The following Game Boy
Advance cartridges were purchased from
eBay in 2007. They were $5 ea (NEW) and
I assumed they were bootlegs. As it
turns out I was correct.
The obvious differences I noticed
between the authentic Nintendo GBA
cartridges and the bootlegs are the
front labels. Although they are similar,
the bootlegs are much darker and a
little bit blurrier. They are very close
though. Most even have the "Official
Nintendo Seal of Quality" stamped on the
front!
The second thing I noticed being
different is on the inside of the
plastic cartridge casing. (see picture
#4) You don't have to open it up to see.
Check out how the pin stamping is
staggered and not in a straight line on
the bootleg. It looks like a mess! After
seeing this it's not hard to imagine the
large amount of defects that are often
found with bootlegs. You can also
clearly see the Nintendo logo, followed
by the cartridge code and the pin count
(32) printed on the IC board.
The backs of the carts are very similar
to the originals. It seems the text on
the Nintendo original is a bit smoother.
It appears the bootleggers are using old
and sometimes worn out die casting molds
which can cause the print to look overly
sharpened.
I believe
all bootleg GBA games, that save your
progress, utilize a Lithium-ion coin
cell battery and not the standard flash
type. For example the fake Mario Kart
Super Circuit has a battery and the
original does not. The game saving does
work all the bootlegs I've tested [see
picture #9]
Also, the bootleg version of Yoshi's
Topsy Turvy Games does not include the
accelerometer, which makes it unplayable
and pointless to exist as a fake!
-Matt
