Have an interest in retro gaming? This is the channel for you!
We go over cleaning, repairing, and even modding retro games and consoles. We aren't all about work, though! Retro games and Mario Maker do make their appearance from time-to-time.
FYI, July and August each year, we are a bit light on videos.
Oh wow, $120? That's insane! We see them at garage sales for 25 cents to $1 all the time. Thrift stores would be another place with cheaper ones. I hope no one is paying those eBay prices!
This is the second version of the Master System in the US. The first version was loaded with a hidden game: Snail Maze. Love this system! My favorite home console.
A workaround I would suggest for people at least in NTSC regions is buying Japanese versions of the games, they’re really really cheap (usually sub 10 dollars to 15) for the most part them being in Japanese won’t be a problem as long as it’s not a dialogue based game that requires you to pay attention, these to my knowledge never get fakes made
If you like RPGs, be sure to check out Ys Book I, definitely a top ten game for the system as far as I'm concerned. Great music, and the gameplay is pretty quick and addictive once you get used to the bump combat system. Wonder Boy III is a real gem of a Metroidvania, a game worth owning the Master System for it and it alone. And if you don't mind the price (or have an Everdrive and grab the ROM somewhere online) Golden Axe Warrior is one of the best blatant Legend of Zelda ripoffs you'll ever have the pleasure of playing. And try out Zillion (the first one, though I don't think the sequel deserves the hate it sometimes gets), it's another pretty unique title for the system (and by unique, I mean mostly a loving ripoff of Impossible Mission). The Alex Kidd games are also worth checking out, Miracle World is a curious almost-kinda-like-Mario-ishhhhhh sort of game, and Shinobi World is a pretty universally highly regarded action platformer. And speaking of early proto-mascot characters, check out the Fantasy Zone games, they're tons of fun. There's so much more that can be recommended, especially if you're down with exploring the much larger selection of PAL market releases. And the relatively limited number of releases also makes it a pretty easy system to collect for, I wasn't even planning on starting a "collection" but by the time I'd bought a bunch of the games I care about, I realized I was already something like 20% of the way to a full collection of NTSC releases, so I've just kept going 😁
Wow, I completely missed that Ys was on Master System. I'll have to check that out. Thanks for your great list of suggestions for people to try out! I'm still trying to get Shinobi World, but I have the other Alex Kidd games. Such a great series! Good luck on getting the full collection!
I've never seen the 2 personally, but it looks pretty cool. I find it weird that Sonic 2 and Sonic Chaos were never released in NA for the Master System. We got the EU/UK versions of all three of those games. Guess Sega was pushing the Genesis hard with those titles on it or something.
I had one of these in the early 90s. I'm glad I had the controllers with the cord on the top, after playing the Famicom I kind of hate the cord coming out of the side.
I loved playing Rampage on the Master system when I had mine. I didn't play the Master System much though since I also had a NES, SNES and a Genesis. I mostly played the SNES.
The original Rampage was such a great game! I don't blame you for your system of choice there. SNES still to this day has some of the best games of all time. Great system!
Most of the time, they do! Just can't guarantee the garbage counterfeits last very long. For someone collecting games or someone just wanting the authentic experience, this information can be used to help figure out if what they're buying is real or not. If you just want to play the game, think of buying a counterfeit like renting a video game in the 90s! You spend a little money on it, play through it, then the cartridge dies shortly after that.
No, Leaf Green and Fire Red do not have batteries for GBA. The only reason the other GBA ones have batteries is to keep track of time for the timed events, since the GBA didn't have an internal clock.
What a shame that this type exists with the only purpose of reselling them at a more expensive price (they could sell them as what they really are). There are those who like the original retro. and those who only want to play it in any way. If you used method 2, would you buy one of these cartridges that have all the n64 games? Why spend money on buying 50+ fake games.
I wouldn't recommend doing anything with the counterfeit cartridges. Some of the counterfeit Pokemon games I got earlier this year for videos already stopped working when I wanted to test things out with them. I do not support the pirating of ROMs, but something like Everdrive would be a good choice if you are wanting to play ROMs. Just putting ROMs on something like that doesn't imply piracy since you can purchase homebrew games!
The reason why reproduction games exist is because a company doesn't make certain console games so I don't get why you care if it's real or fake. If they're trying to pass it off as legit for an unreasonable price then it's a problem
I don't care if I get legit game or reproduction game. Retro games are getting more & more expensive & incase you haven't noticed Nintendo doesn't make certain games anymore
That is true that Nintendo doesn't make certain games anymore, but they still have the legal rights to the IP in the games. That aside, a video like this is for those who want the authentic experience, not someone who wants a garbage counterfeit or to use an Everdrive for playing games. If you have other means of playing games and you're happy with it, then that's what matters!
@@gumptendoI get that but the thing is that people automatically assume that just because a game isn't a legit copy that it's garbage & like I said the price of retro games & consoles are being overpriced. It's good to have options & as far as I'm concerned as long as a game functions the way it's supposed to does it really matter if it's a legit or reproduction cartridge
Depending on the quality of the fake, or if the game had to be re-shelled or re-labeled, it can still be challenging at times to tell the difference without seeing the board. I am going to get a second N64 video together to go over board colors and a few other items, too.
Also notice on the fake Minish Cap label there is no drop shadow on the logo. This makes reading the text "The Legend of" very hard to read even with magnification. Also the text "Game Boy Advance" molded into the plastic just above the label is often a bit off... Skinny letters and an asymetric "O" is often the case. Black blobs on the board are basically ALWAYS fake unless it one of the very few Nintendo carts with them - if you're getting one of those you'll already know I'm sure. One last note, I have seen fakes with "Nintendo" spelled correctly. That is never a sure thing unless it's wrong. just my 2 cents
Since this video, I've actually come across a different Minish Cap fake that has a completely different looking label. Even fakes aren't consistent! lol That is correct, in most cases black blobs mean it's a fake. I don't know what all of the exceptions are with the retro games, but I know one for sure is Star Fox. I had two copies of Star Fox, one had black blobs and one didn't. Both were real. The Star Fox ones were more of a square shape than a circle. Thanks for the additional comparison info for the labels and shell. Any info that can get out there to help prevent someone from purchasing a counterfeit when they want the real thing is great!
While splitting these videos into parts makes sense on the production side not having at least some conclusion to one of the boards feels bad as a viewer. Personally, I'd much prefer a single board investigation, diagnosis, and fix over a multi-part upload consisting of several boards. Others might feel different about it but that's my view. Still it's an interesting upload!
I was having issues figuring out how to divide it up. The way I recorded it made this the easiest way to divide it up, but I totally get what you mean. The other videos will be split up to having a few repairs and customizations for systems instead of just seeing all repairs, then customizations.
There are a lot of places that produce flash carts for the retro consoles. The people who produce these ones either order those in bulk or manufacture their own. Nintendo even had their own flash carts for Game Boy and Super Famicom at one point.
@@gumptendo thanks! But how are people able to manufacture Nintendo64 cartridges? Obviously it's easy to manufacture CD's, DVD's, blu-ray discs but weren't Nin64 cartridges proprietary and only made by Nintendo????
The kit did come with clear items, but I like the accent look of using regular buttons and flaps on a clear shell. This one is in my living room, so I wanted it how I thought it would be nice!
You made some good points and observations, but IMHO you missed the biggest quick indicator method for spotting a fake. Check the cartridge strip/pins. For all but 2 OEM titles the real deal will be a brownish color and the fakes are white. The only 2 exceptions to this are Ogre Battle 64 and Resident Evil 2. They have white OEM strips/pins.
Thanks for the info! There are a few other great ways people have mentioned in the comments, too. Might almost be worth making a sequel video of this one to cover lots of the ways that were missed.
I bought a fake unwittingly on ebay back when i was in high school. This was prior to diamond pearl release. The game is perfectly playable in every way except one: diamond pearl and platinum dont see it.
I listened back at it and I see what you mean. Sorry about that, sounds kind of misleading. What I meant was we would go over the differences in them compared to the fake one. If you just need to know the difference between Player's Choice version and regular version, based on what I can tell from what I have: Player's Choice will have a letter after the two numbers on the label stamp Player's Choice board's Nintendo will have the oval around it, plus no date next to it, while the regular version does not have the oval but does have the date Player's Choice version on the board is AGB-E02-30, while the regular version is AGB-E02-20 There are a few other differences, like where some of the capacitors are placed on the board, but the markings are the easiest ways to check.
I just looked at my real copy of leaf green and there isn't a stamped number on the front label. So yeah like the other commenter said. The only way to make sure is to look at the board.
What do you mean "you people"!!? I say it's a scam because if you look on FB Market or other places where there can be untrustworthy people, there are lots of people trying to sell these counterfeits as the real deal. A scam is defined as "a dishonest scheme" or "fraud" by Oxford dictionary. If someone is being dishonest about what they're selling, it's a scam. It's not as bad if someone marks it as what it is, but a lot don't. I understand some don't know THEY were scammed into thinking they got the real thing.
@@gumptendo that’s why you speak to the seller and negotiate or don’t buy it’s pretty simple , no one is forcing your hand . And the you people refers to gullible individuals that wanna cry because they do zero research or go into a private sell with complete trust.
Which you bring up the point why videos like this are needed. There are people that don't know what to look for to prevent being scammed. Videos like this help teach people how to find an authentic item if that's what they're wanting.
What you mentioned previously, though, was about people who do zero research. If someone finds this video, that's a step in the direction of doing research. No one deserves to be scammed. Watch someone like Kitboga and you'll see the extent scammers are willing to go to take money from someone maliciously. Some of these video games can be worth quite a bit, so if someone doesn't do research, yes, it is their fault. But the ones who scammed them were at fault, too, for misrepresenting what they were selling. Let's use a very possible scenario as an example: Little Johnny really wants a real copy of Earthbound. It's ALL he talks about, but he doesn't have $400 to get it. His very kind grandmother decides she's going to find it for him as a surprise for his birthday. She finds a deal on eBay for only $300 and gets it. On Johnny's birthday a few months later, he opens it and is disappointed. At that point, the scammer already made off with the money and there's no way to be reimbursed. Johnny is sad and his grandmother feels bad for him. Yes, this is a theoretical scenario, but I'm willing to bet it happens more than people would hope.
There is a third thing to watch out for. Real boards in aftermarket shells or with aftermarket stickers. This happens if a shell/sticker has been trashed and the person replaced it but the game itself is real. This is why popping them open is always the best option.
"Sometimes" is probably the best answer I have. Depending on where you get the fakes, some are so poorly made they are garbage, but some do work just fine. It's always a gamble.
There are some refurbs on Amazon that would be okay, but expect to have to spend a bit more than the average going rate for the system. They do offer a 90 day warranty on ones like this that may be worth it for paying the premium: www.amazon.com/Nintendo-64-System-Console-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B07F2N1VNY It's always worth tossing into Google something like "retro game stores near me" to see if there are any near you that might have any retro systems and games in stock that you want to get.
Does unscrewing the housing and taking out the chip and everything like that break the cart? Like does handling the board inside not just render it unplayable? Sorry if this is a dumb question I haven’t messed around much with this stuff before 😅
As long as you're grounded out so you don't zap the chips with static, there's very little harm that can be done by just taking it apart and looking at / handling the board.
About the Controller Pak losing data from a dead battery, i can recommend to keep an eye on the CPAK2040 project. It's an open source project which utilizes the cheap Raspberry Pico 2040 and an inexpensive PCB inside a 3D Printed Case. In the standard configuration you can cycle between 10 virtual memory cards with the button, the savegames will be stored in flash memory which doesn't need a battery. You can also plug it into USB to upgrade the firmware or import and export your saves. It was about 8€ to build one myself, compared to used Controller Paks which go for 12€ on eBay in Germany.
Glad you enjoyed it! We have big plans for the GBAs. It will most likely end up being a two parter since we'll have to get new shells and displays for them, too.
I was wondering the same thing. Such a weird place for a connection to break when there's no sign of liquid damage. Usually, N64 games break under that plastic piece. Only thing I can think is maybe it was dropped pretty hard at some point and that specific pin absorbed the impact for the board.
