention I received many as gifts so they have a sentimental value to them.

I also have various items that relatives in South Korea sent me over the years. Good luck finding those items again.

I live just north of Austin and my home burning down is the last thing I want to happen.

Would you still buy games if they put an extra $20 or more dollars on games . Eg right now it's like $109 ps3/xbox games retail price in Aus but let's say in another 10 to 20 years it goes up to like $129. .......Discuss!!!!! Would u still buy??fralee3

Games are over $100 in Australia?!

I thought games were expensive here in America at $60.

Well...you have my sympathies...

You could always wait until a game drops in price, I guess.

I saw this Kotaku article about a video game name generator at a site called Generator Land.

It produces some really insane names.

Hee's a few I ended up with:

Premium Duck Bootcamp V (I'd buy it)
Majestic Jesus Revolution
Airborne Mailman War
Mutant Sticky Note Warfare (damn fine game right there)
Toxic Pumpkin Delirium V
Burrito Rescue Mission
Combat Pudding Avenger Redux
Mildew Counter Strike
Mexican Hysteria
Maximum Mexican Insanity Revenge

I used to drink soft drinks often. I stopped around middle school. Since then I've stuck with juice and ice tea.

I'll have a soft drink maybe once every few months if that.