Hey everyone. Today I'm going to be throwing my thoughts out there on reproduction carts. For anyone reading who may not know, reproduction carts are exactly what they sound like. Reproductions of video games. Games that are expensive, and games that are cheap are being reproduced. Sometimes the boards and even the cases of other games are sacrificed to make these reproduction carts. Some people love these things, others hate them, others are so so on them. This blog contains my thoughts on the issue.
I like to think that I fall into the so so category with these carts. On one hand they do allow players who want a specific expensive cartridge to get one cheap (my case). Some games, such as Conker's Bad Fur Day have increased and dropped in price. At one point the game was routinely sold on Ebay for a massive $90. For a lot of people that is just too much money for a game. Recently, Nintendo 64 reproduction carts have hit the market for around half of the $90 tag. I can easily see the appeal in grabbing the cheaper reproduction as the game plays very similar and looks real legit. With that being said though, there is always the dirty side of things. Since they look legit, people have advertised them as such or put the fact that the cart is a reproduction in some fine print in a description. Unfortunately that has led to people paying just as much for a reproduction as they would have for the actual cartridge of the game. The problems don't end there as people have reported ordering retro games on Gamestop's website and getting a reproduction cart. This is a simple case of Gamestop not looking to make sure the carts are legit.
It doesn't take much to tell whether or not they are legit despite them looking real at a glance. The first sign is the label on the game. Many are slightly different than the real ones. Sometimes the colors are a bit darker, the image is slightly different, the font can also be slightly different. You may also notice that the carts themselves may be a slightly different color and may be missing the word Nintendo on the back of them. On top of that you might notice that some do not have actual screws holding them together. Upon opening a Nintendo 64 reproduction cart you'll notice the heat shield is not screwed down. Perhaps the most obvious involves the save battery. In legit games, the batteries are soldered onto the board. Batteries on a reproduction board can be slid in and out of it's socket for easy replacement. I actually think that's kind of cool since it allows for the player to change out the battery when it dies as opposed to having to find somewhere that can solder a new one in. In the end though I have no idea how Gamestop didn't catch these things. Yes they look real legit, but if you look closely you can see the differences.
So why in today's day and age are reproduction carts bad? Well they are bootlegs of games, which of course is frowned upon. Resellers also hate them for obvious reasons mentioned before. Collectors aren't huge fans of them due to the fact that they need to take great care in looking for legit copies of games. In some cases they also are partially responsible for game prices being what they are. Think about it. If you look on Ebay for Chrono Trigger and see a crap ton of reproductions, and like three originals, the original seems rarer than it actually is and greedy resellers will attempt to take advantage. Another argument that a lot of people have is that the reproductions are still to expensive and with the introduction of flash carts, really serve no purpose other than to kill other games of the respective system. All are certainly valid arguments. I'm mostly on the side that flash carts make these things kind of pointless with the exception of the following scenario. You have one or two games that you really want that are way out of your price range. Say you love Earthbound and would love to play it on your SNES, but you don't have the funds to get the real cart. Your options are basically a reproduction or a flash cart. The flash carts aren't cheap themselves, so the reproduction cart is the cheapest option since you literally just want Earthbound.
One thing that I do like about these carts is the bringing of rom hacks and translated games to the consoles that didn't have them originally. My perfect example of this is Clock Tower on Super Nintendo. That game was never released in the United States. Fans translated the game to English and it has now made it's way onto reproduction carts which has allowed a whole new fan base to pick up on the game. Other rom hacks such as the various Zelda ones have also made their way onto carts giving players new challenges with their favorite character (which Nintendo hates).
So in the end, like I said before I have mixed feelings on these carts. I think they are great for gamers that want to play their favorite games, but cannot afford the original. That being said I don't like that people are able to sneakily sell them for the same price as the original. I like that games that were never released on a specific console in a specific region can now be played in those regions. I don't like that Gamestop allows itself to be tricked by them. There's pros and cons, but one thing is for sure.
These carts are here to stay. As long as retro gaming continues to be such an expensive thing, people are going to be seeking a cheaper way to play the games. What could change this you ask? Well honestly part of it is Gamestop. Believe it or not Gamestop has helped several games to drop in price. For example, before Gamestop started selling retro games, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was going on Ebay for between $80 and $90. Gamestop started selling the game for $30. The price on Ebay has dropped to $40 to $50. Granted some are still selling for more, but for the most part, it is lower. Another thing that would. Another thing that helped a bit for the NES, but nowhere near as much as it could have if Nintendo would have actually been smart, was the NES classic. Many of the games that are on the system saw their prices drop. Problem of course is that nowhere near enough NES classics were made. If it was mass produced I would not have been surprised if the prices dropped even more. This brings up a real interesting question.
What would happen if Nintendo and Sega in particular turned the switch back on? What would happen if Sega started out Genesis games again or Nintendo started cranking out SNES games again. I don't mean new games either. I mean releasing waves of these classic games that are so expensive. Personally, I think they could probably price them the same as new games and people would go nuts for them. That would mean a legit copy of Mega Man X III for $60. I'm sure anyone would take that over the $200 situation. In that case it would also be Nintendo making the money again and probably make a killer profit. Yeah games are coming out on the virtual console, but a lot of people want something they can hold. To me this is an interesting thought and one that would probably bring the reproduction cart business to it's knees. Flash carts I'm sure would endure, but if the difference between an original and a reproduction was ten to twenty dollars, would it be that big of a deal compared to to some instances where the repro is one hundred or more dollars cheaper? Who knows. It's an interesting thought that I would love to see happen, but probably never will. For now though I think people need to get used to the repro carts being around and as far as collecting and reselling goes, adapt.
Look at what you are buying before purchasing it. I outlined the big differences between these carts and their originals above. If something looks off, it probably is. If you see a game that you know wasn't released in the United States, it's probably a reproduction and not an original cart. As far as reselling goes... It might be time to wake up and smell the coffee. Your $200 game that you grabbed from a yard sale and threw on Ebay may never sell for that price. So adapt. You still make a profit. Drop your price and your game will sell. Chances are you got the game for cheap. Adapt or face whatever may happen as to whether or not you ever make a profit on the game. After all, many resellers are a huge part of why retro gaming is so expensive as is. So that's my thoughts. With pros and cons, retro carts are going to be here to stay so it's something that everyone should be aware of and adapt to.
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