UPDATED: GUIDE WRITTEN FOR DS AND GBA GAMES ...This Guide was written to show you Step by Step how to Distinguish a FAKE game from an  AUTHENTIC one, including the POKEMON games with Lots of PHOTO's and INFORMATION!

Counterfeit / Fake Nintendo games

Counterfeit games are Cheap and Unreliable, aswell as being Illegal.
Fake Gameboy Advance and now Nintendo DS games are widely Available.

These are made in mass amounts, with cheap parts, for very little money.
The Batteries are Cheap and can go Flat at any moment, Erasing your Saved Files.
You can buy them overseas for 1 Dollar, yet they are flooding eBay and YOU
the Unsuspecting buyers, are paying alot of money for them.

Most Counterfeit games are coming from China, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.
But now you are getting People from Australia, USA and UK who are buying
them in Bulk  and Re-Selling.

"E"  or  "G"  or  "RP"

"E" rating games DO NOT necessarily mean you have a Fake game.
As USA uses the "E"  rating and Games are released there first, the Copies are made from those.
"RP" or Rating Pending games are NOT AUTHENTIC.
I am yet to see a "G" rated Fake game, so stick to Australian released versions as much as possible.

 
Here is an Example of an Authentic Nintendo Seal on the Case VS a Fake one.
The Authentic Nintendo Seal is GOLD, has Clear Crisp Images, While the Fake one is Blury and Yellow.

Always check your Box and Instructions for Poor Printing, Spelling Mistakes and
the Usual Nintendo information.
  
These Fake Instructions have the Smudgy Printing Lines throughout the entire Instructions!

I recently purchased DOGZ2 and the instructions, had bits and pieces of Nintendogs/Dogz2/Pocket Dogs
So the actual information contained in the Booklet was completely incorrect. Mind You the game would
get to 10% and jam up so Remember DONT leave Positive feedback until you have tested your games!

How to tell by Looking at your Gameboy Cartridge

Cartridges are easy to tell the difference if you know what you are looking for!
Believe me, I have even found Counterfeit Carts in EB games second - hand section
and I had to show them how to tell the difference...

Get your Cartridges and look in where the Connector Pins are-
A Genuine game WILL ALWAYS  have the YEAR and © and NINTENDO and the  Serial Number
just above the Pins!

See just above the Pins you can see Writing .. It says the YEAR and © and NINTENDO and the Serial Number!
 

How to tell by Looking at your DS Cartridge

The Genuine Nintendo DS Cartridge has a Serial Number on the Back underneath the PAT. PEND.
 
The FAKE one above on the LEFT has no serial number. The Serial Number is Very Black and Stands Out.
The fake does however have NINTENDO written on the Pins, while None of my Legit DS games do.

You can also usually tell Fakes by their Label as sometimes they are crooked and/or have Poor Printing.

The Fake one Above on the Left has sticky residue and a Crooked Label.

 
The Fake Nintendo DS Case above on the Left, has Poor Printing , Poor Colour and Blury Images.

Some even have a foreign sticker on the back of the Cartridge (Some different counterfeiters have
different stickers so they know if a game is infact theirs if you send it back for a refund etc).
Often placed over the hole where the tri-screw holds the cartridge together. Some ive seen even are held
together with normal screws instead of the Tri screws!

Pokemon Gameboy Games

Seem to be the most mass-produced and sell for the highest amounts.

Authentic Pokemon games have semi-transparent COLOURED cartridges.
They should include the Nintendo Seal and the box should not be shiny or Flat.
The Instructions are always more than a few pages, including the Warning,
Contents, Basic Controls, Legal & Warrenty Information pages (These are often omitted in the Fakes)

Here is a  GENUINE  USA version of Pokemon Ruby aswell as a  COUNTERFEIT  USA version.
NOTE: The Genuine Cartridge is Semi Transarent while the Fake one is the Standard Black.

There is NO Pokemon Chaos Black / Friggo Returns / Perla/ Naranjana  etc
These are Hacked Roms which are placed onto the Cartridges and Sold. Usually these are just adaptations
from Pokemon Red/ Blue/ Yellow etc that are modified on someones computer and loaded onto carts and sold!

Here is a List of the Pokemon Games & The Colour of their Cartridges-

Pokemon Red- Solid Red
Pokemon Blue- Solid Blue
Pokemon Yellow- Solid Yellow
Pokemon Silver- Solid Silver with Glitter
Pokemon Gold- Solid Gold with Glitter
Pokemon Pinball GBC- Solid Black with Rumble Pak feature
Pokemon Trading Car Game- Solid Black
Pokemon Crystal- Transparent Blue/Clear with Glitter
Pokemon Puzzle League- Transparent Clear Light Grey
Pokemon Ruby - Solid Light Red
Pokemon Fire Red- Transparent Bright Red
Pokemon Emerald- Transparent Dark Green
Pokemon Leaf Green- Solid Lime Green
Pokemon Sapphire- Transparent Dark Blue
Pokemon Pinball (Ruby & Sapphire) GBA- Solid Black with a Red & Blue label
Pokemon Mystery Blue Dungeon DS
Pokemon Trozei DS
Pokemon Ranger DS
Pokemon Dash DS
Pokemon Pearl DS
Pokemon Diamond DS

Known Fake Pokemon Games:

All in all, some Counterfeit games are Easy to Spot, while others take some Real Investigating.
Counterfeiters are getting more Advanced, so Take your Time, Do your Research and check each
Auction Wisely.

I hope this Information has Helped in some way. Ive been asked many many times over the Years
On how to spot a Fake Game so thought Id write a Guide on it   :)

Thankyou from Nintendo*

If you are looking for more info on a specific console etc :
Gameboy Colour / Gameboy Advance / DS / Pokemon etc, check out my other Guides as I have
written one to suit each console and the Pokemon ones in GBA and GBC !!
I have lots of photo's in my other Guides too, so please check them out!!

If you found this Guide Helpful,  Please Press the YES BUTTON below:
As this guide then gets moved up the list and more people have the chance to see it too!