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3rd Gen You know what really grinds my gears: Fake Pokemon Games

  • Thread starter Pokémon Trainer 188
  • Start date

Pokémon Trainer 188

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I really hate Fake Pokemon Games once on Amazon I bought Pokemon Sapphire and Ruby from th same seller and what I got was a Fake Sapphire and the worst part of all a Fake FireRed! That's not even Ruby let alone it as a Fake FireRed! :(

But now I've got got a Real Ruby and Sapphire and I got a refund and he didn't ask me to return them so it all good :)

I use them just to get the Starter I need to complete my Pokedex in my other games but I don't them anymore and I don't know what to do with them?
 
15
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11
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  • Age 26
  • Seen Aug 19, 2019
Yeah fake pokemon games are ********, at least you got a refund, everytime you but a game online make sure you can get a refund if anything is wrong
 

pokemasta92

3rd Gen. Enthusiast
322
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10
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  • Age 31
  • USA
  • Seen Dec 28, 2021
I think it's funny how a lot of fake Pokémon games use names that aren't even real titles. Like they are actually original games that are obviously fake. However I just mean fake as in they aren't made by Game Freak. I guess technically they aren't fake because they are original games, but they're using Pokémon so it's still illegal.
 
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I would hate that too. I've never brought a fake Pokemon game luckily, the worst thing I've got was Ruby with a dry battery.
 
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I got a fake Emerald. It was completely unplayable, it wouldn't move past the title screen. I was so disappointed, as Emerald is the only one I've never played :'( I wouldn't buy another used Pokemon game online though.
 
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Yeah, I'd never buy a used. Whenever I buy anything from Amazon I always buy it new and make sure it's eligible for Prime shipping, that cuts the cost down and gets the item to you faster, too. Used games are too much of a risk for me although I've never actually gotten one a fake. I've only bought like one used game, though. Doesn't seem worth it to me.
 

Pokémon Trainer 188

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I can tell if it's fake or not all fake games are marked with xxx-xxx-USA and ones with xxx-xxx-EUR are not I guess fake game makers don't like Europe or something Haha :D
 
4,181
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Yeah, I'd never buy a used. Whenever I buy anything from Amazon I always buy it new and make sure it's eligible for Prime shipping, that cuts the cost down and gets the item to you faster, too. Used games are too much of a risk for me although I've never actually gotten one a fake. I've only bought like one used game, though. Doesn't seem worth it to me.

Well, new Gen III games cost hundreds of dollars, are you sure you want to pay that much just to ensure that you don't get a fake?
 

Altair1

Willpower
578
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11
Years
I know how you feel! I recently bought the '5 Gen III Pokemon game set' off ebay, big mistake! I did get a refund though. I ended up finding a site that did sell genuine retro games (and consoles!) which included all things Pokemon! It's called 'Fully Retro' I bought all my Gen III games off that as well as a couple of GBA SPs and a link cable.
 
4
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  • Seen Sep 8, 2013
Yeah, I'd never buy a used. Whenever I buy anything from Amazon I always buy it new and make sure it's eligible for Prime shipping, that cuts the cost down and gets the item to you faster, too. Used games are too much of a risk for me although I've never actually gotten one a fake. I've only bought like one used game, though. Doesn't seem worth it to me.
Bootleggers could fake a box and etcetera too and sell it as "new".

I wish the U.S. had some sort of reputable gaming site that only sells legit copies, as I've really been meaning to buy Emerald (I had a bootleg), and FireRed/LeafGreen (I lost my copy of LeafGreen way back) as soon as I got some money saved for it.
 
Last edited:
1,254
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16
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  • Seen Sep 12, 2016
Bootleggers could fake a box and etcetera too and sell it as "new".

I wish the U.S. had some sort of reputable gaming site that only sells legit copies, as I've really been meaning to buy Emerald (I had a bootleg), and FireRed/LeafGreen (I lost my copy of LeafGreen way back) as soon as I got some money saved for it.

I'm a victim for "packaging the whole thing as new genuine",
The moment I took out the Sapphire and Ruby game paks from their boxes,
I knew that something was wrong.
The color of the game paks were red for Ruby and blue for Sapphire,
but was in wrong hue, I know the difference because my classmates had real and legit ones back in the day and my brother's owns a real Japanese Sapphire.

I thought that I might be thinking too much,
so I tested the game myself and then the save file got deleted.
I tried playing up to Slateport, because a patch of water tile near the pier in Slateport will appear glitch-y if the games are fake, from what I know that has something to do with memories.
Finally any Gen IV games will not detect the Pal Park system if the games are fake, and will also delete the save data of the fake games. From these check ups I decided that this is 100% counterfeit.
 
4
Posts
10
Years
  • Seen Sep 8, 2013
I'm a victim for "packaging the whole thing as new genuine",
The moment I took out the Sapphire and Ruby game paks from their boxes,
I knew that something was wrong.
The color of the game paks were red for Ruby and blue for Sapphire,
but was in wrong hue, I know the difference because my classmates had real and legit ones back in the day and my brother's owns a real Japanese Sapphire.

I thought that I might be thinking too much,
so I tested the game myself and then the save file got deleted.
I tried playing up to Slateport, because a patch of water tile near the pier in Slateport will appear glitch-y if the games are fake, from what I know that has something to do with memories.
Finally any Gen IV games will not detect the Pal Park system if the games are fake, and will also delete the save data of the fake games. From these check ups I decided that this is 100% counterfeit.
My fake Emerald was also an in-box fake, and when I couldn't get past the E4, my elementary school self was devastated haha. But yeah actually, buying used is a good way to avoid fakes. Like if you pay attention on ebay and watch/read the bootleg game guides/articles, you can easily pick out a majority of the fakes apart just from what the cartridge looks like, let alone the interior and playability which you can test after you buy.

I'm actually very surprised that Nintendo hasn't taken the opportunity for easy money by putting gens. 1-3 up on the 3DS eshop. Of course it would take a bit of work to replace link cable with wifi, and if they wanted to add trading from the gen 3 games to DPPtHGSS (or maybe X and Y?) there would definitely be more work there, but I think the profits would be worth it for them.
 

Typhon

'sup
126
Posts
10
Years
Yeah, I hate fake Pokémon games. But most of the times you can kinda tell since they are 1. Really cheap or 2. A little different from real cartridges.
D:
 

Jet Pilot

I killed Spiderman.
150
Posts
10
Years
Well, new Gen III games cost hundreds of dollars, are you sure you want to pay that much just to ensure that you don't get a fake?
That's a very unrealistic price. The only reason it would cost that much is if the original box was discontinued after a day and replaced with a new one.
 
41
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10
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  • Seen Oct 30, 2023
Has anyone ever bought a fake Japanese Pokemon game from the internet? I haven't seen anything on YouTube or forums about someone buying a counterfeit Japanese Import because it's always the English games, which drove me to purchase a used Japanese Pokemon FireRed from amazon. The ratings were high and the purchases were in the hundreds, so I assumed it was safe.

Is it even a thing? Are there counterfeit Japanese cartridges?
 

OmegaTL

Time Lord
59
Posts
10
Years
  • Age 28
  • Seen Oct 4, 2013
I got a fake Leafgreen about two years ago. I could tell it was fake just by looking at it, but it worked and that made me happy... Then I got to the SS Anne and it just stopped. ;-;
I don't think I ever got a refund. Probably too late to report it now.
 

Sydian

fake your death.
33,379
Posts
16
Years
I thankfully bought all my gen III games back when they were released, but gen III being my favorite, it makes me sad that people that missed out on those gens are the ones that get stuck with these fake games. The GBA carts are the easiest and cheapest to fake, which is a shame since apparently a lot of fans dropped out in gen III and then got back into it in gen V, so naturally they wanna see what they missed.

That being said, I don't have any fake games, but I really hate when people end up getting them. Remember y'all, if you're ever going to purchase from a vender online, please don't hesitate to use the Q&A thread here to ask questions and check legitimacy. A lot of fakes can be spotted right from a picture, so yeah. Also know there's a guide in the FAQ to check for fakes, so use your resources.
 
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13
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Thankfully all my 3rd Gen games were legit copies so I didn't have to deal with the issues of fake games, but I do feel sorry for all those members who were unfortunate enough to wind up with fake copies of the games given how easily GBA cartridges can be faked, as stated by Sydian above. Thankfully there are easy ways to detect fakes, such as the guide posted in the FAQ of this very section.
 

Elaitenstile

I am legend
1,908
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11
Years
  • Age 24
  • Seen Feb 27, 2015
All mine are legit, and that's a huge relief, since I wouldn't know what the dickens to do if I landed with a fake one. All counterfeit are just too aggravating for me to handle.
 
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