I don't see a thread, so let's talk about this.
Since they have recently gotten into the retro market, Gamestop had apparently made claims that their employees were being trained to properly detect reproduction and bootleg carts, and that there was a special facility where the games were taken to, where they were cleaned and tested before putting up for sale.
But recent findings apparently show this to be bullshit.
One customer had supposedly bought a copy of Conker's Bad Fur Day, only for it to be a clear as day bootleg, and others are buying rare and expensive games from them, only for the label to have a very clear "reproduction" on them.
I knew this would happen from day one. A massive chain store with shitty eployees who don't give a fuck, accepting retro video games, is a complicated and horrible thing, and Gamestop lying about issues relating to the matter is only icing on the cake.
You pretty much said everything there is to be said about it which is why there isn't a thread about it
>>2833216
Ian, no matter how much you say you're fair you're still reseller scum so fucking kill yourself.
why do murrcans care about bootlegs again? they play the games just the same
oh yea that's right you're a collector who assigned emotional value to pieces of plastic. e-peen is more valuable than games
>>2833256
If you're paying "real" prices you want a real game.
If you're paying peanuts, a bootleg is fine.
>>2833256
They really do not. I had a bootleg copy of pokemon that would glitch after the elite four (this is extremely common) and a bootleg of Zelda lttp that never loaded the tower of hera properly.
ROM issue on the second in, probably...but the pokemon issue is notorious.
>>2833256
If I'm buying a physical copy it's because i want to collect, if i just wanted to play the game i would emulate or use a homebrewed console.
>>2833256
People should get real piracy devices.
These bootlegs cannibalize other games and make money with other peoples' work.
>>2833256
Copyright law grants value to authorized copies.
lol i can remember when gamestop, right after they had switched over from being funcoland, had 15 copies of castlevania IV for 1.99 and i thought, why should i have more than one?
>>2833282
>People should get real piracy devices.
This pretty much
I don't really "get" repro carts myself. I can understand emulation and flash carts even if I think it's gay but like why pay money for a fake cart?
>>2833216
Funny story time. Gamestop dropped out of the retro market at one point. They used to sell old consoles in the early 2000's. They decided to stop. My cousin worked there. I've literally got 6 NES's, 8 SNES's, 4 Genesis's... the list goes on. Plus about a hundred games that were all headed for the dumpster. He only gave me half the swag. One of their larger stores. I'm not even a collector. I emulate b/c it's less mess but likely have a larger collection than most people on this board.
I stopped buying modern games at GameStop years ago, if I buy a brand new game I fucking want it new sealed in box. Fuck GameStop and the way they open all new games and put the discs in paper sleeves behind the desk.
Why the fuck would I trust them for retro games bought online?
>>2833329
I assumed they were talking about a flashcart.
>>2833216
When did they start actually selling retro games? I remember reading stuff saying they plan on it for like two years but had no clue they started doing it.
>>2833348
>I remember reading stuff saying they plan on it for like two years but had no clue they started doing it.
I think a little over a year, it's through the website though not in store.
>>2833349
Fucking hell first I find out there are two more Alvin and the Chipmunk sequels and now this. I've been living under a rock for years.
>>2833350
You mean Squeakquels
Meh, bootlegs can be a good thing, I guess. I'd think they might eventually scare some non-gamer "I really don't know what the fuck im doing but these old games seem to print money lol L@@K RARE WOW" investor types out of the market once they get burnt on trying to flip inadvertently purchased AliExpress carts that they can't resell for $200.
>>2833407
I don't mind bootlegs as long as they're not being marketed as the real deal.
It's not like the developers earn anything from people buying official carts anymore anyway.
>>2833253
Elaborate on what makes someone 'reseller scum'. Are antiques dealers scum? Because if you deal in retro it's basically like dealing antiques. I do see some people try to have insane prices but they tend to hold on to there stuff for years until they have some sort of epiphany.
>>2833421
Nah, you're just some faggot who jumped in on a fad to make some quick money. You're no better than the faggots who bought carloads of Wiis in 2006 to resell them. Antiques dealers have been around for hundreds of years with a well established, varied market. They also tend to be fairly smart where your average reseller scum is retarded white trash.
>>2833421
Hah, antique dealer here, most other dealers I know are the fucking scum of the earth, buddy. I try to be honest, which is why it's not my day job.
>>2833453
>Nah, you're just some faggot who jumped in on a fad to make some quick money.
Wrong I was and still am a collector first and foremost. That being said if I see the opportunity to make extra money and provide a fair price for someone who wants it I take it. Trust me it's better in my hands than most other resellers especially in the region I live in.
>>2833460
Not my day job either
>>2833421
>Are antiques dealers scum
Hahahaha, son you've no idea.
All the antique dealers in my town resell things bought in Paris' or London's market at five if not six times the price they paid for, antique dealers are the worst kind of human beings I've ever had the displeasure to work with.
>Because if you deal in retro it's basically like dealing antiques.
Not in a million years, unless you somehow sell cartridges made in ivory and silver by talented artisans.
With antiques you do not even have to worry about copyright claims by companies either, it's still the far west there, unless you smuggle really dangerous stuff like illegally acquired artifacts you can do whatever the fuck you want and nobody can tell you anything.
>>2833407
Those are the same people who try and sell their Wii for $165 at a flea market. They're going to do it anyway.
>>2833453
This post isn't even worth replying to.
>>2833881
>>2833216
fuck gamestop. they ruined the retro game market, and now they're ruining everything else. I stopped giving this godawful company money years ago and everyone else should stop too. They treat their employees like shit, their customers like shit, and their vendors like shit. stop doing business with them.
>>2833329
I think he means a new cart with a new board with new chips. Not a copy of madden turned into earthbound, thus the cannibalism
>>2833421
>Are antiques dealers scum?
Actually yes. The entire all retailers dealing in "used goods" often deal in counterfeit & stolen goods and buy up all their goods at rock bottom prices from individuals too deceased, lazy or desperate to sell said goods at the so-called "market value" themselves. The whole system prays on the weak. But, at least everyone acknowledges used car salesmen are scumbags. Maybe it's time you admit you're one too. You reselling hipster piece of shit.
>>2833928
>sells retro equal to or less than your average retail reseller scumbags
>says "they ruined the retro game market"
Yeah, they sure ruined it. You're an idiot.
>>2833256
>they play the games just the same
>citation needed
Who knows what someone did to it. If they just copied a rom downloaded off the internet and threw it on a cart you can't really be sure they got the right one. For the people doing this they don't give a rat's ass if it's the official US dump or some butchered Chinese one. By the time you find out they've got their money and are gone.
>>2833896
Fuck off back to gtaf
>>2833256
I seriously hope you're a troll and not really this stupid.
>>2833216
It's retail, of course employees are untrained and don't give a fuck.
>>2833421
have you ever bought a game, and then re-sold it?
congratulations, you are a reseller
>>2836164
Yeah, that's obviously the true answer. I think most people interpret and use the term "reseller" with the negative connotations of a person who has no interest in or meaningful knowledge of games and views them merely as something to flip for profit.
I really don't have a problem with resellers. I mean, fuck, 99.9% of my imports come from resale shops or people reselling bits from their collections. My only issue is when you get people who are brand new to games, know fuckall about them, keyword spam, lie, expect others to educate them for free, be a general douchebag, etc etc all in an attempt to flip their precious "product" for inflated prices because they "know whta it werth."
Hmmm. I don't feel bad that I discovered that a GameStop gave me the more expensive copy of the MGS HD collection by mistake.
I remember when this retro sale thing kicked up when a local store put up a sign saying, "Yes. We have Battletoads."
>>2833421
>>2834159
I had an uncle who moved from the east coast out to California He would go to local yard sales and a antique shops here and find certain items, old yankee stuff. He would bring them out to Cali and sell them for a decent profit since they just did not have much of that stuff there. Is that scammy and scummy, or just reading the market and knowing how to get a supply of sometbjng in demand elsewhere?
Of course some of them are just plain scummy like any business.
>>2836164
Huh. I.... actually do not think I ever have. Unless a friend once or twice was looking for one and I was done with it.
Meanwhile, one friend is always buying and selling games. Recently he has been buying Skylanders off craigslist, parents selling whole batches once their kids are bored or found something else, and reselling then online. Of course he actually has a whole box of them himself and plays the game. Though he says he pretty much plays for free given he has made money off the sales.
>>2833216
>not emulating
kek
I got this bootleg MegaMan game Rockman & Crystal at a pawn shop... that was next to a GameStop funny enough.
>>2833216
>One customer had supposedly bought a copy of Conker's Bad Fur Day, only for it to be a clear as day bootleg, and others are buying rare and expensive games from them, only for the label to have a very clear "reproduction" on them.
Bullshit. No one has really figured out how to do N64 repro carts yet. There were some pirate carts really early on in the 64's lifecycle, but not for later games.
>>2836868
Fake would have been a better term than bootleg. The Conker cart was a case of someone putting a repro label on a cart that wasn't Conker, and the other fake carts have pretty much all been SNES and NES. The chrono trigger fake has probably been the most infamous, as someone ordered it from gamestop and when they put it in their SNES and flipped it on, it was Madden. Apparently two different people have gotten that same cart from gamestop.
>>2836868
>>2837728
Its probably so easy since its online only.
You give them a dozen SNES carts in store, they have no way to immediately test them.
If they had half a brain they'd test them right there, but that would require some fucking foresight.
How are they still in business? I've had Gamestop and EBgames just not ship me fucking pre-orders.
>pre-order Dark Souls literally the day its available
>launch day
>it isn't here
>it isn't even shipped
>call a guy and he tells me they havent shipped it
>cancel it and go get it myself on the way home from work
Amazon always gets me my shit release day by 2pm. I've occasionally got it a day early, but thats because my city is the amazon distribution center.
They've also fucked up, sent me a used copy, called me a fucking liar and changed their tone really fast when I documented their fuck up to them in an email.
The whole "if we fuck up, just return it in store" is so fucking horrible from a consumer standpoint. I'm ordering online. I don't want to go to the store.
>>2837735
>The whole "if we fuck up, just return it in store" is so fucking horrible from a consumer standpoint. I'm ordering online. I don't want to go to the store.
You act like Amazon never sells you fucked up shit... you need to return it to Amazon in that case too. "If we fuck up, just return it to the store." is a good policy to have. Naturally they don't assume you'll have issues but if you do you're covered. What would you rather be fucked if you get a defective product?
>>2833453
what a hater
>>2833453
http://31.media.tumblr.com/aba92c79564b49aaabfd6fd49eb9e07c/tumblr_ms0ah8XddV1swp729o1_500.gif
>>2833453
>They also tend to be fairly smart where your average reseller scum is retarded white trash.
My family runs an antique store. They (we) have no idea what the fuck most of this stuff is worth and just slap a price on things that makes sense plus a few bucks. Dealers that work Flea Markets or any kind of show are the absolute worst, they price things at the estimated value x3.
Fun fact, things priced cheaply dont sell as fast, because customers will assume its inferior or something is wrong with it. We have a giant shelf full of old purses that normally sells about one or two a day. Then on Black Friday we dropped them all to 50% to get rid of them. That deal went on for a week without selling a single one, then we raised the price back up and sold 5 within an hour.
