APokemonfan has shared an amusing video showing the strange way the Nintendo company name was falsely printed inside a game cartridge. There’s a good reason that this Game Boy Advance game has these errors though, and it’s not the onlyPokemongame out there with a false company name hidden inside.
ThePokemonseries debuted to the world in the mid 90s as a pair of games for the original Nintendo Game Boy. Since then, it has grown into the wildly popular franchisePokemonfans know and love today, complete with thePokemonanime seriesand a collection of belovedPokemongames for Game Boy, Nintendo DS, and Switch, among other platforms. ThePokemonvideo game series has become one of the best-selling game franchises of all time.
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Posting to the Pokemon subreddit, a user by the name of GumboSkrimpz shared a video showing the inside of aPokemon Light Platinumgame cartridge. Once opened, it becomes clear that something isn’t right; the Nintendo company name appears to be printed on the PCB as “NIhlendo.” In response to the thread, one reader claimed they had worked at aretro gamesstore and had come across many fake Nintendo names in cartridges, their favorite being “Niltondo.”
ThisPokemongame cartridge, like many circulating in the secondhand market, is a complete fake. The cartridge itself wasn’t produced or endorsed by Nintendo, andPokemon Light Platinumwas never an official release for the Game Boy Advance. Rather, the game is what is known as a “ROM hack” in which creative fans modify an existingPokemongame into something new. However, Nintendo has been known to take action against unofficialPokemonprojects that gain attention, such as the timePokemon Prismwas shut down with a cease and desistorder. Despite this stance by Nintendo, ROM hacks are easily accessible online and are sometimes sold on physical cartridges by bootleg game manufacturers.
PokemonROM hacks can be great fun to make and to play, though the bootleg market can be deceptive. While it’s unlikely a copy ofPokemon Light Platinumwould ever mislead or disappoint a customer, some bootleg cartridges try to imitate officialPokemongames. Those wanting to purchase preownedPokemonGame Boy gamesshould be careful to check for signs that the cartridge is a fake. These include misprinted labels with strange fonts and cartridges that are the wrong color. Alternatively, like GumboSkrimpz, gamers can always crack the cartridge open to see if they are the unwitting owner of a “genuine” NIhlendo.
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