Real N64 games always have a number punched into the sticker on the back on the upper right, repros usually don't have that, that's why I always ask for pictures of the backside on ebay.
That isn't a catch all. Anybody can swap the back from a cheap sports game. You need to check the entire cart, the label front and back and the pcb if you actually want to be thorough, .
@@skunkwerkz777 That's not true at all. Unless the cart is highly discolored or something. People swap backs on high end carts like sculptors cut all the time. Bottom line, be safe and check every part of a cartridge. Even a totally legit cart and PCB, can have a fake label sticker for someone wanting to replace a torn label on a legit cart. Or you could have a legit label and cart, but the PCB be fake. You always check every component of a cart these days. That's just N64 101.
I am manager of a video game store and employees are fooled by a bootleg once or twice a year, I see them from a mile away, plastic texture and stiffness, label printing, label thickness, lenght of the board, weight. The back label and its color, the production stamp (two characters) on the back is always absent on bootlegs, be it N64 or GBA. I have been handling N64 carts since 1996 and dealing them since 2005. I understand most can't have the same experience. If the price is too good, it's probably fake.
Say what you want about these repro cartridges bro at least they're saving us a lot of time and money on games and we can introduce our younger siblings and younger people to these games you grew up with
I own like 30 brand new repro, cost me like 200$. They are 99% the same as the originals and I play them on HD clones from Aliexpress. Some of them are better than the original with smoothening pixels effects etc.. I don't see the point of spending 200$ on an old game that has a life expectancy of like 5 years left.
@@skunkwerkz777 said the 12 year old guy who started a sentence with "bro" The average cartridge has a life expectancy of around 40 years (kept in perfect conditions). Retro games can succumb to "Bad pins, dirty pins , rust, moisture and corrosion dmg , bad connectors, shorted capacitors resistors) And this is what is generally fixable, the rest is not. Considering the fact that Nes games were produced in early 90's, most of them are already over 30 years old. The intellectual level of some people is ridiculous.
You don’t see the point of spending the money on the genuine stuff because you think it’s life is up? The things that have lasted 20,30,40yrs and going strong but you’re okay spending money on bootlegs know to be made with rejected components with zero quality control and also known to corrupt and die randomly? Besides the fact you’re spending all this money on bootlegs when you could get 1 flashcart and play every game? You’re philosophy is flawed
@@KS-nk3gy Firstly, I bought around 5 games per system (gba, nes, snes, sega, n64). Only the games I wanted to play and replay in their original format. Each game cost me on average 10$. This collecting process was slow. I didn't order 30 games at once, I ordered a few games over the years based on what I wanted to replay. For the price of 1 real retro game, I can buy 10+ repo games. I could have bought an everdrive, but I was only interested in reliving some games, so I never wanted to buya 60$ everdrive. Zero quality? are you kidding? Look at some detailed reviews of repro. They are pretty close. Supposedly, the 3.3v chip will draw more current than the original 5v chips the console was designed for and this strains the components in the console and generates extra heat. However, I use HDMI retro console so it's irrelevant, they were adapter 100% to play repro. For all those 30 games and retro consoles, I spent less than the price of 2-3 original games in 2024. Quality wise , buy a repro, open the cartridge and do an analysis instead of talking about thing you don't obviously know anything about.
*You can easily tell by looking at the board connector. Authentic N64 boards have a golden brown look to them on the connector while repros are much lighter, usually light green or blueish. And yes labels are more washed out of color and the words especially on the back label are puffy and blurry. Fairly easy to spot*
how you can tell a fake from a real game without opening. 1) the pins on the fake the end of the pcb is white real is brown 2) the nintendo logo on the back of the cart the font is different and on the fake it doesnt have a R in stamp by the logo its just a circle. 3) the front label the colors are off on the fake in most cases they are darker and the nintendo logo in the bottom corner somtimes is missing the R stamp 4) the stamp on the back sticker every real nintendo cart game has this from gameboy to n64. 5) the feel and look of the plastic used to make the game ( this one is difficult if you are inexperienced) If any of those 5 things are off you should open the game since the likely hood of the game being fake increases.
Not necessarily, colors on a label can fade over time depending how they are treated, like I have a japanese copy of Parodius Da on Game Boy, the label lost all the color but the cart is 100% real.
If the seller says "Brand new" thats red flag #1. I see this players choice is a lot closer than the original bootleg, Normally you can look at the ESRB player rating and if it was a white boarder that's an easy tell it's a bootleg. Also, generally the Nintendo imprint on the back will have a square dot for the "i" in Nintendo, and bootlegs will have a circular dot for the "i". I see this sneaky cart does bypass this method but there's other things to keep your eye out for. In fact, Each game will have different things to look for. For example, Diddy Kong Racing will have balloons in the left of the cover art but in the bootleg it's cropped out. In Zelda OoT the sword goes through the ESRB rating but in the bootleg it is nowhere near it. Possibly the best way to check is by looking at the back of the cart. In the top right of the rear label there should be a 2 digit number stamped into the paper. Another thing to look for is the actual board at the bottom of the Cart where the pins are showing. Real boards will be Bronze and golden colored, bootlegs are more green and tan. You can see that clearly from RGT's video here. Shawn, you should do more research because there's a lot more things to look out for and maybe do an updated video. Use more carts and more examples and again, do more research :)
Always open it up and check the board to make sure it's a legit copy. The fake game situation has gotten out of hand. I've come across legit shells with fake boards inside. You can't tell just by looking at it from the outside.
Yup, same with label swaps for torn labels. You can have a totally legit game, but with a fake label because someone wanted to replace a torn one. Check EVERY part of the cartridge. Both labels, cartridge itself, and the PCB. There all kinds of mismatched games out there. If someone is just telling you to check 1 component as if it guarantees the rest of the cart, they clearly haven't actually tried to buy N64 carts recently.
5:35 Your logic is backwards here and you completely made an argument against your own point.The most common and cheap games on the system, are the also the games that have the most bootlegs on ebay and are the most popular. All the Mario 1st party titles are bootlegged like crazy, for example, despite being on the affordable side. And they bootleg these games because of what you just said, "How many people are going to look closely and open a $30 game?". They also sell FAR more than sculptors cut or other niche games nobody wants to actually play. You have to check every N64 cartridge you buy. Regardless of price. That has been the way for a LONG time now.
I just paused the video at 6:51 and asked my 15 year old which cartridge is fake. He identified the correct cartridge immediately. Full disclosure he does own an N64 but hasn’t played it in a few years.
What is real? Is real being able to play the game? Or is it only games that are stamped Nintendo? I say if it plays it is real. Fake is when you get the empty cartridge treatment. ..
@@KISSbestfanI wouldn’t care I throw away my games mostly anyway no one wants to buy them or game spot gives you nothing for them. If you sell online people lie and demand refunds or scam you
The problem with repros (besides defrauding collectors :D ) is that it's almost always based on ''flash memory'' (like sd cards are). And those go bad pretty fast, especially low-cost ones. So while the original cartridges will damn outlast us all (!) with MROM technology (think of it as diecast data lasting a hundred years), the flash-based repros sometimes last only a couple of years if they are working at all on arrival :( ... so if the original isn't too expensive, that's not just snobbery, that's the *practical* choice.
Switch games and even DS and 3DS are flash memory too. It doesn't matter than much if you only "read" from them like on the switch. It's the writting that wear down the memory. That's what I read on the internet anyway.
Without experience it would be very difficult to know the difference. That's how they sell these in the first place. Everyone is going to make a mistake before they learn what is going on out there. What I really dislike about many of these reproduction cartridges is that they're *trying* to sell them off as original. I'm not a collector so I wouldn't really care that much as long the price is reflected on it being a reproduction *and* somewhere on the cartridge saying that it is a reproduction. I'd be happy with that.
What about the chip board sticking out just a little be further out of the replica than the original. Or is it just me. Waiting for you to point it out but you didn't
Well that’s the problem. There is zero quality control on these. They could be fine forever or crappy the bed tomorrow, next week, next year, who knows. They’re bootleg warez made with B-grade components and no quality control
Diferences that i noticed: 1- if you look at the label, the nintendo logo on the rep is bigger and also off compared to the original. 2- the esrb rating and nintendo seal of quality are slightly upwards (but this could be different on the original players choice cartridge). 3- on camera, the plastic on the rep looks slightly smoother compared to the original. 4- theres a little burr down the rep cartidge compared to the original. I hope this helped!
@@FrankCostanza82 "Retro" is a misnomer anyway. The proper word would be "vintage". "Retro" is something new that's styled after something old. Shovel Knight is a retro game. Mario 64 isn't.
A youtube gamer who's notorious for clickbaiting viewers is now teaching them about game authenticity? Now that's surprising. What isn't surprising is how much money Toli Reacts saved by switching to Geico.
I run a video game store, and even though reproduction labels are easy to spot, you’d be surprised how many are on legitimate carts. The only way to be sure is to open them up and check. I once asked a customer why they replaced the sticker on a Mario Kart 64 cart, and they said they ripped it while trying to remove a Blockbuster sticker, so they replaced it. Around 20% to 25% of reproduction labels on common, popular games turn out to be on legitimate copies. However, if the game is rare and sells for more than $70, you can be certain it’s a reproduction cart.
There's something that's a lot easier to tell. One information you'll find out that all official N64 carts are brown. Just turn the cart upside down, if it's not brown then most likely it's a flash board inside. The shell itself doesn't exactly matter as someone could place an official board inside a repro shell if the original is broken or in this day an age fool the buyer in thinking that they have a repro. But it doesn't seem like anyone can reproduce the brown board inside.
1. Font size 2. Color 3. Depth of the artwork - does it look flat? 4. Numbers printed on back 5. Engraving, how deep does it run? Physical touch: Label feel Plastic feel - also, can you just pull it apart without tools? Weight Finally, cracking it open to check the insides
Tbh, if the repro is good quality, and works as intended, i cannot complain, specially if the original is going for insane prices. Still think an everdrive ends up being the best investment if you want to avoid high prices and repros. I am considering getting some repros for some genesis/mega drive games
Yes, I can find a complaint. The fact that some stores, resellers sell repro carts for more than the market value of the original, pawn shops are especially guilty.
@@nicwelch Then the person could buy it and when they're done resell it for market value to someone who doesn't know any better. Repro's are a great cheap alternative to paying the market value to play old games on original hardware. However, there is absolutely no reason why they can't put something on the game that indicates it is not an original. The reason why they don't is quite obvious. They're trying to deceive people and that's not cool.
Well that’s the problem. There is zero quality control on these. They could be fine forever or crappy the bed tomorrow, next week, next year, who knows. They’re bootleg warez made with B-grade components and no quality control
I already have every N64 game emulated. That doesn't compare to owning original hardware with OEM controllers and cartridges. Unless of course you have 0 nostalgia to begin with but even still, I never owned a record player in my youth and I definitely want one of those too, Even though I can stream all my music.
@@JonnyMotoyou can always get a multi cart like an Everdrive. There were a couple games I wanted before I decided they cost as much as an Everdrive. Boom, used on "original hardware" with less media cluttering my place I am happy.
Gaps around the edges of the label, on a genuine cart they are all equal, check the corner particularly, and the curve of the label follows the cart, again the gap should be equal to the sides, also check the gold, the labels is 4 colour process, the gold is a fifth ink, on a genuine it rarely covers the background, a replacement is digitally printed and the star perfectly covers the background.
There are many things that you can see straight away that it is not an original module. First of all, every original game has a batch number stamped on the sticker on the back, which the bootleg cards do not have. The PCB, i.e. the part with the contacts, is always brown in color on original N64 games, but this is not the case with the bootlegs, but rather is usually white/grayish, as in the video. The stamped Nintendo logo on the back is similar but still too different to the original because it is usually a different, albeit similar, font, and the R at the end is usually much too big and much too difficult to read. In general, the logo is usually visually simple, like a mold copy
The easiest way to quickly verify in my experience is by comparing the small trade mark on the embossed Nintendo logo. On the repos the trade mark is lacking the original detail and appearing more like a blank circle.
I don’t know why anyone WOULDN’T open every cart game they buy regardless of price. Not just because of checking authenticity but to also clean the contacts before shoving it in a console. The stupid swiping with a q-tip from the outside is half-assed. It should be opened and actually/properly cleaned. Barring carts where the label would have to be destroyed to open them (many atari carts, tengen back labels, etc) Then you can see the PCB while you’re in there. Frankly anyone getting into retro gaming, their first purchase should be the screwdrivers to open the carts. There’s absolutely no reason not too
5:11 no, I was going to suggest that the real copies also have a number stamped on the rear label that repro makers have not been able to replicate to this day as far as I know.
The best way to avoid this...stop buying Nintendo games. Instead, invest in what Intellivision Amico has got coming on the horizon, RGT did and you can too. Tommy Tallarico's Phat Life is gonna soon make everyone say Nintend-WHO??? Ain't that right RGT???? 👊
If quality and functionality are the same, I could not care less about authenticity so long as it is labeled “reproduction” and the price reflects that information. I don’t have to have the original release. I’m playing the game and not so much staring at it on a shelf.
The market has been flooded with high quality fakes for years now. Glad to see RUclipsrs starting to talk about it. There are videos out there that will actually show you things to look for, but with the best fakes you aren’t going to be able to tell from the outside. Looking at the board helps, but there are fakes out there that have authentic looking boards. It’s a huge problem that, unfortunately, most RUclipsrs don’t want to talk about. Personally, I’m only buying super cheap stuff these days. I’m thinking it’s not worthwhile for people to make quality fakes for cheap games, and if I get one I’m not out much $$$
It's only a big problem if someone wants to be a physical collector and cares about if it was directly printed by Nintendo, which is a small subsection of people. It can actually be beneficial because more supply to meet demand is automatically going to make prices go down, even if there are enough people who want to scam you by demanding outragous prices.(Which is a problem anyways, it is not getting worse just because they have more copies to sell)
Write a letter to Nintendo and tell them to start selling old cartridge games again. Seems to be quite growing market for people who want these old cartridges, heck if nintendo makes them then they're legit even if they're made long after the originals.
So weird to see when it's a common N64 game, recently bought Minish Cap and it's unreal to see how many highly rated sellers have fakes listed, presumably (hopefully) not even realizing it.
It sucks if you're collecting games and want *originals* but I'm sure there is a market even for these reproduction cartridges, some original games are beyond expensive. Would have liked if they at least put the a reproduction note somewhere on the cartridge since clearly trying to sell it off as a real is a very shady practice.
50?? just sold an extra copy for 30 50 is kind of above market. dead give away right away was the color of the board. It’s supposed to be that brownish color. And the saturation of the label.
First, very suspicious to find a "brand new" legit copy (label perfect, no scuffs) and the quality of the cast is so inferior, radius are bigger, the recessed lines are larger.
My biggest problem with reproductions is the rom gets corrupted easily or its ability to save fails. Bought a reproduction of Harvest Moon FoMT for the GBA for a few bucks, and it stopped saving within a year. It used flash memory instead of a save battery, so nothing I can do to fix that feature. It also has issues loading reliably.
Screws give this one away RIGHT AWAY plus compare the pins, real ones beat up an gold, but no 96 games gonna look brand new. You can tell by just looking that fake ones so shiney and glowing lol
I'm glad that it isn't a huge problem in Europe. A very few games (I just know 1 game for now) and very few are repros. Unless it's gameboy, especially gameboy advance. Because they where a issue back in the day. You could go to Poland and buy counterfeit games. But they where bad. I bought a game 2004, but it destroyed my gameboy advance because the game got stuck... But i don't really see new reproductions that often
vids like this always fascinate me. Always interesting how bootleggers/repros try to pull one on people. We are far gone from the NES/GB/SNES etc. era where you could tell they were fakes.
If it looks, plays, saves, and controls the same, then why is it a deal if you get a repro cart? Some elitist mindset that can only have fun if you spend lots of money on it? It has never made sense to me.
Reproductions are not always good quality. I bought one on not paying attention and the game crashes and loses its saves halfway through the game. Have only buy legit games from now on.
yeah i agree if its $20 who cares. its the same thing. well worth the price of having someone flash the rom to a usable cartridge for your n64 and it even has a sticker
How would a retro gamer really know if they have a bootleg in their collection without opening up all their carts ?It's definitely eye opening for sure!Thank you!
If it’s the full game and e writhing works properly, for the right price, I don’t care if a game is a repo. Now, if it’s something special and is collectable, then yeah, I want original. But I’m fine with a reproduction copy if it’s the full game and saves me money.
You never got to what is in my mind a far more important question. Does the reproduction WORK and run the same? If it doesn't, then that makes this exercise important for those who just want to buy the game to play it. If it doesn't, and I just bought the game to play it on my older console, and I saved money just as you did... Who cares?
For anyone getting into N64 collecting because you got an analogue 3d on preorder, the three most expensive games right now on the n64, are Paper Mario, The Gold Cart of OOT and the collectors edition of MM you'll easily spend over a thousand dollars on all three if you want them in very good condition or like new CIB.
Im positive the 3 most expensive games are not those. As always the most expensive is Sculptors Cut, then Super Bowling or Rage Wars if you’re looking at Grey Variants, and Stunt Racer
@@wodensthrone5215 ok? A cart of Sculptors Cut goes for around $950, Rage Wars $550ish, Super Bowling $525, and Stunt Racer $325. That’s JUST the carts, not CIB. So yea, you’re way off
@@wodensthrone5215 GREY rage wars, it’s a specific version of it. I don’t know what to tell you other then you’re out of your element with N64 prices, especially if you don’t even know what Sculptors Cut is
I love how this guy thinks he’s breaking news here. Repros aren’t new, people have been producing them for quite a while now. Also super Mario 64 can be gotten for around $35-$40. Not $50 like he said. I don’t know why he feels the need to exaggerate all the time.
I have a lot of Mega Drive (yes, not Genesis 😈) repro cartridges I bought with a fraction of the price of originals and I expect them to function till I’m gone. I bought them to play them as they were intended on the original hardware (emulation is just an aproximation, the games never run the same way emulated) and not to collect them and try to make profit off them or bloat my ego as a gamer. I’ve been really happy with my repros and they seem to be the only games I play these days.
I think a good indicator is looking at the pins, repros are mainly grayish vs og are brownish. The only og cart that has gray pins is resident evil 2. Gotta open the cart with that one.
It really doesn't matter if it's a repro this is what i mean it's not all about nostalgia to retro gamers is all about value and worth that's basically all it's about
My immediate reaction was that the R appears to be missing from the Reserved sign next to the imbedded Nintendo logo. It looks like a blank circle on the fake copy.
My fave is seeing copies of Blue cartridged Conker's Bad Furday flying at Entertainmarts as of late! Ive had many people swear up and down its real to which i chuckle " You're playing a 'real reproduction!'😂" It's still fine and personally I wanna get the SNES reproductions on the translated Japanese games! Those rock!
It definitely is getting hard to tell by looking. I have a real Player's Choice cart that I know is real because it's the one I bought of the shelf at Target back in the day. Got it out of the box while watching your video and the only difference I could see by eyeing it was that your reproduction seems to have less contrast in the label.
RGT please, that Bowser's Valley five seconds loop is very annoying for people watching you with headphones. I feel like muting the video and read the subtitles.
Nintendo should be selling all these games an consoles themselves, imagine going walmart an buying a new n64 would be awesome. Nintendo create a classic collection
wouldnt mind getting some repros just to have them sprawled out around the living room. keep the authentic games safe in storage and the repros out to enjoy like god intended lol
it’s real simple, check the back label on the back of the cartridge & there’s a stamp on the back that has a letter & a number. also, check the I in nintendo specifically the dot, the dot in the I is squared not circular
This means nothing. Anybody can swap the back of a cart with a real one and the front label and PCB can still be fake. You need to inspect the entire cart if you want to be sure.
Besides the fact anyone can swap the back of a cart. The bootlegs fixed the “i” issue over a year ago. Older fakes will still have the wrong “i” but newer ones won’t necessarily
So does he actually know how to compare boards...or? If not, this isnt good advice. Proptip guys - despite what Shaun is saying here, even if it's a cheap game, it's worth opening it up.
I bought a lot selection of n64 games a while back, and 2 out of 13 were reproduction carts. And similar to your cousin, my dad has given me reproductions for birthdays, and it's a little disappointing because i end up wanting a real one later and replace it XD
![Kumamoto Masters Japan 2024 | Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (INA) [5] vs. Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) [2] | F](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EIjZybhsWqA/mqdefault.jpg)
Real N64 games always have a number punched into the sticker on the back on the upper right, repros usually don't have that, that's why I always ask for pictures of the backside on ebay.
This. Good catch, my vro! 🤝
That isn't a catch all. Anybody can swap the back from a cheap sports game. You need to check the entire cart, the label front and back and the pcb if you actually want to be thorough, .
@@xMaGuSx888Good shout
@@xMaGuSx888 then the plastic wont match, you can tell a swapped back a mile away.
@@skunkwerkz777 That's not true at all. Unless the cart is highly discolored or something. People swap backs on high end carts like sculptors cut all the time. Bottom line, be safe and check every part of a cartridge. Even a totally legit cart and PCB, can have a fake label sticker for someone wanting to replace a torn label on a legit cart. Or you could have a legit label and cart, but the PCB be fake.
You always check every component of a cart these days. That's just N64 101.
I am manager of a video game store and employees are fooled by a bootleg once or twice a year, I see them from a mile away, plastic texture and stiffness, label printing, label thickness, lenght of the board, weight. The back label and its color, the production stamp (two characters) on the back is always absent on bootlegs, be it N64 or GBA.
I have been handling N64 carts since 1996 and dealing them since 2005. I understand most can't have the same experience.
If the price is too good, it's probably fake.
Say what you want about these repro cartridges bro at least they're saving us a lot of time and money on games and we can introduce our younger siblings and younger people to these games you grew up with
I can lick a cartridge and tell you the country of origin as well as the purity
@@mushra50 ah sure, the issue is that many will tey to resell carts they've paid dirt and pass them for legit. I simply desteoy them at work.
@@chrisrodriguez5701 hahaha! The origin of Covid-64.
@AmazingFrenchman still be spending that much money on an old game unless you're rich
I own like 30 brand new repro, cost me like 200$. They are 99% the same as the originals and I play them on HD clones from Aliexpress. Some of them are better than the original with smoothening pixels effects etc..
I don't see the point of spending 200$ on an old game that has a life expectancy of like 5 years left.
They're okay for personal use but have no resale value, unless you intend to rip someone off.
bro, old games will last for years and years so will the hardware. you sound like your 12 years old
@@skunkwerkz777 said the 12 year old guy who started a sentence with "bro"
The average cartridge has a life expectancy of around 40 years (kept in perfect conditions).
Retro games can succumb to "Bad pins, dirty pins , rust, moisture and corrosion dmg , bad connectors, shorted capacitors resistors)
And this is what is generally fixable, the rest is not.
Considering the fact that Nes games were produced in early 90's, most of them are already over 30 years old.
The intellectual level of some people is ridiculous.
You don’t see the point of spending the money on the genuine stuff because you think it’s life is up? The things that have lasted 20,30,40yrs and going strong but you’re okay spending money on bootlegs know to be made with rejected components with zero quality control and also known to corrupt and die randomly?
Besides the fact you’re spending all this money on bootlegs when you could get 1 flashcart and play every game?
You’re philosophy is flawed
@@KS-nk3gy Firstly, I bought around 5 games per system (gba, nes, snes, sega, n64). Only the games I wanted to play and replay in their original format.
Each game cost me on average 10$. This collecting process was slow. I didn't order 30 games at once, I ordered a few games over the years based on what I wanted to replay.
For the price of 1 real retro game, I can buy 10+ repo games. I could have bought an everdrive, but I was only interested in reliving some games, so I never wanted to buya 60$ everdrive.
Zero quality? are you kidding? Look at some detailed reviews of repro. They are pretty close.
Supposedly, the 3.3v chip will draw more current than the original 5v chips the console was designed for and this strains the components in the console and generates extra heat.
However, I use HDMI retro console so it's irrelevant, they were adapter 100% to play repro.
For all those 30 games and retro consoles, I spent less than the price of 2-3 original games in 2024.
Quality wise , buy a repro, open the cartridge and do an analysis instead of talking about thing you don't obviously know anything about.
*You can easily tell by looking at the board connector. Authentic N64 boards have a golden brown look to them on the connector while repros are much lighter, usually light green or blueish. And yes labels are more washed out of color and the words especially on the back label are puffy and blurry. Fairly easy to spot*
This is the way.
how you can tell a fake from a real game without opening.
1) the pins on the fake the end of the pcb is white real is brown
2) the nintendo logo on the back of the cart the font is different and on the fake it doesnt have a R in stamp by the logo its just a circle.
3) the front label the colors are off on the fake in most cases they are darker and the nintendo logo in the bottom corner somtimes is missing the R stamp
4) the stamp on the back sticker every real nintendo cart game has this from gameboy to n64.
5) the feel and look of the plastic used to make the game ( this one is difficult if you are inexperienced)
If any of those 5 things are off you should open the game since the likely hood of the game being fake increases.
Just looking at the label, right away, I could tell that it's a fake.
Not necessarily, colors on a label can fade over time depending how they are treated, like I have a japanese copy of Parodius Da on Game Boy, the label lost all the color but the cart is 100% real.
I Cant believe they really selling Fake N64 GAMES.
Not only the label but the “i” in the Nintendo logo
The label don’t mean it’s always fake it’s the board you need to looking at
leave a new one anywhere near a window cuz youre a kid and dont care then come back to me when you wanna sell it as an adult
If the seller says "Brand new" thats red flag #1. I see this players choice is a lot closer than the original bootleg, Normally you can look at the ESRB player rating and if it was a white boarder that's an easy tell it's a bootleg. Also, generally the Nintendo imprint on the back will have a square dot for the "i" in Nintendo, and bootlegs will have a circular dot for the "i". I see this sneaky cart does bypass this method but there's other things to keep your eye out for. In fact, Each game will have different things to look for. For example, Diddy Kong Racing will have balloons in the left of the cover art but in the bootleg it's cropped out. In Zelda OoT the sword goes through the ESRB rating but in the bootleg it is nowhere near it. Possibly the best way to check is by looking at the back of the cart. In the top right of the rear label there should be a 2 digit number stamped into the paper. Another thing to look for is the actual board at the bottom of the Cart where the pins are showing. Real boards will be Bronze and golden colored, bootlegs are more green and tan. You can see that clearly from RGT's video here.
Shawn, you should do more research because there's a lot more things to look out for and maybe do an updated video. Use more carts and more examples and again, do more research :)
Always open it up and check the board to make sure it's a legit copy. The fake game situation has gotten out of hand. I've come across legit shells with fake boards inside. You can't tell just by looking at it from the outside.
Yup, same with label swaps for torn labels. You can have a totally legit game, but with a fake label because someone wanted to replace a torn one. Check EVERY part of the cartridge. Both labels, cartridge itself, and the PCB. There all kinds of mismatched games out there. If someone is just telling you to check 1 component as if it guarantees the rest of the cart, they clearly haven't actually tried to buy N64 carts recently.
Yeah, people won't do that for a 40 dollar common game. This is a problem
5:35 Your logic is backwards here and you completely made an argument against your own point.The most common and cheap games on the system, are the also the games that have the most bootlegs on ebay and are the most popular. All the Mario 1st party titles are bootlegged like crazy, for example, despite being on the affordable side. And they bootleg these games because of what you just said, "How many people are going to look closely and open a $30 game?". They also sell FAR more than sculptors cut or other niche games nobody wants to actually play.
You have to check every N64 cartridge you buy. Regardless of price. That has been the way for a LONG time now.
I just paused the video at 6:51 and asked my 15 year old which cartridge is fake. He identified the correct cartridge immediately. Full disclosure he does own an N64 but hasn’t played it in a few years.
But it has the Official Nintendo Seal of Quality!
But look at the font, it's not the same. That's where it gets you is that the font family is close but not exactly the same
Anyone could slap that on.
This was a waste of my time you didn't even open the cartridge
What is real? Is real being able to play the game? Or is it only games that are stamped Nintendo? I say if it plays it is real. Fake is when you get the empty cartridge treatment. ..
Problem is when someone charges you 20 bucks for a 8 buck repro, and calls it genuine. Its only about it
It's called CONTEXT. In this CONTEXT, "real" means an official production of the cart, made back in the 90s.
@@KISSbestfanI wouldn’t care I throw away my games mostly anyway no one wants to buy them or game spot gives you nothing for them. If you sell online people lie and demand refunds or scam you
@@Bluehawks206 Yeah, people are always scamming.
The problem with repros (besides defrauding collectors :D ) is that it's almost always based on ''flash memory'' (like sd cards are). And those go bad pretty fast, especially low-cost ones. So while the original cartridges will damn outlast us all (!) with MROM technology (think of it as diecast data lasting a hundred years), the flash-based repros sometimes last only a couple of years if they are working at all on arrival :( ... so if the original isn't too expensive, that's not just snobbery, that's the *practical* choice.
Switch games and even DS and 3DS are flash memory too. It doesn't matter than much if you only "read" from them like on the switch. It's the writting that wear down the memory. That's what I read on the internet anyway.
Mother board was the wrong color. You can clearly see it without opening it. Labels were clearly off.
Without experience it would be very difficult to know the difference. That's how they sell these in the first place. Everyone is going to make a mistake before they learn what is going on out there. What I really dislike about many of these reproduction cartridges is that they're *trying* to sell them off as original. I'm not a collector so I wouldn't really care that much as long the price is reflected on it being a reproduction *and* somewhere on the cartridge saying that it is a reproduction. I'd be happy with that.
What about the chip board sticking out just a little be further out of the replica than the original. Or is it just me. Waiting for you to point it out but you didn't
Not only that, the color too.
As long as it plays the same and saves your progress, who cares?
Well that’s the problem. There is zero quality control on these. They could be fine forever or crappy the bed tomorrow, next week, next year, who knows. They’re bootleg warez made with B-grade components and no quality control
Imagine a worst case scenario where the game is buggy, or freezes, or has missing or added content.
@@KS-nk3gy These are old games, that could easily happen with official copies too.
Diferences that i noticed:
1- if you look at the label, the nintendo logo on the rep is bigger and also off compared to the original.
2- the esrb rating and nintendo seal of quality are slightly upwards (but this could be different on the original players choice cartridge).
3- on camera, the plastic on the rep looks slightly smoother compared to the original.
4- theres a little burr down the rep cartidge compared to the original.
I hope this helped!
I thought you wasn’t buying retro anymore
Its not retro, it's repro
@@FrankCostanza82 "Retro" is a misnomer anyway. The proper word would be "vintage". "Retro" is something new that's styled after something old. Shovel Knight is a retro game. Mario 64 isn't.
He bought it for his niece
He bought it for his niece
Plot Twist: The N64 system he picked up was also a reproduction!
A youtube gamer who's notorious for clickbaiting viewers is now teaching them about game authenticity? Now that's surprising. What isn't surprising is how much money Toli Reacts saved by switching to Geico.
Look the connector pins of the cart, in a original one, looks brown
I run a video game store, and even though reproduction labels are easy to spot, you’d be surprised how many are on legitimate carts. The only way to be sure is to open them up and check. I once asked a customer why they replaced the sticker on a Mario Kart 64 cart, and they said they ripped it while trying to remove a Blockbuster sticker, so they replaced it. Around 20% to 25% of reproduction labels on common, popular games turn out to be on legitimate copies. However, if the game is rare and sells for more than $70, you can be certain it’s a reproduction cart.
You could get half way through the game and it might stop working some of them completely work some of them do not...😅
There's something that's a lot easier to tell. One information you'll find out that all official N64 carts are brown. Just turn the cart upside down, if it's not brown then most likely it's a flash board inside. The shell itself doesn't exactly matter as someone could place an official board inside a repro shell if the original is broken or in this day an age fool the buyer in thinking that they have a repro. But it doesn't seem like anyone can reproduce the brown board inside.
1. Font size
2. Color
3. Depth of the artwork - does it look flat?
4. Numbers printed on back
5. Engraving, how deep does it run?
Physical touch:
Label feel
Plastic feel - also, can you just pull it apart without tools?
Weight
Finally, cracking it open to check the insides
Tbh, if the repro is good quality, and works as intended, i cannot complain, specially if the original is going for insane prices. Still think an everdrive ends up being the best investment if you want to avoid high prices and repros. I am considering getting some repros for some genesis/mega drive games
Yes, I can find a complaint. The fact that some stores, resellers sell repro carts for more than the market value of the original, pawn shops are especially guilty.
@@_fat_thor_What if the price was good and it performed like it was supposed to?
@@nicwelch Then the person could buy it and when they're done resell it for market value to someone who doesn't know any better. Repro's are a great cheap alternative to paying the market value to play old games on original hardware. However, there is absolutely no reason why they can't put something on the game that indicates it is not an original. The reason why they don't is quite obvious. They're trying to deceive people and that's not cool.
Well that’s the problem. There is zero quality control on these. They could be fine forever or crappy the bed tomorrow, next week, next year, who knows. They’re bootleg warez made with B-grade components and no quality control
Just emulate ROMs, then you won't have to worry about fake cartridges. Problem solved.
I already have every N64 game emulated. That doesn't compare to owning original hardware with OEM controllers and cartridges. Unless of course you have 0 nostalgia to begin with but even still, I never owned a record player in my youth and I definitely want one of those too, Even though I can stream all my music.
Delta app and DevKit 🤝🏼
Tell me how good your roms sound when you ruffle through them in a box
@@JonnyMotoyou can always get a multi cart like an Everdrive. There were a couple games I wanted before I decided they cost as much as an Everdrive. Boom, used on "original hardware" with less media cluttering my place I am happy.
Yeah that’s true but it nothing like Having a Game System I like Physical Games it’s just nice to have.
Gaps around the edges of the label, on a genuine cart they are all equal, check the corner particularly, and the curve of the label follows the cart, again the gap should be equal to the sides, also check the gold, the labels is 4 colour process, the gold is a fifth ink, on a genuine it rarely covers the background, a replacement is digitally printed and the star perfectly covers the background.
Don't buy thinking you're gonna flip it for a profit
There are many things that you can see straight away that it is not an original module.
First of all, every original game has a batch number stamped on the sticker on the back, which the bootleg cards do not have.
The PCB, i.e. the part with the contacts, is always brown in color on original N64 games, but this is not the case with the bootlegs, but rather is usually white/grayish, as in the video.
The stamped Nintendo logo on the back is similar but still too different to the original because it is usually a different, albeit similar, font, and the R at the end is usually much too big and much too difficult to read.
In general, the logo is usually visually simple, like a mold copy
Everyone is still asleep
Na fr
No bro...I'm. Up...I'm here...
Except for us euro folk, I just had dinner
😂😂😂
You ignorant 🌵 there’s a world outside America
The easiest way to quickly verify in my experience is by comparing the small trade mark on the embossed Nintendo logo. On the repos the trade mark is lacking the original detail and appearing more like a blank circle.
Look at the connections of the pcb at the bottom of the cart, nice and shiny will be a fake, all scratched up will be original.
Yeah... I saw that stratch away!
I don’t know why anyone WOULDN’T open every cart game they buy regardless of price. Not just because of checking authenticity but to also clean the contacts before shoving it in a console. The stupid swiping with a q-tip from the outside is half-assed. It should be opened and actually/properly cleaned. Barring carts where the label would have to be destroyed to open them (many atari carts, tengen back labels, etc) Then you can see the PCB while you’re in there.
Frankly anyone getting into retro gaming, their first purchase should be the screwdrivers to open the carts. There’s absolutely no reason not too
5:11 no, I was going to suggest that the real copies also have a number stamped on the rear label that repro makers have not been able to replicate to this day as far as I know.
The best way to avoid this...stop buying Nintendo games. Instead, invest in what Intellivision Amico has got coming on the horizon, RGT did and you can too. Tommy Tallarico's Phat Life is gonna soon make everyone say Nintend-WHO??? Ain't that right RGT???? 👊
If quality and functionality are the same, I could not care less about authenticity so long as it is labeled “reproduction” and the price reflects that information. I don’t have to have the original release. I’m playing the game and not so much staring at it on a shelf.
The market has been flooded with high quality fakes for years now. Glad to see RUclipsrs starting to talk about it. There are videos out there that will actually show you things to look for, but with the best fakes you aren’t going to be able to tell from the outside. Looking at the board helps, but there are fakes out there that have authentic looking boards. It’s a huge problem that, unfortunately, most RUclipsrs don’t want to talk about. Personally, I’m only buying super cheap stuff these days. I’m thinking it’s not worthwhile for people to make quality fakes for cheap games, and if I get one I’m not out much $$$
It's only a big problem if someone wants to be a physical collector and cares about if it was directly printed by Nintendo, which is a small subsection of people. It can actually be beneficial because more supply to meet demand is automatically going to make prices go down, even if there are enough people who want to scam you by demanding outragous prices.(Which is a problem anyways, it is not getting worse just because they have more copies to sell)
Write a letter to Nintendo and tell them to start selling old cartridge games again. Seems to be quite growing market for people who want these old cartridges, heck if nintendo makes them then they're legit even if they're made long after the originals.
Bro was only yapping in the video 😭.
I don't buy or collect retro video games anymore. Games that are not rare are getting too expensive and not worth it.
So weird to see when it's a common N64 game, recently bought Minish Cap and it's unreal to see how many highly rated sellers have fakes listed, presumably (hopefully) not even realizing it.
Honestly should of just got her the Everdrive 64.
Some people like original hardware.
@marcellachine5718 so do I but if you are going to buy a bootleg.
The sticker is too big and it doesn't match the shape of the embossed area in the bottom corners.
It sucks if you're collecting games and want *originals* but I'm sure there is a market even for these reproduction cartridges, some original games are beyond expensive. Would have liked if they at least put the a reproduction note somewhere on the cartridge since clearly trying to sell it off as a real is a very shady practice.
There is another big thing you didn't mentioned. On the back, the Nintendo logo. The ° with the R inside. The R is missing. It's just a circle.
Good info RGT... in time for when I get my Analogue 3D, I am gonna be N64 game hunting again
I got fooled by a fake copy of paper mario. When i got it, i knew something was up with how it looked.
50?? just sold an extra copy for 30 50 is kind of above market. dead give away right away was the color of the board. It’s supposed to be that brownish color. And the saturation of the label.
First, very suspicious to find a "brand new" legit copy (label perfect, no scuffs) and the quality of the cast is so inferior, radius are bigger, the recessed lines are larger.
I noticed other things is that the esrb rating is placed higher, the nintendo stamp is larger, and the seal of approval is bighter
My biggest problem with reproductions is the rom gets corrupted easily or its ability to save fails. Bought a reproduction of Harvest Moon FoMT for the GBA for a few bucks, and it stopped saving within a year. It used flash memory instead of a save battery, so nothing I can do to fix that feature. It also has issues loading reliably.
I will sometimes buy a cart with stains/scratches/wear just because I know a bootleg is much less likely to look well-played.
Screws give this one away RIGHT AWAY plus compare the pins, real ones beat up an gold, but no 96 games gonna look brand new. You can tell by just looking that fake ones so shiney and glowing lol
Even if it's not expensive, I check every one of those Nintendo cartridges I buy on ebay. It's worth the time every time.
I'm glad I don't collect old cartridge based games knowing all these bootlegs are out in the wild.
You can tell that it's a fake copy
The red nintendo logo is off.
I'm glad that it isn't a huge problem in Europe. A very few games (I just know 1 game for now) and very few are repros. Unless it's gameboy, especially gameboy advance. Because they where a issue back in the day. You could go to Poland and buy counterfeit games. But they where bad. I bought a game 2004, but it destroyed my gameboy advance because the game got stuck... But i don't really see new reproductions that often
I can't believe Shawn first didn't realize the color difference. That's the first thing I noticed
Because he isn’t a super preceptive dude. He’s a bit of a goofball.
How about it’s all for show?? Ever think about that. It’s got yous two chatting hasnt it??
@@gunsharck he is not much of a gamer anyway, he is only in it for the money since he can't go do a real physical job
vids like this always fascinate me. Always interesting how bootleggers/repros try to pull one on people. We are far gone from the NES/GB/SNES etc. era where you could tell they were fakes.
If it looks, plays, saves, and controls the same, then why is it a deal if you get a repro cart? Some elitist mindset that can only have fun if you spend lots of money on it? It has never made sense to me.
If you spend a bunch of money expecting to get the genuine item only to find out it’s a bootleg, you’re going to be pissed.
Reproductions are not always good quality. I bought one on not paying attention and the game crashes and loses its saves halfway through the game. Have only buy legit games from now on.
yeah i agree if its $20 who cares. its the same thing. well worth the price of having someone flash the rom to a usable cartridge for your n64 and it even has a sticker
How would a retro gamer really know if they have a bootleg in their collection without opening up all their carts ?It's definitely eye opening for sure!Thank you!
You don’t *really know, unless you open them
If it’s the full game and e writhing works properly, for the right price, I don’t care if a game is a repo. Now, if it’s something special and is collectable, then yeah, I want original. But I’m fine with a reproduction copy if it’s the full game and saves me money.
You never got to what is in my mind a far more important question. Does the reproduction WORK and run the same? If it doesn't, then that makes this exercise important for those who just want to buy the game to play it. If it doesn't, and I just bought the game to play it on my older console, and I saved money just as you did... Who cares?
I could tell right away which one is fake. The board is the wrong color by the pins. Also, the back label is way too glossy.
For anyone getting into N64 collecting because you got an analogue 3d on preorder, the three most expensive games right now on the n64, are Paper Mario, The Gold Cart of OOT and the collectors edition of MM
you'll easily spend over a thousand dollars on all three if you want them in very good condition or like new CIB.
Im positive the 3 most expensive games are not those. As always the most expensive is Sculptors Cut, then Super Bowling or Rage Wars if you’re looking at Grey Variants, and Stunt Racer
@KS-nk3gy I've seen the gold cartridge of oot go for 500.00, I've seen paper mario go for 400.00 and MM go for 400.00
@@wodensthrone5215 ok? A cart of Sculptors Cut goes for around $950, Rage Wars $550ish, Super Bowling $525, and Stunt Racer $325. That’s JUST the carts, not CIB.
So yea, you’re way off
@KS-nk3gy rage wars is around 450.00, give or take, i don't know what sculptors is, never heard of it when I had an n64
@@wodensthrone5215 GREY rage wars, it’s a specific version of it. I don’t know what to tell you other then you’re out of your element with N64 prices, especially if you don’t even know what Sculptors Cut is
I love how this guy thinks he’s breaking news here. Repros aren’t new, people have been producing them for quite a while now. Also super Mario 64 can be gotten for around $35-$40. Not $50 like he said. I don’t know why he feels the need to exaggerate all the time.
I have a lot of Mega Drive (yes, not Genesis 😈) repro cartridges I bought with a fraction of the price of originals and I expect them to function till I’m gone. I bought them to play them as they were intended on the original hardware (emulation is just an aproximation, the games never run the same way emulated) and not to collect them and try to make profit off them or bloat my ego as a gamer. I’ve been really happy with my repros and they seem to be the only games I play these days.
I think a good indicator is looking at the pins, repros are mainly grayish vs og are brownish. The only og cart that has gray pins is resident evil 2. Gotta open the cart with that one.
Ogre Battle 64 is the same way
The twist is they are both fake, which is why RGT didn't open them up
It really doesn't matter if it's a repro this is what i mean it's not all about nostalgia to retro gamers is all about value and worth that's basically all it's about
My immediate reaction was that the R appears to be missing from the Reserved sign next to the imbedded Nintendo logo. It looks like a blank circle on the fake copy.
HEADS UP! You can use dry erase markers on permanent markers to remove the old permanent marker.
I open every cart I buy now, always have for the last 6 years. Even a cheap $1 game.
My fave is seeing copies of Blue cartridged Conker's Bad Furday flying at Entertainmarts as of late! Ive had many people swear up and down its real to which i chuckle " You're playing a 'real reproduction!'😂" It's still fine and personally I wanna get the SNES reproductions on the translated Japanese games! Those rock!
It definitely is getting hard to tell by looking. I have a real Player's Choice cart that I know is real because it's the one I bought of the shelf at Target back in the day. Got it out of the box while watching your video and the only difference I could see by eyeing it was that your reproduction seems to have less contrast in the label.
Sweet potato omelette with tomatoes and onions and a hot cup of coffee. Oh and watching this video. Have a great Sunday everyone!
Dude just look that the logos. The real copy has a thicker red line. I wish the reproduction looked more legit.
The font on the Nintendo logo is incorrect. Bootlegs have always struggled to get that right.
fake games are fine as long as they work and a decent price but not fake games passed as real for stupid high prices
Paying scalpers money at this point. Not Nintendo or the developers.
I will buy a repo cart over a legit any day! I'm not spending any more than $40 for a N64 game
RGT please, that Bowser's Valley five seconds loop is very annoying for people watching you with headphones. I feel like muting the video and read the subtitles.
A 30 to 40 year old cartridge usually shows its age. Very rarely are you going to find a perfect condition cart.
That’s not true at all. There are plenty. Dam near my entire collection is pristine and they’re all legitimate
I never buy cartridges from eBay . Only in game stores I trust . U can't get a good look just at pictures .
It’s the coloring and the Nintendo Seal of quality is how you can tell it’s fake.
I still find games from time to time for dirt cheap. It still happens.
I got a bootleg copy of Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64 and Conker’s Bad Fur Day and didn’t even know it.
Nintendo should be selling all these games an consoles themselves, imagine going walmart an buying a new n64 would be awesome. Nintendo create a classic collection
Ok it was a fake, but dit it had the recompiled 60fps version? That would be a reason to still keep it, living it up to the value..
RGT loves Nintendo so much he spent money on a fake game🤣
wouldnt mind getting some repros just to have them sprawled out around the living room. keep the authentic games safe in storage and the repros out to enjoy like god intended lol
it’s real simple, check the back label on the back of the cartridge & there’s a stamp on the back that has a letter & a number. also, check the I in nintendo specifically the dot, the dot in the I is squared not circular
This means nothing. Anybody can swap the back of a cart with a real one and the front label and PCB can still be fake. You need to inspect the entire cart if you want to be sure.
@@xMaGuSx888 no you can pretty much tell right away if the back has been swapped, you dont need to pull the carts apart. your paranoid dillusional
Besides the fact anyone can swap the back of a cart. The bootlegs fixed the “i” issue over a year ago. Older fakes will still have the wrong “i” but newer ones won’t necessarily
The low prices should be a dead-give-away but people are stupid.
So does he actually know how to compare boards...or? If not, this isnt good advice.
Proptip guys - despite what Shaun is saying here, even if it's a cheap game, it's worth opening it up.
Some of the rom hacks deserve their own carts
I bought a lot selection of n64 games a while back, and 2 out of 13 were reproduction carts. And similar to your cousin, my dad has given me reproductions for birthdays, and it's a little disappointing because i end up wanting a real one later and replace it XD