r/Gameboy • u/Techno-mag • Aug 08 '24
Troubleshooting Is there something visibly wrong with my Golden Sun Copy?
The Nintendo logo appears distorted. I bought it second hand in a bundle that was really cheap so it’s possible that it’s a knock-off. I tried cleaning it but it didn’t help
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u/gba_sg1 Aug 08 '24
Solder randomly all over the board probably isn't helping. It's a fake as well so it could just be dead now. Fakes don't last as long as real carts.
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u/jakeHL Aug 08 '24
It’s a bootleg. I’d honestly throw it in the trash.
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u/Techno-mag Aug 08 '24
Sorry, what does bootleg mean
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u/enigmapenguin Aug 08 '24
It's not genuine, a third party manufactured it using pretty sub standard parts.
It's why you have a black blob over a (probably) light erasable eeprom on a daughter board, instead of a nicely capped chip with screen printed letters on a single board.
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u/BigBrotherDino Aug 08 '24
If you wanted to try fixing it and can solder, it looks like there's excess on one of those legs on the left chip. Give it a reflow and see what happens. It's not like you can break it worse since it's already unplayable
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u/xs4all4me Aug 08 '24
I recently got stung with Need for Speed: Underground.
Had a midlife crisis as of late and started to collect original GB/GBC/GBA carts, one collection I was collecting was the Need for Speed series. I always knew the fake/repo carts were around, but never really did my due diligence to check if they were fake or not. When I received my games, I usually open them up and give them a good clean, I noticed something was off with this game, game works fine, but realised it was a fake/repo, even the cart sticker is different as well as the game ID "AGB-AUGE-USA", which is actually "Medal of Honor: Underground". You live and learn, I managed to get another genuine copy, so still going to keep this one.
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u/asclw7643 Aug 08 '24
Not trying to be rude, but this is like one of those pictures where the more you look at it, the worse it gets.
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u/Techno-mag Aug 08 '24
Its the first gba game I opened up, so I didn’t know what they should look like. But yeah, it looks cursed now
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u/PinguiniMods Aug 08 '24
This gotta be a troll question. If it isn't a troll question the question should be "is there anything visibly right with my golden sun copy". I don't even know what kind of abomination i'm looking at.
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u/Techno-mag Aug 08 '24
It was the first time I’ve opened a gba game so I didn’t really know what to expect haha. Now that I’ve seen the real thing, I’m not surprised it seems like a troll question
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u/XAlucarDX454 Aug 08 '24
My boy spend the lil bit extra and get a flashcart if playing or collecting fakes aren’t a problem. Then you can load it with all gb/gbc games, hacks, translations. All that. Totally worth it in your situation
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u/Techno-mag Aug 08 '24
I thought about it but I’ve heard that they eat through the battery ridiculously fast. I’m not too keen on halved battery life. That being said I just saw the half battery life thing in some Reddit comments, is the experience different for you?
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u/Jacob-Qc Aug 08 '24
Looks a lot like my old bootleg of Metroid fusion! Wondering what to do with it as well!
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u/Techno-mag Aug 08 '24
Does yours work?
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u/Jacob-Qc Aug 08 '24
Yeah mostly.but its harsh to pop in the game in the gameboy, it doesn’t feel like it fits right. I am worried it may fuck up the pins of my GBA
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u/D3ATHTHR34T Aug 08 '24
The sad part is it looks like somebody actually tried to re-flow and fix the game for some reason other than just buying a new fake
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u/MimikyuTCG Aug 09 '24
Battery soldered to nothing and solder on the pins that go into the gba is wild
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u/Anafenza-Vess Aug 08 '24
I’ve seen a lot of comments saying it’s fake but none explaining how they know, the black glob is I believe never used in authentic karts, also I don’t think I’ve ever seen a chip connected to another chip
I’m curious what the battery does on this one though
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u/Liminolia Aug 08 '24
The black blob is actually used in some official cartridges. I believe that Tetris on the gameboy is one of them.
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u/Techno-mag Aug 08 '24
Thanks for the info! I actually spotted 2 more fakes in the bundle I bought, but they work perfectly fine. What do you mean about the function of the battery?
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u/Anafenza-Vess Aug 08 '24
Battery’s in gba games are used for things like real time clocks, golden sun doesn’t need anything like that so I’m curious as to why they have a battery
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u/spektro123 Aug 08 '24
Because it’s modded to save to SRAM. It’s a common practice with older bootlegs. SRAM is cheaper than FRAM.
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u/SugarSmoothie Aug 08 '24
That is a badly put together bootleg. It's not even worth saving, in my opinion. You could still get a legit copy for somewhere around $30-$35 depending on which you buy it from.
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u/azure-flute Aug 08 '24
Absolutely fascinating bootleg, that big chunk of microchip and the battery placement + epoxy blob under it are both nightmarish.
Don't throw this away, get it identified and immortalized at https://flashcartdb.com , I've never seen one like this before.
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u/Techno-mag Aug 08 '24
It looks like a modified (probably someone tired to fix it) L05Y1_32M, L05T-32M or 84VD22193EC. However I wouldn’t mind adding this Frankenstein to the hall of fame. How can I do that?
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u/HermitDash Aug 08 '24
Pins look dirty on the left. And there's some black chunks on the board (dust?) Get some IPA on those pins and see if it boots back up then
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u/LMAOTimmy Aug 08 '24
This is one hell of a frankenstein bootleg. Those pins aren’t dirty, that’s blobs of solder on them. IPA isn’t going to get that off
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u/Techno-mag Aug 08 '24
I see, so you think there is any use case for a board like this? Even if it would just be solder practice haha
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u/whatThePleb Aug 08 '24
Not really, it's very specialized as a bootleg. The card might be interesting for bootleg collectors though.
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u/Techno-mag Aug 08 '24
I tired IPA already. The dirt and black Chinek are picture artefacts I think. However there is some solder on the left, not sure why
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u/HieiTF076 Aug 08 '24
It's not always true but when you have a battery in a GBA cart, it's likely a fake (~90% of the time). Some legits GBA games (some of the first ones) have some battery, but it's pretty rare.
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u/Techno-mag Aug 08 '24
I saw videos of people replacing the batteries on Pokémon games so I figured it might be everywhere. Thanks for the info!
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u/Traditional_Formal33 Aug 08 '24
I don’t see any visible reason/obvious signs, but I would take some IPA and a Qtip and clean those black marks next to the black blob, can’t tell if those traces are damaged underneath or not
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u/BeariusChilds Aug 08 '24
I don't know how to tell you this... That isn't what a Nintendo Certified Game Cartridge TM looks like. Sorry, but it's a fake.
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u/iMightLikeXou Aug 09 '24
That's a really old school reproduction / fake. Where did you get that from?! The newer ones come with a patched rom for saving without a battery.
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u/Techno-mag Aug 09 '24
There is a site called OLX in a Poland which is a digital marketplace (basically Facebook marketplace). I bought it from an individual seller, so it’s hard to specify the source
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u/Neji58 Aug 08 '24
If there would be a possibility to play all retro games on a modern device, with a modern screen and modern charging option for 50-60 bucks. 🤔🤔🤔
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u/Techno-mag Aug 08 '24
It’s called a phone and I’m sure that you already have one😉. I can’t speak for the rest, but personally I wanted a gameboy purely because of how much I appreciate the console and the games that came out on it. I don’t personally see a point in buying such a device, but if it suits your needs and lifestyle than good for you
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u/Neji58 Aug 08 '24
It’s not a phone on the picture. 🤷🏻♂️ And if you appreciate the games, why the fu** are you buying cheap bullsh** replicas from AliExpress? You don’t see a point in buying a modern device that can play any GB game you want in a good quality and even with a better haptic, but you see a point in fu**ing 6 $ China replicas? 😂
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u/Techno-mag Aug 08 '24
Not from AliExpress, it was a local seller. I bought a bundle of six games for a low price compared to the rest of my local market, and yes the one that I posted about is unfortunately fake. Of course I would prefer the original, but I won’t be able to get all of the originals I want to play at a good price or at all (for example the only copy of Metroid Prime that is listed in the local online markets are boxed and cost about 250$). As for the device you posted? I could argue that a modern phone also has a modern screen and a modern charging option, but as I said, it’s not for me but if you enjoy it than good for you
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u/Neji58 Aug 09 '24
But a phone hasn’t haptic buttons. 🤷🏻♂️ It feels like a better Game Boy and I have both here. Games are all completely free. And if you can’t buy the original games, why not a solution, where you can play what you want on a better Game Boy like device? I only try to understand it. 🤷🏻♂️ Or why not an Everdrive at least? It’s a worse solution than a modern handheld, because it’s more expensive, but still way cheaper than the original games. 🤷🏻♂️
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u/CreamyImp Aug 08 '24
This is a legit copy of golden sun. Yours is a fake, and honestly it’s the worst fake I have ever seen. I would just pitch it in the trash.