I think I got some bootleg DS games for Xmas . . .

[Kumo]

I asked for Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, along with Yoshi's Island 2 for the DS this Xmas, and I got them both. However, my mom found them through a seller in Hong Kong on Ebay, which is questionable . . . The games are in clear plastic cases instead of the black ones, and the outside looks like a VERY good photo copy. Both of them contain pamphlets, but I don't think they are the real deal. The Yoshi's Island pamphlet has nothing in there about play controls or anything like that, but rather what seems to be a drawn out review of the game (can somebody verify what a REAL pamphlet was like?).

Also, neither game came with the code that you can enter at Club Nintendo. These games BOTH should have came with it, right? Since they were Nintendo products. If you have the game and can take photos of the pamphlets, it would really ease my mind to know if these are in fact bootleg knockoffs. The games seem to work fine in my DS, so I shouldn't be worried, but I am somewhat of a purist and don't want to buy bootleg items. I like to give my money to the company that developed and worked on it for months, and not a thief that stole a code and put it on a blank DS card.

[Yar]

I've ended up with bootleg GBA games before.



Check the Nintendo seal on the game boxes.

[Kumo]

There's an official Nintendo seal on both of them, but like I said, it seems copied . . . I'm going to take them to Gamestop and see if they can actually be traded in. They also didn't come with the "Warning" pamphlets inside of the game either. Nintendo always throws those in there.

[krissy]

wouldn't try trading in bootlegs for real things at a gamestop
never heard of anyone using that system

[Yar]

There's an official Nintendo seal on both of them, but like I said, it seems copied . . . I'm going to take them to Gamestop and see if they can actually be traded in. They also didn't come with the "Warning" pamphlets inside of the game either. Nintendo always throws those in there.

Well yeah, They'd copy the seal. It'd be harder not to. But does it look like a regular seal? All shiny and shiz

[Vyk]

I think the important question is: do the games -play- okay? Maybe just enjoy them?

[Jiro]

I think the important question is: do the games -play- okay? Maybe just enjoy them?

The games seem to work fine in my DS, so I shouldn't be worried, but I am somewhat of a purist and don't want to buy bootleg items. I like to give my money to the company that developed and worked on it for months, and not a thief that stole a code and put it on a blank DS card.

I understand your apprehension towards pirated copies but dude just enjoy them. If you still want to have the originals then you can pick some up when you have the money yourself. A lot of people do this, just with ROMs and stuff.

[eestlinc]

As krissy notes, you are not going to have much luck trying to trade bootleg games in at Gamestop. You should not bring bootlegged games into the store.

[Kumo]

I'm more curious if they'd even allow me to trade them in. If they don't scan, I could just take a blank/empty DS box, cut out the barcode and put the packaging on it, put game inside, and voila . . . it looks legit. Otherwise I could probably do no box no instructions and still get money for it.

But yeah, they work fine so far. I'll play them and beat them, and then trade them in later to get the real versions if possible.

[JKTrix]

Beware the DS pirates on eBay DS

In particular, this one


Since the case could be lost or whatever, but that little printed thing on the back of the DS cart is the best way to tell if it's real or fake.

[Kumo]

Both games have that number, phew. Maybe they bought a bunch of no box no instruction games, printed out the box art and pamphlets, then sold it as new . . . haha.

[eestlinc]

Gamestop could get in a lot of legal trouble if they ever sold pirated games. So I would imagine they inspect the games they take in from sources other than the manufacturer. If you were to take in a counterfeit game, they could either (a) kick you out of the store (b) refuse to do business with you ever again (c) report you to law enforcement. In other words, it would be dangerous and foolish to take a fake game into the store and try to sell/trade it to them.

[Kumo]

Well, if I didn't know it was fake .. .

[Vyk]

Not to be a stickler, just pointing out a possibility, but it'd probably be a kin to "receiving stolen property". Which doesn't usually care if you are aware or not. Though they tend to merely just warn people about that too as long as you give the stuff back. But its still illegal, whether you knew or not

[eestlinc]

If you don't know it's fake, then why are you trying to trade it in for a different copy of the same game?