Genesis Question about clone Model 3s...

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

I'm sure this topic will do little more than highlight my ignorance, but I seriously don't get it.

Sometime after the retro age began, I started joining related sites en masse to try and get myself up to speed (and also to nab Mega Drive games for cheap).

One thing I noticed is that there was an industrial-scale witch hunt on those sites that had marketplaces, all because many people were trying to pass off clone consoles as the real thing (many times unknowingly).

I get it... You don't want to get ripped off. But, at the same time, the ONLY proof people were looking for when deciding whether a console was real or not was a splash screen that appeared upon booting up the system and said, "This product was manufactured under license by SEGA Ltd..."

But couldn't pirates just fake this screen? They could fake the whole console on both the hardware and software level (sometimes even improving upon both), so why not this? I never got it.

It was really annoying to see because it meant you were effectively walking on digital eggshells every time you felt like buying or selling something, and people got the hammer a ton for either trolling or getting out of hand with their accusatory paranoia.

Any idea if that screen could be faked as well? Because that would have been pretty damn funny to witness lol.

 

[CSmith327]

The bios boot screen shouldn't be thought of as an indicator of if something was a clone or legit console. Since that could just be flashed onto it like the real one or whatever. I guess it'd be near impossible to tell them apart if the build quality and materials were really good.

 

[Ilathariel]

I'm sure this topic will do little more than highlight my ignorance, but I seriously don't get it.

Sometime after the retro age began, I started joining related sites en masse to try and get myself up to speed (and also to nab Mega Drive games for cheap).

One thing I noticed is that there was an industrial-scale witch hunt on those sites that had marketplaces, all because many people were trying to pass off clone consoles as the real thing (many times unknowingly).

I get it... You don't want to get ripped off. But, at the same time, the ONLY proof people were looking for when deciding whether a console was real or not was a splash screen that appeared upon booting up the system and said, "This product was manufactured under license by SEGA Ltd..."

But couldn't pirates just fake this screen? They could fake the whole console on both the hardware and software level (sometimes even improving upon both), so why not this? I never got it.

It was really annoying to see because it meant you were effectively walking on digital eggshells every time you felt like buying or selling something, and people got the hammer a ton for either trolling or getting out of hand with their accusatory paranoia.

Any idea if that screen could be faked as well? Because that would have been pretty damn funny to witness lol.

It's 100% fakeble. The only things that I know to be solid indicators are the soldering or some rom boot that you can manage to intercept

 

[CSmith327]

Yeah but you gotta buy it first to have a look at the insides and the motherboard. Would be too late then lol

 

[tonyhoro]

I think if you go through Facebook Marketplace or an ebay seller that's not from a shady country you'll probably get the real deal.

I wouldn't recommend going after retro game stores because they'll steal you saying it's a *rare console* and don't even recap the motherboard before selling.


I'm lucky enough to have found one japanese Model 1 Mega Drive a few years ago from a guy who lives near me, and it even had a region changer switch on its side. It's neat!

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

Thanks for the explanation, guys.

I really do hope some of those insufferable nerds got scammed lol.