Did I buy a Counterfeit GBA Game?

C

Captain Colonoscopy

2[H]4U
Joined
Feb 19, 2004
Messages
3,861
Hey, figured this was probably the best place to post this since it is the console gaming forum . . . .

Anyway, I bought Pokemon: Fire Red off eBay for my son to play on his DS. He gets about an hour into it today and tries to save and it fails. Here are the errors:

Asks if I want to overwrite the existing game, I say yes. then the screen goes blue and I get the following message:

Save failed.
Checking the backup memory.
Please wait.
This could take up to 1 minute.
Click to expand...

then

The backup memory is damaged or
the game's battery has run dry.
The game can be played, but its
progress cannot be saved.
"Please press the A Button."
Click to expand...

then

Save error.
Please exchange the backup memory.
Click to expand...


So I go some googling and everything I find points to people having the problem only when running the game in an emulator. Is it also possible I just bought a used game with a dead battery?

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.

 
I wouldn't doubt it. A friend of mine had a horrid time buying cart based games on Ebay because a lot of them were counterfeit and either didn't work or gave him problems. He only buys disc games on Ebay now.
 
CptFalcon said:
Pics of the cartridge please.
Click to expand...

It looks genuine enough, it's red translucent plastic, says Game Boy Advance on it. I have to wait until tomorrow to pull it out, he was all worried about losing his progress so I let him keep it turned on and plugged in over night while I did my googling. :D

Thanks for the quick responses tonight, guys, it is appreciated.
 
For what it's worth my Fire Red isn't translucent. It's solid red plastic
 
speedy523 said:
i think it might be the real cartridge, but justs needs replacing, who knows, the seller might be a die hard pokemon fan and logged who knows how many hours :D

Info on cartridge fakes: http://reviews.ebay.com.au/FAKE-POK...0004240408?ssPageName=BUYGD:CAT:-1:LISTINGS:1
Click to expand...

I highly doubt it, Backup batteries last for a VERY long time. I just had to replace the battery in my 1987 copy of The Legend of Zelda a coulpe of years ago.

It sounds to me you most likely have a fake.
 
I looked at the fake pages on ebay that were linked. It is, indeed, a fake. No serial number or "nintendo" on the PCB, big ole watch battery, badly forged 4 page manual, etc. I asked the seller about it and he didn't respond but sent an immediate refund. What a douchebag...oh well. Thanks for all the help guys, it was greatly appreciated.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
it's nice to hear that you got your money back, sucks about the fake
 
Captain Colonoscopy said:
I looked at the fake pages on ebay that were linked. It is, indeed, a fake. No serial number or "nintendo" on the PCB, big ole watch battery, badly forged 4 page manual, etc. I asked the seller about it and he didn't respond but sent an immediate refund. What a douchebag...oh well. Thanks for all the help guys, it was greatly appreciated.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
Click to expand...

At least you got your money back.

I didn't realize that they were copying GBA games. Guess their is a market for it.
 
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