game authenticity?

[Tenshi no Ai]

Well, as of late I've been eBaying for stuff that's hard to find, especially games. I do absolutely hate the fact that some games are cartridge only, since I have this thing for boxes and instruction booklets and their visuals and have a place to store it, and it's just cheap to get JUST the game :/

Anyways, one came in that was on the ball. This time though, my Pokemon Sapphire came in (the one I accidentally bid higher than I thought I did on -_-; I still don't know how it happened :/) Anyways, here's a question for those who own Pokemon Sapphire, or might know a thing or two about the eBay industry (with in mind, many bootlegs are made and everyone knows that).

Well, the game seems legit and works fine. It's just the box I'm concerned about. I've seen the legit version, and I don't remember the image texture being popping out. Also, some of the images don't look too good of quality, but what's even more is the 6 page instruction booklet that came with it that looks ...:/ I of course know that it's bigger than that and just mainly says "the object is to catch Pokemon" (which doesn't tell you anything :/)

So with this, do you think it was one of those "cartridge only"s, but made a bit fancier with a replica box and "replica" instruction booklet? That's what I'm thinking now but still, oy :/ Just nice to get everything that I paid for^^ AND have it be the real thing... I don't trust those sellers from China etc though (which is a given) but still, anyone can make fakes :/

EDIT: Well, the seller contacted me back about it and said "I am trying to get better booklets" so I'm guessing they have someone make them for them? Or... something?

EDIT EDIT: After closer inspection, I think I'm taking the game back (including the other one that I haven't received in the mail yet that I also got from the same person). At first I was wondering if they were just cheaply making boxes, but the Nintendo seal is just... off... and they want to show their authenticity so bad by putting it on the front of the game (which the legits don't even do :/) The guy self-proclaims as being a "respected seller" and is with the 99.8% positive feedback, but I think people are quite blind^^

Not sure if I'll be reporting (especially after seeing his new game he's selling "Pokemon PERLA version" ) but I think I'll take them back :/ I'd rather pay a bit more for the legit versions.

[Bobtheduck]

[quote="Tenshi no Ai"]Well, as of late I've been eBaying for stuff that's hard to find, especially games. I do absolutely hate the fact that some games are cartridge only, since I have this thing for boxes and instruction booklets and their visuals and have a place to store it, and it's just cheap to get JUST the game :/

Anyways, one came in that was on the ball. This time though, my Pokemon Sapphire came in (the one I accidentally bid higher than I thought I did on -_-]

Bootleggers are a real pain on Ebay... I got bootleg Sailormoon DVDs from someone with a near perfect reputation, because no one ever called him on his bootlegs. Most didn't realize what they were getting was bootlegged

One of my friends had the entire collection of Rocky movies on one DVD. Short of it? Yeah, that's a bootleg. The more you stuff onto a DVD, the lower the quality gets. Professional company's don't generally put more than an hour's worth of a movie on one DVD-5, or 2 hours on DVD-9. They may stuff a bit if the movie is, oh, 2 and a half hours, but fitting 5 movies on one disc... No...

Another example of a bootleg is 46 anime episodes on 4 discs. Nearly all the Sailormoon DVDs online are bootlegs. The official set is actually 8 discs. It happens, though it is rare, for a 26 episode show to get put on 4 discs (Blueseed was on 4) but that pretty much never happens either... One of my friend's had an Evangelion set that was all 26 episodes and the 2 movies, on 2 discs. Tipoff 1: Movies would ALWAYS be on seperate discs. Tipoff 2. 1 disc for 26 episodes? That's 13 hours on 1 DVD! People are so used to youtube and realplayer versions of things, they don't notice how horrible that all looks. It is NIGHT and DAY when you compare it to real stuff... Tipoff 3: The eva TV show was put out by ADV in the US. The Eva movies were put out by Manga video... Of course, these DVDs were put out by neither...

I know how to recognize fakes in DVDs... I just wish I could recognize it in other things...

[Tenshi no Ai]

I know how to recognize fakes in DVDs... I just wish I could recognize it in other things...

Yeah the DVDs are very easy to spot, with their complete season for 25 bucks and all :/ I guess with this seller, I thought it looked quite honest with the rep and all, but I was told that these are AMAZING looking forgeries. Somehow, this seller has some factory making these (since apparently to make holofoil... isn't easy and all that).

I'd rather pay extra for the real thing, and the seller did pay me back for the game ONLY since I'm returning it, but I hope I can get my shipping costs back (which I have not received), especially since I'll also be shipping it back. I can't help it I got a fake :/ I should be entitled to my money back (since the seller didn't specify "return with shipping at own expense" or anything).

Blah :/

[Azier the Swordsman]

I've probably seen more Gameboy bootlegs on eBay than for any other system.

eBay is very often my absolute last resort for anything game related nowadays.

[Tenshi no Ai]

I've probably seen more Gameboy bootlegs on eBay than for any other system.

eBay is very often my absolute last resort for anything game related nowadays.

It's hard because most of my "want" list involve discontinued games, which are also extremely hard to find in EBs too :/ That's why... my last resort was eBay. I guess for me, I moreso know more about the commonality of DVDs rather than games, but I guess there are also tons of games.

Thankfully, I've gotten/getting my money back for it all. Aaaand the journey to looking for good legit stuff (which INCLUDE the box and instructions) continues...