Nintendo DS Pirate Carts Hit Ebay

[Miyamootoo]

GameBrink (http://www.gamebrink.com/) says

They're hard to pick out, their save games get corrupted easily, they screw over Nintendo, and now they're being sold on Ebay. These carts are so hard to detect that I didn't believe it was true until I saw this Chinese website that shows the small differences, the biggest of which can be seen while looking at the backside of the carts...See the evil DS carts (http://www.gamebrink.com/news/475-Nintendo_DS_Pirate_Carts_Hit_Ebay.html).

[Kefkataran]

Small edit for grammar. I know it was quoted from the site, but the they're/their problem grates on my brain like nails on a fucking chalkboard. :p

This is a pretty wild story. Those pirate carts look almost identical to normal DS carts.

[CrashCart]

Reading the title, I was hoping to find out about some pillagin' and plunderin' pirate game for the DS. Do they have anything like that yet for the DS? I want to sail the high seas looking for booty on my dual screens. :D

As for the pirated carts, they are very authentic looking. It's fortunate that DS games are so cheap (compared to standard console games that I'm used to buying) that I'm willing to buy them first-hand.

[Lon Lon Rabbit]

My friend's younger brother bought one of these a little while ago.

Apparently the games he runs off it constantly crash.

EDIT for clarity: I'm talking about a cart that stores and runs pirated DS games, not just a single fake DS cart. I'm sure it'd be the same deal in quality though. I got sold a pirated copy of Metroid Fusion over ebay when it came out, it had to be forced to fit into my GBA and a year later the battery in it died so it couldn't hold any save games.

[Kelegacy]

Thanks for the heads-up! I just bought five games for ten dollars all together! Nice.

[agentgray]

After my ebay account fiasco I avoid it like the plague. Someone phished my account my butt. I work in IT security. They were compromised somewhere.

Anyway, ebay is full of bad stuff now. The auction market there has saturated. It's use at your own risk even now more than ever.

[31 Flavas]

Ok, sure the physical Game Cards look identical, but they have to. They would not fit into the DS otherwise. That said, unless the Japanese label their Game Cards differently, it looks like the label is a sure fire way to identify a pirate Game Cards.

The pirates just took the box art and put it on the label/sticker. Legitimate DS Game Cards have a smilified label/sticker that is only the game logo. For example, a litgit (USA Version) Mario Kart DS Game Card has only the text logo on it. No Mario jumping over his kart graphic.

[Mozgus]

The dreamcast scene on ebay is equally bad, since that system plays copies without the need of a mod chip. If you're buying a game off there for a hefty sum, always ask to see a picture of the underside of the discs, so you can look for the GD-ROM ring near the center. Copies won't have that.

If you see some dude selling dozens of copies of Sonic Adventure 2, PowerStone 2, or Project Justice, with no manual or case but with "perfect condition", you know something is up.

[GrinR]

I just did a little looking and it seems that the DS piracy world is about as big as the GBA one. It's pretty wild how hard core pirates have gotten in the last decade.

[GrinR]

Hey anyone know if I order the Japanese version... are there compatability problems or region coding?

http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=&products_id=8703

(doesn't look too bad...)

[Kelegacy]

Hey anyone know if I order the Japanese version... are there compatability problems or region coding?

http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=&products_id=8703

(doesn't look too bad...)
I was kidding about my purchasing of pirate DS titles.

GrinR, there are no region coding issues. Order away.

[GrinR]

I almost ordered, but I think I'll wait for the UK Black one to come out. God I hate the DS design. Oh well.

[Abash Alarmist]

$2 Like new Phoneix Wright! Love you Long time.

[AntB]

I told you I was HARDCORE!

[Wyrm]

I think it's funny that people hate the DS. It just makes me giggle.

[gzsfrk]

I almost ordered, but I think I'll wait for the UK Black one to come out. God I hate the DS design. Oh well.
Does that include the design of the DS Lite? Because my wife gave me mine yesterday (early b-day present), and I can't find a thing to complain about (except, perhaps, that my rather large-ish hands have just a -bit- more trouble hitting the L and R buttons when playing Mario Kart now).

Man, those DS Lite screens are so gorgeous--it's like looking into an alternate universe filled with nothing but plasma displays and candy.

[GrinR]

Does that include the design of the DS Lite? Because my wife gave me mine yesterday (early b-day present), and I can't find a thing to complain about (except, perhaps, that my rather large-ish hands have just a -bit- more trouble hitting the L and R buttons when playing Mario Kart now).

Man, those DS Lite screens are so gorgeous--it's like looking into an alternate universe filled with nothing but plasma displays and candy.

Yeah I hate the DSLite design also. Not nearly as much as the DS, but still. Part of it is that I hate clamshell/fliptop electronics. I always feel like a super nerdo with them (cell phones included) and it doesn't suit my style for the outdoors... whiiiich is where I'd be using a portable gaming system.

[Captain Awesome]

dudes, pirates :[

[codswallop]

As for the pirated carts, they are very authentic looking.
They're probably made in the same factories after the official production runs are finished. The pirates work in the factories, and after hours they simply use cheaper components and not bother with quality control.

This happens all the time in China -- especially with toys and quite often with electronics. What you get is exactly the same as the higher priced product (or at least made on the same production line), except that they use the cheapest parts they can get their hands on.

[Odyzen]

Yeah I hate the DSLite design also. Not nearly as much as the DS, but still. Part of it is that I hate clamshell/fliptop electronics. I always feel like a super nerdo with them (cell phones included) and it doesn't suit my style for the outdoors... whiiiich is where I'd be using a portable gaming system.

Wouldn't a clamshell device be more suitable for outdoors use. When you close it, you protect the screen and when you have it open, it's more real-estate for functionality instead of cramming it all in one area? :confused:

Does that include laptops too?

I should buy a bunch of those carts and bring them to EB for credit. That'll add to screw up the system some more.

[31 Flavas]

I should buy a bunch of those carts and bring them to EB for credit. That'll add to screw up the system some more.I'm sure the store employee's would notice the difference in sticker art. But if you were to get a lazy or clueless employee, that's called Fraud. A definite no no.

[31 Flavas]

Part of it is that I hate clamshell/fliptop electronics. I always feel like a super nerdo with them (cell phones included) and it doesn't suit my style for the outdoors...So wait, you are worried about looking like a dork for using a flippy top electronic doohicky?

GrinR... You play *video games*. Welcome to dorksville. :cool:

Penny Arcade comic - Welcome to dorksville (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2001/12/14)

So don't worry if a DS/lite or any other flippy top electronic will dorkifi you. You're a dork already :cool:

I mean comon... You're not talking strawberry Pussy Pants here are you?

[Savok]

Motherfucking cock goblins, fuck them, these assholes made GBA games impossible to buy on Ebay, now DS games are fucked as well.

And close? Come on, Pokemon Grey is less obvious then that stuff, hell, maybe I've just had too much experience with this bullshit on Ebay.

[baz]

I got scammed once on ebay pirated cart-wise, I bought 4 GBA games from various people and they were all good, then I bought Doom II and it was a pirated cart. When you have them up close they are kinda easy to tell. It didn't save games either, not that that was a concern as I'm too self righteous to keep a pirated cart.

[score]

I bought Castlevania DOS from ebay. Had no choice as no one had it in stock. It came all the way from Hong Kong and *gasp* is an original.

[Hewie]

I bought Castlevania DOS from ebay. Had no choice as no one had it in stock. It came all the way from Hong Kong and *gasp* is an original.

QUELLE SURPRISE!

[Magnanimous Gnome]

*gasp*

Now you guys know what I've been doing all this time!

So who wants to buy some DS carts?

[Abash Alarmist]

*gasp*

Now you guys know what I've been doing all this time!

So who wants to buy some DS carts?

The Gnome is back!!! Great celebrations shall ensue in a marginally small size. aka: You and your mom on a date for prom.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

The Gnome is back!!! Great celebrations shall ensue in a marginally small size. aka: You and your mom on a date for prom.


Ohhh, sexy. ;)

I never left - just read my sig.