Fake NES Minis are invading the web, including merchant sites like eBay where scammers make them look like real Nintendo consoles. A batch of copies of the retrogaming console appeared on the wholesale site AliExpress, with packaging that could clearly fool Internet users. But a few details spotted by NeoGAF users can help make the difference between the real console and the fake.
A few months after Nintendo halted production of the NES Classic Mini, copies from China are gradually finding their place on sales sites, including eBay. Their packaging very close to the real console can clearly fool Internet users, who are still and always willing to pay between 150 and 200 euros to get the small reissue of the big cult console. An ad on AliExpress, which has since been deleted, was selling a wholesale copy very close to the original.
On the NeoGAF forum, a user explains what are the small differences between the two consoles, to be sure to buy the right product. The box is identical to the original, so you will have to ask the seller for photos of the console outside his box to be sure whether or not we are in the presence of a copy. First of all, there is the quality of manufacturing, especially evident on screen-printed elements such as the logo for example.
eBay: watch out for fake NES Classic Mini!
For example, we can see that the Nintendo Entertainment System at the front of the console is not quite right, as on the original. On the controller, the A and B buttons are enserated with a small plastic platform absent from the real version. Once the console is plugged in and turned on there are some differences on the interface. The font size is smaller, the mentions Start and Select are not in the same font.
There is also the fact that on the original console shows when it is turned on 4 jackets – 2 x 1/2 jacket on each side. The copy shows five jackets on the screen. According to initial investigations, it uses the same emulator (kachikachi) as the real NES, making differentiation even more complicated. The problem is that these consoles sold wholesale between 20 and 40 euros, do not have the manufacturing quality of Nintendo.
Above all, you will never be able to make this copy a collector's item! To convince you of the risks of scams here are the photos from the famous copy of the console. Can you tell the difference?