"Fake" games

[nebrazca78]

Most of us here have come across a pirate game now and then. But how often do you come across an actual "fake" game? Fake being defined as a game that never had any intention of actually playing, just looking like a game. Well here's one:

http://home.comcast.net/~mr.moto.x/outrunners.jpg

I bought this game in a lot with others from eBay. The description even says this might be a pirate but I was willing to take the chance since I also collect pirate games. When it arrived I could tell it was obviously a pirate. The case insert had all of the Sega logos and copyright information removed. But, since I have seen "fake" games before, I checked the circuit board. There it was, the standard big blob of epoxy (I'm guessing epoxy) to give the cart just a little more weight to make it seem real.

Funny thing is, I messaged the seller about it to get a small refund. He swears the game was tested and working before he listed it! Well I called him a liar to his face and now I'm waiting to see what he comes back with.

Who else has gotten a "fake" game at some point and what did you do with it? I have been keeping them and probably have about 10 now. Just another piece of gaming history, albeit a spurious one. Do some of you throw them away?

[ShinobiMan]

I want to say I've discovered a fake game before, but I could be mistaken. It's possible that some of these were used as props on photography shoots, TV commercials, and or film productions. Otherwise, you could easily scam someone with these back in the day!

[jb143]

That blob of epoxy is pretty common in electronics manufacturing to hold chips to the board. See how all the traces go under it. It's still a pirate but I'm sure it worked at some point. Did you even test it? Did you try cleaning the contacts?

Edit-
And for a case in point...
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=epoxy%20blob%20on%20circuit%20board&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

The epoxy is for cost and space savings and has nothing to do with adding weight. I was under the impression that this was actually somewhat common with pirate carts.

[BetaWolf47]

Is that crap actually a solid? Normally, those things are found on 3rd-party devices like Game Genies I think... but that looks like a wad of tar!

[osprey]

I think you're pretty tolerant, hats off to you. You say you collect pirate games too, so you can look at the situation in a different light. The part that always annoys me is having people out there that continually get away with selling crap via eBay. They take advantage of people like you and I and thousands of others, as your picture demonstrates.

In March last year I thought I got lucky with a Super Turrican 2 (boxed). All was looking good upon arrival. But, looking at the cart ...... something was up. Turns out he was one of those people that buy game boxes and fills them with non runner cartridges. In this case SNES, but a similar situation to you. I reported him/her to eBay, nothing came of it. Got my refund via Paypal which took nearly 3 weeks. I threw the lot away, because every time I looked at it I just got annoyed.

[jb143]

Well, asking for a partial refund (and calling the seller a liar) simply because you're not familiar with a pirates manufacturing process when you were told going in that it was probally a pirate isn't particularly tolerant. Who knows, it could actually be a fake, but my money is still on this being a "real" pirate that at least at some point worked.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

A "glob top" with a chip under it is very very standard practice with this type of low cost/pirate electronics.

It wasn't put there to add weight, there (should be) something underneath it - it's probably just broken. Whether or not it ever worked is anybody's guess, but it's not like someone selling you a brick in a PlayStation box.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Wow, so you bought a pirate game, you were told it might be a pirate game, and then you nagged the seller for a refund because it's an epoxy covered game?

Just... wow.

I suppose you're not that familiar with pirate games, then, because most pirate NES stuff I've purchased is a blob of epoxy on a circuit board. :P

[Famidrive-16]

So did you actually try to play it? I don't read anywhere that you did, just that you looked at the circuit.

[moocolon]

I don't think I've ever received a "fake" game but I did once buy a copy of Buster Douglas for the master system that was a buster cart with a Double Dragon board.

[ShinobiMan]

I don't think I've ever received a "fake" game but I did once buy a copy of Buster Douglas for the master system that was a buster cart with a Double Dragon board.

Man, that really sucks. Buster Douglas KO Boxing is the hardest US SMS game to find (aside from the Sonic UPC sticker). I wonder if that was a manufacturing error.

[Gameguy]

I have a Gameboy Color multicart that just has a blob of epoxy like the one pictured above, it works fine.

Are these considered bootlegs or reproductions? Is there really any difference between the two?

[Callin]

While we're on the topic of epoxy, question:

I got this in a set of other Gameboy games, except that it's supposed to be Chinese. I opened it up and saw this. Do legit Chinese Gameboy games look like this? Both the board shape and the epoxy are unlike any legit games I've seen so far. If so, why the differences?

http://i39.tinypic.com/11c3vaq.jpg

[Kitsune Sniper]

Heh. They must've figured, "when in China, do as the Chinese do."

[Rickstilwell1]

Oh yeah, another thing is that if these are PAL pirates from like Germany or Russia, they won't work on a US system and you'd need a PAL Mega Drive and converter for your TV.

[Compute]

The reason for using the 'glop top' process is that it is cheaper. Putting a silicon chip into DIP or SOIC package costs more than just sticking the chip to a board and throwing epoxy over it. With something like a cart you shouldn't ever have to replace the ROM chip, and nobody is ever going to see it, so why spend extra money packaging every IC?

[Jorpho]

But, since I have seen "fake" games before, I checked the circuit board. There it was, the standard big blob of epoxy (I'm guessing epoxy) to give the cart just a little more weight to make it seem real.Really, if someone wanted to make a fake game, it would be possible to do so with something much cheaper and less intricate than the pictured circuit board. A connector stuck on a piece of cardboard and maybe a penny or two would do the job. Consider what they do with fake USB thumb drives:
http://ipohchai.com/upload/1257-fake-china-thumbdrive.jpg

Have you even compared the weight of the board with that of a real board? I doubt it's anywhere near the same, and I doubt the weight of the epoxy makes any kind of difference.

(By the way, the Game.com's official circuit boards was all glob-tops, which is part of the reason why the Game.com has yet to be emulated, apparently. See http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22956 .)


Who else has gotten a "fake" game at some point and what did you do with it? I have been keeping them and probably have about 10 now.Have these 10 also all been judged by the same standard of having epoxy blobs, or do you actually have something more interesting?

[Kitsune Sniper]

Really, if someone wanted to make a fake game, it would be possible to do so with something much cheaper and less intricate than the pictured circuit board. A connector stuck on a piece of cardboard and maybe a penny or two would do the job. Consider what they do with fake USB thumb drives:
http://ipohchai.com/upload/1257-fake-china-thumbdrive.jpgWow, holy crap.

That looks like something I'd buy at the local Mexican flea markets XD

[Emperor Megas]

Funny thing is, I messaged the seller about it to get a small refund. He swears the game was tested and working before he listed it! Well I called him a liar to his face and now I'm waiting to see what he comes back with.Wow, that seems like bad form to me. Did you bother to test the cart at least? I think it's been established that this isn't a terribly uncommon practice, especially in bootleg carts. I'd hate to think that this guy was being totally honest with you only to be called a liar and a con. :|

[nebrazca78]

That blob of epoxy is pretty common in electronics manufacturing to hold chips to the board. See how all the traces go under it. It's still a pirate but I'm sure it worked at some point. Did you even test it? Did you try cleaning the contacts?

The epoxy is for cost and space savings and has nothing to do with adding weight. I was under the impression that this was actually somewhat common with pirate carts.

I was eventually able to get it to work using an "Altered Beast" Genesis although not reliably. After reading through this thread I cleaned the contacts like crazy. The game booted and would play for a short period of time but would then freeze.


Is that crap actually a solid? Normally, those things are found on 3rd-party devices like Game Genies I think... but that looks like a wad of tar!

Yes it is very solid.


I think you're pretty tolerant, hats off to you. You say you collect pirate games too, so you can look at the situation in a different light. The part that always annoys me is having people out there that continually get away with selling crap via eBay. They take advantage of people like you and I and thousands of others, as your picture demonstrates.


The description said it was possibly a pirate so I knew that going in. If I thought I was buying a bunch of legit carts and they turned out to be pirates I would complain.


Well, asking for a partial refund (and calling the seller a liar) simply because you're not familiar with a pirates manufacturing process when you were told going in that it was probally a pirate isn't particularly tolerant. Who knows, it could actually be a fake, but my money is still on this being a "real" pirate that at least at some point worked.

That's true, I fuct up.


A "glob top" with a chip under it is very very standard practice with this type of low cost/pirate electronics.

It wasn't put there to add weight, there (should be) something underneath it - it's probably just broken. Whether or not it ever worked is anybody's guess, but it's not like someone selling you a brick in a PlayStation box.

If you look at the underside of the circuit board in the light, you can see that there actually is a chip visible under the glob.


Wow, so you bought a pirate game, you were told it might be a pirate game, and then you nagged the seller for a refund because it's an epoxy covered game?

Just... wow.

I suppose you're not that familiar with pirate games, then, because most pirate NES stuff I've purchased is a blob of epoxy on a circuit board. :P

No I am not overly familiar with pirate games. I have seen many legit circuit boards and expected to see a chip and not a blob of epoxy. Also most of the Genesis pirate games I have do have chips and are not glob tops.


So did you actually try to play it? I don't read anywhere that you did, just that you looked at the circuit.

Yes I did try it but it needed to be cleaned like crazy, and even then it still freezes up.


I don't think I've ever received a "fake" game but I did once buy a copy of Buster Douglas for the master system that was a buster cart with a Double Dragon board.

That is relatively common with Master System game because most U.S. games don't have security screws. Anyone with a Phillips head screwdriver (which is everyone) can open them up.


The reason for using the 'glop top' process is that it is cheaper. Putting a silicon chip into DIP or SOIC package costs more than just sticking the chip to a board and throwing epoxy over it. With something like a cart you shouldn't ever have to replace the ROM chip, and nobody is ever going to see it, so why spend extra money packaging every IC?

If this is such a cost effective process, why didn't the real manufacturers use it?


Really, if someone wanted to make a fake game, it would be possible to do so with something much cheaper and less intricate than the pictured circuit board. A connector stuck on a piece of cardboard and maybe a penny or two would do the job. Consider what they do with fake USB thumb drives:
http://ipohchai.com/upload/1257-fake-china-thumbdrive.jpg

Have you even compared the weight of the board with that of a real board? I doubt it's anywhere near the same, and I doubt the weight of the epoxy makes any kind of difference.

Have these 10 also all been judged by the same standard of having epoxy blobs, or do you actually have something more interesting?

A real board with a chip is noticeably heavier in the hand. That's the reason I thought the blob was to add weight.


Wow, that seems like bad form to me. Did you bother to test the cart at least? I think it's been established that this isn't a terribly uncommon practice, especially in bootleg carts. I'd hate to think that this guy was being totally honest with you only to be called a liar and a con. :|

Well, I didn't exactly send him a message that said "you're a liar", but I did assert that there was no way the game could have been tested and work because it has no chip. When I found out it worked and did in fact have a chip, I apologized to him. Then I left positive feedback and four 5-star DSRs.

[jb143]

That's true, I fuct up.


Don't worry about it, I wasn't really trying to come down hard on you. Based on your knowledge on the subject your actions were somewhat justified. I was moreso commenting on the the previois poster who equated this with a "brick in a PlayStation box" as Frankie put it. Had they read or cared about my earlier post they should not have jumped to that conclusion.

[dendawg]

If this is such a cost effective process, why didn't the real manufacturers use it?

Aaah, but some of them did, namely NEC/Hudson for the PC Engine/TurboGrafx, and Atari for the Lynx. They didn't necessarily use epoxy on top of the exposed chips, but was otherwise the same process.

Edit: I'm not entirely sure, but I think Majesco also resorted to this process for their Genesis/SNES reissues.

[vxkens]

Not really the same thing, but this reminds me of the time I bought Mike Tyson's Punch Out at a garage sale, put it into my NES, and was greeted with the title screen for Jaws. The label was perfect, so I'm guessing some jerk opened up the cart and switched out the boards. It was quite a mystery when I was 12 years old however.

[Flashback2012]

Really, if someone wanted to make a fake game, it would be possible to do so with something much cheaper and less intricate than the pictured circuit board. A connector stuck on a piece of cardboard and maybe a penny or two would do the job. Consider what they do with fake USB thumb drives:
http://ipohchai.com/upload/1257-fake-china-thumbdrive.jpg

That's pretty hilarious :)

[jb143]

It's also seen as a really cheap way to do it(not just in the cost effective sense). I'm not sure it it's any more prone to failure but it certainly makes it near impossible to repair/replace the chip.

It makes sense for HuCards and Lynx games though for the obvious space reasons.

[JohnnyBlaze]

That's pretty hilarious :)

Not as funny as this:

http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt32/rocketman70_xwt/pspgameboy.jpg

This was taken around launch time when eBay had a TON of shit like this.

[nebrazca78]

That's pretty hilarious :)

Yes I do remember love. Do you?